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Lyn
Full name	Football Club Lyn Oslo
Founded	March 3, 1896
Ground	Ullevaal Stadion Oslo Norway (Capacity 25,572)
Chairman	Sveinung Lunde
Manager	Henning Berg
League	Tippeligaen
2007	Tippeligaen, 9th
Home colours 　 Away colours

Football Club Lyn Oslo is a Norwegian professional football club and a department of the sports club Ski- og Fotballklubben Lyn, whose members also participate in nordic skiing and orienteering. They are based in the city of Oslo and play their home games at Ullevaal Stadion.

Established in 1896, they were founding members of the Norwegian Football Association, and have won the League Championship twice and the Norwegian Cup eight times. The club's most recent period of success was during the 1960s, when they won four trophies and reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Lyn currently play in the Norwegian Premier League, having attained advancement in 2000. They are managed by Henning Berg, who led the team to a third place finish in the first season of his tenure, in 2005.

The westside club Lyn has traditionally been perceived as representing the upper and middle classes, whereas the eastside club Vålerenga was seen as belonging to the workers. Although Oslo still maintains an east-west divide in social demographics, the divide is now much weaker in the clubs' supporter bases.

Contents 1 History 2 Rivalry 3 Colours and badge 4 Stadium 5 Current squad 5.1 Out on loan 6 Recent history 7 Notable former players 8 Other Former Players 9 Former Managers 10 Achievements 11 Records 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External links

The club enjoyed a great deal of success during the first half of the 20th century, securing many Cup titles, and despite failing to win the league title, was considered a giant in Norwegian football. The Norwegian national football team that won the bronze medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics included six players from Lyn. The captain of this team was Lyn-player Jørgen Juve, who is still the player with the most goals scored for the Norwegian national team.

Lyn won the Norwegian Premier League for the first time in 1964. In 1968 they won The Double, clinching both the League title and the Norwegian Cup, and became the first Norwegian team to reach the quarter final of the European Cup.

The Double was followed by a dismal period in the club's history. The club was relegated and lingered about in the lower divisions for 20 years, with only the occasional spell in the Premier League. The fan base eroded and Lyn is said to have lost a generation of supporters.

During the 90s the club went back and forth between the Premier League and the 1st Division. In 1994, Lyn reached the Norwegian Cup final but narrowly lost 2-3 to Molde.

Norwegian investor Atle Brynestad bought the club in 1999, in effect saving it from bankruptcy. In 2000, the team was promoted to the Premier League, after winning the 1st division with an unprecedented number of points, and they retained their spot in the top flight the following year. In the 2002-season a strengthened Lyn took the lead early on and had gained a large advantage halfway through the season, but had to settle for a 3rd place finish after a disastrous slump in form. The misery, in part due to the constant hiring and firing of coaches, continued into the next year. Lyn struggled at the bottom of the table for most of the season but avoided relegation thanks to the efforts of team captain Tommy Berntsen, who took on the role as coach after Teitur Thordarson, the 5th coach in two years, had resigned. 2004 was a recovery year for Lyn, ending the season in 6th place and reaching the Norwegian Cup final (lost to Brann).

2005 was an eventful year for the club, both on and off the pitch. The club’s youth program was beginning to bear fruits and with former international Henning Berg as the new head coach the club claimed 3rd spot in the league. Lyn defeated Rosenborg at Ullevaal for the first time since 1968 and repeated the feat in the away game.

In April, the club's talented Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel signed a contract with Manchester United, and according to a statement by Lyn's managing director Morgan Andersen, it was the most expensive transfer in Norwegian football to date. The transfer has since been the source of a heated dispute, and Mikel instead joined Chelsea after a long period of time. FIFA released an announcement stating that Lyn had done everything correct in the process. The transfer is said to have cost Chelsea £16 millions. £12 of these to Manchester United and £4 to Lyn.

Lyn remain unbeaten by their arch rivals Vålerenga since 1981, a quite sensational fact. The matches between the two teams are considered to be the only true derbies in Norway in recent years. The run of games without defeat has made way for a legend, the legend about the "Derby Ghost", which always saves Lyn.

Lyn's home colours are red and white shirts and blue shorts. The shirts have red sleeves and a red front with a broad, vertical white bar in the middle, which is traditionally twice as wide as the sides (a 25-50-25 red-white-red pattern). The back has the same pattern, with inverted colours.

During the first years the club had two kits, one with blue and white horizontally striped jerseys and white shorts, and a red kit in the same fashion. These were used interchangeably up until at least 1906. It is unclear exactly when the current kit was adopted, but it was in use by the time Lyn had claimed their first Norwegian Cup in 1908. The socks have traditionally been red. White socks have also been used, most recently from the beginning of the 1990s until 2004, when the red socks were brought back.

The club uses an all-blue away kit, though several different colours have been used in the past.

The current club badge is a modified version of a design originally introduced in 1900. It was made by one of the first members of the club, Leif Eriksen, and replaced a silver badge from 1898. The crest features a football in the upper left corner and a pair of skis in the lower right corner, representing the two major sports of the club. While the badge is based on the heraldic shield form of the old coat of arms of Norway, Eriksen was probably not himself familiar with the rules of heraldic design. The name of the club and the date and year of its founding were written in gold on a white background, violating the so-called rule of tincture. Also, the date and year were written in different styles. The badge has therefore been altered twice, in 1996 and finally in 2001. On the current badge the date has been removed and replaced by "18 LYN 96" in red writing on a white background.

Lyn's home ground, Ullevaal Stadium, is also the national stadium. It was inaugurated in 1926 by HRH Crown Prince Olav. Arguably Lyn's most famous supporter, the future King Olav V was a lifelong honorary member of the club. The Norwegian Football Association acquired a majority in the stadium in 1960 and Lyn's ownership has since dwindled to the 13.07% share the club owns today.

