Norwegian First Division

This article is about the current Norwegian second-tier football league. For the first-tier league previously known as 1. divisjon, see Eliteserien. For the women's division, see Norwegian First Division (women).

The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon (Norwegian: første divisjon) and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promoted to the Eliteserien, and the lowest finishing teams are relegated to 2. divisjon.

Norwegian First Division

Founded	1948 2015–present (as OBOS-ligaen) 2014 (as 1. divisjon) 2005–2013 (as Adeccoligaen) 1991–2004 (as 1. divisjon) 1963–1990 (as 2. divisjon) 1948–1951 (as 1. divisjon)
Country	Norway
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	16
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	Eliteserien
Relegation to	Norwegian Second Division
Domestic cup(s)	Norwegian Cup
Current champions	Vålerenga (7th title) (2024)
Most championships	HamKam Vålerenga (7 titles)
TV partners	Discovery Networks Norway
Website	obos-ligaen.no
Current: 2024 Norwegian First Division

1. divisjon was previously known as 2. divisjon (1963–1990) and replaced regional league Landsdelsserien (1951–1962) after the latter was dissolved after the 1961–62 season. The second tier was also prior to Landsdelsserien known as 1. divisjon (1948–1951). Formally, it was a semi-professional league.^[1] The tier has been restructured many times and consists of 16 teams at present.

History

Between 1963 and 1990, the second highest level in Norwegian football was named 2. divisjon. In 1991, due to rebranding of the top flight level in 1990, it was renamed to its initial name; 1. divisjon. 1. divisjon has been the name of this level ever since, except for periods when the league has had a sponsor-affiliated name. Between 2005 and 2013 the level was known as Adeccoligaen and from 2015 to 2020 the name is OBOS-ligaen.

Format

Previous

In the 1997 season, 1. divisjon merged from two divisions consisting of 12 teams each, to only one with 14 teams. In the 2001 season, 1. divisjon expanded from 14 to 16 teams. Only two teams were relegated in the 2000 season. In 2009, the number of teams in Eliteserien expanded from 14 to 16. Therefore, only one team was relegated to 1. divisjon, whilst three teams were promoted to Tippeligaen.^[2]

Current

Since 2012 four teams, finishing 3rd to 6th, has qualified for promotion play-offs. In the 2017 season the relegation format was changed. The previous format where four teams were relegated was replaced with a format with two relegation spots and one relegation play-off spot.

The league is contested by 16 teams. During the course of a season, each club plays the others twice, home and away, for a total of 30 games for each club, and a total of 240 games in a season. The season starts in April and lasts until early November. The top two teams will be promoted to Eliteserien, while the teams placed from third to sixth place will play a promotion-playoff against each other to earn the right to play a two-legged game against the 14th-placed team in Eliteserien to win promotion. The bottom two teams will be relegated to the 2. divisjon known as PostNord-ligaen, and the team in 14th place will play a two-legged playoff against the play-off winner among the two-second-placed teams in 2. divisjon.^[3]

Changes in competition format

From	To	Group(s)	Teams	Match-weeks	Season Start	Season End	Dir. promoted	Promotion play-off spots
1948–49	1950–51	11	83–84	10–14	Autumn	Spring	none	11
1951–52	1960–61	7	54	12–14			2	5
1961–62			55	18–21
1963	1971	2	16	14	Spring	Autumn	2	none
1972	1975	2 + 2 districts	35–36	10–14				3
1976		2 + 1 district	28	14–18
1977	1978		30	18
1979	1993	2	24	22				2
1994							4	none
1995	1996						2	2
1997	2000	1	14	26				1
2001	2007		16	30
2008							3
2009	2010						2	3
2011								none
2012	Present							4

Clubs

Current members

Bryne

Fredrikstad

Hødd

Jerv

Kongsvinger

Kristiansund

Mjøndalen

Moss

Ranheim

Raufoss

Sandnes Ulf

Sogndal

Start

Åsane

Oslo

Oslo region teams:
KFUM
Skeid

Locations of the teams in the 2023 Norwegian First Division

The following 16 clubs are competing in the 2023 Norwegian First Division:^[4]

