2020 Eliteserien

Eliteserien

Season	2020
Dates	16 June – 22 December
Champions	Bodø/Glimt 1st title
Relegated	Aalesund Start
Champions League	Bodø/Glimt
Europa Conference League	Molde Vålerenga Rosenborg
Matches played	240
Goals scored	758 (3.16 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kasper Junker (27 goals)
Biggest home win	Bodø/Glimt 7–0 Aalesund (8 November 2020)
Biggest away win	Start 0–5 Odd (27 June 2020) Aalesund 1–6 Bodø/Glimt (12 July 2020)
Highest scoring	Kristiansund 7–2 Aalesund (21 June 2020)
Longest winning run	10 matches Bodø/Glimt [1]
Longest unbeaten run	20 matches Bodø/Glimt [1]
Longest winless run	13 matches Strømsgodset [1]
Longest losing run	9 matches Aalesund [1]
Average attendance	295 94.9%
← 2019 2021 → All statistics correct as of 9 November 2020.

The 2020 Eliteserien was the 76th season of top-tier football in Norway. This was fourth season of Eliteserien as rebranding from Tippeligaen.

The season was scheduled to begin on 4 April. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway the opening games of the season were delayed. It was first delayed until 2 May, ^[2] then further delayed until 23 May. ^[3] The season was scheduled to end 29 November 2020, not including play-off matches, but was rescheduled to conclude on 22 December. ^[4] On 7 May, the Norwegian government allowed the league to start on 16 June with full training starting immediately. ^[5]

Molde were the defending champions. Aalesund, Sandefjord and Start joined as the promoted clubs from the 2019 1. divisjon. They replaced Lillestrøm, Tromsø and Ranheim who were relegated to the 2020 1. divisjon.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

The season was scheduled to begin on 4 April, but on 12 March it was revealed that the first five rounds of the season were postponed and the opening game therefore would be delayed until 2 May due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway. ^{[6] [2]} On 24 March, the Norwegian Football Federation announced that the football season was further delayed till 23 May. ^[3] On 7 May, the Norwegian government allowed the teams to begin with full training starting immediately, and opened for the league season to start on 16 June. On 12 June, the NFF announced that 200 spectators would be allowed to attend the games. ^[7] On 30 September, the Minister of Culture and Church Affairs, Abid Raja, announced that clubs would be able to have crowds of 600 at games from 12 October. ^[8]

Teams

Sixteen teams compete in the league – the top thirteen teams from the previous season, and three teams promoted from 1. division. The promoted teams were Aalesund (after an absence of two years), Sandefjord and Start (both returning to the top flight after one season's absence). They replaced Lillestrøm, Tromsø and Ranheim, ending their top flight spells of forty-five, five and two years respectively.

Stadiums and locations

Aalesund

Bodø/Glimt

Brann

Haugesund

Kristiansund

Mjøndalen

Molde

Odd

Rosenborg

Sandefjord

Sarpsborg 08

Start

Strømsgodset

Viking

Oslo

Oslo region teams:
Stabæk
Vålerenga

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Locations of the teams in 2020 Eliteserien

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Ap.	Location	Arena	Turf	Capacity
Aalesund	17	Ålesund	Color Line Stadion	Artificial	10,778
Bodø/Glimt	25	Bodø	Aspmyra Stadion	Artificial	5,635
Brann	63	Bergen	Brann Stadion	Natural	17,049
Haugesund	14	Haugesund	Haugesund Stadion	Natural	8,754
Kristiansund	4	Kristiansund	Kristiansund Stadion	Artificial	4,444
Mjøndalen	21	Mjøndalen	Consto Arena	Artificial	4,200
Molde	44	Molde	Aker Stadion	Artificial	11,249
Odd	39	Skien	Skagerak Arena	Artificial	11,767
Rosenborg	57	Trondheim	Lerkendal Stadion	Natural	21,421
Sandefjord	8	Sandefjord	Sandefjord Arena	Natural	6,582
Sarpsborg 08	9	Sarpsborg	Sarpsborg Stadion	Artificial	8,022
Stabæk	24	Bærum	Nadderud Stadion	Natural	4,938
Start	42	Kristiansand	Sør Arena	Artificial	14,448
Strømsgodset	33	Drammen	Marienlyst Stadion	Artificial	8,935
Vålerenga	60	Oslo	Intility Arena	Artificial	16,555
Viking	70	Stavanger	Viking Stadion	Artificial	15,900

