2020 Eliteserien

Eliteserien 2020
Season information
Dates	16 June 2020 – 22 December 2020
Winners	Bodø/Glimt 1st title
Relegated	Aalesund Start
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Bodø/Glimt
Europa Conference League	Molde Vålerenga Rosenborg
Season statistics
Matches played	240
Goals scored	758
Average	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)
← 2019	2021 →

The 2020 Eliteserien was the 75th season of top-tier football in Norway.

The season was scheduled to begin on 4 April, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway the opening games of the season were delayed, first till 2 May, then further delayed till 23 May. The season was scheduled to end 29 November 2020, not including play-off matches, but is expected to be rescheduled to a later date. On 7 May, the Norwegian government allowed the league to start on 16 June with full training starting immediately. The season eventually ended on 22 December.

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.

Bodø/Glimt were crowned champions for the first time in their 104 years of club history, following a 2–1 win at Strømsgodset on 23 November 2020.

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 till 2 May due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway. On 24 March, the Norwegian Football Federation announced that the football season was further delayed till 23 May. 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 until 200 spectators would be allowed to attend the games.

Teams

Sixteen teams competed 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

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	9	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	Sponsor
Aalesund	Nilsen, Lars ArneLars Arne Nilsen	Carlsen, FredrikFredrik Carlsen	Umbro	Sparebanken Møre
Bodø/Glimt	Knutsen, KjetilKjetil Knutsen	Saltnes, UlrikUlrik Saltnes	Diadora	Sparebanken Nord-Norge
Brann	Ingebrigtsen, KåreKåre Ingebrigtsen	Barmen, KristofferKristoffer Barmen	Nike	Sparebanken Vest
Haugesund	Grindhaug, JosteinJostein Grindhaug	Grindheim, ChristianChristian Grindheim	Macron	Haugaland Kraft
Kristiansund	Michelsen, ChristianChristian Michelsen	Ulvestad, Dan PeterDan Peter Ulvestad	Macron	SpareBank 1 Nordvest
Mjøndalen	Hansen, VegardVegard Hansen	Gauseth, ChristianChristian Gauseth	Umbro	Sparebanken Øst
Molde	Moe, ErlingErling Moe	Eikrem, Magnus WolffMagnus Wolff Eikrem	Nike	Sparebanken Møre
Odd	Nornes, Jan FrodeJan Frode Nornes	Hagen, SteffenSteffen Hagen	Hummel	SpareBank 1 Telemark
Rosenborg	Hareide, ÅgeÅge Hareide	Reginiussen, ToreTore Reginiussen	Adidas	SpareBank 1 SMN
Sandefjord	Cifuentes, MartíMartí Cifuentes	Grorud, LarsLars Grorud	Macron	Jotun
Sarpsborg 08	Stahre, MikaelMikael Stahre	Thomassen, JoachimJoachim Thomassen	Select	Borregaard
Stabæk	Jönsson, JanJan Jönsson	Amankwah, YawYaw Amankwah	Macron	SpareBank 1 Østlandet
Start	Harðarson, JóhannesJóhannes Harðarson	Segberg, ErlendErlend Segberg	Macron	Sparebanken Sør
Strømsgodset	Pedersen, HenrikHenrik Pedersen	Maigaard, MikkelMikkel Maigaard	Puma	DNB
Vålerenga	Fagermo, Dag-EilevDag-Eilev Fagermo	Tollås, JonatanJonatan Tollås	Umbro	DNB
Viking	Berntsen, BjarneBjarne Berntsen	Vevatne, ViljarViljar 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	Pre-season	Mikael Stahre	13 January 2020	Pre-season
Vålerenga	Ronny Deila	Signed by New York City	6 January 2020	Pre-season	Dag-Eilev Fagermo	31 January 2020	Pre-season
Odd	Dag-Eilev Fagermo	Signed by Vålerenga	31 January 2020	Pre-season	Jan Frode Nornes	11 March 2020	Pre-season
Rosenborg	Eirik Horneland	Mutual consent	26 June 2020	12th	Trond Henriksen (interim)	21 July 2020
Brann	Lars Arne Nilsen	Mutual consent	1 August 2020	8th	Kåre Ingebrigtsen	8 August 2020	7
Aalesund	Lars Bohinen	Sacked	23 August 2020	16th	Lars Arne Nilsen	25 August 2020	16
Rosenborg	Trond Henriksen (interim)	End of caretaker spell	1 September 2020	4th	Åge Hareide	1 September 2020	4

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
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 1. divisjon
16	Aalesund  (R)	30	2	5	23	30	85	−55	11

