List of Lillestrøm SK seasons

Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, Norway.^[1] The club is among the country's most successful sides, having won the league five times, and the cup six times. Founded the 2nd of April 1917, LSK already joined the regional league and the Norwegian Cup Championship the same year, and found a lot of success in the regional system of the time.

In 1937–38, the club would join the inaugural eleven-conference top-tier League of Norway, but would face relegation already in its 2nd season. Before the establishment of the League of Norway, winning the cup was considered to be the ultimate glory a Norwegian club could win, and is to this day considered the biggest game in Norway.^[2] After World War II and later due to the restructuring of the league-system, Lillestrøm was forced to play in the Third and Second Division. LSK's first major achievements on the national stage would come in the 1950s, after the club secured promotion to the newly established "Main League" in 1952. Throughout the decade, the club established themselves in the top-tier, and reached the cup finale thrice, losing at all three attempts. In 1958-59, the club managed to win their league-group for the first time ever, and would face Fredrikstad FK in the championship final. Fredrikstad had won the league seven times already, were considered the "aristocrats" of Norwegian football,^[3] and had gone unbeaten through their group. The clubs fought out a 2–2 tie in the first final, before a rematch was scheduled to months later. This time Lillestrøm won 4–1, and took their first ever major trophy. The two finalists would face each other again already in the final of the following season, this time ending with a 6–2 win for Fredrikstad.

Already in the following season, Lillestrøm would be relegated to the second tier. Despite following up by finishing second in the two following seasons, the clubs would see further misfortune when finishing last in the 1966 season. 1967 would be the weakest season in the clubs history, battling against relegation to the Fourth division. In the third last game of the season, a pivotal 2–1 win at home against Mesna SK helped to secure the spot.

Despite the difficult starting-points, Lillestrøms golden era would come during the 1970s and 80s, with the club climbing from the Third division in 1973, to winning the top-tier First division only three years later in 1976. This was largely due to a new generation of players coming through the academy, spearheaded by the talented striker Tom Lund.^[4] During this era, the club would be the first in Norway to bring up the matter of professionalising their players.^[5] The 1977 season would be the biggest in the clubs history, when winning the double while facing Dutch giants Ajax in Lillestrøms first ever European Cup-game. This fixture held extra symbolism, as Tom Lund had declined an offer from Ajax in 1973, while still playing in the Norwegian Third division.^[6] Despite a promising 2–0 win at Ullevaal Stadion, Ajax would come out victorious with a 4–0 win in Amsterdam.

The club would further go on to win the Norwegian Cup in 1978, 1981, and 1985, and the league in 1986 and 1989. Following this last league-title, the club would go on to almost getting relegated in the following 1990 season, only surviving by beating Bryne and Eik-Tønsberg in the relegation playoff. During the rest of the 1990s, the club would be an established force in the upper half of the league, and was occasionally close to challenging Rosenborg for the titles. 2001 would be the closest the club got to regaining their league title, when at the final day of the season, Lillestrøm remained only one point behind. For taking the title, Lillestrøm would have to beat Tromsø at home, while Brann had to keep Rosenborg to a tie. While Lillestrøm made a promising start, being 2–0 ahead at half-time, what followed was a parachutist flying through the roof over the singing supporters.^[7] In need of assistance, the game was 30 minutes delayed, while Rosenborg went on to win 6-2. The 2001 season remains the last time LSK won a medal in the league.

In the following seasons, Lillestrøm would go on to finish seventh three years in a row. In the mid-2000s however, Rosenborgs grip of power finally fell, and a new wave of enthusiasm arrived in Norwegian football.^{[8] [9]} In the 2005, 2006, and 2007 seasons, Lillestrøm would finish 4th at all occasions. The club also made it to the cup final in two of these seasons, losing 4–2 aet in 2005 to Molde, and winning 2–0 in 2007 against Haugesund. The following seasons would turn out disappointing for LSK. Big economic issues lead to weaker results on the pitch,^[10] and the club remained almost exclusively in the lower half of the table until eventually getting relegated after a playoff game against Start in 2019. Despite the worsened situation, the club did manage to win the cup in 2017, beating Sarpsborg 08 3–2 in the finale. In a seasons plagued by COVID-19,^[11] the club was able to get promoted back up the 1st tier at their first attempt in 2020. Since then, the club has made it to another cup final, and has been playing in Europe again.

For a long time, Lillestrøm held the record for the longest consecutive stay in the top-tier, with their 45 season-stay from 1975 to 2019.^[12]

Key to league and cup records:

http://www.lskhistorikk.com/

https://www.kfl.no/wiki/index.php?title=Hovedside

https://www.nifs.no/

https://www.rsssf.no/archive.html

Fagerli, Arnfinn & Nilsen, Christian Lunde: LSK til 1000, 2011.

• Norwegian football club seasons
• Norwegian football club statistics
• Lillestrøm SK seasons
• Association football in Norway lists

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• CS1 Norwegian Bokmål-language sources (nb)
• CS1 Norwegian Nynorsk-language sources (nn)
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