Norwegian Second Division

Norwegian Second Division
Founded	2016– (as PostNord-ligaen); 2012–2015 (as Oddsen-ligaen); 2009–2011 (as Fair Play ligaen); 1991–2008 (as 2. divisjon); 1963–1990 (as 3. divisjon)
Country	Norway
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	28 (divided into 2 groups of 14)
Level on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Norwegian First Division
Relegation to	Norwegian Third Division
Domestic cup(s)	Norwegian Cup
Current champions	Hødd (Group 1), Skeid (Group 2) ; (2024)
Website	fotball.no
	Current: 2024 Norwegian Second Division

The Norwegian Second Division, also called 2. divisjon and often referred to as PostNord-ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the third-highest level of the Norwegian football league system.

There are 28 teams divided into two groups, and at the end of the season the winner of each group earns promotion to the second-highest division, 1. divisjon. The teams finishing in second place in their respective group will qualify for the promotion play-offs, where they will face each other. The winner will play against the 14th placed team in 1. divisjon for promotion. The bottom three teams in each group are relegated to 3. divisjon.

2. divisjon is the highest league a reserve team can participate in, and only reserve teams from the Eliteserien clubs (first tier) are allowed to enter. The participation of reserve teams stirs debate from time to time.^[1]

History

Between 1963 and 1990, 2. divisjon was the second highest level of the Norwegian football league system, therefore the name of the third highest level was 3. divisjon. When the highest level was rebranded in 1991, this level changed its name to 2. divisjon. From 2009 to 2011, the official name of the league was Fair Play ligaen, and from 2012 to 2015 the name was Oddsen-ligaen (after the main sponsor Norsk Tipping's betting-game called Oddsen).^[2]^[3] The league is currently branded as PostNord-ligaen, sponsored by PostNord.

Current members

Oslo

Oslo region teams:

Bærum

Grorud

Lyn

Ullern

Locations of the 2023 Norwegian Second Division teams.

Green: Group 1;

Red: Group 2.

The following 28 clubs are competing in the 2023 Norwegian Second Division.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Club	Group	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Aalesund 2	1	Ålesund	Color Line Stadion	10,778
Alta	2	Alta	Finnmarkshallen	1,200
Arendal	1	Arendal	Norac Stadion	5,000
Brattvåg	1	Brattvåg	Brattvåg Stadion	1,500
Bærum	2	Sandvika	Sandvika Stadion	1,500
Brann 2	2	Bergen	Varden Amfi	3,500
Egersund	1	Egersund	Idrettsparken	2,000
Fløy	1	Flekkerøy	Flekkerøy Kunstgress	2,000
Fram Larvik	1	Larvik	Framparken	2,500
Gjøvik-Lyn	2	Gjøvik	Gjøvik Stadion	3,000
Grorud	1	Oslo	Grorud Arctic Match	1,700
Junkeren	2	Bodø	Nordlandshallen	5,500
Kjelsås	1	Oslo	Grefsen Stadion	2,000
Kvik Halden	2	Halden	Halden Stadion	4,200
Levanger	2	Levanger	TOBB Arena	2,200
Lyn	1	Oslo	Bislett Stadion	15,400
Notodden	1	Notodden	Idrettsparken	4,000
Sotra	2	Sotra	Straume Idrettspark	1,200
Stjørdals-Blink	2	Stjørdal	M.U.S Stadion Sandskogan	2,000
Strømmen	2	Strømmen	Strømmen Stadion	1,850
Strømsgodset 2	2	Drammen	Marienlyst Stadion	8,935
Tromsdalen	2	Tromsø	TUIL Arena	3,000
Træff	1	Molde	Reknesbanen	1,500
Ull/Kisa	2	Jessheim	Jessheim Stadion	4,500
Ullern	2	Oslo	CC Vest Arena	1,500
Vålerenga 2	1	Oslo	Intility Arena	16,555
Vard Haugesund	1	Haugesund	Haugesund Stadion	8,754
Ørn Horten	1	Horten	Lystlunden Stadion	3,000

Winners

1991–1995

All group winners, excluding second teams of top division teams, were promoted to 1. divisjon.

Season	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4	Group 5	Group 6
1991	Odd	Bærum	Vard Haugesund	Brann 2^{[nb 1]}	Rosenborg 2^{[nb 2]}	Bodø/Glimt
1992	Lillestrøm 2^{[nb 3]}	Skeid	Åssiden	Åsane	Nardo	Mjølner
1993	Jevnaker	Åndalsnes	Stabæk	Vidar	Stjørdals-Blink	Alta
1994	Sarpsborg FK	Odd Grenland	Sandefjord BK	Haugesund	Aalesund	Stålkameratene
1995	Elverum	Ullern	Mjøndalen	Vidar	Byåsen	Harstad

^ Os were promoted
^ Stjørdals/Blink were promoted
^ Ski were promoted

1996–2000

Each group winner played qualification play-offs to decide which teams promote to 1. divisjon. Teams in bold promoted to 1. divisjon through qualification play-offs.

