2021 Eliteserien

The 2021 Eliteserien was the 77th completed season of top-tier football in Norway. This was fifth season of Eliteserien as rebranding from Tippeligaen.

Eliteserien

Season	2021
Dates	9 May – 12 December
Champions	Bodø/Glimt 2nd title
Relegated	Brann Stabæk Mjøndalen
Champions League	Bodø/Glimt
Europa Conference League	Molde Viking Lillestrøm
Matches played	240
Goals scored	732 (3.05 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ohi Omoijuanfo (27 goals)
Biggest home win	Haugesund 7–0 Mjøndalen (17 October 2021)
Biggest away win	0–3 (8 matches)
Highest scoring	Bodø/Glimt 7–2 Strømsgodset (16 June 2021) Molde 5–4 Haugesund (8 August 2021)
Longest winning run	5 matches Kristiansund Molde[citation needed]
Longest unbeaten run	18 matches Bodø/Glimt[citation needed]
Longest winless run	13 matches Mjøndalen[citation needed]
Longest losing run	6 matches Brann[citation needed]
Highest attendance	17,439 Rosenborg 4–1 Sandefjord (24 October 2021)[1]
← 2020 2022 →

The season was originally scheduled to begin on 5 April and end on 27 November 2021, not including play-off matches.^[2] Restrictions enforced by the government due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Norwegian Football Federation to postpone the start several times and the league started on 9 May 2021.^[3] The last round was played on 12 December 2021.^[4]

Bodø/Glimt were the defending champions. Tromsø and Lillestrøm joined as the promoted clubs from the 2020 Norwegian First Division. They replaced Aalesund and IK Start who were relegated to the 2021 Norwegian First Division.

Teams

Sixteen teams competed in the league – the top fourteen teams from the previous season, and two teams promoted from Norwegian First Division. The promoted teams were Tromsø and Lillestrøm, both returning to the top flight after an absence of just one year. They replaced Aalesund and IK Start, both relegated after a season's presence.

Stadiums and locations

Bodø/Glimt

Brann

Haugesund

Kristiansund

Mjøndalen

Molde

Odd

Rosenborg

Sandefjord

Sarpsborg 08

Strømsgodset

Tromsø

Viking

Oslo

Oslo region teams:
Lillestrøm
Stabæk
Vålerenga

Locations of the teams in 2021 Eliteserien

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Ap.	Location	County	Arena	Turf	Capacity
Bodø/Glimt	26	Bodø	Nordland	Aspmyra Stadion	Artificial	5,635
Brann	64	Bergen	Vestland	Brann Stadion	Natural	17,049
Haugesund	15	Haugesund	Rogaland	Haugesund Stadion	Natural	8,754
Kristiansund	5	Kristiansund	Møre og Romsdal	Kristiansund Stadion	Artificial	4,444
Lillestrøm	57	Lillestrøm	Viken	Åråsen Stadion	Natural	11,500
Mjøndalen	22	Mjøndalen	Viken	Consto Arena	Artificial	4,200
Molde	45	Molde	Møre og Romsdal	Aker Stadion	Artificial	11,249
Odd	40	Skien	Vestfold og Telemark	Skagerak Arena	Artificial	11,767
Rosenborg	58	Trondheim	Trøndelag	Lerkendal Stadion	Natural	21,421
Sandefjord	9	Sandefjord	Vestfold og Telemark	Release Arena	Natural	6,582
Sarpsborg 08	10	Sarpsborg	Viken	Sarpsborg Stadion	Artificial	8,022
Stabæk	25	Bærum	Viken	Nadderud Stadion	Natural	4,938
Strømsgodset	34	Drammen	Viken	Marienlyst Stadion	Artificial	8,935
Tromsø	33	Tromsø	Troms og Finnmark	Alfheim Stadion	Artificial	6,687
Viking	71	Stavanger	Rogaland	Viking Stadion	Artificial	15,900
Vålerenga	61	Oslo	Oslo	Intility Arena	Artificial	16,555

