American football in Norway began in 1949 when students from two secondary schools ('' videregående'') in Oslo—at Riis and Ullern—began playing an annual gridiron game, starting with a meeting on October 30. An Associated Press report from Oslo the next day noted that a crowd of 500 watched, and that the introduction of the sport was credited to "Alf Stenere, former Norwegian exchange student to

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...

, and Tony Bower of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, 17-year old student here". Reportedly, Riis won the first game, 20–13.

Norwegian American Football Federation

In 1983, the Norwegian American Football Federation (NAFF), or Norges Amerikanske Fotboll Forbund (NAFF) in Norwegian, was founded, fielding the Norwegian national American football team. The Norwegian national teamplayed its first international game in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and won 38–0. An article of the game appeared in the Norway's second largest newspaper ''

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

'', on January 28, 1985. For the first American football Scandinavian Cup in Stockholm, to be played between

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, and Norway, Norway became the champion. An article on the Cup appeared in ''SAGA'', Norway's English-language newspaper, on September 19, 1985. On May 9, 1986, the Norwegian national team played and defeated the Coventry Bears American Football Club of the

British American Football League The British American Football League (BAFL) was the United Kingdom's primary American football league from 1998 until 2010. It was formerly known as the British Senior League (BSL) until 2005. BAFL was the trading name for Gridiron Football Leag ...

(BAFL) in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The Norwegian national team lost for the first time when

St. Olaf College St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and th ...

from

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

was invited to Oslo in 1986, St. Olaf shutting out Norway 65–0. The Norwegian national team traveled to Minnesota to play St. Olaf College again. Like their first game, Norway lost 65–0; the St. Olaf players intentionally decided not to run up the score on their visitors. An article of the game appeared in the local newspaper called ''The News'',

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota and Rice County, Minnesota, Rice counties in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 U ...

, on July 21, 1988. St. Olaf College arranged for the Norwegian players to visit the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

training camp and to socialize with the professional players of American football.

NAIF

In 2010, the NAFF merged with multiple federations to form the Norwegian Federation of American Sports aka the Norges Amerikanske Idretters Forbund (NAIF). The NAIF governs American football, flag football, cheerleading, lacrosse, and disc sports in Norway. It is also a member of the Norwegian Olympic Committee.

League competitions

Currently, men's senior competitions for American football in Norway are divided into three levels: *Eliteserien (Elite Series) **

Oslo Vikings Oslo Vikings is an American football club located in Oslo, Norway, that competes in the Swedish Superserien. They formerly competed in the Norwegian Eliteserien of the Norges Amerikanske Idretters Forbund, and the European Federation of American ...

** Åsane Seahawks ** Eidsvoll 1814s **

Vålerenga Trolls Vålerenga Trolls is an American football team located in Oslo, Norway that competes in the Norwegian Federation of American Sports (NAIF). The team was founded in 1983 as the Killer bees but later changed the name to Oslo Trolls and changed to it ...

**Lura Bulls *Division I ** Kristiansand Gladiators **Sarpsborg Olavs Menn **Kolbotn Hunters **Haugesund Hurricanes *Division II **Gjøvik Swans **Fredrikstad Kings **Tønsberg Raiders **Lillestrøm Starfighters New teams are usually placed in Division II and can be promoted to Division I. Likewise, teams in the Division I can also be promoted to the Eliteserien through team performance. However, there is no standardized system for promotion or relegation between the leagues. Usually, teams are placed in their leagues based on evaluation of their talent, performance, finances, and overall organizational health.

References

{{reflist American football in Norway Minnesota Vikings