Vipers Kristiansand

Vipers Kristiansand
Full nameVipers Kristiansand
Short nameVipers
Founded12 January 1938 (as IK Våg)
Dissolved13 January 2025
ArenaAquarama Kristiansand
Capacity2,200
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away
Website
Official site

Vipers Kristiansand was a professional handball club from Kristiansand, Norway. The team competed in REMA 1000-ligaen, the top division in the country, since its promotion in 2001.

They claimed their first Norwegian championship in 2018, ending an 18 times streak for the champions from Larvik HK.[1] Since then, they've shown strong dominance in Norway and claimed 7 consecutive league titles, 7 cup titles and 5 playoff titles.

For the first time in the club's history, they qualified for the 2018–19 Women's EHF Final 4 in Budapest, where they took the 3rd place and a historic bronze medal.[2] On 30 May 2021, they won the 2020–21 Women's EHF Champions League and the following year they succeeded again, becoming the first Norwegian team to win EHF Champions League two years in a row. In 2023, they claimed another Women's EHF Final 4 title and secured the treble while the EHF FINAL4 Women in Budapest broke the world record for spectator attendance at women’s handball matches.[3]

On 20 October 2024, the club announced they were going to seek bankruptcy.[4] On 21 October 2024, it was reported that the club would not seek bankruptcy after all. A group of investors were interested in saving the club, in exchange that a new board of directors were elected and that the current one collectively stepped off.[5]

However, on 13 January 2025, the club officially declared bankruptcy with all players being let go of their contracts.[6][7]

Achievements

REMA 1000-ligaen:

  • Gold: 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2023/2024
  • Silver: 2016/2017
  • Bronze: 2002/2003

Norwegian Cup:

  • Winner: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022/23, 2023/2024[8]
  • Silver: 2010

EHF Champions League:

EHF Cup:

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2024-25 season

Transfers

Transfers for the 2025–26 season

Technical staff

  • Head coach:
  • Assistant coach:
  • Goalkeeping coach:

Notable former national team players

Notable former club players

Kit manufacturers

Period Kit manufacturer
–2016 Norway Playmaker
2016–2023 England Umbro
2023– Germany Puma

