In June of 2018, a meager crowd of 274 fans witnessed Viking fall behind by four goals before halftime, eventually suffering an embarrassing 5-0 defeat to Nest-Sotra in Norway’s second division. “The low point was losing 5-0 against a team called Nest-Sotra,” chief executive Eirik Bjorno remembers, noting humorously, “That club does not exist anymore.” The executive describes that moment as “the absolute low point,” adding, “It looked like we would not go up but we turned it around and got promoted by a point.” Following steady growth despite a minor setback in 2022, the squad clinched their first top-flight championship in 34 years in 2025. Facing harsh reality proved essential, as sporting director Erik Nevland admits, “We realised that we were bad. Something needed to change.”
Beyond broader improvements across national player development—which Bjorno credits by stating, “The federation started to make sure we were developing players”—the team’s resurgence rests heavily on local identity. Nevland attributes their success to homegrown talent and committed figures in top managerial roles: “We use our academy and have homegrown players. We also have people in leadership roles who love the club and want to do well, people who have a passion for the town and have been around the club for a long time.” For these leaders, “This is the biggest job that they have had,” which helps maintain long-term stability because “Players can come and go. But the culture that we have created is massive.” That unique philosophy is epitomized by joint head coaches Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim and Morten Jensen—both former club players—a dual-management choice Bjorno defends by explaining, “Regardless of what people think or what the natural thing to do is, we need to ask ourselves what the best decision is for Viking. We genuinely thought it would make us better.” Nevland notes that “It was bold to do it that way. It was a gamble. But we were pretty sure we had to do something different to everyone else. It worked. Now, we almost cannot see another solution.”
That unconventional approach bore spectacular fruit when Champions League football arrived in Stavanger for a historic encounter against German giants Bayern Munich. Bjorno recalls opening the scoring early from a set piece: “That was the moment. You are preparing for wave after wave, maybe having a counter-attack or two, and then you score from the first corner.” Though Nevland remarks, “You can always score early,” he found the secondary strike even more unbelievable: “But that was something that we had never dreamed of. It was crazy. More than we could expect. It was just a night for the history books.” The German heavyweights eventually responded with three consecutive goals, but a red card for Michael Olise opened the door for Viking to snatch a memorable draw in what Bjorno labels “the biggest game in our club’s history.” Following the thrilling finish, Bayern executive Max Eberl sparked media chatter by labeling Viking’s skipper Zlatko Tripic a “scumbag” for his involvement in Olise’s sending off, to which a laughing Nevland responds, “But he is our scumbag,” continuing, “We love him.”
For 48-year-old Nevland, whose mother previously worked for the organization and who represented the team across four separate playing stints before competing for Manchester United as a youth and later Fulham in the Premier League, this achievement feels deeply personal. Bjorno believes the team’s European exploits provided crucial belief: “The most important learning is that we can actually compete. We can actually cope with the tempo.” Nevland describes representing his hometown squad on Europe’s grandest stage as an unfulfilled boyhood fantasy finally coming true. “I have dreamed about this since I was five years old,” the former Norway international shares. “I played for the club from the age of seven and I never experienced this as a player. It is kind of a dream to win the league and to now represent Viking in the Champions League. This is my hometown club and it means everything. It is the proudest time of my life.”
Maintaining this unprecedented momentum remains a challenge, yet Viking is currently tied on points with Bodo/Glimt as they seek to retain their national crown for the first time in over five decades with only seven matches remaining in the campaign. The immense revenue from European competition alters the entire landscape, with Nevland highlighting, “Financially, it is a different world,” as well as stating, “It gives you a very solid foundation, more freedom and security. It also gives you the possibility to sign different kind of players.” Rather than spending recklessly, Bjorno outlines plans for sustainable growth: “We will definitely look at our facilities, our training ground, our stadium,” asking, “We want Viking to be strong 100 years from now. What decisions can we make now to ensure that the next generation will have the opportunity to keep developing the club?” As Unai Emery’s Aston Villa awaits at Villa Park on Wednesday evening—followed by tough trips to face Napoli and Atletico Madrid—the club remains grounded, with Nevland warning that “The biggest danger in football is that you lose yourself very quickly because you are looking for success all the time. There are a lot of examples of that happening at bigger clubs.” Bjorno sums up what this magical era means to the community: “Everything. We spend all the time we have trying to make the club better. When you see so many kids with Viking jerseys around the city, this is what it is about. It is bigger than life in so many ways. We have been there when it was very dark so we know that it is a rollercoaster. We are just looking forward to the rest of this journey.”
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