The origin of Skeid

Skeid's official date of formation is January 1 1915. But the date is not quite right because there was another club that was founded that day, namely Kristiania Ballklubb (Kristiania Football Club, shortened KB)! So why does Skeid have the same date? And why do Skeid have to different club colors, red and blue and yellow and black?

The history of Skeid starts with Torshaug Athletic Club, formed on June 30 1909. This club did not only play football but also athletics and boxing*.

At this time there was only one municipal football ground in Oslo, Frogner Stadium, while Bislet was privately owned! This ground problem was the reason why boys from Torshaug did not join organized football but only practised in The Bjølsen Park.

But there were also other teams that used this park. Amongst the teams using the park were Sagene Youth Association and Bjølsen Football Club. The latter had achieved some success in the district league system, but they now faced the problem of raising a team. As a consequence, Torshaug was offered Bjølsens place in the league system.

To make this happen a new club was formed in March/April of 1912, named Njord. Most of the footballers now resigned from Torshaug IF and joined Njord. The league system had three divisions and the new club advanced quickly. But promotion to the top level proved hard, so reinforcements was sought.

In Gamlebyen (The Old Town of Oslo) there was a club called Oslo Football Club. Many of the players on that team were schoolmates of the players in Njord. So while the First World War began in Europe there were «peace talks» among the two small football clubs in Kristiania. The result was a merger between the two clubs to form the new Kristiania Football club. But still the name Skeid and the link to Torshov is missing.

For this connection we have to seek elsewhere, to the club Frem 1914. The members of this club lived at Torshov and was mostly involved with athletics, wrestling and speed skating on the open fields and parks (for instance Presteløkka where present days culture House Soria Moria is situated)

This club was formed on April 9 1914 and had 8 members at the start. When the club was denied membership in the Norwegian Athletics Federation, they converted to a Ski and Football Club. The club also joined the league system, and did fairly well. In 1925 the club reached the finals (beating both Lyn and VIF on the way), but lost to Sterling in the finals.

The logo of Skeid

But the first team faced problems recruiting players even though (as always with Skeid) they had many talented youngsters. They then started to look for ways to strengthen the club, and the solution was with, yes, Kristiania Football Club.

Talks of a merger were conducted at their common gathering place, Tømte in Nordmarka. The result was that Frem 1914 merged into KB, and the name was changed to Skeid on December 15 1925.

And the explanation for the different club colours? The colours used in football, red and blue, came from Kristiana Football Club. In return Frem 1914s colours, yellow and black, were used in the clubs logo and in winter sports.

Written by Erik Lindahl | Translation by Eirik Randsborg

* Torshaug IF later had members that won Norwegian championships in both athletics and in boxing, including the Olympic Champion Charles Hoff. The club was dismantled on June 10 1999 and became exactly 90 years old.

Sources:
1. Skeids membership magazine nr 12, December 1954 with personal 40 years accounts.
2. Deichmanns Library. Erdether about Skeid (Link: http://www.erdether.no/papp/showpage.do?
template-label=torshov-bydelstema&page-label=Fritid¬is=Skeid
3. Deichmanns Library. Erdether about Torshov - Fritid (Link: http://www.erdether.no/papp/showpage.do?
template-label=torshov-bydelstema&page-label=Fritid¬is=Torshaug)

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