2008 Norwegian First Division

●

Alta

●

Hødd

●

Sogndal

●

Løv-Ham

●

Haugesund

●

Sandnes Ulf

●

Bryne

●

Start

●

Notodden

●

Hønefoss

●

Odd Grenland

●

Sandefjord

●

Moss

●

Sarpsborg Sparta

●

Kongsvinger

●

Nybergsund-Trysil

The 2008 Norwegian First Division season (known as Adeccoligaen for sponsorship reasons) began on 5 April 2008 and ended on 1 November 2008.^[1]

In 2009, the number of teams in the Norwegian Premier League will expand from fourteen to sixteen.^[2] Therefore, 2008 was a transitional season, in which more teams were promoted to the top flight, and less teams relegated to the Second Division, than usual. Automatic promotion was awarded to the teams finishing in the top three places in the standings. Only the two teams at the bottom of the standings were relegated to the Second Division, as opposed to the regular four.

The three clubs relegated from the Premier League in 2007 were Odd Grenland, Start and Sandefjord. At the conclusion of the season, all three had managed to secure promotion, with Odd Grenland being confirmed as champions of the First Division after defeating Start 3–2 in the penultimate round.^[3]

Sandnes Ulf and Hødd were relegated to the Second Division after finishing in fifteenth and sixteenth place respectively. It was Sandnes Ulf's first season at the second level since 1972. Nybergsund, who had never previously played at the second level, retained their spot, finishing in eighth place.

As in previous years, there was a two-legged promotion playoff at the end of the season, this time between the fourth-placed team in the First Division (Sogndal) and the thirteenth-placed team in the Premier League (Aalesund). Aalesund kept their spot in the Premier League, beating Sogndal 4-1 away, 3-1 at home, and 7-2 on aggregate.^[4]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Odd Grenland (P)	30	20	5	5	76	44	+32	65	Promotion to the Tippeligaen
2	Sandefjord (P)	30	17	9	4	46	25	+21	60
3	Start (P)	30	17	8	5	58	34	+24	59
4	Sogndal	30	15	9	6	53	36	+17	54	Qualification to the Tippeligaen
5	Hønefoss	30	15	6	9	47	33	+14	51
6	Notodden	30	12	10	8	55	40	+15	46
7	Haugesund	30	11	9	10	48	47	+1	42
8	Nybergsund-Trysil	30	12	6	12	49	53	−4	42
9	Moss	30	9	12	9	63	54	+9	39
10	Sarpsborg Sparta	30	10	7	13	45	43	+2	37
11	Bryne	30	10	6	14	38	53	−15	36
12	Løv-Ham	30	9	7	14	37	45	−8	34
13	Kongsvinger	30	8	6	16	33	58	−25	30
14	Alta	30	8	2	20	49	66	−17	26
15	Sandnes Ulf (R)	30	5	10	15	36	55	−19	25	Relegation to the Second Division
16	Hødd (R)	30	2	8	20	29	76	−47	14

Source: speaker.no
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
The winner, runner-up and third place finisher in the First Division are automatically promoted to the Norwegian Premier League. The fourth-placed team in the First Division and the 13th-placed team in the Premier League meet in a playoff at the end of the season. The two teams finishing at the bottom of the table are automatically relegated to the Second Division.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Home \ Away1

