Kvik Halden FK (Norway)

Kvik Halden Fotballklubb is a football club from the town of Halden, which is located in the region of Østfold, near the Swedish border and seventy-five miles south of Oslo. The current club came about as a merger in 1997.

Football was being played by several teams in the town. Kvik was one who joined forces with Start and Halden Idrætsforening to form Halden Idrætsforening. However, after a few years, the members of this club were turning their attention to other sports.

This led to the formation of FK Kvik; known informally as FK Kvik Halden to avoid confusion with FK Kvik from Trondheim, it was formed on June 19th, 1906. Interest soon grew with the club playing its first-ever game against Sarpsborg FK.

The club grew, helped by its location close to the Swedish border. The Swedes were far advanced football-wise compared to Norwegians at the time, and their influence assisted Kvik, who reached the final of the Norwegian Cup in 1915, losing to Odds BK in Sarpsborg.

Kvik bounced back to win the Norwegian Cup in 1918, at a time that the town of Halden was called Fredrikshald. 12,000 spectators saw a 4-0 triumph over SK Brann at Marienlyst Stadion in Drammen, with Johnny Helgesen playing a starring role.

In 1922, the team reached another Cup final, losing out again to Odds BK, with the final taking place in Bergen. Several players at the club were capped by the Norwegian national team, with Kvik considered one of the prominent clubs in the country.

Kvik’s internationals were: Helgesen, Wilhelm Nilsen, Arne Andersen, Alf Flinth, and

Alf Johansen, as the team collected several regional titles, and the club provided administrators to the Norwegian Football Federation.

Following the War, Halden dropped down to regional football, where they went on to win the Østfold championship in 1951. In 1961, the club took up a position in the national third tier. The team fell back down a level before recovering their 3rd Divisjon status in 1969. 

Women’s football was introduced to the club in 1974 while the first team continued to drop up and down between the third level. A new clubhouse on Adelgata was obtained in 1979. The club continued along, building a new clubhouse along with neighbouring club Halden FK on Thorsheimveien on the outskirts of town. 

This led to a merger of the clubs in 1997 to form Kvik Halden FK. HFK had a larger youth system, and the move was viewed as controversial by some, who considered it a move by FK Kvik to take over. 

As Halden is the second largest town in Norway not to have had a club at the top level since the formation of the national league in 1948, some saw it as a positive move. By 2006, Halden were playing in the 3. Divisjon Østfold Group, from where they lost out in the promotion play-offs to Fredrikstad FK II. 

IF Fram Larvik inflicted further play-off misery in 2008 after another excellent league campaign. A third play-off defeat in 2009 denied Kvik promotion. FK Ørn-Horten did the damage on away goals. However, 2010 saw Halden beat Eik-Tønsberg to reach the third tier 2. Divisjon for the first time in many seasons, which ended with a fifth-place finish in 2011.

Two further fifth-place finishes ensued, before a tenth-place finish in Group 4 in 2014. Halden were moved to Group 2 for the 2015 campaign, where they finished in third spot. However, it would be the Norwegian Cup that brought excitement to the club at a time when Glenn Ståhl was the head coach.

Wins against Oppsal IF, local rivals Fredrikstad FK on penalties, and then top-flight club Strømsgodset also after penalties, propelled Kvik to the fourth round for the first time since 1937. The run ended in a 3-0 defeat away to Eliteserien club Molde FK.

Restructuring of the Norwegian league system saw Kvik relegated to the fourth tier at the end of the 2016 season, despite finishing in ninth position. The team finished in third place in the retitled Regionsligaen Avdeling 1, one of six groups at that level. Kvik were moved to Avdeling 2 for the 2018 season, where they were positioned above mid-table with around a third of the season completed under head coach Kent Bergersen. 

Halden ended as their Third Division divisional champions in 2018, as Øystein Lundblad Næsheim top scored to win promotion to the third tier 2. Division where they finished as runners-up in 2019, as Youssef Chaib scored the goals.

A second successive promotion was denied as Åsane proved too strong in the play-offs. Arne Erlandsen had a spell as head coach before he was replaced by Kjetil Bragvin Andreassen following a period as interim boss. The team was relegated in 2024, bouncing back to lift the Avdeling 6, 3. Divisjon title a year later.

Kvik Halden FK will play in 2. Divisjon Avdeling 1 in the 2026 season.

My visit

Monday 28th May 2018

My weekend visit to Halden was sadly coming to an end. I’d had a wonderful time in a beautiful place while being royally looked after by Paul, Ragnhild, and Andrea. My youngest brother Nick, along with Rach and Stan, had arrived to make it a real family gathering.

They were going to watch Andrea play football that evening for TTIF, a club from nearby Tistadalen, who were heading up to Fredrikstad. I had a bit of time to kill before my 6pm train to Sarpsborg for their Eliteserien match against Stabæk.

I thought it was a good idea to take a look at Halden Stadion before my departure, along with time in the excellent Siste Reis pub I’d been in with Paul the previous evening. Ragnhild suggested all three brothers do that, and she’d pick the others up a little later. The weather had been stunning, but the dark clouds were gathering as we wandered through town and up the hill to the arena. 

It was located on the main Fridtjof Nansens Gate road into Halden, where the gates were open, so we could go inside. The main feature was the covered seated stand down the far side. The pitch was surrounded by a six-lane running track, with the opposite side having open seating. The end by the entrances contained the spectator facilities.

Three athletes were practising their javelin skills from the far end, while an automatic grass cutter was doing its job, keeping the turf neat and tidy. The rain started to fall as we were about done.

We managed to stay relatively dry as we headed back to the town centre and were soon in the excellent pub. It was a very pleasant few drinks listening to music and watching the world go by until it was time for me to head off to start another adventure in Sarpsborg and then Oslo.