Odds Ballklubb, commonly known as Odd, is a Norwegian professional football club from Skien. Originally the football section of a multi-sports club, it was founded in 1894, nine years after the club's founding. Most sports other than football and gymnastics were discontinued, and the club became dedicated primarily to football. Odd plays in the Norwegian First Division, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system, and holds the record of winning the Norwegian Football Cup the most times with twelve wins, the last coming in 2000. The club was known as Odd Grenland between 1994 and 2012. Founded in 1894, Odd is the oldest football club in Norway.[1] As of 13 May 2017 the club was granted a membership in Club of Pioneers. It then became the first Nordic football club to be granted this membership.
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| Full name | Odds Ballklubb | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Oddrane | ||
| Founded | 31 March 1894 | ||
| Ground | Skagerak Arena Skien | ||
| Capacity | 12 000 | ||
| Chairman | Bernt Ove Søvik | ||
| Manager | Per Frandsen | ||
| League | 1. divisjon | ||
| 2026 | 1. Divisjon, 9th of 16 | ||
| Website | www | ||
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History
editIF Odd was founded in 1885,[2] and is thus one of the older sports clubs in Norway still in existence. The name derives from Viktor Rydberg's novel Seierssverdet, where one of the main characters was a Norwegian athlete called Orvar Odd.[citation needed]
In the beginning, IF Odd was mainly focused on gymnastics and also had a department for Nordic skiing and track and field.[2] A department for football, named Odds BK, was founded on 31 March 1894.[3] This initiative was the club's second effort to do so, some time after English workers at nearby Skotfoss brought the game of football to Skien, and the city[dubious – discuss] decided to buy a football. Odd is counted as Norway's oldest football team still in existence.
Odd started a cooperation with the local club Pors in 1994 and changed their names to Odd Grenland and Pors Grenland in an effort to represent the district of Grenland. In conjunction with the name change, a public limited company named Grenland Fotball was founded.[3] Pors Grenland withdrew from the cooperation in December 2009,[4] and in January 2013 Odd Grenland decided to change its name back to Odds BK because they wanted to be a club for the entire county of Telemark.[5]
Odd won the Norwegian Football Cup in 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1913, 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1931, and 2000,[3] more than any other team in Norway. In the late 20th century, the men's team struggled in the lower divisions for many years but made it back to the Tippeligaen in 1999 and stayed there until they were relegated in 2007. The team had survived relegation twice; first in 2005 after a dreadful start to the campaign, then in 2006 when the team only survived relegation by beating Bryne in the relegation play-offs. In 2007 the team was relegated to the 1. divisjon after being beaten by Bodø/Glimt in the relegation play-offs. In 2008, with three games still to play, Odd secured the promotion back to the Tippeligaen after winning 4–0 at home against Hødd.
On 25 September 2011, Odd player Jone Samuelsen scored what is claimed to be the longest headed goal ever scored in a match, in a match against Tromsø, when he headed the ball from within his own half of the pitch into Tromsø's open goal, the goalkeeper having come forward for a late corner in the match. Norwegian police were invited to measure the distance and calculated the length to be 58.13 metres.[6]
Home ground
edit
The club's home ground is Skagerak Arena (capacity 12,000), has seen the largest crowd (approx. 12,500 people) at the 1984 Cup semi-final against Viking, though the official number is 8854. Officially, the highest attendance is 12.436, achieved in the 2015 Europa League play-off against Borussia Dortmund. The stadium was rebuilt to hold a capacity of between 13,000 and 14,000, and was finished in 2008. It is named Skagerak Arena after local sponsor Skagerak Energi.
Players and staff
editFirst-team squad
edit- As of 20 March 2026[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For season transfers, see transfers winter 2024–25 and transfers summer 2025.
