Sandnes Ulf is a Norwegian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

club from Sandnes,

Rogaland Rogaland () is a county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 479,892. The admin ...

, currently playing in the

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are p ...

, the second highest division in the Norwegian football league system. The club play their home matches at

Øster Hus Arena Øster Hus Arena is a football stadium located in Sandnes, Rogaland, Norway. It is a part of Sandnes Idrettspark and is used for football matches as the home ground of Sandnes Ulf. Øster Hus Arena was opened in the beginning of the 2020 seaso ...

. The club was founded on 1 June 1911 as SK Ulf, and today has over 80 registered teams, making it the largest football club in

. Sandnes Ulf play in light blue jerseys, white shorts and light blue socks. Sandnes Ulf is an open member association and the annual general meeting is the highest policy-making body. The meeting approves the accounts and elects the chairman and board. Stig Ravndal is the current chairman, elected in 2012. Daily operations are run by a managing director who liaises with the chairman. Sandnes Ulf's official fan club is known as Gaukereiret ("The Cuckoo's Nest"), reflecting on the nickname for people from Sandnes; Sandnes-cuckoos.

History

The sport of football came directly to Sandnes from its home country, England, when two British brothers Arnold and Hubert Thomas moved to the town in 1907. It didn't take long before Sandnes' first football club was established, Sandnes Fodboldforening, but the club was dissolved a few years later when the two brothers moved back to England. The interest and love for football, however, had found its place in Sandnes, and in the summer of 1911 the new football club, Sportsklubben Ulf, was founded.

Nils Voss Nils Knutsen Voss (22 February 1886 – 7 October 1969) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, D ...

, a 1912 Olympic gold-medal winner in gymnastics, became the club's first President. In its inaugural year the club had a turnover of 88

Norwegian krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ' ...

s and 84 øre (approximately 14 US$). In 1916 the club's board decided to introduce a new uniform, choosing the light blue jersey and white shorts we see today. In 1919 the club was promoted to class A in Landsdelsserien, which at the time was the highest level. In June 1927 the club opened Sandnes stadion, the arena where the club played until 2020, when they moved about 100 meters to

. The 1930s was a successful decade for the club with top-3 positions six years in a row, and qualifying for the newly established top division Norgesserien in 1937. The club played at this level until 1940 when the season was cancelled due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. When the league started again in 1947 the club failed to qualify. SK Ulf had spells on the second highest level during the 1950s, 60s and 70s, but have mostly been playing at level three or four in the 80s and 90s. In 1997 the 11 football clubs of Sandnes founded

Sandnes FK Sandnes Fotballklubb was a Norwegian association football club from Sandnes. It existed from late 1997 to early 2004, and was in the end incorporated by Ulf-Sandnes to form Sandnes Ulf. A cooperation between several Sandnes-based clubs, it pl ...

in an attempt to form a potential top club. The project however only succeeded partly, with a couple of seasons in Second Division. In 2003 Sandnes FK was on the verge of bankruptcy when they won their Third Division group, whereas Ulf-Sandnes was relegated to Fourth Division. This increased the keenness of both parts to cooperate, and during the winter of 2003/04 Sandnes FK incorporated into Ulf, with Ulf thus changing its name to Sandnes Ulf. With

Asle Andersen Asle Andersen (born 15 February 1972) is a Norwegian football manager and former player. He was the manager of Sandnes Ulf Sandnes Ulf is a Norwegian association football club from Sandnes, Rogaland, currently playing in the 1. divisjon, the ...

arriving at the club in 2006 as a player-manager he revitalised and professionalised the club and immediately brought on-field success. In 2007, Sandnes Ulf won promotion to Adeccoligaen (

2008 1. divisjon The 2008 1. divisjon season (referred to as Adeccoligaen for sponsorship reasons) began on 5 April 2008 and ended on 1 November 2008. In 2009, the number of teams in the top tier, Tippeligaen, will expand from fourteen to sixteen. Therefore, 2 ...

), the second highest division in the Norwegian football league system. They won their 2. divisjon group three points ahead of

Stavanger IF Stavanger Idrettsforening (SIF) was founded in 1905. SIF became an alliance club in 1998, and has divisions for association football, boxing, handball and track and field athletics. Football Stavanger IF Fotball is the football division of SIF ...

. This sparked renewed interest in the club, with increased press coverage and attendances at Sandnes stadion. Prior to the 2008 season, the signings of

Paul Oyuga Paul Mbuya Oyuga (born 7 April 1973 in Nairobi) is a Kenyan professional football forward who currently plays for Norwegian team Ålgård FK. Career He has played club football for AFC Leopards, Connecticut Wolves, Örebro SK, Bryne FK B ...

and Artur Kotenko brought even more experience from professional football to the club. They were relegated back to 2. divisjon in 2008, but recovered and returned to the 1. divisjon for the 2010 season. The club finished the

2010 1. divisjon The 2010 1. divisjon (referred to as Adeccoligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football season. The season began play on 5 April 2010 and ended on 7 November 2010. The clubs relegated from the Tippeligaen in 2009 were Fre ...

at a relegation spot once again. However,

Follo FK Follo Fotballklubb is a football club from Ski, Viken, Norway. Follo play in light blue, and their home ground is Ski stadion. It was founded in September 2000 and their biggest achievement was playing in the 2010 Norwegian Football Cup Fin ...

, a team which had managed to avoid relegation, was forced to withdraw from the league because of financial difficulties, and Sandnes Ulf kept its place in the division for the

2011 1. divisjon The 2011 1. divisjon (referred to as Adeccoligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football season. The season began play on 3 April 2011 and ended on 30 October 2011. The clubs relegated from the 2010 Tippeligaen were Hønef ...

. The 2011 season turned out to be very successful for the club: On 23 October 2011, one hundred years after its formation and one year after it was supposed to be relegated from the

, Sandnes Ulf gained promotion to the

Norwegian top flight Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

. Until that date, Sandnes had been the only city amongst the 10 largest cities in Norway which had not had a team in the top flight after World War Two.

Stadium

Sandnes Ulf are playing their home games at

, which is located next to their old stadium. The stadium is an all-seater with a capacity of 6,046 spectators.

Recent history

''("Ulf-Sandnes" until, and including, 2003)'' : Source:

Current squad

Out on loan

Managerial history

Notes

Literature

* Frank Bertelsen m. fl. (2011). ''100 år med lyseblå kjærlighet; Sandnes Ulf 1911-2011''. Dreyer Bok. * Olav Kåre Nygaard & Lars Strusshamn (2001): ''Ulf-Sandnes gjennom 15 år, 1986-2001'' * Odd Fladen, Petter Tjessheim & Lars Strusshamn (1986): ''Sportsklubben Ulf gjennom 75 år, 1911-1986''

External links

Official websiteGaukereiret supporterklubb - Sandnes Ulf Supporter's Club
{{Authority control Football clubs in Norway Eliteserien clubs Sport in Sandnes Association football clubs established in 1911 1911 establishments in Norway