Season	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4	Group 5	Group 6	Group 7	Group 8
1996^{[nb 1]}	Sarpsborg FK	Skjetten	Runar	Vigør	Rosenborg 2^{[nb 2]}	Finnsnes	—	—
1997	Kjelsås	Raufoss	Ullern	Vidar	Fana	Kolstad	Strindheim	Lofoten
1998	Liv/Fossekallen	Skjetten	Ørn-Horten	Vidar	Fyllingen	Clausenengen	Rosenborg 2^{[nb 3]}	Lofoten
1999	HamKam	Asker	Sandefjord	Vidar	Fyllingen	Aalesund	Strindheim	Tromsdalen
2000	Skjetten	FF Lillehammer	Ørn-Horten	Mandalskameratene	Hødd	Aalesund	Stålkameratene	Lofoten

^ Byåsen and Harstad from 1. divisjon played qualification games against group winners from 2. divisjon
^ Verdal finished second in Group 5 and qualified for promotion play-offs, but was not promoted.
^ Mo finished second in Group 7 and qualified for promotion play-offs, but was not promoted.

2001–2016

All group winners, excluding second teams of top division teams, were promoted to 1. divisjon.

Season	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
2001	Skeid	Åsane	Oslo Øst	Lørenskog
2002	Fredrikstad	Bærum	Mandalskameratene	Alta
2003	Pors Grenland	Kongsvinger	Vard Haugesund	Tromsdalen
2004	FK Tønsberg	Follo	Løv-Ham	Alta
2005	Sparta Sarpsborg	Oslo Øst	Viking 2^{[nb 1]}	Tromsdalen
2006	Notodden	Skeid	Mandalskameratene	Raufoss
2007	Nybergsund	Hødd	Sandnes Ulf	Alta
2008	Mjøndalen	Skeid	Stavanger	Tromsdalen
2009	Strømmen	Follo	Sandnes Ulf	Ranheim
2010	Asker	Hødd	Randaberg	HamKam
2011	Ullensaker/Kisa	Bærum	Notodden	Tromsdalen
2012	Elverum	Kristiansund	Vard Haugesund	Follo
2013	Bærum	Alta	Nest-Sotra	Tromsdalen
2014	Jerv	Levanger	Åsane	Follo
2015	KFUM	Raufoss	Ullensaker/Kisa	Kongsvinger
2016	Tromsdalen	Elverum	Florø	Arendal

^ Haugesund finished second in Group 3 and was promoted

2017–

Teams in bold were promoted to 1. divisjon.
Teams in italics were relegated to 2. divisjon.

Season	Group 1	Group 2	Play-off teams
2017	Ham-Kam	Nest-Sotra	Fredrikstad (1. div), Raufoss (2. div, gr. 1), Notodden (2. div, gr. 2)
2018	Raufoss	Skeid	Åsane (1. div), Fredrikstad (2. div, gr. 1), KFUM Oslo (2. div, gr. 2)
2019	Stjørdals-Blink	Grorud	Notodden (1. div), Kvik Halden (2. div, gr. 1), Åsane (2. div, gr. 2)
2020	Fredrikstad	Bryne	Stjørdals-Blink (1. div), Skeid (2. div, gr. 1), Asker (2. div, gr. 2)
2021	Kongsvinger	Skeid	Stjørdals-Blink (1. div), Hødd (2. div, gr. 1), Arendal (2. div, gr. 2)
2022	Moss	Hødd	Skeid (1. div), Arendal (2. div, gr. 1), Ull/Kisa (2. div, gr. 2)
2023	Egersund	Levanger	Hødd (1. div), Lyn (2. div, gr. 1), Tromsdalen (2. div, gr. 2)

Reserve teams

Reserve teams of clubs from the two top divisions can participate in the 2. divisjon. Reserve teams of clubs from the 1. divisjon can not play in the 2. divisjon, so if a team is relegated from the 1. divisjon, the club's reserve team will be relegated to the 3. divisjon regardless of their final position in the league.^[7]

Sponsorship

From 2016, 2. divisjon has its title sponsorship rights sold to PostNord.