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager(s)	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Bodø/Glimt	Kjetil Knutsen	Ulrik Saltnes Patrick Berg	Diadora	Sparebanken Nord-Norge
Brann	Eirik Horneland	Kristoffer Barmen	Nike	Sparebanken Vest
Haugesund	Jostein Grindhaug	Benjamin Hansen	Macron	Haugaland Kraft
Kristiansund	Christian Michelsen	Dan Peter Ulvestad	Macron	SpareBank 1 Nordvest
Lillestrøm	Geir Bakke	Thomas Lehne Olsen	Puma	DNB
Mjøndalen	Vegard Hansen	Christian Gauseth	Umbro	Sparebanken Øst
Molde	Erling Moe	Magnus Wolff Eikrem	Nike	Sparebanken Møre
Odd	Jan Frode Nornes	Steffen Hagen	Hummel	SpareBank 1 Telemark
Rosenborg	Åge Hareide	Markus Henriksen André Hansen	Adidas	SpareBank 1 SMN
Sandefjord	Hans Erik Ødegaard Andreas Tegström	Harmeet Singh	Macron	Jotun
Sarpsborg 08	Lars Bohinen	Joachim Thomassen	Select	Borregaard
Stabæk	Eirik Kjønø	Yaw Amankwah	Macron	SpareBank 1 Østlandet
Strømsgodset	Bjørn Petter Ingebretsen Håkon Wibe-Lund	Gustav Valsvik	Puma	DNB
Tromsø	Gaute Helstrup	Ruben Yttergård Jenssen	Select	Sparebanken Nord-Norge
Vålerenga	Dag-Eilev Fagermo	Jonatan Tollås	Umbro	DNB
Viking	Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim Morten Jensen	Veton Berisha	Diadora	Lyse

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager(s)	Date of appointment	Table
Viking	Bjarne Berntsen	Mutual consent	31 December 2020[5]	Pre-season	Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim Morten Jensen	1 January 2021[6]	Pre-season
Sandefjord	Martí Cifuentes	Contract expired	31 December 2020[7]		Hans Erik Ødegaard Andreas Tegström	1 January 2021[8]
Strømsgodset	Henrik Pedersen	Mutual consent	9 April 2021[9]		Bjørn Petter Ingebretsen Håkon Wibe-Lund	12 April 2021[10]
Sarpsborg 08	Mikael Stahre	Signed by Göteborg	2 June 2021[11]	8th	Lars Bohinen	6 June 2021[12]	8th
Stabæk	Jan Jönsson	Mutual consent	4 July 2021[13]	15th	Eirik Kjønø	9 July 2021[14]	15th
Brann	Kåre Ingebrigtsen	Sacked	19 July 2021[15]	15th	Eirik Horneland[a]	20 July 2021[16][17]	15th

1. Horneland was initially appointed on an interim basis, but he was made permanent manager on 19 November 2021.

Transfers

Winter

Main article: List of Norwegian football transfers winter 2020–21

Summer

Main article: List of Norwegian football transfers summer 2021

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bodø/Glimt (C)	30	18	9	3	59	25	+34	63	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Molde	30	18	6	6	70	40	+30	60	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round[a]
3	Viking	30	17	6	7	60	47	+13	57
4	Lillestrøm	30	14	7	9	49	40	+9	49
5	Rosenborg	30	13	9	8	58	42	+16	48
6	Kristiansund	30	14	4	12	41	46	−5	46
7	Vålerenga	30	11	12	7	46	37	+9	45
8	Sarpsborg 08	30	11	6	13	39	44	−5	39
9	Strømsgodset	30	9	9	12	43	43	0	36
10	Sandefjord	30	10	6	14	38	52	−14	36
11	Haugesund	30	9	8	13	46	45	+1	35
12	Tromsø	30	8	11	11	33	44	−11	35
13	Odd	30	8	9	13	44	58	−14	33
14	Brann (R)	30	5	11	14	38	55	−17	26	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
15	Stabæk (R)	30	6	7	17	35	62	−27	25	Relegation to First Division
16	Mjøndalen (R)	30	4	10	16	33	52	−19	22

Source: Football Association of Norway (in Norwegian)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if between two teams); 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-off (only used to decide champions or relegation).^[18]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Since the winners of the 2021 Norwegian Cup, Molde, have already qualified for European competitions based on league position, the last European spot was passed down to the fourth placed team, Lillestrøm.

