# Sandnes Ulf

Sandnes Ulf is a Norwegian association football club from Sandnes, Rogaland, currently playing in the 2. divisjon, the third highest division in the Norwegian football league system. The club play their home matches at Øster Hus Arena. The club was founded on 1 June 1911 as SK Ulf, and today has over 80 registered teams, making it the largest football club in Rogaland.
Sandnes Ulf play in light blue jerseys, white shorts and light blue socks. Sandnes Ulf is an open member association and the annual general meeting is the highest policy-making body. The meeting approves the accounts and elects the chairman and board. Stig Ravndal is the current chairman, elected in 2012. Daily operations are run by a managing director who liaises with the chairman.
Sandnes Ulf's official fan club is known as Gaukereiret ("The Cuckoo's Nest"), reflecting on the nickname for people from Sandnes; Sandnes-cuckoos.

## History

The sport of football came directly to Sandnes from its home country, England, when two British brothers Arnold and Hubert Thomas moved to the town in 1907. It did not take long before Sandnes' first football club was established, Sandnes Fodboldforening, but the club was dissolved a few years later when the two brothers moved back to England. The interest and love for football, however, had found its place in Sandnes, and in the summer of 1911 the new football club, Sportsklubben Ulf, was founded.
Nils Voss, a 1912 Olympic gold-medal winner in gymnastics, became the club's first President. In its inaugural year the club had a turnover of 88 Norwegian krones and 84 øre (approximately 14 US$). In 1916 the club's board decided to introduce a new uniform, choosing the light blue jersey and white shorts we see today.
In 1919 the club was promoted to class A in Landsdelsserien, which at the time was the highest level. In June 1927 the club opened Sandnes stadion, the arena where the club played until 2020, when they moved about 100 meters to Øster Hus Arena.
The 1930s was a successful decade for the club with top-3 positions six consecutive seasons, and qualifying for the newly established top division Norgesserien in 1937. The club played at this level until 1940 when the season was cancelled due to World War II. When the league started again in 1947 the club failed to qualify.
SK Ulf had spells on the second highest level during the 1950s, 60s and 70s, but have mostly been playing at level three or four in the 80s and 90s.
In 1997 the 11 football clubs of Sandnes founded Sandnes FK in an attempt to form a potential top club. The project however only succeeded partly, with a couple of seasons in Second Division. In 2003 Sandnes FK was on the verge of bankruptcy when they won their Third Division group, whereas Ulf-Sandnes was relegated to Fourth Division. This increased the keenness of both parts to cooperate, and during the winter of 2003–04 Sandnes FK incorporated into Ulf, with Ulf thus changing its name to Sandnes Ulf.
With Asle Andersen arriving at the club in 2006 as a player-manager he revitalised and professionalised the club and immediately brought on-field success. In 2007, Sandnes Ulf won promotion to Adeccoligaen (2008 1. divisjon), the second highest division in the Norwegian football league system. They won their 2. divisjon group three points ahead of Stavanger IF. This sparked renewed interest in the club, with increased press coverage and attendances at Sandnes stadion.
Prior to the 2008 season, the signings of Paul Oyuga and Artur Kotenko brought even more experience from professional football to the club. They were relegated back to 2. divisjon in 2008, but recovered and returned to the 1. divisjon for the 2010 season.
The club finished the 2010 1. divisjon at a relegation spot once again. However, Follo FK, a team which had managed to avoid relegation, was forced to withdraw from the league because of financial difficulties, and Sandnes Ulf kept its place in the division for the 2011 1. divisjon.
The 2011 season turned out to be very successful for the club: On 23 October 2011, one hundred years after its formation and one year after it was supposed to be relegated from the 1. divisjon, Sandnes Ulf gained promotion to the Norwegian top flight. Until that date, Sandnes had been the only city among the 10 largest cities in Norway which had not had a team in the top flight after World War Two.

## Stadium

Sandnes Ulf are playing their home games at Øster Hus Arena, which is located next to their old stadium. The stadium is an all-seater with a capacity of 6,046 spectators.

