Odds BK

Odds Ballklubb, commonly known as Odd, is a Norwegian professional football club from Skien. Originally the football section of a multi-sports club, founded in 1894 nine years after the club's founding. Most sports other than football and gymnastics were discontinued and the club became dedicated primarily to football. Odd plays in the Norwegian top division, Eliteserien, and holds the record of winning the Norwegian Football Cup the most times with twelve wins, the last coming in 2000. The club was known as Odd Grenland between 1994 and 2012. Founded in 1894, Odd is the oldest football club in Norway.^[1] As of 13 May 2017 the club was granted a membership in Club of Pioneers. It then became the first Nordic football club to be granted this membership.

Odd

Full name	Odds Ballklubb
Nickname(s)	Oddrane
Founded	31 March 1894; 130 years ago (31 March 1894)
Ground	Skagerak Arena Skien
Capacity	11,767
Chairman	Trond Haukvik
Manager	Kenneth Dokken
League	Eliteserien
2023	Eliteserien, 10th of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

History

IF Odd was founded in 1885,^[2] and is thus one of the older sports clubs in Norway still in existence. The name derives from Viktor Rydberg's novel Seierssverdet, where one of the main characters was a Norwegian athlete called Orvar Odd.^{[citation needed]}

In the beginning, IF Odd was mainly focused on gymnastics, and also had a department for Nordic skiing and track and field.^[2] A department for football, named Odds BK, was founded on 31 March 1894.^[3] This was the club's second effort to do so, some time after English workers at nearby Skotfoss brought the game of football to Skien, and the city^{[dubious – discuss]} decided to buy a football. Odd is counted as Norway's oldest football team still in existence.

Odd started a cooperation with the local club Pors in 1994, and changed their names to Odd Grenland and Pors Grenland, in an effort to represent the district of Grenland. In conjunction with the name change, a public limited company named Grenland Fotball was founded.^[3] Pors Grenland withdrew from the cooperation in December 2009,^[4] and in January 2013 Odd Grenland decided to change its name back to Odds BK because they wanted to be a club for the entire county of Telemark.^[5]

Odd won the Norwegian Football Cup in 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1913, 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1931 and 2000,^[3] more than any other team in Norway. In the late 20th century, the men's team struggled in the lower divisions for many years, but made it back to the Tippeligaen in 1999 and stayed there until they were relegated in 2007. The team had survived relegation twice; first in 2005 after a dreadful start of the campaign, then in 2006 when the team only survived relegation by beating Bryne in the relegation play-offs. In 2007 the team was relegated to the 1. divisjon after being beaten by Bodø/Glimt in the relegation play-offs. In 2008, with three games still to play, Odd secured the promotion back to the Tippeligaen after winning 4–0 at home against Hødd.

On 25 September 2011, Odd player Jone Samuelsen scored what is claimed to be the longest headed goal ever scored in a match, in a match against Tromsø, when he headed the ball from within his own half of the pitch into Tromsø's open goal, the goalkeeper having come forward for a late corner in the match. Norwegian police were invited to measure the distance, and calculated the length as to be 58.13 metres.^[6]

Home ground

Main article: Skagerak Arena

Skagerak Arena viewed from Sparebank 1 tribune

Club's home ground is Skagerak Arena (capacity 12,000), has seen the largest crowd (approx 12,500 people) at the 1984 Cup semi-final against Viking, though the official number is 8854. Officially, the highest attendance is 12.436, achieved in the 2015 Europa League play-off against Borussia Dortmund. The stadium was rebuilt to hold a capacity of between 13,000 and 14,000, and was finished in 2008. It is named Skagerak Arena after local sponsor Skagerak Energi.

Players and staff

First-team squad

As of 25 July 2024^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  NOR André Hansen 2 DF  NOR Espen Ruud 3 DF  NOR Josef Baccay 4 DF  SWE Leon Hien 5 DF  FIN Tony Miettinen 6 FW  NOR Tobias Svendsen 7 MF  NOR Filip Rønningen Jørgensen 8 MF  NOR Etzaz Hussain 9 FW  NOR Ole Erik Midtskogen 10 FW  NOR Mikael Ingebrigtsen 13 DF  NOR Samuel Skree Skjeldal 14 DF  GAM Sheriff Sinyan 15 DF  NOR Sondre Solholm Johansen 16 DF  NOR Casper Glenna Andersen

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  GHA Solomon Owusu 18 FW  NOR Syver Aas 19 FW  NOR Torgeir Børven 20 MF  NGA Ishaq Abdulrazak (on loan from Anderlecht) 21 DF  NOR Steffen Hagen (captain) 22 FW  GHA Abdul Zakaria Mugees 24 FW  SOM Bilal Njie 25 DF  NOR Godwill Fabio Ambrose 27 MF  NOR Oliver Jordan Hagen 29 FW  NOR Bork Bang-Kittilsen 30 GK  NOR Peder Klausen 32 FW  NOR Elion Krosa 40 GK  NOR Kjetil Haug (on loan from Toulouse)

For season transfers, see transfers winter 2024–25 and transfers summer 2024.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  NOR Thomas Rekdal (at Tromsdalen until 31 December 2024) 23 FW  NOR Anders Hartveit Ryste (at Notodden FK until 31 December 2024) 26 DF  NOR Jesper Skau (at Mjøndalen until 31 December 2024)