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Bodø/Glimt	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	2	3	4	6	3	4	2	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Molde	4	5	1	1	2	4	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Viking	3	10	13	7	4	8	4	7	7	7	7	8	10	8	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Lillestrøm	5	2	4	6	3	7	5	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	4	3	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	5	6	6	4	5	4
Rosenborg	6	3	5	9	6	3	6	8	9	11	11	9	7	5	5	3	5	4	4	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	5	4	5
Kristiansund	14	15	12	8	5	2	2	4	4	5	3	5	3	4	3	5	4	3	3	4	3	3	5	5	6	5	5	6	7	6
Vålerenga	6	4	7	10	7	5	7	6	5	3	4	4	6	7	7	7	7	8	8	9	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	7
Sarpsborg 08	6	12	14	14	14	13	12	10	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	10	10	8	8	8	8	8
Strømsgodset	1	8	3	4	9	10	8	9	8	8	9	10	8	10	11	9	9	9	9	7	8	9	9	9	8	9	10	10	11	9
Sandefjord	6	6	10	3	10	11	13	11	12	10	8	7	9	9	10	11	11	10	10	11	11	11	12	11	13	13	13	11	9	10
Haugesund	6	7	6	5	11	6	9	5	6	6	5	6	5	6	8	8	8	7	7	8	9	8	8	8	9	10	9	9	10	11
Tromsø	15	13	10	13	13	15	11	13	15	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	11	11	11	12	12	12
Odd	15	14	15	15	15	14	15	14	10	9	10	11	11	11	9	10	10	11	11	10	10	10	10	13	12	12	12	13	13	13
Brann	13	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	15	14	16	16	15	14
Stabæk	12	9	9	12	8	9	10	12	14	13	13	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	15	15	15	15	16	14	15	14	14	14	15
Mjøndalen	6	11	7	10	12	12	14	15	13	15	15	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	16	16	16	16	15	16	16	15	15	16	16

	Leader / 2022–23 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round
	2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round
	Relegation play-offs
	Relegation to 2022 1. divisjon

Source: nifs.no

Results

Home \ Away	BOD	BRA	HAU	KRI	LIL	MIF	MOL	ODD	ROS	SAN	SRP	SBK	STR	TRO	VIK	VÅL
Bodø/Glimt	—	2–2	2–0	3–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–0	2–1	4–1	7–2	3–0	2–2	1–0
Brann	1–2	—	1–3	3–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–3	2–2	3–2	2–1	1–1	3–0	1–1	0–2	0–3
Haugesund	2–2	1–0	—	3–0	0–3	7–0	1–2	1–3	0–0	1–2	2–1	0–0	2–1	3–0	4–2	3–1
Kristiansund	0–2	3–2	3–2	—	1–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–3	5–1	1–0	1–1	2–3	2–1
Lillestrøm	0–1	2–3	2–1	0–0	—	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–0	4–1	1–2	1–3	0–0
Mjøndalen	0–3	1–1	3–0	5–0	1–2	—	0–0	1–2	1–2	1–1	1–3	1–2	1–1	2–3	0–1	1–1
Molde	0–2	4–0	5–4	2–0	3–3	4–0	—	5–0	4–1	3–1	4–1	2–1	3–0	3–0	2–2	2–3
Odd	1–0	3–3	4–2	2–4	2–3	2–2	1–3	—	2–2	2–3	1–1	3–1	0–1	3–0	3–2	1–2
Rosenborg	0–0	3–2	0–0	1–0	1–3	3–1	2–3	5–0	—	4–1	0–1	4–2	2–2	3–2	5–0	2–2
Sandefjord	1–0	2–2	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–3	1–3	0–0	1–2	—	2–0	0–3	2–0	1–1	3–0	3–0
Sarpsborg 08	2–2	0–0	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–3	5–0	—	4–1	1–0	0–1	1–2	2–1
Stabæk	0–3	2–0	2–1	3–0	2–3	1–1	0–3	2–2	1–3	0–2	3–1	—	0–0	0–3	1–3	0–2
Strømsgodset	1–1	3–1	0–0	1–2	3–1	1–2	6–0	3–0	2–1	4–0	5–0	2–1	—	1–1	0–1	1–1
Tromsø	2–3	1–1	2–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	3–3	2–0	1–3	1–3	0–2	0–0	1–1	—	0–2	1–1
Viking	1–3	3–1	1–1	3–2	5–1	2–1	3–2	3–1	2–1	2–1	1–2	3–3	1–1	0–1	—	4–1
Vålerenga	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	4–1	3–1	3–0	1–1	1–1	—

