Viking’s 34‑year wait finally pays off as club eyes Champions League debut
Viking FK’s long‑awaited return to the top of Norwegian football has turned into a European adventure. After ending a 34‑year league title drought last season, the Stavanger side now travel to Aston Villa for a Champions League group match, following a dramatic 3‑3 draw with Bayern Munich in which they led 2‑0 at the break and salvaged a point with a last‑minute goal.
Captain Zlatko Tripic, who joined Viking when they were in the second tier in 2018, told Norwegian broadcaster TV2 after the Bayern game: “I could have played another 90 minutes. I’m so incredibly proud. I’ve waited 34 years for this.” His words capture the revival that has been driven by an unusual coaching arrangement – joint head coaches Morten Jensen and Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim.
Both former assistants were promoted together in 2021 and guided Viking to the title last season, and they are leading the club once again this year. Speaking to the BBC’s Euro Leagues programme before their Champions League debut, Aarsheim, a lifelong Viking player, said: “It’s a special story. We were born Viking fans, we’ve been playing in Viking. We were working together as assistant coaches and the dream job of managing Viking came up. We said let’s do it together, it will be better and the chances of getting the job will be better.” In a separate interview with the Guardian he added: “For us, Viking is Barcelona. The players have to understand that we see Viking as more than a club. In our heads it’s the best team in the world.”
Jensen, who never made a first‑team appearance as a player, echoed the unconventional mindset: “If you dare sometimes to go against the strides then you can achieve great things. If you just follow everybody else you become a poor replica. So for now we’re happily married here and we love working together.” He described the Champions League itinerary – trips to Villa, Atlético Madrid, Napoli and a home game with Bayern – as “the whole buffet”. “We go to England, Germany, Italy, Spain. We’ll face Napoli on Diego Maradona’s old ground, Atlético under Diego Simeone, and of course Aston Villa, where our former assistant Pal Fjall now works as set‑piece coach,” he said.
This is Viking’s first appearance in a European group stage since the 2005‑06 UEFA Cup. Aarsheim called it “almost unreal”, recalling how the club once thought about progressing through the Conference League and Europa League before suddenly finding themselves in the “best party ever”. Jensen called the schedule a chance to play in historic venues, adding that “the atmosphere in Norway is electric after the title”.
The title itself was clinched on the final day of the 2025 season, when Viking thrashed Vålerenga 5‑1 at home to stay one point ahead of dethroned champions Bodø/Glimt. It marked the club’s first league crown since 1991, a remarkable turnaround after slipping to the second tier in 2018. Fan and podcaster Lars Risan told BBC Radio 5 Live: “A lot of people were nervous and excited. I’ve never experienced it before. Hopefully it won’t be the only time in our lives we feel this. It brings the whole city together, it’s a special thing you never know when you’ll get to experience again. I want everyone to be part of the celebration, maybe a big party at the stadium would be awesome.”
Viking sit three points clear of Bodø/Glimt this season, having played one more match. The club’s history includes nine league titles, six of which came between 1972 and 1982. British influence has run deep, with former Manchester United defender Bill Foulkes – a survivor of the 1958 Munich air disaster – managing in 1985, and Roy Hodgson steering the side for 18 months from 2004 to 2005. Several former Viking players have gone on to Premier League careers, including Erik Nevland, Brede Hangeland, Egil Ostenstad and Thomas Myhre. Nevland, who also played for Manchester United, has been Viking’s sporting director since 2021.
European highlights include a famous 2002 UEFA Cup upset when Viking eliminated Chelsea 5‑4 on aggregate. The club suffered a setback in 2017, being relegated for the first time in 31 years under English manager Ian Burchnall, a collapse that fan Risan attributes to overspending on inadequate players. “It turned out to be a good thing for Viking,” he said, noting that the fall forced a rebuilding process.
The resurgence began in earnest in 2018 when Bjarne Berntsen returned as head coach, having previously played for and managed the club in the 1990s. His assistants, Aarsheim and Jensen, helped Viking win the second‑tier title and secure promotion, setting the foundation for the remarkable rise that now sees the club competing on Europe’s biggest stage.