Originally the stadium had a running track and could hold more than 35,000 spectators. The running track was eventually removed and there have been several redevelopments over the years, the last of which was completed in 1999 when the main stand was rebuilt. The current all-seater capacity of 25,572 spectators is far greater than Lyn's average attendance (which has been steadily rising over the past few seasons, ending at 6459 for the 2005 season, 7059 for the 2006, and is predicted to keep rising), but the club has recently chosen to remain at Ullevaal until at least 2010.

As of December 9, 2007.^[1]

No. Position Player 1 GK Eddie Gustafsson 2 DF Jimmy Tamandi 3 DF Shane Stefanutto 4 DF Indriði Sigurðsson 5 DF Ståle Stensaas 6 DF Christian Brink 7 MF Tomasz Sokolowski 10 FW Magnus Powell 11 MF Ezekiel Bala 12 GK Kjell Petter Opheim 14 FW Kim Holmen 15 MF Erling Knudtzon

No. Position Player 16 MF Espen Hoff 17 DF Kim André Madsen 18 MF Bjarne Kortgaard Ingebretsen 19 FW Dylan Macallister 20 FW Odion Jude Ighalo 22 DF Tommy Berntsen 23 DF Lars Kristian Eriksen 25 MF Paul Obiefule 26 MF Endre Fotland Knudsen 27 MF Magne Simonsen 29 DF Mads Dahm 32 FW Jo Inge Berget

No. Position Player 24 GK Johan Dahlin (at Trelleborg until June 2008)

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Notes
2001	ES	11	26	6	8	12	40	49	26	2nd round
2002	ES	3	26	14	5	7	36	29	47	quarter-final
2003	ES	10	26	8	6	12	34	45	30	last 16
2004	ES	6	26	9	10	7	30	31	37	final
2005	ES	3	26	12	8	6	37	21	44	3rd round
2006	ES	7	26	10	5	11	33	36	35	last 16
2007	ES	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		ongoing

Listed according to when they debuted for FC Lyn Oslo (year in parentheses):

• 1896-1900s: Bredo Eriksen (1896), Erling Maartmann (1905), Rolf Maartmann (1905), Victor Nysted (1905), Kristian Krefting (1909), Nikolai Ramm Østgaard (1909)
• 1910s: Per Skou (1911), Otto Aulie (1919)
• 1920s: Jean Louis Bretteville (1922), Jørgen Juve (1927), Frithjof Ulleberg (1929),
• 1930s: Arne Brustad (1930), Øivind Holmsen (1932), Fredrik Horn (1933), Magnar Isaksen (1933)
• 1940s: Tom Blohm (1945), Marlow Braathen (1945), Knut Osnes (1945), Lloyd Pettersen (1945), John Sveinsson (1945)
• 1950s: Axel Berg (1955), Arild Gulden (1959)
• 1960s: Andreas Morisbak (1961), Finn Seemann (1963), Ola Dybwad-Olsen (1964), Knut Kolle (1964), Harald Berg (1965), Helge Østvold (1967), Jan Berg, Jan Rodvang
• 1980s: Tom Sundby (1981), Simen Agdestein (1984)
• 1990s: Axel Kolle (1991), Ronny Johnsen (1992), Jan Derek Sørensen (1992), Hassan El Fakiri (1995), Tommy Nilsen (1995)
• 2000s: Ole Bjørn Sundgot (2000), Jonny Hanssen (2002), Steven Lustü (2002), Ali Al Habsi (2003), Øyvind Leonhardsen (2004), John Obi Mikel (2005)

• Gary Chivers (1993) 4 apps 0 goals
• Paul Norris (footballer) (1980) 22 apps 0 goals
• Jim McCalliog (1978) 2 games 0 goals

• Stuart Baxter

• Norwegian Premier League:
  • Winners (2): 1964, 1968
  • Runners-up (4): 1937-38, 1963, 1965, 1971

• Norwegian Football Cup:
  • Winners (8): 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1945, 1946, 1967, 1968
  • Runners-up (6): 1923, 1928, 1966, 1970, 1994, 2004

• Oslo Championships:
  • Winners (8): 1915, 1917, 1922, 1926, 1930, 1935, 1936, 1937
  • Runners-up (2): 1909, 1919

• Greatest home victory: 11-2 vs. Viking FK, July 28, 1968
• Greatest away victory: 14-2 vs. Kristiansund FK, May 6, 1951
• Heaviest home loss: 1-8 vs. Strømsgodset IF, May 16, 1969
• Heaviest away loss: 1-10 vs. Strømsgodset IF, June 16, 1968
• Heaviest European loss: 0-10 vs. Leeds United, European Cup Rd.1, leg 1, Sept 1969
• Highest attendance, Ullevaal Stadion: 35,000 vs. Sarpsborg FK, September 29, 1946
• Highest average attendance, season: 8,089, 1968
• Most appearances, total: 420, Ola Dybwad-Olsen 1964-1978
• Most appearances, league: 219, Ola Dybwad-Olsen 1964-1978
• Most goals scored, league: 119, Ola Dybwad-Olsen 1964-1978
• Most goals scored, season: 25, Ola Dybwad-Olsen 1968
• Most goals scored in a game, league: 8, Knut Osnes vs. S.K. Falken
• Most goals scored in a game, UEFA Cup: 6, Eldar Hadzimehmedovic vs. Runavik, August 28, 2003

• Grønnevold-Olsen, Egil (1996). Lyn i 100. Ski- og Fotballklubben Lyn 1896-1996. SFK Lyn. 

• Lyn.no Official club website
• Bastionen.no Supporters club website
• Lynfotball.net Seasons, statistics and records

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