Source: Football Association of Norway (in Norwegian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

The 14th-placed team in the Eliteserien, Brann, played against the winners of the First Division promotion play-offs, Jerv, on neutral ground to decide who would play in the Eliteserien next season.^[19]

15 December 2021

19:00 CET

Brann	4–4 (a.e.t.)	Jerv
Heggebø 49' Skaanes 114' Sakor 116' Nilsen 120'	Report	Wichne 29' Campos 93' (pen.), 112' Ibrahim 117'
Penalties
Simba Rasmussen Heggebø Sakor Nilsen Skaanes Blomberg Kolskogen Taylor	7–8	Campos Wichmann Arrocha Norheim Sandberg Furtado Schröter Solli Ibrahim

Intility Arena, Oslo

Attendance: 600

Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen

4–4 after extra time. Jerv won 8–7 on penalties and were promoted to the Eliteserien; Brann were relegated to the Norwegian First Division.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 12 December 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[20]
1	Ohi Omoijuanfo	Molde	27
2	Thomas Lehne Olsen	Lillestrøm	26
3	Veton Berisha	Viking	22
4	Erik Botheim	Bodø/Glimt	15
5	Mushaga Bakenga	Odd	11
	Viðar Jónsson	Sandefjord
	Ibrahima Koné	Sarpsborg 08
	Stefano Vecchia	Rosenborg
9	Jonathan Lindseth	Sarpsborg 08	10

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Ohi Omoijuanfo	Molde	Brann	4–0 (H)	16 May 2021
Kristoffer Zachariassen	Rosenborg	Brann	3–2 (H)	20 May 2021
Mushaga Bakenga	Odd	Brann	3–1 (A)	20 June 2021
Ohi Omoijuanfo	Molde	Haugesund	5–4 (H)	8 August 2021
Tobias Lauritsen	Odd	Haugesund	4–2 (H)	15 August 2021
Amahl Pellegrino	Bodø/Glimt	Kristiansund	3–0 (H)	22 August 2021
Ibrahima Koné 4	Sarpsborg 08	Sandefjord	5–0 (H)	29 August 2021
Alioune Ndour	Haugesund	Mjøndalen	7–0 (H)	17 October 2021
Veton Berisha	Viking	Lillestrøm	5–1 (H)	23 October 2021
Moses Mawa	Kristiansund	Odd	4–2 (A)	7 November 2021
Thomas Lehne Olsen	Lillestrøm	Strømsgodset	4–1 (H)	27 November 2021

Notes

⁴ Player scored 4 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Clean sheets

As of 12 December 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets[21]
1	Nikita Khaykin	Bodø/Glimt	13
2	Sean McDermott	Kristiansund	9
	Egil Selvik	Haugesund
4	Mads Hedenstad Christiansen	Lillestrøm	8
	Jacob Karlstrøm	Tromsø
	Andreas Linde	Molde
7	Anders Kristiansen	Sarpsborg 08	7
	Jacob Storevik	Sandefjord
9	Viljar Myhra	Strømsgodset	6
	Marcus Sandberg	Stabæk