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Kenneth Dokken
Assistant coach	Knut Rønningene
Assistant coach	Martin Reier
Goalkeeper coach	Terje Abrahamsen
Sport director	Morten Rønningen
Personal developer	Amir Roland Iranmanesh
Physical and mental coach	Mikkel Fillingsnes Marker
Physical therapist	Anders Braastad
Player logistic	Thomas Skilbred
Player developer	Flamur Kastrati
Equipment manager	Nils Thomas Strømdal
Team coordinator	Tore Andersen
Doctor	Ola Stamnes

Honours

• Eliteserien:
  • Runners-up (2): 1950–51, 1956–57
• 1. divisjon:
  • Winners (2): 1998, 2008
• Norwegian Football Cup:
  • Winners (12) (Joint-Record): 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1913, 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1931, 2000
  • Runners-up (9): 1902, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1921, 1937, 1960, 2002, 2014

Recent history

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Notes
2000	Tippeligaen	8	26	11	5	10	40	31	38	Winner
2001	Tippeligaen	6	26	12	6	8	50	40	42	Semi-final
2002	Tippeligaen	6	26	12	5	9	36	30	41	Final
2003	Tippeligaen	4	26	11	5	10	46	43	38	Third round
2004	Tippeligaen	8	26	9	8	9	47	44	35	Third round
2005	Tippeligaen	9	26	9	6	11	28	51	33	Quarter-final
2006	Tippeligaen	12	26	7	8	11	30	38	29	Third round
2007	Tippeligaen	↓ 12	26	8	3	15	33	43	27	Semi-final	Relegated to the 1. divisjon
2008	1. divisjon	↑ 1	30	20	5	5	76	44	65	Semi-final	Promoted to the Tippeligaen
2009	Tippeligaen	4	30	12	10	8	53	44	46	Semi-final
2010	Tippeligaen	5	30	12	10	8	48	41	46	Semi-final
2011	Tippeligaen	5	30	14	6	10	44	44	48	Fourth round
2012	Tippeligaen	10	30	11	7	12	40	43	39	Fourth round
2013	Tippeligaen	7	30	11	7	12	43	39	40	Fourth round
2014	Tippeligaen	3	30	17	7	6	52	32	58	Final
2015	Tippeligaen	4	30	15	10	5	61	41	55	Quarter-final
2016	Tippeligaen	3	30	15	6	9	44	35	51	Fourth round
2017	Eliteserien	6	30	12	6	12	27	39	42	Fourth round
2018	Eliteserien	9	30	11	7	12	39	38	40	Fourth round
2019	Eliteserien	4	30	15	7	8	45	40	52	Semi-final
2020	Eliteserien	7	30	13	4	13	52	51	43	Cancelled
2021	Eliteserien	13	30	8	9	13	44	58	33	Fourth round
2022	Eliteserien	5	30	13	6	11	43	45	45	Fourth round
2023	Eliteserien	10	30	10	8	12	42	44	38	Third round

European record

Overview

As of 3 August 2017

Competition	S	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup	5	24	11	5	8	37	32	+5
Total	5	24	11	5	8	37	32	+5

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	1st Leg	2nd Leg	Aggregate
2001–02	UEFA Cup	1R	Helsingborgs IF	2–2	1–1	3–3 (a)
2004–05	UEFA Cup	2Q	FK Ekranas	3–1	1–2	4–3
		1R	Feyenoord	0–1	1–4	1–5
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	1Q	FC Sheriff Tiraspol	3–0	0–0	3–0
		2Q	Shamrock Rovers	2–0	2–1	4–1
		3Q	Elfsborg	1–2	2–0	3–2
		PO	Borussia Dortmund	3–4	2–7	5–11
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	1Q	IFK Mariehamn	2–0	1–1	3–1
		2Q	PAS Giannina	0–3	3–1	3–4
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Ballymena United	3–0	2–0	5–0
		2Q	Vaduz	1–0	1–0	2–0
		3Q	Dinamo Zagreb	1–2	0–0	1–2

Notes

• 1Q: First qualifying round
• 2Q: Second qualifying round
• 1R: First round
• PO. Play-off round

Managers

• Lennart Söderberg (1983–84)
• Tore Andersen (1990)
• Paul Wilson (1991–93)
• Lars Borgar Waage (1994–97)
• Tom Nordlie (1998–99)
• Arne Sandstø (1 January 1999– 28 September 2007)
• Gaute Larsen (2005–07)
• Ove Flindt-Bjerg (28 September 2007 – 17 December 2007)
• Dag-Eilev Fagermo (17 December 2007 – 31 January 2020)
• Jan Frode Nornes (11 March 2020 – 8 January 2022)
• Pål Arne Johansen (24 January 2022 – 31 December 2023)
• Kenneth Dokken (16 January 2024 –)

References

1. dubious, dubious (7 May 2017). "Club of Pioneers" (in Norwegian). Odds Ballklubb. Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
2. Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Odd Grenland". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
3. Tollefsen, Morten (28 March 2007). "Litt om ODDS BALLKLUBB" (in Norwegian). Odd Grenland. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
4. Saga, Else Jorunn (2 December 2009). "Pors ut av Grenland fotball" (in Norwegian). NRK. Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
5. "Odd stryker Grenland fra klubbnavnet". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
6. "Halfway-line Norwegian header set for record books". BBC Sport. 2 October 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
7. "A-laget" [First team squad] (in Norwegian). Odds BK. Archived from the original on 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2021-06-12.

External links

• Official website
• Oddrane supporter club website