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Relegation playoffs

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	Intility Arena, Oslo Attendance: 200 Referee: Tom Harald Hagen
	Sveen  9', 88' Nakkim  90+7'	Report	Adams  79' (pen.) Kristoffersen  80'

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

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
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)	02020-06-21-21 June 2020
Amahl Pellegrino	Kristiansund	Aalesund	7–2 (H)	02020-06-21-21 June 2020
Torgeir Børven	Odd	Vålerenga	4–1 (H)	02020-06-24-24 June 2020
Kasper Junker	Bodø/Glimt	Brann	5–0 (H)	02020-07-05-5 July 2020
Viðar Örn Kjartansson	Vålerenga	Brann	5–1 (H)	02020-09-13-13 September 2020
Daouda Bamba	Brann	Aalesund	3–1 (H)	02020-11-28-28 November 2020
Kasper Junker	Bodø/Glimt	Haugesund	0–4 (B)	02020-12-09-9 December 2020
Mushaga Bakenga	Odd	Kristiansund	4–3 (B)	02020-12-09-9 December 2020
Lars-Jørgen Salvesen	Strømsgodset	Odd	1–3 (B)	02020-12-19-19 December 2020
Ibrahima Wadji	Haugesund	Kristiansund	1–3 (B)	02020-12-22-22 December 2020

Top assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Philip Zinckernagel	Bodø/Glimt	18
2	Ulrik Saltnes	Bodø/Glimt	12
3	Espen Ruud	Odd	10
4	Magnus Wolff Eikrem	Molde	9
	Liridon Kalludra	Kristiansund
6	Jens Petter Hauge	Bodø/Glimt	8
	Kasper Junker	Bodø/Glimt
8	Mikkel Maigaard	Strømsgodset	7
	Lars-Jørgen Salvesen	Strømsgodset
10	Niklas Castro	Aalesund	6
	Zymer Bytyqi	Viking

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	David Mitov Nilsson	Sarpsborg 08	9
2	Andreas Linde	Molde	6
	Sondre Rossbach	Odd
4	Julian Faye Lund	Rosenborg	5
	Marcus Sandberg	Stabæk
	Helge Sandvik	Haugesund
	Jacob Storevik	Sandefjord
8	Sosha Makani	Mjøndalen	4
9	5 players		3

Discipline

Player

• Most yellow cards: 9
  • Niklas Gunnarsson (Strømsgodset)

• Most red cards: 2
  • Alexander Betten Hansen (Mjøndalen)
  • Ipalibo Jack (Strømsgodset)

Club

• Most yellow cards: 47
  • Aalesund

• Most red cards: 3
  • Molde
  • Vålerenga

League attendances

Due to COVID-19 restrictions onlye 200 people were allowed in each match at the beggining of the season.

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Aalesund	400	200	200	200	-0.048792388387412−95.1%1
2	Bodø/Glimt	400	200	200	200	-0.059880239520958−94.0%†
3	Brann	400	400	200	200	-0.018112660749864−98.1%†
4	Haugesund	400	200	200	200	-0.047778308647874−95.2%†
5	Kristiansund	400	200	200	200	-0.048875855327468−95.1%†
6	Mjøndalen	400	200	200	200	-0.08536064874093−91.4%†
7	Molde	400	200	200	200	-0.028752156411731−97.1%†
8	Odd	400	200	200	200	-0.035720664404358−96.4%†
9	Rosenborg	400	200	200	200	-0.015743073047859−98.4%†
10	Sandefjord	400	200	200	200	-0.080645161290323−91.9%1
11	Sarpsborg 08	400	200	200	200	-0.036192544335867−96.3%†
12	Stabæk	400	200	200	200	-0.054749520941692−94.5%†
13	Start	400	200	200	200	-0.038058991436727−96.1%1
14	Strømsgodset	400	200	200	200	-0.037757221068529−96.2%†
15	Vålerenga	400	200	200	200	-0.025529742149604−97.4%†
16	Viking	400	200	200	200	-0.022388895108026−97.7%†
	League total	6,400	200	200	200	-0.034644032565391−96.5%†

Updated to games played on 28 June 2020
Source: nifs.no
Notes:
1: Team played last season in 1. divisjon.

See also

• 2020 Norwegian Football Cup

2020 in Norwegian football
Domestic leagues
Eliteserien · 1. divisjon · 2. Divisjon · 3. Divisjon
Domestic cups
Norwegian Football Cup (Qualifying Rounds · Final) · Mesterfinalen
European competitions
Champions League (Final) · Europa League (Final)
National teams
Norway
2019                                                        2021