Odds BK

IF 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.

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 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 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 of 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 as to be 58.13 metres.[6]

Skagerak Arena viewed from Sparebank 1 tribune

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.

• Eliteserien:
  • Runners-up (2): 1950–51, 1956–57
• 1. divisjon:
  • Winners (2): 1998, 2008
• Norwegian Football Cup:
  • Winners (12) (Joint-Record): 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1913, 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1931, 2000
  • Runners-up (9): 1902, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1921, 1937, 1960, 2002, 2014

Season		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 (in progress)	Eliteserien	8	17	6	4	7	17	19	22	Third round

• 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 – )

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Odd Grenland.

• Official website
• Oddrane supporter club website