When Viking FK finally brought an end to a painful 34-year Norwegian title drought last year, the nights they were truly dreaming of were the kind that light up the calendar in the UEFA Champions League.
Those dreams take tangible shape this week as the Stavanger club prepares for a glamorous trip to face Aston Villa on Wednesday. The fixture arrives on the back of an extraordinary 3-3 draw with German giants Bayern Munich on matchday one, a thrilling encounter in which Viking surged into a 2-0 lead by half-time before ultimately requiring a dramatic last-minute goal to rescue a hard-earned point.
For a club of Viking’s stature and recent history, rubbing shoulders with European royalty feels almost surreal. Following that unforgettable night against Bayern, Viking captain Zlatko Tripic—who bravely joined the club when they were languishing in the second tier back in 2018—expressed the sheer magnitude of the achievement to Norwegian channel TV2. "I could have played another 90 minutes. I’m so incredibly proud. I’ve waited 34 years for this," he said.
Tripic represents just one compelling chapter in the modern revival story of the historic Norwegian outfit. Alongside him is a fascinating rarity in contemporary elite football: a management team operating with joint head coaches.
Former assistant coaches Morten Jensen and Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim made the bold decision to step up together in 2021. Their partnership successfully steered the club to last season’s long-awaited league title, and remarkably, they currently find the team sitting proudly at the top of the table again this season.
The unique duo spoke about their collaborative journey on the BBC’s Euro Leagues show last month, just before embarking on their maiden Champions League campaign. Aarsheim, who spent the vast majority of his distinguished playing career wearing the Viking shirt, reflected on the deep emotional ties they share with the institution.
"It’s a special story. We were born Viking fans, we’ve been playing in Viking," Aarsheim said. "We were working together as assistant coaches and the dream job in managing Viking came up. We said let’s do it together. It will be better and the chances to get the job will be better."
Elaborating on their profound affection for the club in a recent interview with the Guardian, Aarsheim added: "For us, Viking is Barcelona. The players have to understand that we see Viking as more than a club. In our heads, it’s the best team in the world."
Jensen, who was on Viking’s books as a player during his younger years but never managed to make a competitive first-team appearance, shares that fierce, non-conformist ambition. "If you dare sometimes to go against the strides then you can achieve great things," Jensen noted. "If you’re going to follow and do whatever everybody else does, maybe we become a poor replica. So for now we’re happily married here and we love working together."
This season marks Viking’s first appearance in a European group stage since the 2005-06 UEFA Cup campaign. Aarsheim admits the jump in class has been breathtaking. "It’s almost unreal. We talked about it, maybe you should go into the Conference League and learn there, then you go into the Europa League. And we just jumped into the best party ever so it’s unreal."
Jensen aptly described their daunting yet mouth-watering Champions League fixture list—which features away matches against Aston Villa, Atletico Madrid, and Napoli, alongside the marquee home fixture against Bayern Munich—as "the whole buffet."
"We go to England, we go to Germany, we go to Italy, we go to Spain. We go to Napoli, Diego Maradona’s old playground, against Atletico Madrid we’ll be up against Diego Simeone’s side which will be very interesting," Jensen said. "And obviously Aston Villa as well, Norwegians are quite obsessed with English football so to go there to Villa Park and actually our old assistant coach Pal Fjall is set-piece coach there."
Viking stand proudly as one of the most successful and historically significant teams in Norwegian football, with this recent triumph marking their ninth league title overall. However, the club’s golden era largely belongs to the past, with six of those championship trophies captured during a dominant decade between 1972 and 1982.
Over the decades, the Stavanger club has frequently turned to British managers for guidance. Former Manchester United defender Bill Foulkes—a courageous survivor of the tragic 1958 Munich air disaster and a European Cup winner in 1968—managed the club in 1985. Years later, Roy Hodgson took the helm for an 18-month tenure stretching from 2004 to 2005.
Viking has also served as a fertile breeding ground for talent that later transitioned into the English Premier League. Notable alumni include former Fulham striker Erik Nevland and towering defender Brede Hangeland, Southampton striker Egil Ostenstad, and Thomas Myhre, who carved out a notable career as a goalkeeper for Everton and Sunderland. Nevland, who also famously spent time at Manchester United, has put his deep club ties to use by serving as Viking’s sporting director since 2021.
On the continental stage, the club has enjoyed memorable nights in the past. Most notably, they stunned English giants Chelsea by knocking them out of the UEFA Cup in the first round back in 2002 via a dramatic 5-4 aggregate victory.
Yet, football is a game of fine margins and harsh realities. In 2017, under the stewardship of English manager Ian Burchnall and featuring several British players within the squad, Viking suffered a catastrophic campaign that ended in relegation from the top flight for the first time in 31 years.
Reflecting on that dark period, Viking fan Risan noted: "They spent too much money on players who weren’t good enough. A lot of things went wrong and it ended in relegation. But it turned out to be a good thing for Viking."
As the club braced itself for a humbling reality check in the second-tier campaign of 2018, they turned to a familiar and trusted face by bringing back Bjarne Berntsen as head coach. The veteran manager had previously played for the club, managed them successfully from 1992 to 1995, served another stint as caretaker boss, and even spent time operating as their chief executive.
Working closely alongside Berntsen as his assistant coaches were Aarsheim and Jensen. Together, the coaching trio masterminded an immediate response, winning the second-tier title and securing an instant return to the top flight at the first attempt.
"They realised they had to go back to their roots and make the people of Stavanger proud of Viking, and be part of the Viking family," Risan explained. "There were a lot of local players, they invested in the youth academy. They built for the future something that would be stable for years and not relying on money from rich uncles, as we say in Norway."
The reset bore fruit immediately. In their very first season back in the elite division, Viking captured the 2009 Norwegian Cup—which was their first major silverware since 2001. Following a respectable sixth-place finish in the Covid-interrupted 2020 season, Berntsen was surprisingly relieved of his duties, paving the way for his two trusted assistants to take over the reins.
"People were sceptical about it," Risan admitted regarding the unorthodox joint-manager appointment. "It seems like it just works for them even though people were laughing or asking questions. They figured out how they wanted to do it and stuck to it. They’re both from Stavanger and love the club."
After securing third-place finishes in both 2021 and 2024, the dynamic managerial duo finally got their team over the line last season, sealing the championship title on the back of a relentless run of seven consecutive victories.
Central to this remarkable modern renaissance has been the inspirational presence of captain Zlatko Tripic. The talismanic winger, now 33 years of age, arrived at the club immediately following their demoralizing relegation in 2017. He brought with him valuable pedigree, having previously won the Norwegian title twice with Molde in 2011 and 2012, before joining Viking from Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol, where he had already experienced European football.
"It’s a great story," Risan said of Tripic’s arrival. "We had just got relegated in 2017 and it was a big surprise when Zlatko turned up. He was a profile, someone we didn’t think [we could sign]. We thought he just came to keep fit and train. But he really liked the idea of taking the club to something great and being part of a good story. Viking is traditionally a big club, but it was down in the dust. He’s been a big part of taking Viking back to the top of the table."
Tripic cemented his status in club folklore by scoring the winning goal in the 2019 Norwegian Cup final triumph against Haugesund. Although he departed in 2020 for a stint with Turkish side Goztepe, he returned to Stavanger just 18 months later.
Upon his return, the Croatia-born forward reached double figures in both goals and assists across three consecutive seasons—a feat previously unmatched by any player in the history of Viking FK. True to form, he was once again the hero during last week’s historic draw against Bayern Munich, orchestrating two crucial assists, including the vital equaliser that ignited celebrations across Norway.