Hønefoss BK

Hønefoss
Full nameHønefoss Ballklubb
NicknameHBK
FoundedFebruary 4, 1895 (1895-02-04)
GroundAka Arena
Hønefoss
Capacity4,256 (3,500 seated)
ChairmanBjørn Aasen
ManagerGunnar Halle[1]
League2. divisjon
20243. divisjon group 6, 1st of 14 (promoted)
AKA Arena

Hønefoss Ballklubb is a Norwegian football club from Hønefoss, founded in 1895. The club was a part of the multi-sports club L/F Hønefoss, which folded in 2008.

After 11 years in 1. divisjon, the second tier of Norwegian football, Hønefoss was promoted to Tippeligaen in 2009, where they finished 14th in 2010 Tippeligaen and was relegated after a relegation-playoff against Fredrikstad. In 2011, Hønefoss won the 1. divisjon and was promoted to the Tippeligaen for the second time in three years. Their second spell in Tippeligaen lasted for two seasons, and they were again relegated to the 1. divisjon in 2013.

History

IF Liv multi-sports club was founded on 4 February 1895, and it merged with Fossekallen sports club in 1986 to create Liv/Fossekallen, which in 1997 changed name to L/F Hønefoss multi-sports club. The same year, the football branch of the sports club became economic and organisationally independent under its new name L/F Hønefoss Fotball. In 2002, the football club changed name to its current name Hønefoss Ballklub, and in 2009 the football club was completely separated from the defunct L/F Hønefoss sports club.[2]

Hønefoss competed in the Tippeligaen in 2010, the top tier of Norwegian football after promotion at the end of the 2009 season. Hønefoss got a tough start in their first season in Tippeligaen and lost their first six matches, something that ended in head coach Ole Bjørn Sundgot being fired. Tom Guldbrandsen immediately took over the job as head coach, Hønefoss won their next match 1–0 away against Stabæk. The 2010 season ended in 14th place, which resulted in relegation playoff matches to stay in Tippeligaen. In the first match, Hønefoss won the semi-final against Ranheim, but lost the final later on against Fredrikstad, and therefore got relegated to the 1. divisjon.

In the 2011 season they won the 1. divisjon, one point ahead of Sandnes Ulf, and was again promoted to the Tippeligaen. Remond Mendy was the team's top scorer with 14 goals. The team's second season in the Tippeligaen started much better than in 2010, and after five games, they had two wins and three draws, and was fifth in the table. Hønefoss eventually finished the 2012 season in 13th place. In the 2013 season, the club collected 29 points and finished the season in 16th place and was relegated to the 1. divisjon along with Tromsø.[3]

Recent seasons

Season League Grp Tier Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes
2001 1. divisjon II 9 30101010 455440 Third round
2002 4 301848 643658 Second round
2003 5 301677 554155 Third round
2004 12 3011415 525437 Third round
2005 4 301758 524156 Semi-final
2006 4 301569 644751 Third round
2007 10 3081111 345235 Third round
2008 5 301569 473351 Second round
2009 ↑ 2 301686 613256 Third round Promoted to Tippeligaen
2010 Tippeligaen I ↓ 14 307617 286227 Fourth round Relegated to 1. divisjon after losing the promotion/relegation play-offs to Fredrikstad
2011 1. divisjon II ↑ 1 301695 612857 Fourth round Promoted to Tippeligaen
2012 Tippeligaen I 13 3071211 304233 Third round
2013 ↓ 16 3061113 344729 Third round Relegated to 1. divisjon
2014 1. divisjon II 11 3012414 395540 Second round
2015 ↓ 16 307716 355228 Fourth round Relegated to 2. divisjon
2016 2. divisjon 2 III 3 261268 493542 Second round
2017 2 10 269512 354132 First round
2018 1 ↓ 13 265516 386720 Second round Relegated to 3. divisjon
2019 3. divisjon 6 IV 4 261457 674047 First round
2020 Season cancelled
2021 3. divisjon 2 IV 4 13742 281825 First round
2022 2 7 2611411 564637 First round
2023 2 2 262411 801973 First round
2024 6 ↑ 1 262420 1171774 Second round Promoted to 2. divisjon
2025 2. divisjon 2 III 7 2613310 574842 First round
2026 2 Second round