Out on loan
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Coaching staff
edit| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Per Frandsen |
| Assistant coach | Casper Aamodt |
| Assitant coauch and player developer | Flamur Kastrati |
| Goalkeeper coach | Mats Mørch |
| Sport director | Morten Rønningen |
| Physical and mental coach | Mikkel Fillingsnes Marker |
| Physical therapist | Jonathan Brun Bar-Yaacov |
| Player logistic | Sebastian Nilsen |
| Equipment manager | Nils Thomas Strømdal |
| Team coordinator | Tore Andersen |
| Doctor | Ola Stamnes |
Honours
editRecent history
editSeason Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes 2000 Tippeligaen 8 26 11 5 10 40 31 38 Winner 2001 Tippeligaen 6 26 12 6 8 50 40 42 Semi-final 2002 Tippeligaen 6 26 12 5 9 36 30 41 Final 2003 Tippeligaen 4 26 11 5 10 46 43 38 Third round 2004 Tippeligaen 8 26 9 8 9 47 44 35 Third round 2005 Tippeligaen 9 26 9 6 11 28 51 33 Quarter-final 2006 Tippeligaen 12 26 7 8 11 30 38 29 Third round 2007 Tippeligaen ↓ 12 26 8 3 15 33 43 27 Semi-final Relegated to the 1. divisjon 2008 1. divisjon ↑ 1 30 20 5 5 76 44 65 Semi-final Promoted to the Tippeligaen 2009 Tippeligaen 4 30 12 10 8 53 44 46 Semi-final 2010 Tippeligaen 5 30 12 10 8 48 41 46 Semi-final 2011 Tippeligaen 5 30 14 6 10 44 44 48 Fourth round 2012 Tippeligaen 10 30 11 7 12 40 43 39 Fourth round 2013 Tippeligaen 7 30 11 7 12 43 39 40 Fourth round 2014 Tippeligaen 3 30 17 7 6 52 32 58 Final 2015 Tippeligaen 4 30 15 10 5 61 41 55 Quarter-final 2016 Tippeligaen 3 30 15 6 9 44 35 51 Fourth round 2017 Eliteserien 6 30 12 6 12 27 39 42 Fourth round 2018 Eliteserien 9 30 11 7 12 39 38 40 Fourth round 2019 Eliteserien 4 30 15 7 8 45 40 52 Semi-final 2020 Eliteserien 7 30 13 4 13 52 51 43 Cancelled 2021 Eliteserien 13 30 8 9 13 44 58 33 Fourth round 2022 Eliteserien 5 30 13 6 11 43 45 45 Fourth round 2023 Eliteserien 10 30 10 8 12 42 44 38 Third round 2024 Eliteserien ↓ 16 30 5 8 17 26 54 23 Third round Relegated to the 1. divisjon 2025 1. divisjon 9 30 8 9 13 37 50 33 First round 2026 1. divisjon – – – – – – – – First round
European record
editOverview
edit- As of 3 August 2017
| Competition | S | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup | 5 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 37 | 32 | +5 |
| Total | 5 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 37 | 32 | +5 |
Matches
edit| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg | Aggregate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | UEFA Cup | 1R |  Helsingborgs IF |
2–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 (a) |  |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Cup | 2Q |  FK Ekranas |
3–1 | 1–2 | 4–3 |  |
| 1R |  Feyenoord |
0–1 | 1–4 | 1–5 | | ||
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  FC Sheriff Tiraspol |
3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | |
| 2Q |  Shamrock Rovers |
2–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | | ||
| 3Q | Elfsborg |
1–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | | ||
| PO |  Borussia Dortmund |
3–4 | 2–7 | 5–11 | | ||
| 2016–17 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  IFK Mariehamn |
2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | |
| 2Q |  PAS Giannina |
0–3 | 3–1 | 3–4 | | ||
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Ballymena United |
3–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | |
| 2Q |  Vaduz |
1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | ||
| 3Q |  Dinamo Zagreb |
1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | ||
- Notes
- 1Q: First qualifying round
- 2Q: Second qualifying round
- 1R: First round
- PO. Play-off round
Managers
edit- Lennart Söderberg (1983–84)
- Tore Andersen (1990)
- Paul Wilson (1991–93)
- Lars Borgar Waage (1994–97)
- Tom Nordlie (1998–99)
- Arne Sandstø (1 January 1999– 28 September 2007)
- Gaute Larsen (2005–07)
- Ove Flindt-Bjerg (28 September 2007 – 17 December 2007)
- Dag-Eilev Fagermo (17 December 2007 – 31 January 2020)
- Jan Frode Nornes (11 March 2020 – 8 January 2022)
- Pål Arne Johansen (24 January 2022 – 31 December 2023)
- Kenneth Dokken (16 January 2024 – 13 November 2024)
- Knut Rønningene (interim) (13 November 2024 – 10 December 2024)
- Knut Rønningene (10 December 2024 – 15 September 2025)
- Per Frandsen (17 September 2025 –)
References
edit- ↑ dubious, dubious (7 May 2017). "Club of Pioneers" (in Norwegian). Odds Ballklubb. Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
- 1 2 Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Odd Grenland". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- 1 2 3 Tollefsen, Morten (28 March 2007). "Litt om ODDS BALLKLUBB" (in Norwegian). Odd Grenland. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ↑ Saga, Else Jorunn (2 December 2009). "Pors ut av Grenland fotball" (in Norwegian). NRK. Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ↑ "Odd stryker Grenland fra klubbnavnet". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ↑ "Halfway-line Norwegian header set for record books". BBC Sport. 2 October 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- ↑ "A-laget" [First team squad] (in Norwegian). Odds BK. Archived from the original on 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
External links
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