The club as a home for everyone

Why is this a priority?

The Norwegian club structure is the backbone of our activity and must remain a safe and welcoming home for all.

Football plays a crucial role in Norwegian society, with clubs and regional associations forming the sport's foundation. Local clubs create arenas for inclusion, achievement, joy, and community. Football contributes to better public health—both physically and mentally—while also serving as an essential platform for instilling values such as respect, fair play, and belonging. Additionally, football brings joy, play, laughter, and well-being to people's lives.

Regional football associations play a key role in supporting clubs and ensuring that opportunities reach as many people as possible, regardless of financial situation, cultural background, or personal circumstances. Football generates value far beyond the sport itself, fostering public health, social belonging in safe environments, and a sense of joy for children, young people, and adults of all ages. This reinforces the club's role as a key driver of local community engagement.

By aligning our efforts with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals—such as improving public health, promoting gender equality, and fostering social inclusion—Norwegian football can contribute to a better society. Through football, we build strong communities, create equal opportunities, and promote values that benefit both current and future generations.

Read more about this in the Game changer ´Being Norway's Most Important Community Arena'

For everyone

Football must be a safe and inclusive space for all. When we create a sense of security, we lay the foundation for achievement, joy, and well-being while removing barriers to participation.

We will focus on increasing recruitment and reducing dropout rates among young people, increasing the participation of girls and women, and making a dedicated effort to include children and youth from minority backgrounds and individuals with disabilities. Football in Norway should reflect the country's diversity and be a place where everyone feels safe, welcome, and included. Football is for everyone—and we have zero tolerance for harassment, racism, and discrimination.

Together with regional associations and clubs, we will work strategically—including politically—to find solutions that ensure all children, regardless of background, have the opportunity to experience the joy of playing football.

Many Norwegian football clubs face financial challenges that make maintaining and developing quality activities difficult. High equipment, operations, and maintenance costs pressure club finances, while securing sponsorships and volunteers is becoming increasingly difficult. For many clubs, these challenges are compounded by poor, outdated, or inadequate facilities, making it difficult to provide children, young people, and adults with opportunities to play. This impacts both participation and the club's role as a vital meeting place in the local community.

Read more about our goals for recruitment and retention in football in the Game changer 'The World's Best Children's Football'.

The rise of private academies puts pressure on the Norwegian football model and our vision of football for all. NFF cannot prevent individuals from choosing private academies, but we can ensure our clubs provide the best possible football offerings. We must strike a balance—helping more clubs offer high-quality activities while ensuring that financial barriers do not hinder participation.

Many of our top players come from areas with strong socio-economic conditions, but opportunities and dreams should not depend on where you grow up or where you come from. We will ensure that all children and young people have equal opportunities to succeed, regardless of background. That's why we invest in financially sustainable initiatives such as football after-school programmes and club academies, enabling more young people to develop within the club system.

Through our regional football associations, which organise league play and match weekends, we actively work to make football accessible to as many people as possible. Many children, young people, and adults deeply desire to play football, develop their skills, and be part of a team—regardless of their circumstances. This includes individuals with disabilities who want to be part of a football community, wear a club kit, meet friends on the pitch, and experience the joy of sport and belonging.

Women's football is covered in A New Era of Success for Norwegian.

For life

We will offer activity concepts for everyone, regardless of age or gender. From UEFA Playmakers and Football After-School Programmes (FFO) to low-threshold initiatives like walking football, we aim to meet young people and adults where they are and make football more attractive through flexible formats. Creating safe and welcoming meeting places ensures football remains a lifelong passion.

Clubs bridging the gap between grassroots and elite football

The interplay between grassroots and elite football is one of Norway's greatest strengths. To ensure holistic development and strong club operations, regional football associations, in collaboration with interest organisations, must actively create meeting points where clubs at different levels can cooperate, share experiences, and find solutions together—including when players transfer between clubs. The intermediate and national development school clubs are essential for nurturing talent and strengthening the unique Norwegian model.

We also recognise emerging challenges. Private academies, early player recruitment, and foreign agents scouting younger and younger players can disrupt the balance. We must safeguard development systems that prioritise the player's needs to preserve and strengthen our model.

