Valerenga Fotball Damer - Intility Arena

Valerenga Fotball Damer

Intility Arena

Innspurten 16A

0663 Oslo

Norway

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Ground Number: 1435

Saturday 7th June 2025

Valerenga FD 2-0 Stabaek IFK
Toppserien

VALERENGA FK - A BRIEF HISTORY

Vålerenga Fotball is a part of the multi-sport club Vålerengens IF. Founded in 1913, the club is named after the neighbourhood of Vålerenga. Within its first seasons, Vålerengen would compete with the major clubs in Oslo at that time: Lyn, Mercantile and Frigg. Where Lyn and Frigg had a strong identity with academia and the upper classes, Vålerengen developed a working-class identity. They won the Oslo Championships four times before a national league (Norgesserien) was established in 1937. On either side of some mixed fortunes, including some relegations to the second tier, Valarenga first won the Norwegian title in 1965. The early 1980s saw huge success with the title won in 1981, 1983 and 1984. The 1990s were a turbulent time, with several seasons spent in the second tier. The club won their fifth and last league title in 2005, having finished as runners-up to Rosenborg, who had won it for thirteen years on the trot. A recent high was finishing 3rd in 2020, but Valarenga were relegated to the second tier in 2023. Last season saw them bounce back with the OBOS-ligaen title to return to the top flight.

Altogether, Valerenga have played 54 seasons in European trophies. Their best run came in the 1998/99 Cup Winners Cup when they beat Rapid Bucharest and Besiktas before losing to Chelsea in a two-legged quarter-final. The club has also won the Norwegian Cup four times and the second-tier title seven times. They moved into the Intility Arena in 2017. Before moving, the Ullevaal Stadion was the home ground, a stadium owned jointly by the Football Association of Norway and Vital Eiendom. It was shared with rivals FC Lyn. From the 1960s till the 1980s and a short period in the end of the 1990s, Bislett Stadium was Vålerenga's home ground. Bislett Stadium also hosted speed skating and track and field events in addition to football, and hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics.

Vålerenga Fotball Damer is the women's football branch of Vålerenga Fotball. They established a women's team for the first time in 1982. They took a five-season break from 1991 until 1996 to rebuild and focus on youth football. Starting back in the fifth tier, they were in the second tier by 2000. Success was not immediate at this level, and they had to drop down to the third tier before finally reaching the top flight in 2011. In 2020, the club won the Double, winning both the Toppserien and the NM Kvinner for the first time in the club's history. They won 2–0 against LSK Kvinner in the Cup Final, and were also ending LSK Kvinner's streak of six consecutive league titles. Further titles followed in 2023 & 2024, with the Norwegian Women's Cup won twice more.

MY VISIT

When I booked this weekend, I did so in the knowledge that it was an international weekend and I would be hard pushed to see a game in a top-flight ground. There was the chance that Norway would be playing someone, at the time, in March, the opponent was unknown. It turned out to be Italy, but by the time I realised, all of the tickets had sold out. There was a way to see a game at Valerenga, though, via their women's team. That was what I decided to do in the end, the 6PM kickoff aligning well with other games. A ticket was purchased a fortnight before at the very reasonable rate of £10 given how pricey things in Norway can get.

From my game at Ekeberg, it was an hour's walk to the Intility Arena. I kicked back and re-listened to 'A Page I Your Diary' by Keith A Pearson on Audible, which made the time fly by. There was barely anything en route, so I was glad of a shop at the ground. I got a pear cider, a hard seltzer, a soft drink, and a chocolate bar for £8.72. After supping up, I had a look around the fan zone, which was mainly kids' stuff, given the audience for the game. I'd already got my ticket for a tenner online, and entry was very relaxed with no bag checks. There wasn't the biggest attendance, so I got a great seat at the top of the stand. There was still a bit of an atmosphere with a small singing group getting behind the ladies.

Valerenga had won their last seven games, including a 6-1 win over Kolbotn IL Elite last time out. They were 2nd with the chance to go top whilst Stabaek were 5th. They were in 5th and in mixed form. In their last game, they'd lost 3-2 to LSK Kvinner. In the reverse game on 3rd May, Valerenga won 2-0. It was a very dull first half with barely any clear-cut chances. However, just before half time, Valerenga took the lead through Karina Saevik in injury time. The game perked up a tiny bit after that but it was still Valerenga having what few chances there were. They eventually doubled their lead on 78 minutes through Elise Thorsnes. The game petered out from there, and I was pleased to see it finish. Staebaek offered very little aside from rare chances on the break, which made for a dull game. 

THE GROUND

THE INTILITY ARENA has four separate stands with two of the corners filled in with other buildings. It has an all-seated capacity of 16,555. A limited menu was available upon my visit, but it looked to be well priced and had a good range for normal games. There is a fair bit around the ground, including a supermarket and various restaurants and bars.