Source:[4]

Current squad

As of 1 September 2025[5]

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
1 GK  NOR Martin Kjeverud Eggen
3 DF  NOR Lars Rydje
4 DF  NOR Stian Aarønes Holte
5 DF  NOR Trace Murray
6 DF  NOR Isak Aalberg (on loan from Kristiansund)
7 DF  NOR Oskar Elias Wang
8 MF  NOR Henrik Elvevold
9 FW  SWE Hugo Benjamin Svensson
10 FW  NOR Kristoffer Hoven
11 FW  NOR Sander Finjord Ringberg
13 DF  NOR Jørgen Nilsen Bukten
14 DF  NOR August Tuastad Randers
15 DF  NOR Jon Øya (on loan from Stabæk)
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 DF  NOR Kristian Nøkleby-Karlsrud
17 MF  NOR Andreas Frøhaug
18 MF  NOR Ådne Nordbø
19 FW  NOR Emil Øverby
20 MF  NOR Martin Olimb
21 FW  NOR Simen Egge Nestaker
22 FW  NOR Brage Berg Pedersen
23 MF  NOR Sivert Nilsen Bukten
24 FW  NOR Birhat Niwar
26 GK  NOR Jonatan Strand Byttingsvik
29 MF  NOR Alexander Groven
46 MF  NOR Sander Røed
67 MF  BEL Tortol Lumanza

Managers

Name Year(s)
Norway Ole Asbjørn Underdal 1987
Norway Per Ulseth 1987–88
Norway Terje Liknes 1989–91
Norway Kjell Ramberg 1992
Norway Terje Liknes 1993
Norway Paul Berg 1994–96
Norway Roy Arild Fossum 1997–00
Norway Lars Tjærnås 2000
Norway Per Brogeland 2001
Norway Lars Tjærnås 2002–03
Sweden Peter Engelbrektsson 2004–06
Norway Kjell Sverre Hansen Wold 2007
Norway Ole Bjørn Sundgot 2008–10
Norway Reidar Vågnes 2010
Norway Leif Gunnar Smerud 2011–13
Norway Roar Johansen 2013–14
Norway Rune Skarsfjord 2014–15
Denmark René Skovdahl 2016
Norway Frode Lafton 2016–18
Norway Tor Thodesen[6] 2018
England Luke Torjussen[7][8] 2019–22
Iceland Marko Valdimar Jankovic 2022
Finland Mika Pulkkinen[9] 2022
Norway Gunnar Halle[10] 2023–present

Women's team

Hønefoss also has a women's team, which currently competes in the Toppserien, the top division of women's football in Norway.

References

  1. ↑ "Gunnar Halle tar over Hønefoss". NRK (in Norwegian). 5 December 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "Hønefoss BK – Fakta" (in Norwegian). honefossbk.no. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  3. ↑ Rise, Hans-Olav (10 October 2013). ""Topplaget" rett ned etter katastrofe-haust". NRK (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Hønefoss BK". NIFS (in Norwegian). NTB. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  5. ↑ "A-lagsspillere" [First team players]. Hønefoss BK (in Norwegian).
  6. ↑ "Thodesen overtar Hønefoss". NRK (in Norwegian). 1 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Ny trener for HBK". NRK (in Norwegian). 21 November 2018.
  8. ↑ "Enighet om trenerbytte i Hønefoss". NRK (in Norwegian). 7 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "Blir ny HBK-trener". NRK (in Norwegian). 26 May 2022.
  10. ↑ "Gunnar Halle tar over Hønefoss". NRK (in Norwegian). 5 December 2022.