Norwegian reserve football teams compete at all levels of league football within the

Norwegian football league system The Norwegian football league system, or pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Norway. 2017 system in men's football , the current national league system administered by the NFF is organised as 1–1–2–6, where E ...

apart from the top two divisions,

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

and 1. divisjon. The highest league these teams can currently enter is the

2. divisjon 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 ...

, set at the third tier of the league system. The reserve teams are attached to their first teams with a "2" suffix and must play in a lower league than the first team. Furthermore, if a club's first team plays in the 1. divisjon, the reserves team cannot play in the 2. divisjon either. If a reserve team ends up at a promotion spot when it is not allowed to be promoted, the promotion is awarded to best following team in the league standings which is allowed to be promoted. Also, a reserve team is forcefully relegated, regardless of the final league position, if it is no longer qualified for playing at that level - i.e. if the first team is relegated to a league level where the reserve team's level is no longer allowed. For example, if an Eliteserien team is relegated while its reserve team in 2. divisjon ends up at a secure place (or even a promotion spot), the reserve team is forcefully relegated to 3. divisjon. In such a situation, the best placed qualified team at a relegation position in the league that the reserve team is relegated from will keep its place. If there are no qualified teams at relegation positions (e.g. only reserve teams no longer qualified for the level), one extra team from the division below (the best placed qualified one) is promoted.

Controversy

Reserve teams have in general been criticized for fielding uneven teams from week to week, with many first-team players one week and more youth players the next. They have also been criticized for keeping smaller clubs out of the Second Division, meaning a more centralized football culture. In 2009 manager Ivar Morten Normark proposed to throw the reserve teams out of the ordinary league pyramid, and other managers like

Dag Eilev Fagermo Dag-Eilev Akerhaugen Fagermo (born 28 January 1967) is a Norwegian football coach. He is currently head coach of the Norwegian Eliteserien club Vålerenga. Coaching career Early career Fagermo was born in Bærum, and grew up in Raufoss, Norwa ...

agreed. In a survey, 19 of 31 responding Second Division clubs wanted the reserve teams out, as did 30 of the 49 responding Third Division clubs. At the 2010 congress of the

Football Association of Norway The Norwegian Football Federation ( nb, Norges Fotballforbund, nn, Noregs Fotballforbund; NFF) is the governing body of football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the men's and women's national teams, as well as the league systems f ...

, new rules were agreed to. From 2010, reserve teams in the Second Division can only field three players over the age of 21 at any time. More "overage" players can sit on the bench, but cannot enter the field unless substituted with another overage player.

Sporting success

From time to time, a reserves team wins its group in the third tier 2. divisjon. This is the highest sporting position a reserves team can achieve, since promotion is impossible. In the 1991 2. divisjon, Brann's reserve team won group 4—ahead of Fyllingen's reserve team. Also in the 1991 2. divisjon, Rosenborg's reserve team won group 5. Rosenborg 2 won again in the 1996 2. divisjon, and the same team won group 7 in the 1998 2. divisjon. In the

1992 2. divisjon The 1992 2. divisjon, the third highest association football league for men in Norway. 22 games were played in 6 groups, with 3 points given for wins and 1 for draws. Ski, Skeid, Åssiden, Åsane, Nardo and Mjølner were promoted to the First D ...

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger be ...

's reserve team won group 1. In the

2005 2. divisjon The 2005 2. divisjon season was the third highest association football league for men in Norway. 26 games were played in 4 groups, with 3 points given for wins and 1 for draws. Sarpsborg Sparta, Manglerud Star, Haugesund and Tromsdalen were ...

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

's reserve team won group 3.

Today

This is a list of where the reserve teams of

and 1. divisjon clubs play, as of the 2023 season.NIFS
/ref> ;Reserve teams of Eliteserien clubs: * Aalesund –

* Bodø/Glimt –

3. divisjon The Norwegian Third Division, also called 3. divisjon, is the fourth highest division of the men's football league in Norway. Like the rest of the Norwegian football league system, the season runs from spring to autumn, running approximately from ...

* Brann – 2. divisjon *

HamKam Hamarkameratene (literally ''the Hamar Comrades''), often abbreviated to HamKam or Ham-Kam, is a Norwegian football club based in the town of Hamar. The club was founded in 1918, originally under the name Freidig. HamKam were most recently pro ...

– 3. divisjon * Haugesund – 4. divisjon *

– 3. divisjon * Molde – 3. divisjon *

Odd Odd means unpaired, occasional, strange or unusual, or a person who is viewed as eccentric. Odd may also refer to: Acronym * ODD (Text Encoding Initiative) ("One Document Does it all"), an abstracted literate-programming format for describing X ...

– 3. divisjon * Rosenborg – 3. divisjon *

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

– 3. divisjon *

Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg (), is a Norwegian football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, the ...

– 3. divisjon * Stabæk – 3. divisjon * Strømsgodset – 2. divisjon *

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

– 3. divisjon * Vålerenga – 2. divisjon *

– 3. divisjon ;Reserve teams of 1. divisjon clubs: *

Åsane Åsane is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the northern part of the city, north of the city centre. Åsane is connected to downtown Bergen by the E16/ E39 highway. The E16 highway continues on t ...

– 4. divisjon *

Bryne Bryne () is a town in Time municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality of Time and it is also one of the 50 largest towns/cities in Norway. Bryne's location in the region of Stavanger/Sand ...

– 4. divisjon *

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the ...

– 3. divisjon * Hødd – 3. divisjon * Jerv – 4. divisjon * KFUM Oslo – 3. divisjon *

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aus ...

– 4. divisjon *

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

– 3. divisjon *

Mjøndalen Mjøndalen is a built up area in Drammen municipality in Viken county (formerly Buskerud county), Norway. It is situated south of the Drammenselva River opposite of Krokstadelva. History Mjøndalen has traditionally been a railway site most ...

– 3. divisjon * Moss – 4. divisjon *

Ranheim Ranheim is a neighbourhood in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the borough of Østbyen. The neighbourhood approximately to the east of the centre of Trondheim. It comprises Olderdalen, Væretrøa, Reppe, and ...

– 4. divisjon *

Raufoss Raufoss is the administrative centre of Vestre Toten Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located about south of the larger town of Gjøvik. The village area is located along the municipal border with the neighboring Gjøvi ...

– 3. divisjon *

Sandnes Ulf Sandnes Ulf is a Norwegian association football club from Sandnes, Rogaland, currently playing in the 1. divisjon, the second highest division in the Norwegian football league system. The club play their home matches at Øster Hus Arena. The cl ...

– 3. divisjon * Skeid – 3. divisjon *

Sogndal Sogndal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansverk is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages ...

– 3. divisjon * Start – 3. divisjon

References

{{Football in Norway Norwegian Second Division Norwegian Third Division Norwegian Fourth Division