The Eliteserien, until 1991 known as the 1. divisjon and between 1991 and 2016 known as Tippeligaen, has employed a system of play-off qualification to determine promotion and relegation with the 1. divisjon (until 1991 the 2. divisjon). Various varieties have been in place since the system was introduced at the end of the 1972 season, but only one team has been promoted per year. The play-offs have always supplemented a system of direct promotion and relegation of two teams. The play-offs have been wavered twice, in the 1994 and 2011 seasons, when the top league was expanded to fourteen and sixteen teams, respectively.

Sogndal have participated nine times, more than any other team. Start (four times) and Stabæk (twice) are the only teams to have participated more than once and always won. The least successful teams who have participated three times or more and never won the tournament are Pors (four times), Sandefjord and Ull/Kisa (both three times). Teams from the top league have participated 35 times, and have succeeded at retaining their place in 20 occasions.

Format Play-offs were introduced in the 1972, when the 1. divisjon was expanded from ten to twelve teams. The 2. divisjon consisted of two conferences, and the winners of each conference were promoted directly. The runners-up met the winner of a conference from Northern Norway, with the three teams playing a single round-robin to determine the third and final promotion spot. Three teams were relegated from the 1. divisjon. This system remained for seven years, before the separate conferences for Northern Norway were abolished. From 1979 the play-offs were played as a two-tier match between the two conference runners-up, a system which was used for two seasons.

From 1981 the system returned to a three-team single round robin, although this time the two 2. divisjon runners-up met the team finishing tenth in the 1. divisjon. The format remained for thirteen years, with six top level teams succeeding in retaining their place. No play-off was played in 1994, as the top flight was increased to fourteen teams and both the winners and runners-up of both 1. divisjon conferences were promoted, while only two top flight teams were relegated.

From 1995 the play-off solely involved a two-tier match between the runners-up of the 1. divisjon conferences, with three teams from the top flight meeting relegation. This system remained for two years, before 1997, when the 1. divisjon was merged to a single conference. For twelve years the play-off was played as a two-tier game between the team finishing twelfth in the top flight and the team finishing third in the 1. divisjon. In this period the top level teams defended their positions nine times, including every year from 2001 through 2006.

From 2009 the play-off has been played as a knock-out tournament. The first two years saw the teams ranked three through five in the 1. divisjon meet the team ranked twelfth in the top flight in a two-round knock-out, with a single match in the first round and double match in the second round. In 2009 the top flight was extended to sixteen teams: three teams were promoted and only one relegated. In 2011, no play-off was carried out. From 2012 the play-offs returned as a three-round knock-out tournament. The teams ranked three to six in the 1. divisjon played each other in a two-round, single-match knock-out tournament, with the winner facing the fourteenth-placed top flight team in a two-legged decisive final.

By season

The following is a list of seasons, listing the winning team, the relegated team should the top level contestant fail to win, and teams failing to be promoted.