Period	Sponsor	Name
1963–1990	No sponsor	3. divisjon
1991–2008		2. divisjon
2009–2011		Fair Play ligaen
2012–2015	Norsk Tipping	Oddsen-ligaen
2016–	PostNord	PostNord-ligaen

Records and statistics

Team records

2001–2016

4 groups
Record	Team	Season
Most points	70 (Kongsvinger)	2003
Fewest points	3 (Stord and Skjervøy)	2001 and 2003
Most goals in one season	105 (Tromsdalen)	2011
Fewest goals in one season	18 (Langevåg)	2003
Most goals conceded in one season	130 (Skjervøy)	2003
Fewest goals conceded in one season	13 (Elverum)	2016
Most goals in one game	15–0 (Strindheim – Salangen) 15–0 (Sparta Sarpsborg – Fram Larvik)	2004 2005
Biggest win	15–0 (Strindheim – Salangen) 15–0 (Sparta Sarpsborg – Fram Larvik)	2004 2005

2017–

2 groups
Record	Team	Season
Most points	65 (HamKam)	2017
Fewest points	13 (Byåsen)	2017
Most goals in one season	66 (Åsane)	2019
Fewest goals in one season	21 (Brumunddal)	2017
Most goals conceded in one season	69 (Odd 2 and Stabæk 2)	2017 and 2018
Fewest goals conceded in one season	18 (HamKam)	2017
Most goals in one game	5–5 (Bærum – Oppsal)	2019
Biggest win	8–0 (Raufoss – Follo)	2017

Average attendances

Season	Average
2014	258
2015	285
2016	262
2017	350
2018	493
2019	474

Top ten most attended games

No.	Season	Game	Attendance
1	2018	Fredrikstad–Moss	10 413
2	2019	Fredrikstad–Byåsen	7 912
3	2002	Fredrikstad–Kvik Halden	7 013
4	2018	Fredrikstad–Asker	5 691
5	2002	Fredrikstad–Eidsvold Turn	5 370
6	2003	Kongsvinger–Ullensaker/Kisa	5 024
7	2010	Hamarkameratene–Brumunddal	4 565
8	2019	Fredrikstad–Kvik Halden	4 462
9	2018	Fredrikstad–Raufoss	4 291
10	2019	Fredrikstad–Stjørdals-Blink	4 245

References

^ Aarre, Eivind (5 September 2007). "Foreslår 2.-lagene i egen liga". Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
^ "Fair Play Ligaen 2009". Mo IL. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
^ "2. divisjon skifter navn". nettavisen.no (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
^ "Avdelingene for PostNord-ligaen 2023". Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian). 25 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
^ "Stadiums in PostNord-ligaen avd 1 2022". Nordic Stadiums. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
^ "Stadiums in PostNord-ligaen avd 2 2022". Nordic Stadiums. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
^ Norwegian Football Association website (in Norwegian)

External links

Current 2. divisjon table, results and fixtures at Soccerway
2. divisjon stats at Fotballen.eu
DF-02 (divisjonsforeningen av 2002) an interest group for the 2. divisjon

[7] Os were promoted

[8] Stjørdals/Blink were promoted

[9] Ski were promoted

[10] Byåsen and Harstad from 1. divisjon played qualification games against group winners from 2. divisjon

[11] Verdal finished second in Group 5 and qualified for promotion play-offs, but was not promoted.

[12] Mo finished second in Group 7 and qualified for promotion play-offs, but was not promoted.

[13] Haugesund finished second in Group 3 and was promoted

[1] Aarre, Eivind (5 September 2007). "Foreslår 2.-lagene i egen liga". Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-04.

[2] "Fair Play Ligaen 2009". Mo IL. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved January 18, 2010.

[3] "2. divisjon skifter navn". nettavisen.no (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.

[Teams-4] "Avdelingene for PostNord-ligaen 2023". Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian). 25 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.

[5] "Stadiums in PostNord-ligaen avd 1 2022". Nordic Stadiums. Retrieved 2 March 2022.

[6] "Stadiums in PostNord-ligaen avd 2 2022". Nordic Stadiums. Retrieved 2 March 2022.

[14] Norwegian Football Association website (in Norwegian)

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v t e 2024 Norwegian Second Division
Group 1	Arendal Brann 2 Brattvåg Eik Tønsberg Fløy Hødd Jerv Kvik Halden Lysekloster Notodden Sotra Vard Haugesund Viking 2 Ørn Horten
Group 2	Alta Eidsvold Turn Follo Gjøvik-Lyn Grorud Junkeren Kjelsås Skeid Stjørdals-Blink Strindheim Strømmen Tromsdalen Ull/Kisa Vålerenga 2

v t e Men's third level football seasons in Norway
Third Division	1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
Second Division	1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Play-offs	Play-offs to the Norwegian Second Division (defunct from 2011) Play-offs to the Norwegian First Division (defunct from 2001)

Norwegian football league structure
Eliteserien (Tier 1)
First Division (Tier 2)
Second Division (Tier 3)
Third Division (Tier 4)
Fourth Division (Tier 5)
Fifth Division (Tier 6)
Sixth Division (Tier 7)
Seventh Division (Tier 8)
Eighth Division (Tier 9)
Ninth Division (Tier 10)