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 Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are p ...

. 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 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 ...

. 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.

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). The league is currently branded as PostNord-ligaen, sponsored by PostNord.

Current members

The following 28 clubs are competing in the 2023 Norwegian Second Division.

Winners

1991–1995

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

1996–2000

Each group winner played qualification play-offs to decide which teams promote to

. Teams in bold promoted to 1. divisjon through qualification play-offs.

2001–2016

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

2017–

Teams in bold were promoted to

.
Teams in ''italics'' were relegated to 2. divisjon.

Reserve teams

Reserve teams of clubs from the two top divisions can participate in the 2. divisjon. Reserve teams of clubs from the

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.Norwegian Football Association website

Sponsorship

From 2016, 2. divisjon has its

title sponsor Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

ship rights sold to PostNord.

Records and statistics

Team records

Average attendances

Top ten most attended games

References

External links

Current 2. divisjon table, results and fixtures at Soccerway2. divisjon stats at Fotballen.euDF-02 (divisjonsforeningen av 2002)
an interest group for the 2. divisjon {{UEFA third leagues 3 Year of establishment missing Norw Professional sports leagues in Norway