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Aalesund	Lars Arne Nilsen	Fredrik Carlsen	Umbro	Sparebanken Møre
Bodø/Glimt	Kjetil Knutsen	Ulrik Saltnes	Diadora	Sparebanken Nord-Norge
Brann	Kåre Ingebrigtsen	Kristoffer Barmen	Nike	Sparebanken Vest
Haugesund	Jostein Grindhaug	Christian Grindheim	Macron	Haugaland Kraft
Kristiansund	Christian Michelsen	Dan Peter Ulvestad	Macron	SpareBank 1 Nordvest
Mjøndalen	Vegard Hansen	Christian Gauseth	Umbro	Sparebanken Øst
Molde	Erling Moe	Magnus Wolff Eikrem [9]	Nike	Sparebanken Møre
Odd	Jan Frode Nornes	Steffen Hagen	Hummel	SpareBank 1 Telemark
Rosenborg	Åge Hareide	Tore Reginiussen	Adidas	SpareBank 1 SMN
Sandefjord	Martí Cifuentes	Lars Grorud	Macron	Jotun
Sarpsborg 08	Mikael Stahre	Joachim Thomassen	Select	Borregaard
Stabæk	Jan Jönsson	Yaw Amankwah	Macron	SpareBank 1 Østlandet
Start	Jóhannes Harðarson	Erlend Segberg	Macron	Sparebanken Sør
Strømsgodset	Henrik Pedersen	Mikkel Maigaard	Puma	DNB
Vålerenga	Dag-Eilev Fagermo	Jonatan Tollås	Umbro	DNB
Viking	Bjarne Berntsen	Viljar Vevatne	Diadora	Lyse

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Table
Sarpsborg 08	Geir Bakke	Signed by Lillestrøm	1 January 2020 [10]	Pre-season	Mikael Stahre	13 January 2020 [11]	Pre-season
Vålerenga	Ronny Deila	Signed by New York City	6 January 2020 [12]		Dag-Eilev Fagermo	31 January 2020 [13]
Odd	Dag-Eilev Fagermo	Signed by Vålerenga	31 January 2020 [13]		Jan Frode Nornes	11 March 2020 [14]
Rosenborg	Eirik Horneland	Mutual consent	26 June 2020 [15]	12th	Trond Henriksen (interim)	21 July 2020 [16]
Brann	Lars Arne Nilsen	Mutual consent	1 August 2020 [17]	8th	Kåre Ingebrigtsen	8 August 2020 [18]	7
Aalesund	Lars Bohinen	Sacked	23 August 2020 [19]	16th	Lars Arne Nilsen	25 August 2020 [20]	16
Rosenborg	Trond Henriksen (interim)	End of caretaker spell	1 September 2020	4th	Åge Hareide	1 September 2020	4

Transfers

Winter

Main article: List of Norwegian football transfers winter 2019–20

Summer

Main article: List of Norwegian football transfers summer 2020

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bodø/Glimt (C)	30	26	3	1	103	32	+71	81	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Molde	30	20	2	8	77	36	+41	62	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
3	Vålerenga	30	15	10	5	51	33	+18	55
4	Rosenborg	30	15	7	8	50	35	+15	52
5	Kristiansund	30	12	12	6	57	45	+12	48
6	Viking	30	12	8	10	54	52	+2	44
7	Odd	30	13	4	13	52	51	+1	43
8	Stabæk	30	9	12	9	41	45	−4	39
9	Haugesund	30	11	6	13	39	51	−12	39
10	Brann	30	9	9	12	40	49	−9	36
11	Sandefjord	30	9	8	13	31	43	−12	35
12	Sarpsborg 08	30	8	8	14	33	43	−10	32
13	Strømsgodset	30	7	10	13	41	57	−16	31
14	Mjøndalen (O)	30	8	3	19	26	45	−19	27	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
15	Start (R)	30	6	9	15	33	56	−23	27	Relegation to First Division
16	Aalesund (R)	30	2	5	23	30	85	−55	11

