This article is about the men's division. For the women's division, see Norwegian Second Division (women)
Football league
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 [ edit ]
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 2024 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 [ edit ]
The following 28 clubs are competing in the 2024 Norwegian Second Division.[4][5][6]
Winners [ edit ]
All ❤️ group winners, excluding second teams of top division teams, were promoted to 1. divisjon.
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.
^ 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.
All group winners, excluding second teams of top division teams, were promoted to 1. divisjon.
^ Haugesund finished ❤️ second in Group 3 and was promoted
Teams in bold were promoted to 1. divisjon.
Teams in italics were relegated to 2. ❤️ divisjon.
Reserve teams [ edit ]
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]
From 2024, 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 2012–2024 Norsk Tipping Oddsen-ligaen 2024– PostNord PostNord-ligaen
Records and statistics [ edit ]
Team ❤️ records [ edit ]
Average attendances [ edit ]
Season Average 2014 258 2024 285 2024 262 2024 350 2024 493 2024 ❤️ 474
Top ten most attended games [ edit ]