Club	Position in 2022	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Bryne	11th	Bryne	Bryne Stadion	4,000
Fredrikstad	10th	Fredrikstad	Fredrikstad Stadion	12,500
Hødd	1st (2D)	Ulsteinvik	Nye Høddvoll	4,081
Jerv	16th (ES)	Grimstad	Levermyr Stadion	3,300
KFUM	4th	Oslo	KFUM Arena	2,000
Kongsvinger	6th	Kongsvinger	Gjemselund Stadion	5,824
Kristiansund	15th (ES)	Kristiansund	Kristiansund Stadion	4,444
Mjøndalen	9th	Mjøndalen	Consto Arena	4,200
Moss	1st (2D)	Moss	Melløs Stadion	4,000
Ranheim	8th	Trondheim	EXTRA Arena	3,000
Raufoss	12th	Raufoss	Nammo Stadion	1,800
Sandnes Ulf	5th	Sandnes	Øster Hus Arena	6,043
Skeid	14th	Oslo	Nordre Åsen	2,500
Sogndal	7th	Sogndal	Fosshaugane Campus	5,622
Start	3rd	Kristiansand	Sør Arena	14,448
Åsane	13th	Bergen	Åsane Arena	3,300

Sponsorship

Ahead of the 2015 season, a six-year deal was agreed with the housing cooperative OBOS. In the period from 2015 to 2020, 1. divisjon will be named OBOS-ligaen.^[5]

Period	Sponsor	Name
1948–1951	No sponsor	1. divisjon
1951–1962		Landsdelsserien
1963–1990		2. divisjon
1991–2004		1. divisjon
2005–2013	Adecco	Adeccoligaen
2014	No sponsor	1. divisjon
2015–	OBOS	OBOS-ligaen

1. divisjon has a number of official partners and suppliers. The official ball supplier for the league is Umbro who on 20 February 2020 signed the first ever contract to deliver official balls for OBOS-ligaen.^[6] The two-year deal began from the start of the 2020 season.

Statistics

Further information: List of teams promoted from the 1. divisjon and predecessors

From 1963 to 1990, the second tier in Norwegian football was named 2. divisjon. Until 1996, the 1. divisjon teams was split in two groups. This statistics shows the winning cubs, runners-ups, play-off teams, top goal scorer and the league's average attendances starting with the first one-group 1. divisjon season in 1997. Teams in bold won the promotion play-offs and were promoted to Eliteserien.

