When Lucy Bronze rocketed Norway out of the Women's World Cup recently, with a tranquilizing strike to make England clinch a 2-1 victory in the round of 16, Norway were left with no surprise as they had to book their flights home. A more absurd scenario is looming large in the third tier of their own football pyramid for women.
The source of the issue is a significant difference in Norwegian football, contrary to e. g. the English structure. At the British Isles, the reserve side, recently re-labelled U21 sides, are playing each other in a particular league system made for U21 sides, where to there are no connections with the first teams at all. This is not the case up north, where the reserve sides are playing in the ordinary football league. (Of course, a reserve side can never participate in the same league as a particular club's first team, and actually there has to be a gap of minimum one tier inbetween.)
Reserve sides inconsistent and stuck
One flaw with this system is obviously that the ordinary lower league sides can face the same reserve side fielding a completely different line-up under the same name. Another is when the reserve sides pile up to make the inconsistent spine of the particular group, just like in divison two, group one. The women of FK Skeid are currently tenth in the league containing twelve sides, originally being a secure ticket for relegation.
However, the only side above them which isn't a reserve side is league leaders Raufoss. In between, from second to ninth, there are the likes of Stabæk, Vålerenga and Lillestrøm with their second best women represented. The reserve sides can't promote from this division, which means the play-off slot for the first and second-placed side will be handed to the best first team in the league, which is... Skeid. In the drop zone.
Both outcomes possible according to NFF
"The two top first teams are the ones participating in the play-offs, confirms Nils Fisketjønn of NFF, the Norwegian FA, to TV2. In other words, the unnatural scenario of a side (Skeid) participating in the play-offs for promotion, yet relegating if they get knocked out, might actually occur.
However, there are no panic in the Skeid camp, despite of the slightly absurd circumstances. "It's a situation isn't any sort of a shocker. We're aware that this division contains several reserve sides, although there are even more than usual this season. Obviously it's a strange situation", expresses Skeid's head coach Katrine Tretteng to TV2.