ALT

BRY

FKH

ILH

HØN

KIL

LØV

MFK

NOT

NIL

ODD

SF

ULF

SSFK

SIL

IKS

Alta

4–1

1–0

7–2

0–2

1–2

1–3

3–0

2–3

1–2

3–7

1–1

0–1

1–0

0–2

1–2

Bryne

3–1

2–2

6–1

0–2

2–1

1–0

5–5

1–1

0–3

0–1

1–3

4–0

1–0

0–1

0–1

Haugesund

5–4

1–1

3–1

0–4

0–1

2–3

2–2

3–1

3–1

1–4

1–1

2–0

1–2

2–0

2–2

Hødd

1–2

0–1

1–2

0–1

2–4

1–1

1–5

0–0

2–3

1–2

0–2

1–1

2–0

0–3

0–2

Hønefoss

2–0

2–0

1–1

5–1

4–0

1–3

1–0

1–1

6–1

1–0

0–0

2–2

1–0

0–4

3–3

Kongsvinger

1–3

0–1

2–2

1–1

2–1

1–0

0–3

1–2

0–2

1–3

0–3

0–0

2–1

4–3

2–2

Løv-Ham

3–0

2–1

0–1

1–1

1–0

3–1

1–1

3–1

0–0

2–3

0–2

1–2

1–2

0–1

0–0

Moss

4–2

1–2

2–4

2–2

1–2

1–1

3–1

1–1

2–1

3–3

3–1

2–4

2–4

1–1

4–0

Notodden

5–3

7–0

1–1

5–1

3–1

4–2

0–1

2–2

1–0

0–0

5–0

2–1

0–5

2–3

2–3

Nybergsund-Trysil

2–0

4–0

2–0

4–0

1–0

2–1

2–2

0–5

0–1

1–3

1–2

2–0

2–2

1–1

2–3

Odd Grenland

2–1

5–1

1–1

4–0

2–0

3–0

3–1

3–2

1–1

5–1

2–1

3–2

3–2

4–4

3–2

Sandefjord

2–1

1–0

0–1

2–2

0–0

2–0

4–1

3–1

1–0

1–1

3–0

2–1

2–0

2–0

2–1

Sandnes Ulf

2–2

1–1

2–4

1–2

1–2

1–2

1–1

1–1

0–2

2–3

0–3

0–0

2–1

3–0

2–2

Sarpsborg Sparta

2–3

1–1

2–1

2–1

0–1

1–1

2–1

1–2

1–1

2–2

5–1

1–1

2–1

2–2

0–2

Sogndal

2–1

1–0

1–0

3–1

3–1

3–0

4–0

2–2

1–1

3–1

3–2

0–0

1–1

0–1

0–3

Start

2–0

1–2

2–0

1–1

3–0

2–0

3–1

0–0

1–0

5–2

1–0

1–2

5–1

2–1

1–1

Source: speaker.no
¹The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

Top goal scorers

Scorer	Goals	Team
Peter Kovacs	22	Odd Grenland
Kenneth Kvalheim	21	Moss
Morten Fevang	15	Odd Grenland
Fabian Taylor	14	Notodden
Vegard Braaten	13	Alta
Martin Wiig	13	Sarpsborg Sparta
Lars Lafton	13	Hønefoss
Allan Borgvardt	12	Bryne
Geir Ludvig Fevang	11	Start

Source: VG Nett

Relegated teams

These three teams were relegated from the Norwegian Premier League in 2007:

• Odd Grenland
• Start
• Sandefjord

Promoted teams

These four teams were promoted from the Second Division in 2007:

• Alta
• Hødd
• Nybergsund-Trysil
• Sandnes Ulf

See also

• Norwegian Premier League 2008

References

1. ^ "Norwegian First Division - Fixtures 2008". NRK Sport. http://www.nrksport.no/fotball/1_divisjon/?arr=l39&sesong=2008&type=terminliste. Retrieved 2008-03-20. 
2. ^ "Tippeligaen utvides til 16 lag" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. 2008-03-08. http://www.fotball.no/table.asp?p=53184&cat=51834&x=1&a=221127. Retrieved 2008-03-20. 
3. ^ "Odd ble serievinnere" (in Norwegian). Adresseavisen. 2008-10-25. http://fotball.adressa.no/forstediv/article121033.ece. Retrieved 2008-11-04. 
4. ^ "Beramming kvalikkamper til Tippeligaen" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. 2008-11-03. http://www.fotball.no/t1.aspx?p=51831&x=1&a=237665. Retrieved 2008-11-04. 

External links

• Norwegian First Division 2008 on NRK Sport: Fixtures and results - Top scorers, Yellow cards, Red cards - Standings