Season	Winner	Runner-up	Promotion play-offs	Top scorer	Avg. att.
2023	Fredrikstad	KFUM Oslo	Kristiansund, Kongsvinger, Start, Bryne	16 – Benjamin Stokke (Kristiansund)	1 851
2022	Brann	Stabæk	Start, KFUM Oslo, Sandnes Ulf and Kongsvinger	16 – Bård Finne (Brann) and Gift Orban (Stabæk)	2 057
2021	HamKam	Aalesund	Jerv, Fredrikstad, KFUM Oslo and Sogndal	24 – Oscar Aga (Grorud)	917
2020	Tromsø	Lillestrøm	Sogndal, Ranheim, Åsane and Raufoss	19 – Henrik Udahl (Åsane)	213
2019	Aalesund	Sandefjord	Start, KFUM Oslo, Kongsvinger and Sogndal	19 – Pontus Engblom (Sandefjord)	1 434
2018	Viking	Mjøndalen	Aalesund, Sogndal, Ullensaker/Kisa and Nest-Sotra	21 – Tommy Høiland (Viking)	1 711
2017	Bodø/Glimt	Start	Mjøndalen, Ranheim, Sandnes Ulf and Ullensaker/Kisa	28 – Kristian Fardal Opseth (Bodø/Glimt)	1 422
2016	Kristiansund	Sandefjord	Jerv, Sandnes Ulf, Kongsvinger and Mjøndalen	26 – Pontus Engblom (Sandnes Ulf)	1 495
2015	Sogndal	Brann	Kristiansund, Hødd, Jerv and Ranheim	17 – Pontus Engblom (Sandnes Ulf) and Robert Stene (Ranheim)	1 998
2014	Sandefjord	Tromsø	Mjøndalen, Kristiansund, Bærum and Fredrikstad	19 – Pål Alexander Kirkevold (Sandefjord)	1 376
2013	Bodø/Glimt	Stabæk	Hødd, Ranheim, Hamarkameratene and Mjøndalen	18 – Jo Sondre Aas (Ranheim)	1 453
2012	Start	Sarpsborg 08	Sandefjord, Mjøndalen, Bodø/Glimt and Ullensaker/Kisa	20 – Martin Wiig (Sarpsborg 08)	1 330
2011	Hønefoss BK	Sandnes Ulf	NFF removed the play-offs ahead of the season	18 – Vegard Braaten (Alta)	1 186
2010	Sogndal	Sarpsborg 08	Fredrikstad, Løv-Ham and Ranheim	17 – Marius Helle (Bryne)	1 544
2009	Haugesund	Hønefoss	Kongsvinger, Sogndal and Sarpsborg 08	24 – Thomas Sørum (Haugesund)	1 271
2008	Odd Grenland	Sandefjord (2nd) and Start (3rd)[7]	Sogndal	22 – Péter Kóvacs (Odd Grenland)	1 984
2007	Molde	Hamarkameratene	Bodø/Glimt	23 – Kenneth Kvalheim (Notodden)	1 726
2006	Strømsgodset	Aalesund	Bryne	19 – Mattias Andersson (Strømsgodset)	1 981
2005	Stabæk	Sandefjord	Moss	27 – Daniel Nannskog (Stabæk)	1 388
2004	Start	Aalesund	Kongsvinger	18 – Paul Oyuga (Bryne)	1 696
2003	Hamarkameratene	Fredrikstad	Sandefjord	19 – Markus Ringberg (Fredrikstad)	1 656
2002	Tromsø	Aalesund	Sandefjord	18 – Morten Gamst Pedersen (Tromsø)	1 174
2001	Vålerenga	Start	Hamarkameratene	18 – Bala Garba (Haugesund) and Marino Rahmberg (Raufoss)	1 490
2000	Lyn	Strømsgodset	Sogndal	25 – Jostein Flo (Strømsgodset)	775
1999	Haugesund	Bryne	Start	17 – Anders Blomquist (Haugesund)	1 033
1998	Odd Grenland	Skeid	Kjelsås	18 – Caleb Francis (Bryne)	741
1997	Vålerenga	Moss	Eik-Tønsberg	16 – Espen Musæus (Vålerenga)	1 169

References

1. "TURNERINGSBESTEMMELSER NFF ADECCOLIGAEN 2013" (PDF). ekstranett.fotball.no. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
2. "Tippeligaen utvides til 16 lag". Football Association of Norway (in Norwegian). 8 March 2008. Archived from the original on 4 August 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
3. "2014 Bestemmelser om KM, opp- og nedrykk" [Rules for promotion and relegation, 2014] (PDF). Football Association of Norway. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
4. "Stadiums in OBOS-ligaen 2022". Nordic Stadiums. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
5. "PM: 1. divisjon blir OBOS-ligaen" [Press release: 1. divisjon becomes the OBOS league]. ToppFotball.no (in Norwegian). Norsk Toppfotball. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
6. "OBOS-ligaen får offisiell ligaball". eurosport.no (in Norwegian). Eurosport. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
7. Both teams promoted directly because of the Tippeligaen extension to 16 teams in the 2009 season

External links

• Official website
• 1.division summary(SOCCERWAY)
• 1. Division 2015 season results, fixtures and league table at Soccerway
• First division 2015 by round/date, at RSSSF