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). ^[21]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	AAL	BOD	BRA	HAU	KRI	MIF	MOL	ODD	ROS	SAN	SRP	STB	IKS	STM	VÅL	VIK
Aalesund	—	1–6	2–2	1–3	1–2	1–3	1–4	0–3	1–2	0–1	0–1	1–3	3–2	1–4	1–1	2–2
Bodø/Glimt	7–0	—	5–0	6–1	2–1	2–0	3–1	6–1	5–1	2–1	2–1	5–2	6–0	3–2	2–0	3–0
Brann	3–1	1–3	—	1–2	1–1	0–1	1–2	2–1	1–2	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	3–0
Haugesund	0–1	0–4	1–2	—	2–2	1–1	0–3	4–4	1–0	3–2	2–0	3–1	1–0	2–3	2–1	0–2
Kristiansund	7–2	2–3	1–1	1–2	—	1–0	2–2	4–3	0–0	3–1	4–1	1–2	3–2	2–1	0–0	3–5
Mjøndalen	3–0	2–3	2–0	1–0	1–2	—	1–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–0	0–1	1–0	3–0	0–1	1–2
Molde	2–1	4–2	1–2	3–1	2–2	2–1	—	2–0	1–0	0–1	5–0	4–1	5–0	2–1	4–1	5–0
Odd	3–2	0–4	1–0	0–0	2–1	6–1	1–4	—	2–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	1–2	1–3	4–1	3–0
Rosenborg	3–2	2–3	2–3	2–1	0–0	1–0	3–1	4–1	—	2–1	5–1	2–2	1–0	3–0	1–1	3–0
Sandefjord	1–0	1–2	3–3	0–1	0–2	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	—	0–3	0–0	2–2	0–0	0–3	2–2
Sarpsborg 08	4–0	0–3	0–1	0–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–2	0–0	—	4–0	1–0	2–3	0–1	1–2
Stabæk	4–0	2–2	0–2	2–1	2–2	0–0	0–3	0–1	0–3	2–0	1–1	—	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1
Start	1–0	1–1	1–1	5–1	0–2	3–0	2–3	0–5	0–0	0–1	3–2	0–0	—	2–2	2–1	1–1
Strømsgodset	1–1	1–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–1	0–4	1–0	3–3	3–4	0–0	0–4	1–1	—	0–2	0–2
Vålerenga	2–2	2–2	5–1	1–0	1–1	4–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–2	4–0	2–0	—	2–1
Viking	5–2	2–4	2–0	0–1	1–2	1–1	3–2	1–2	3–0	2–0	3–0	3–3	4–1	2–2	2–2	—

Source: Football Association of Norway (in Norwegian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Relegation playoffs

Main article: 2020 Eliteserien promotion/relegation play-offs

The 14th-placed team in Eliteserien will play against the winners of the 1. divisjon promotion play-offs on neutral ground to decide who will play in the 2021 Eliteserien.

28 December 2020

17:00 CET (UTC+1)

Mjøndalen	3–2	Sogndal
Sveen 9', 88' Nakkim 90+7'	Report	Adams 79' (pen.) Kristoffersen 80'

Intility Arena , Oslo

Attendance: 200

Referee: Tom Harald Hagen

Mjøndalen IF won 3–2 and maintained their position in the Eliteserien; Sogndal Fotball stayed in the 1. divisjon.

Season statistics

As of 19 December 2020

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals [22]
1	Kasper Junker	Bodø/Glimt	27
2	Amahl Pellegrino	Kristiansund	25
3	Philip Zinckernagel	Bodø/Glimt	19
4	Veton Berisha	Viking	16
5	Mushaga Bakenga	Odd	15
6	Jens Petter Hauge	Bodø/Glimt	14
7	Leke James	Molde	13
8	Dino Islamovic	Rosenborg	12
	Ohi Omoijuanfo	Molde
	Ulrik Saltnes	Bodø/Glimt
	Kristoffer Zachariassen	Rosenborg

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Kasper Junker	Bodø/Glimt	Haugesund	6–1 (H)	21 June 2020
Amahl Pellegrino	Kristiansund	Aalesund	7–2 (H)	21 June 2020
Torgeir Børven	Odd	Vålerenga	4–1 (H)	24 June 2020
Kasper Junker	Bodø/Glimt	Brann	5–0 (H)	5 July 2020
Viðar Örn Kjartansson	Vålerenga	Brann	5–1 (H)	13 September 2020
Daouda Bamba	Brann	Aalesund	3–1 (H)	28 November 2020
Kasper Junker	Bodø/Glimt	Haugesund	0–4 (A)	9 December 2020
Mushaga Bakenga	Odd	Kristiansund	4–3 (A)	9 December 2020
Lars-Jørgen Salvesen	Strømsgodset	Odd	1–3 (A)	19 December 2020
Ibrahima Wadji	Haugesund	Kristiansund	1–3 (A)	22 December 2020

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets [23]
1	David Mitov Nilsson	Sarpsborg 08	10
	Jacob Storevik	Sandefjord
3	Marcus Sandberg	Stabæk	9
4	Kristoffer Klaesson	Vålerenga	8
	Sondre Rossbach	Odd
6	Andreas Linde	Molde	7
	Nikita Khaykin	Bodø/Glimt
	Sosha Makani	Mjøndalen
	Helge Sandvik	Haugesund
10	André Hansen	Rosenborg	5

Discipline

Player

• Most yellow cards: 9 ^[22]
  • Niklas Gunnarsson (Strømsgodset)

• Most red cards: 2 ^[22]
  • Alexander Betten Hansen (Mjøndalen)
  • Ipalibo Jack (Strømsgodset)

Club

• Most yellow cards: 69 ^[24]
  • Aalesund

• Most red cards: 3 ^[24]
  • Mjøndalen
  • Molde
  • Sandefjord
  • Vålerenga

Awards

Annual awards

Award [25]	Winner	Club
Player of the Year	Philip Zinckernagel	Bodø/Glimt
Young Player of the Year	Jens Petter Hauge	Bodø/Glimt
Manager of the Year	Kjetil Knutsen	Bodø/Glimt
Goal of the Year	Ola Brynhildsen	Stabæk