Discipline

As of 12 December 2021

Player

• Most yellow cards: 8^[20]
  • Lars Ranger (Lillestrøm)

• Most red cards: 1^[20]

17 players

• Adam Andersson (Rosenborg)
• Martin Bjørnbak (Molde)
• David Brekalo (Viking)
• Patrik Gunnarsson (Viking)
• Kornelius Normann Hansen (Stabæk)
• Markus Henriksen (Rosenborg)
• Anders Jenssen (Tromsø)
• Fredrik Pallesen Knudsen (Brann)
• Ibrahima Koné (Sarpsborg 08)
• Alioune Ndour (Haugesund)
• Igoh Ogbu (Lillestrøm)
• Birk Risa (Molde)
• Anton Salétros (Sarpsborg 08)
• Marcus Sandberg (Stabæk)
• Ian Smeulers (Sandefjord)
• Albin Sporrong (Mjøndalen)
• Gustav Valsvik (Strømsgodset)

Club

• Most yellow cards: 53^[22]
  • Sarpsborg 08
  • Stabæk

• Most red cards: 2^[23]
  • Molde
  • Rosenborg
  • Sarpsborg 08
  • Stabæk
  • Viking

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Young Player of the Month		References
	Manager	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
May	Christian Michelsen	Kristiansund	Kristoffer Zachariassen	Rosenborg	Erik Botheim	Bodø/Glimt	[24][25][26]
June	Erling Moe	Molde	Ohi Omoijuanfo	Molde	Not awarded		[27][28]
July	Geir Bakke	Lillestrøm	Thomas Lehne Olsen	Lillestrøm	Not awarded		[29]
August	Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim Morten Jensen	Viking	Joe Bell	Viking	Osame Sahraoui	Vålerenga	[30][31][32]
September	Eirik Horneland	Brann	Stefano Vecchia	Rosenborg	Noah Holm	Rosenborg	[33][34][35]
October	Kjetil Knutsen	Bodø/Glimt	Ola Solbakken	Bodø/Glimt	August Mikkelsen	Tromsø	[36][37][38]

Annual awards

Award[39]	Winner	Club
Player of the Year	Patrick Berg	Bodø/Glimt
Young Player of the Year	Mads Hedenstad Christiansen	Lillestrøm
Manager of the Year	Kjetil Knutsen	Bodø/Glimt

League attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Rosenborg	81,051	17,439	600	6,235	+1,930.9%†
2	Viking	76,513	14,105	600	5,465	+1,541.1%†
3	Brann	64,680	13,524	600	4,975	+1,394.0%†
4	Vålerenga	52,017	7,084	50	4,100	+1,950.0%†
5	Lillestrøm	41,559	10,504	20	3,197	+1,498.5%1
6	Odd	32,697	6,655	1,600	2,515	+746.8%†
7	Molde	41,381	7,325	600	2,956	+721.1%†
8	Strømsgodset	36,706	7,150	200	2,384	+842.3%†
9	Sarpsborg 08	37,243	5,409	200	2,660	+951.4%†
10	Haugesund	31,884	5,166	600	2,453	+636.6%†
11	Bodø/Glimt	29,997	4,417	600	2,143	+543.5%†
12	Kristiansund	25,983	4,444	600	1,999	+455.3%†
13	Sandefjord	25,548	4,673	600	1,825	+470.3%†
14	Stabæk	22,522	2,420	600	1,609	+659.0%†
15	Tromsø	22,394	2,981	600	1,723	+417.4%1
16	Mjøndalen	17,182	2,408	200	1,322	+422.5%†
	League total	639,357	17,439	20	3,059	+936.9%†

Updated to games played on 21 November 2021
Source: nifs.no
Notes:
1: Team played last season in 1. divisjon.