Statistics

European record

Season Competition Round Club 1st leg 2nd leg Aggregate
2003–04 EHF Cup Round 3 Greece OF Nea Ionia 37–13 36–21 73–34
Round of 16 France ESBF Besançon 31–26 30–32 61–58
QF North Macedonia Eurostandard G.P. Skopje 41–33 33–24 74–57
SF Hungary Győri Graboplast ETO 29–26 20–29 49–55
2004–05 EHF Cup Round 3 Switzerland ZMC Amicitia Zürich 19–27 34–25 53–52
1/8 Hungary Győri Graboplast ETO 28–38 25–33 53–71
2015–16 EHF Cup Winners' Cup Round 3 Norway Halden HK 25–19 22–20 47–39
Last 16 Poland MKS Selgros Lublin 28–22 22–25 50–47
Quarter-finals Slovenia RK Krim 29–27 20–30 49–57
2016–17 EHF Cup R1 Italy Cassano Magnago 52–10 37–12 89–22
R2 Russia WHC Lada Togliatti 23–29 32–26 55–55
2017–18 EHF Cup
Finalist
 Group B France Issy Paris 22–23 24–25 46–48
Denmark København Håndbold 30–23 25–30 55–53
Russia Handball Club Lada 30–21 24–29 54–50
QF France Brest Bretagne Handball 26–17 29–34 55–51
SF Denmark Viborg HK 31–34 29–23 60–57
F Romania SCM Craiova 26–22 25–30 51–52
2017–18 EHF Champions League QT1-SF Belarus HC Gomel 43–19
QT1-F Croatia HC Podravka Vegeta 42–14
Group D France Metz Handball 22–30 22–25 44–55
Montenegro ŽRK Budućnost 29–19 23–26 52–45
Germany SG BBM Bietigheim 24–29 24–25 48–54
2018–19 EHF Champions League
Third place Third place 		Group D Romania CSM București 27–29 31–26 58–55
Hungary Ferencvárosi TC 26–27 35–27 61–54
Germany SG BBM Bietigheim 27–27 34–26 61–53
Main Round
Group 2 		Hungary Győri ETO KC 26–33 29–33 55–66
Slovenia RK Krim Ljubljana 29–21 25–24 54–45
Germany Thüringer HC 31–24 29–21 60–46
QF Montenegro ŽRK Budućnost 25–18 24–19 49–37
SF Hungary Győri ETO KC 22–31
Bronze Match France Metz Handball 31–30
2019–20 EHF Champions League Group A France Metz Handball 38–38 17–26 55–64
Croatia RK Podravka Koprivnica 24–25 34–28 58–53
Hungary Ferencvárosi TC 31–22 34–29 65–51
Main Round
Group 1 		Russia Rostov-Don 29–32 26–33 55–65
Denmark Team Esbjerg 31–35 30–35 61–70
Romania CSM București 23–25 22–28 45–53
2020–21 EHF Champions League
Winner Winner 		Group A Russia Rostov-Don 23–24 0–10 5th place
France Metz Handball 29–28 0–10
Denmark Team Esbjerg 28–28 27–27
Hungary Ferencvárosi TC 26–31 28–30
Romania CSM București 30–25 29–22
Germany SG BBM Bietigheim 10–0 33–29
Slovenia RK Krim 37–30 27–26
Round of 16 Denmark Odense Håndbold 35–36 30–26 65–62
QF Russia Rostov-Don 34–27 23–23 57–50
SF Russia CSKA Moscow 33–30
Final France Brest Bretagne Handball 34–28
2021–22 Champions League
Winner Winner 		Group B Russia CSKA Moscow 24–27 32–28 2nd place
Slovenia RK Krim Mercator 27–26 37–20
Denmark Odense Håndbold 31–27 32–27
Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC 29–35 30–29
France Metz Handball 18–23 25–31
Turkey Kastamonu Bld. GSK 39–25 35–24
Sweden IK Sävehof 34–25 42–23
QF Slovenia RK Krim Mercator 33–24 32–25 65–49
SF France Metz Handball 33–27
Final Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC 33–31
2022–23 EHF Champions League
Winner Winner 		Group A Denmark Odense Håndbold 34–27 34–24 1st place
Slovenia RK Krim Mercator 27–21 36–31
Germany SG BBM Bietigheim 30–32 34–32
France Brest Bretagne Handball 31–24 36–29
Hungary FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 26–26 27–26
Czech Republic DHK Baník Most 43–21 39–24
Romania CSM București 35–29 24–27
QF Romania CS Rapid București 31–25 40–31 71–56
SF Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC 37–35
Final Hungary FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 28–24
2023–24 EHF Champions League Group B Denmark Team Esbjerg 37–38 37–32 4th place
France Metz Handball 34–36 29–31
Romania CS Rapid București 29–30 35–30
Hungary FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 37–26 35–27
Poland Zagłębie Lubin 34–20 28–24
Slovenia RK Krim Mercator 24–24 29–23
Denmark Ikast Håndbold 26–30 31–32
Playoffs Hungary DVSC Schaeffler 29–28 27–27 56–55
QF Hungary Győri ETO KC 23–30 26–24 49–54
2024–25 EHF Champions League Group B Denmark Team Esbjerg 29–30
Montenegro ŽRK Budućnost Podgorica 32–23 20–26
Germany HB Ludwigsburg 30–23 29–33
Hungary Győri ETO KC 22–27
France Brest Bretagne Handball 27–30
Romania CS Rapid București 30–30
Denmark Odense Håndbold 26–24

References

  1. ^ "Vipers stoppet Larviks vanvittige rekke. Seriemester for første gang" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. 16 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Vipers til Final 4" (in Norwegian). handball.no. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  3. ^ "EHF FINAL4 WOMEN SETS WORLD RECORD FOR SPECTATOR ATTENDANCE". eurohandball.com. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Vipers Kristiansand blir slått konkurs" (in Norwegian). TV 2. 20 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Vipers leverer ikke konkursbegjæring: – Grunnlag for videre drift" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 21 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Vipers er konkurs: – Skjemmer seg ut for resten av verden" (in Norwegian). TV 2. 13 January 2025.
  7. ^ "Vipers er konkurs: –⁠ En fryktelig nyhet" (in Norwegian). VG. 13 January 2025.
  8. ^ "NM-finaler Kvinner (innendørs)" (in Norwegian). NHF. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Vipers Kristiansand". European Handball Federation.
  10. ^ "All-Star team gets fresh look in 2019". European Handball Federation. 24 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Fan Favourite Oftedal leads Győr quartet in All-Star Team". eurohandball.com. 28 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Győr quintet headline EHF Champions League All-Star Team". eurohandball.com. 3 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Live blog: Vipers take third straight EHF Champions League trophy". eurohandball.com. 4 June 2023.