League attendances

Due to COVID-19 restrictions only 200 people were allowed in each match at the beginning of the season. ^{[26] [27]}

Two clubs were punished for incidents of racism during their matches, having to play certain games without attendants. ^{[28] [29]}

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Kristiansund	5,400	600	200	360	−91.2%†
2	Molde	5,400	600	200	360	−94.8%†
3	Bodø/Glimt	5,000	600	200	333	−90.0%†
4	Brann	5,000	600	200	333	−97.0%†
5	Haugesund	5,000	600	200	333	−92.0%†
6	Viking	5,000	600	200	333	−96.3%†
7	Sandefjord	4,800	600	0	320	−87.1%1
8	Rosenborg	4,600	600	200	307	−97.6%†
9	Start	4,600	600	200	307	−94.2%1
10	Odd	4,450	600	200	297	−94.7%†
11	Aalesund	4,000	600	0	267	−93.5%1
12	Mjøndalen	3,800	600	200	253	−89.2%†
13	Sarpsborg 08	3,800	600	200	253	−95.4%†
14	Strømsgodset	3,800	600	200	253	−95.2%†
15	Stabæk	3,187	387	200	212	−94.2%†
16	Vålerenga	3,000	200	200	200	−97.4%†
	League total	70,837	600	0	295	−94.9%†

Updated to games played on 19 December 2020
Source: nifs.no
Notes:
1: Team played last season in 1. divisjon.

References

1. "Eliteserien 2020". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
2. "Store endringar i fotballen: Eliteserien blir stoppa". NRK (in Norwegian). 12 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
3. "Seriestarten for kvinner og menn flyttes til slutten av mai". Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian). 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
4. "Eliteserien 2020". Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian). 7 October 2019.
5. "Helland om gladnyhet: – Jeg gleder meg til å bli sparket ned". TV 2 . 7 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
6. "Seriestarten er utsatt til mai". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 12 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
7. "NFF åpner for 200 tilskuere på eliteseriekamper". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 12 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
8. "RBK-TOPP MISFORNØYD MED 600 TILSKUERE – MENER 6000 HADDE VÆRT UPROBLEMATISK". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 30 September 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
9. "Dette er Moldes nye kaptein: – En stor ære". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 17 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
10. "Geir Bakke ansatt som ny LSK-trener". Lillestrøm SK (in Norwegian). 31 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
11. "Mikael Stahre er Sarpsborg 08s nye hovedtrener". Sarpsborg 08 FF (in Norwegian). 13 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
12. "Ronny Deila Named New York City FC Head Coach". New York City FC . January 6, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
13. "Fagermo ny VIF-trener: - Jeg var sikkert femtevalget". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 31 January 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
14. "Fagermos erstatter er klar: Nornes blir ny Odd-trener". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 11 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
15. "Enige om å avslutte samarbeidet". Rosenborg (in Norwegian). 26 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
16. "Hareide sa nei på grunn av helsa". Rosenborg BK (in Norwegian). 21 July 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
17. "AVSLUTTER SAMARBEIDET MED LARS ARNE NILSEN". Brann . 5 August 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
18. "Ingebrigtsen blir ny hovedtrener". SK Brann (in Norwegian). 8 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
19. "Lars Bohinen Ferdig i AAFK". Aalesunds FK . 23 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
20. "GODT Å KOMME HJEM TIL SUNNMØRE". Aalesunds FK . 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
21. "Eliteserien 2020". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
22. "Eliteserien 2020 - Toppscorer, gule og røde kort". NFF (in Norwegian).
23. "Eliteserien 2020 Clean sheets". FotMob. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
24. "Eliteserien Statistikk". Altom Fotball (in Norwegian).
25. "Kniksens hederspris til Ingrid Hjelmseth og Bjarne Berntsen". Eliteserien. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
26. Gjerde, Yngve; et al. (12 June 2020). "NFF åpner for 200 tilskuere på Eliteseriekamper" [NFF allows 200 spectators at the Eliteserien matches]. Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 17 April 2021.
27. Stanisic Waagaard, Mari (30 September 2020). "Fra 12. oktober åpnes det for 600 tilskuere på fotballkamp" [From 12 October, 600 spectators will be allowed at football matches]. NFF (in Norwegian). Retrieved 17 April 2021.
28. Madsen, Christer (3 December 2020). "Sandefjord dømmes til tomme tribuner og bot". Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian). Retrieved 17 April 2021.
29. Høidalen, Ida; Ording, Oda (11 November 2020). "Sandefjord-vakt og Aalesund straffet for rasisme - bot og tomme tribuner". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 17 April 2021.