2011 Tippeligaen


The 2011 Tippeligaen was the 66th completed season of top division football in Norway. The competition began on 20 March 2011 and ended on 27 November 2011. Rosenborg were the defending champions, having secured their twenty-second League Championship on 24 October 2010. Sogndal, Sarpsborg 08 and Fredrikstad entered as the three promoted teams from the 2010 1. divisjon. They replaced Hønefoss, Kongsvinger and Sandefjord who were relegated to the 2011 1. divisjon.
Molde won their first ever Eliteserien title with two games to spare. Molde's 58 points was a record low for an Eliteserien champion in the current 16-team system.
The fastest goal in Norwegian top division history was scored this season on 15 April by Erik Mjelde in a 3–3 draw between his side Brann and Haugesund after 11 seconds.

Overview

At the end of the season, Sarpsborg 08 and Start were relegated to the 2012 1. divisjon, due to having finished in the bottom two positions in the standings. There was no two-legged promotion play-offs this season.
On 30 October 2011, Molde became champions with two games to spare after their only remaining challenger, Rosenborg, lost 3–6 to Brann in the 28th round of the series. The trophy was their first ever league championship.

Teams

Sixteen teams competed in the league – the top thirteen teams from the previous season, and the three teams promoted from 1. divisjon. The promoted teams were Sogndal, Sarpsborg 08 and Fredrikstad. This was Sarpsborg 08's first top-flight season, while Sogndal and Fredrikstad returned to the top flight after an absence of six years and one season respectively. They replaced Hønefoss, Kongsvinger and Sandefjord.

Stadiums and locations

TeamLocationStadiumTurfCapacityManager
Aalesund10ÅlesundColor Line StadionArtificial10,778 Kjetil Rekdal
Brann55BergenBrann StadionNatural17,824 Rune Skarsfjord
Fredrikstad41FredrikstadFredrikstad StadionNatural13,300 Tom Freddy Aune
Haugesund5HaugesundHaugesund stadionNatural5,000 Jostein Grindhaug
Lillestrøm48LillestrømÅråsen stadionNatural11,637 Henning Berg
Molde35MoldeAker StadionNatural11,800 Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Odd Grenland30SkienSkagerak ArenaArtificial13,500 Dag-Eilev Fagermo
Rosenborg48TrondheimLerkendal stadionNatural21,850 Jan Jönsson
Sarpsborg 081SarpsborgSarpsborg StadionArtificial5,000 Roar Johansen
Sogndal13SogndalFosshaugane CampusNatural5,402 Harald Aabrekk
Stabæk16BærumTelenor ArenaArtificial15,500 Jörgen Lennartsson
Start36KristiansandSør ArenaNatural14,300 Mons Ivar Mjelde
Strømsgodset24DrammenMarienlyst StadionArtificial7,500 Ronny Deila
Tromsø25TromsøAlfheim StadionArtificial7,500 Per Mathias Høgmo
Vålerenga51OsloUllevaal StadionNatural25,572 Martin Andresen
Viking62StavangerViking StadionNatural16,600 Åge Hareide

Managerial changes

League table

Positions by round

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

†Veigar Páll Gunnarsson scored nine goals in sixteen games for Stabæk.
Source:

Top assists

†Veigar Páll Gunnarsson assisted five goals in sixteen games for Stabæk.
††Jo Nymo Matland assisted three goals in seventeen games for Sarpsborg 08.
Source:

Discipline

Player