Grorud Idrettslag is a Norwegian sports club from

Grorud Grorud is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. The borough contains the Ammerud, Grorud, Kalbakken, Rødtvet, Nordtvet and Romsås areas. To the north of the borough is the forest of Lillomarka. The borough is the smallest in Oslo, with ...

borough,

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. It has sections for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

General history

As a sports club based in Grorud, it had two predecessor clubs in ''Grorud IF'', which existed from 1904 to 1905, and ''Grorud TIF'', which existed from 1908 to 1914. Grorud IL was finally founded on 18 March 1918. At the time, Grorud was still located in Aker municipality. The district was incorporated into Oslo in 1948 and tied to the city centre with the

Grorud Line The Grorud Line () is a line on the Oslo Metro between Tøyen (station), Tøyen and Vestli (station), Vestli in Oslo, Norway. Built as a mix of underground, at ground level and as an elevated line, it runs through the northern part of Groruddale ...

of the

Oslo Metro The Oslo Metro ( or or simply ) is the rapid transit system of Oslo, Norway, operated by Sporveien T-banen on contract from the transit authority Ruter. The network consists of five lines that all run through the city centre, with a total leng ...

in 1966. The club finished construction of its football field in 1926, and its ski jumping hill Rannkollen in 1928. In 1932 the football field was covered with gravel, which allowed the practice of skating sports during the winter. In 1932, Grorud IL was one of the first workers' sports clubs to take up the tennis sport. Later secretary-general in the UN,

Trygve Lie Trygve Halvdan Lie ( , ; 16 July 1896 – 30 December 1968) was a Norwegians, Norwegian politician, labour leader, government official and author. He served as Norwegian foreign minister during the critical years of the Nygaardsvold's Cabinet, N ...

served as secretary in Grorud TIF, and became an honorary member of Grorud IL. He was a central person in the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions affiliated to the LO have almo ...

, and helped the club get a money loan in Akers Sparebank, which financed the field and hill construction. In 1929, Grorud IL decided to join the Workers' Sports Confederation (or ''AIF''), where Trygve Lie also was a central figure. This connection ended in 1946 when the AIF was disbanded. By that time the club had got their club house, designed by noted architect

Frode Rinnan Frode Rinnan (12 December 1905 – 15 February 1997) was a Norwegian architect and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party, Labour Party. Early career He was born in Trondheim, Trondhjem as a son of ship inspector Carl Julius Rinnan (1881–1 ...

. In 1956, the new ski jumping hill Grorudbakken was opened. It fell apart in October 1957, but was rebuilt in steel. A grass football field was opened in 1966, and the field also featured an athletics track. An indoor arena was opened in 1974. The club colors are yellow and blue.

Football

The men's football team currently plays in

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

, the second tier of the

Norwegian football league system The Norwegian football league system, or pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Norway. 2017 system in men's football , the current national league system administered by the NFF is organised as 1–1–2–6, where ...

, after being promoted from the 2019 2. divisjon As Grorud IL, the team played in the 3. divisjon, the fourth tier of Norwegian football, for many years, having been promoted to the 1994 season. After being relegated in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

the team quickly returned in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. After a long 3. divisjon stint, the team won promotion in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and played in the 2012 2. divisjon. The men's football team formerly cooperated to prop up an umbrella team called Groruddalen BK, but this team went defunct in 2008. Grorud IL was not the backbone of Groruddalen BK, however; this was Årvoll IL whose league spot was taken over by Groruddalen BK.

Recent history

: Source:

Current squad

Athletics

The athletics section is now defunct, but has had several prominent members. Hilde Fredriksen notably finished sixth in the unofficial 1980 World Championships in

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

, and also holds the Norwegian record in the event. Trond Knaplund was a

decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ� ...

of national renown, and is now a coach.

References

External links

Official site

Grorud Arctic Match - Nordic Stadiums
{{Authority control Football clubs in Oslo Association football clubs established in 1918 Arbeidernes Idrettsforbund Defunct athletics clubs in Norway 1918 establishments in Norway