## Recent history

("Ulf-Sandnes" until, and including, 2003)
    Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes 2001 2. divisjon ↓ 12 269413 475631 First round Relegated to the 3. divisjon 2002 3. divisjon 6 221039 424033 2003 3. divisjon ↑ 1 221822 612556 First round Promoted to the 2. divisjon 2004 2. divisjon 8 2610412 384734 Second round 2005 2. divisjon 4 261196 574342 Second round 2006 2. divisjon 2 261574 503252 First round 2007 2. divisjon ↑ 1 261745 663055 First round Promoted to the 1. divisjon 2008 1. divisjon ↓ 15 3051015 365525 Third round Relegated to the 2. divisjon 2009 2. divisjon ↑ 1 261943 882861 Second round Promoted to the 1. divisjon 2010 1. divisjon 13 288713 334031 Third round Escaped relegation due to the demotion of Follo FK for financial reasons 2011 1. divisjon ↑ 2 3018210 583256 Third round Promoted to the Tippeligaen 2012 Tippeligaen 14 308814 445632 First round 2013 Tippeligaen 13 309615 365833 Second round 2014 Tippeligaen ↓ 16 3041016 275322 First round Relegated to the 1. divisjon 2015 1. divisjon 7 301389 494047 Second round 2016 1. divisjon 4 301569 552851 Fourth round 2017 1. divisjon 5 301497 443951 Second round 2018 1. divisjon 10 3011910 434742 Third round 2019 1. divisjon 9 3011514 464938 Third round 2020 1. divisjon 7 3011811 465541 Cancelled 2021 1. divisjon 8 3010911 434939 Quarter-final 2022 1. divisjon 5 3014511 545247 Third round 2023 1. divisjon 11 3010713 424537 Second round 2024 1. divisjon ↓ 16 304521 268017 Semi-final Relegated to the 2. divisjon
Source:

## Current squad

    As of 28 January 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 3 | DF | NOR | Espen Hammer Berger |
| 5 | MF | FRO | Gullbrandur Øregaard |
| 11 | FW | NOR | Jarmund Kvernstuen |
| 12 | GK | NOR | Eivind Hagen |
| 13 | GK | NOR | Tord Flolid |
| 14 | FW | NOR | Bård Brandeggen |
| 15 | FW | NOR | Henrik Jensen |
| 17 | DF | NOR | Andreas Rosendal Nyhagen |
| 19 | MF | NOR | Daniel Braut |
| 20 | FW | NOR | Jonas Brune Aune |
| 23 | DF | NOR | Erik Berland |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 24 | DF | NOR | Eirik Asante Gayi |
| 25 | MF | NOR | Endre Osenbroch |
| 28 | DF | NOR | Noah Bertelsen |
| 80 | MF | NOR | Daniel Arifagic |
| — | GK | NOR | Aslak Falch |
| — | DF | NOR | Kevin Egell-Johnsen |
| — | MF | NOR | Ådne Bruseth |
| — | MF | NOR | Sander Saugestad |
| — | MF | NOR | Jakob Tromsdal |
| — | FW | NOR | Ole Sebastian Sundgot |

## Managerial history

| Manager | Period |
| Magne Hetland | 1946 |
| Ludvig Oppedal | 1946–47 |
| Reidar Kvammen/Reidar Berger d.e. | 1948 |
| Petter Strøm/Willy Nilsen | 1949 |
| Jens Opsal | 1950 |
| Finn Tøgaard | 1951 |
| Reidar Berger d.e./Magne Hetland/Odd Thorsvik | 1952 |
| Gunnar Stensland | 1953 |
| Odd Thorsvik/Jon Larsen | 1954 |
| Odd Thorsvik/Torgil Gunneng | 1955 |
| Odd Thorsvik | 1956 |
| Gunnar Stensland | 1957–58 |
| Odd Thorsvik | 1959–65 |
| Tor Kyllingstad & John Oftedal/Gaute Skrudland | 1966 |
| Otto Hermansen | 1967 |
| Anders Svela | 1968–69 |
| Odd Thorsvik | 1970–71 |
| Rolf Stangeland | 1972 |
| John Oftedal | 1973–74 |
| Roald Bergsaker | 1975–76 |
| Arvid Knutsen | 1977–79 |
| Manager | Period |
| Roald Bergsaker | 1980 |
| Clive Baker | 1981–82 |
| Marvid Skjæveland | 1983 |
| Trond Tengesdal | 1984–85 |
| Kjell Arne Håland & Johnny Gilje | 1986–87 |
| Inge Thulin | 1988–90 |
| Trond Tengesdal | 1991 |
| Tony Knapp | 1992–93 |
| Arild Ravndal | 1994–95 |
| Torjus Sivertsen | 1996 |
| No team due to Sandnes FK | 1997 |
| Kjell Erga | 1998 |
| Kåre Nygaard | 1999–03 |
| Øystein Tveit | 2004–05 |
| Asle Andersen & Johan Selvig | 23 March, 2006–08 |
| Asle Andersen | 2009–2014 |
| Tom Nordlie | 2014 |
| Bengt Sæternes | 2014–2019 |
| Steffen Landro | 2020–2021 |
| Bojan Zajic (interim) | 2021 |
| Bjarne Berntsen | 2021–2023 |
| Thomas Pereira | 2023–2024 |
| Steinar Nilsen (interim) | 2024–present |