Don’t be fooled by any conclusions that can be drawn from the “Holland phenomenon” or Bodø/Glimt and Molde in Europe: Norway’s leading football is collapsing, says Terje Liverade (67).
It’s been almost two years since the Sandefjord man came up with a statement to the conclusion that men’s football was doomed in Norway.
Now comes the sequel. A study and reflection that identifies causes. Overall, Norway’s top-flight football has been in decline for more than 20 years – in almost every area, he believes.
– I didn’t do this to be mean. We are sick of football, Liverate concludes.
– But Norway has two great players Premier League Now?
– Holland is a phenomenon in international football, but primarily the result of genes, parents and his own mind. Not through Norwegian football. You will always find unique cases. Ødegaard has become a great player, but with today’s globalization of football there is an “Ødegaarder” in “every” national team. And a little more.
Among the latest findings: since 2000 the NFF has not achieved even one of its top football targets in its sports sector. Since 2010, Eliteserien has been ranked as low as 20th in Europe.
But now the Eliteserien has risen to 16th place – especially for Liverød does not change the overall picture.
– You can’t call it “bad luck”. Then it became a motivation to try to find the reasons why things went so badly. I spent a year on it, he says.
He believes the numbers speak for themselves.
– The distance to the best is getting wider. If you add the findings, it becomes clear that Norway’s best football is not on its way, but is actually already on the decline.
– We cannot get out of it without more extensive structural changes.
Liverate had many roles as agent, scout and consultant in Europe and South America. He wants his statement to be debated.
Liverate currently resides in Montevideo, Uruguay.
– Do you black out while sitting abroad?
– It’s not black paint. Yes, I am mostly abroad now. But on the other hand, I have a good connection with Norwegian football. And it’s much easier to see things from the outside. And it’s much easier to interact with the global football world.
You can read about some of the issues he describes in the report in the Fact Box:
According to the report, Norway was the best sporting country in the world last year, according to population. Best sports country. In football, Norway does not feature in the top 28 countries to make the list – even adjusted for population.
– If we measure ourselves against the countries we have to compare ourselves to, it is notable that we do very well in winter sports and very poorly in football. And that’s because of it No Those people No Professor John Kettle Arnulf at BI says he is passionate about football.
He specializes in management research but has also researched the effect of firing football coaches.
– Looking at the numbers, it is not difficult to understand that there is a problem in football. But management in organizations is sometimes incredibly blind to management. He says they don’t realize what they are doing is wrong.
He cautions against blaming the “difficult climate” or “Norway as a small country”.
– It turns out that if you do things right, you can achieve great things, he points out.
He wonders if Norwegian football has the requisite professionalism.
– I think this is very important, these are absolutely necessary things. And very little was seen of it.
Faced with the fact that the Eliteserien has made a dent in UEFA’s league rankings and is ahead of countries like Denmark, Sweden, Croatia, Poland and Greece, Terje Liverød responded:
– It’s good, and it’s very useful for Norwegian football. But results should be measured over time, not short-term results, in this case additionally during an epidemic.
– Molde and Bodø/Glimt have some serviceable, some good and some good results in the conference league. But it didn’t help many other than two clubs.
– The fact that these clubs are in that condition in Norway today is a symptom of the disease. Because all good soccer nations have engines, but Norway doesn’t.
– Bergen is gone, Stavanger is gone, not to mention Oslo, he wanders.
Liverød wants ten teams in the Elitzerion. He believes the average salary in Elitzerien should be NOK 2.4 million.
According to the NISO survey, only 4.1 percent of players earned between two and three million kroner in 2020.
– Do you take into account the conditions in Norway when ten teams are needed in Elitzerien?
– Do we want better quality football, or should we prioritize width? If you want the best football, you can’t have 16 teams in Elitzerion. Resources are very spread out.
Norsk TopFootball chairman Cado Hoag would not comment on anything until approached by the report. He thinks the topics covered are very interesting – but also very large.
– Would you like to share the report, Liverate?
– Haug received the analysis in 2020 (previous Liverød report, editor’s note). There was broad agreement to examine the reasons for the continued decline of top-flight Norwegian football. It is important and natural for boards in companies and organizations to obtain independent reports. The report took more than a year and is of great help to them, so of course I am eager to share and help.
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