Sportsklubben BRANN (SKB)
 Photo © Bergen Guide |
Brann is, in some terms, the biggest club in Norwegian soccer. Admittedly not in trophies, but the club has a great history and has maintained a dominant position in domestic sport for almost a century. Brann was cup finalist as early as 1917, and as late as 1999. No other club in the country can match Brann for media exposure, support and, unfortunately, scandals. One thing is for certain, Brann evokes passion and commitment.
Based in Bergen, Norway’s second city, with a population of approx. 250.000, Sportsklubben Brann was founded in the autumn of 1908. Ever since the early days the club has been at the forefront of Norwegian football. Brann have dominated football in Bergen throughout the club’s existence, except during the mid-thirties. Other clubs from the city has come and disappeared, but Brann stand firm. The club reached it’s first FA Cup Final in 1917, but was defeated 1-4 by Sarpsborg. Brann was also outclassed 0-4 by Kvik Halden in the Final the following year. In 1919, Brann Stadium opened. It was funded entirely by the club and some wealthy contributors and is still owned by the club, as one of very few major arenas in Norway not to be municipal property. It boasted one of the first grass pitches in the country.
The first cup
Throughout Brann’s history the club has been inspired by Bristish influence. Numerous coaches have been imported from the British Isles. It was during Donald Colman’s reign Brann won its first trophy, the FA cup in 1923. Brann beat Lyn 2-1 in the final. Two years later Brann repeated the feat, now avenging the defeat in 1917 by hammering Sarpsborg 3-0.
During the 1920s, Brann was the main source of players for Norway’s national team. Players like Finn Berstad, Alexander Olsen and Hugo Hofstad provided the backbone of the national side.
Champions at last
However, some lean years followed, and Brann did not make an impact on Norwegian football in the 1930s. In 1950 the club reached its sixth Cup Final, but lost to Fredrikstad. The Norwegian national league had been set up in 1937. It was organized as regional leagues, with the winners entering the play-offs. In 1948 it was restructured and a national division was introduced, with the teams split in two pools, the winners meeting in a league final. Brann challenged the league title for the first time in -52, but lost the final 1-3 to Fredrikstad.
In 1961 the league was again revamped. All 16 teams in pool A and B joined the ‘Marathon League’, to challenge for a place in the eventual 10-team First Division, to be in operation from 1963. Brann won the ‘Marathon League’, the club’s first League championship. A second win followed in 1963, unfortunately the club’s second championship is also the last. As yet!
‘Kniksen’ and ‘Pesen’
Brann was relegated in 1964, after losing some influential players from the championship campaigns. Roald Jensen, nicknamed ‘Kniksen’, made his international debut as a 17-year old in 1960. He is widely recognized as one of the country’s best players ever. In 1964 he joined Hearts of Midlothian, and played in Scotland for eight years, before rejoining Brann in 1972. Another high-profiled player was Rolf Birger Pedersen, ‘Pesen’, as he was dubbed. He is still the club’s all-time top scorer, with 132 league and cup goals.
Brann was back in the top flight in 1968 and have stayed there since, but for a bizarre period in the -80s, when the club was relegated and promoted between the top divisions every second year, from 1979 ’till 1987. From 1987 onwards Brann has been ever-present in the top division, since 1990 named Tippeligaen. The club enjoyed a very good spell in the mid-seventies, under the management of Billy Elliott, the former England international. Brann won the FA cup in 1972 (the year before Elliott took over) and 1976, and lost to Lillestrøm in the 1978 final. In the league, Brann was three matches from achieving a third championship in 1976, but fell in the run-in and finished third. The year before Brann was runners-up.
Crowd pullers as always
Regardless of trophies, Brann has maintained its pulling power to the crowds. Brann is the only Norwegian club to have averaged more than 10000 per match since 1963, when the present league format was introduced. It is a magnificent achievement, considering the lack of trophies in the period. Together with Rosenborg, Brann is by far the most popular club in Norway, reflected in the present attendances: the two are only ones to average more than 10000 over a season since 1981. And the highest ever average attendance recorded was during Brann’s championship season in 1963, when 15306 followed the reds week in week out.
Since 1996, Brann is yet again established as one of Norway’s top clubs. The lowest position was in 1998 when Brann finished sixth, twice has the club been runners-up, once third. In the late -80s and during the -90s, Brann played in five FA Cup Finals, failing to win in any, and after taking three of them, all against Rosenborg, to replays. Following the defeat in 1995, Brann took Rosenborg’s place in the European Cup Winners Cup, after Rosenborg claimed the league and cup double that year. During the Cup Winners Cup campaign, Brann progressed to the quarter-finals. Brann was only the second Norwegian club to achieve that, 29 years after Lyn was the first. On the way to the quarter-finals against Liverpool, Brann defeated Shelbourne of Ireland, Cercle Bruges of Belgium and the mighty PSV Eindhoven of Holland. Against the English team, Brann played 1-1 in Bergen and was defeated 3-0 in Liverpool. Tore Andre Flo, presently with Glasgow Rangers, was the star player in that team.
Hope in the end of the tunnel?
Still the 1982 triumph versus Molde, 3-2, remains Brann’s latest success. Rosenborg have enjoyed a very dominant spell domestically since 1988, including winning the last nine championships. Brann is tipped to be one of very few candidates powerful enough to challenge Rosenborg. Rosenborg have built a solid foundation financially, after regular appearances in the UEFA Champions League. The financial situation at Brann is unfortunately very grim at the moment, but every Brann-fan live in hope that one day.
| Location: | Located at Minde. |
| Address: | Idrettsveien 47 |
| Telephone: | +47 55 59 85 00. |
| Fax: | +47 55 59 85 25. |
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