Regional football associations and clubs play a crucial role in supporting players as they transition between grassroots and elite levels, ensuring each individual has the opportunity to reach their potential. Some players, coaches, and leaders make a direct leap to the top, but for most, the journey is longer and requires a safe and supportive environment along the way. Likewise, those stepping down from elite football should not be left behind.

By supporting clubs at the intermediate level, we strengthen this transition, helping to maintain and further develop the Norwegian model's competitive advantage.

Further details can be found in the Game changer 'Strengthening the Link Between Grassroots and Elite Football'.

Nationwide access to football

To ensure football is truly for everyone across Norway, regardless of location, we must address the unique needs of both urban and rural areas.

In rural areas, football faces challenges such as depopulation, vast distances, and lower population density. Many clubs struggle to maintain activity as their membership base shrinks. This is particularly challenging in girls' football, where clubs often struggle to field enough players for teams.

Urban areas present a different set of challenges. Higher populations and limited space increase pressure on pitch capacity, which can hinder participation. Social and cultural differences may also create tensions and inequalities in access to facilities. Here, we need projects that foster inclusion and community, such as the Rosa Sko initiative.

To strengthen local communities, we must facilitate clubhouses and gathering spaces, particularly in densely populated areas lacking such facilities. At the same time, we aim to develop sustainable clubs that collaborate across local communities. Initiatives like Lys mellom husan demonstrate how football can bring people together and build stronger communities. We will continue exploring new models of cooperation to make this possible. We assess alliance club models in girls' football to ensure a smoother transition from children's to youth football.

Quality club programme

The Quality Club concept strengthens Norwegian football through structured club development, focusing on sound organisation, strong values, and high-quality activities. This ensures clubs offer a safe and developmental environment for players, coaches, and leaders, laying the foundation for long-term growth and sustainability.

It is essential that our investment in Quality Club and Quality Club+ does not disadvantage smaller clubs lacking the capacity to meet the classification criteria. Larger clubs must actively support smaller clubs through experience-sharing and collaboration.

Regional football associations will play a key role in facilitating cooperation between clubs. This includes discussions on player transitions, training opportunities, and knowledge exchange, with the goal of creating a stronger club network. In this strategy period, priority will be given to partnerships between neighbouring clubs to strengthen Norwegian football at all levels.

Volunteering – the foundation of Norwegian football

Volunteering is at the heart of Norwegian football, an essential pillar of the sport's development. Despite increasing professionalisation and more paid staff in clubs, football, like the rest of Norwegian sports, relies on voluntary efforts to thrive. Generations have been shaped by volunteering, building strong communities and providing a safe space for personal growth both on and off the pitch.

Norwegian football embodies unique values that must be preserved. It is about more than sport – it is about creating safe environments for children and young people, strengthening local communities, and fostering healthy development for future generations. To achieve this, we must stand together. We must ask what sport can do for us and what we can do for the sport.

Volunteering is under pressure. Fewer people are stepping up, and recruiting volunteers is becoming increasingly challenging. This issue demands action. NFF has a clear strategy: volunteers will not be replaced by paid staff. Instead, club employees should focus on recruiting more volunteers, improving organisation, and fostering a strong volunteering culture. This is especially important in large clubs and areas with lower socio-economic conditions—where challenges may be greater but where football can also make the biggest difference.

We must recruit more broadly, include more people, and support clubs with targeted measures to strengthen volunteering. By engaging a wider diversity of volunteers, we reflect local communities and build a football environment that truly belongs to everyone.

Volunteering is not just a tradition but an investment in the future. Together, we can build communities and ensure that football continues to bring joy, unity, and development for generations to come.

Futsal

Futsal has grown rapidly in recent years and holds great potential as a distinct sport and an inclusive space for those not participating in traditional football. We aim to better understand this growth by examining how futsal can recruit more players and create new opportunities for revenue, such as through public funding.

Our goal is to develop a sustainable futsal offering nationwide, which can eventually lead to competitive national teams. Access to indoor facilities will be crucial for further growth, ensuring futsal can be a valuable asset to Norwegian football while raising club and national team performance.