* Team from the top league

Season Winner Relegated Not promoted Ref 1972 Raufoss — Pors, Mo 1973 Vålerengen — Bryne, Mjølner 1974 Fredrikstad — Eidsvold Turn, Bodø/Glimt 1975 Vard Haugesund — Odd, Bodø/Glimt 1976 Bodø/Glimt — Lyn, Odd 1977 Steinkjer — Odd, Mo 1978 HamKam — Fredrikstad, Tromsø 1979 Molde — Pors 1980 Haugar — Mjøndalen 1981 Molde Brann* Pors 1982 Eik-Tønsberg Fredrikstad* Steinkjer 1983 Strindheim Brann* Pors 1984 Moss* — HamKam, Vidar 1985 Tromsø Moss* Sogndal 1986 Tromsø* — Drøbak/Frogn, Vidar 1987 Djerv 1919 HamKam* Lyn 1988 Start Bryne* HamKam 1989 Vålerengen* — Djerv 1919, HamKam 1990 Lillestrøm* — Bryne, Eik-Tønsberg 1991 Brann* — Bryne, Strindheim 1992 HamKam* — Drøbak/Frogn, Strømmen 1993 Strømsgodset Molde* Bryne 1995 Strømsgodset — Sogndal 1996 Sogndal — Odd Grenland 1997 Tromsø* — Eik-Tønsberg 1998 Kongsvinger* — Kjelsås 1999 Start Strømsgodset* — 2000 Sogndal Vålerenga* — 2001 Bryne* — HamKam 2002 Brann* — Sandefjord 2003 Vålerenga* — Sandefjord 2004 Bodø/Glimt* — Kongsvinger 2005 Molde* — Moss 2006 Odd Grenland* — Bryne 2007 Bodø/Glimt Odd Grenland* — 2008 Aalesund* — Sogndal 2009 Kongsvinger Fredrikstad* Sogndal, Sarpsborg 08 2010 Fredrikstad Hønefoss* Løv-Ham, Ranheim 2012 Sandnes Ulf* — Sandefjord, Mjøndalen, Bodø/Glimt, Ullensaker/Kisa 2013 Sarpsborg 08* — Ranheim, Mjøndalen, Hødd, HamKam 2014 Mjøndalen Brann* Bærum, Kristiansund, Fredrikstad 2015 Start* — Jerv, Kristiansund, Hødd, Ranheim 2016 Stabæk* — Jerv, Sandnes Ulf, Kongsvinger, Mjøndalen 2017 Ranheim Sogndal* Mjøndalen, Sandnes Ulf, Ull/Kisa 2018 Stabæk* — Aalesund, Sogndal, Ull/Kisa, Nest-Sotra 2019 Start Lillestrøm* KFUM Oslo, Kongsvinger, Sogndal 2020 Mjøndalen* — Sogndal, Ranheim, Åsane, Raufoss 2021 Jerv Brann* Fredrikstad, KFUM Oslo, Sogndal 2022 Sandefjord* — Start, KFUM Oslo, Sandnes Ulf, Kongsvinger 2023KristiansundVålerenga*Bryne, Start (Walkover), Kongsvinger2024Haugesund*—Egersund, Kongsvinger, Lyn, Moss2025———

By club The following is a list of clubs which have participated, stating the municipality they are from and the number of seasons they have participated in the play-off. It further states the number of times and years the teams have won the play-off, been relegated and not been promoted.

* Team from the top division

Club Location Seasons No Years No Years No Years Wins Relegations Not promoted Sogndal Sogndal 10 2 1996, 2000 1 2017* 7 1985, 1995, 2008, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2021 HamKam Hamar 8 2 1978, 1992* 1 1987* 5 1984, 1988, 1989, 2001, 2013 Bryne Time 8 1 2001* 1 1988* 6 1973, 1990, 1991, 1993, 2006, 2023 Bodø/Glimt Bodø 6 3 1976, 2004*, 2007 0 — 3 1974, 1975, 2012 Odd Skien 6 1 2006* 1 2007* 4 1975, 1976, 1977, 1996 Mjøndalen Nedre Eiker 7 2 2014, 2020* 0 — 5 1980, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017 Fredrikstad Fredrikstad 6 2 1974, 2010 2 1981*, 2009* 2 1977, 2021 Brann Bergen 6 2 1991*, 2002* 4 1981*, 1983*, 2014* 2021* 0 — Kongsvinger Kongsvinger 8 2 1998*, 2009 0 — 5 2004, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2023 Start Kristiansand 6 4 1988, 1999, 2015*, 2019 0 — 2 1977, 2021 Molde Molde 4 3 1979, 1981, 2005* 1 1993* 0 — Vålerenga Oslo 5 3 1973, 1989*, 2003* 2 2000*, 2023* 0 — Tromsø Tromsø 4 3 1985, 1986*, 1997* 0 — 1 1978 Ranheim Trondheim 5 1 2017 0 — 5 2010, 2013, 2015, 2020, 2025 Pors Porsgrunn 4 0 — 0 — 4 1972, 1979, 1981, 1983 Strømsgodset Drammen 3 2 1993, 1995 1 1999* 0 — Moss Moss 4 1 1984* 1 1985* 2 2005, 2024 Eik-Tønsberg Tønsberg 3 1 1982 0 — 2 1990, 1997 Sandnes Ulf Sandnes 3 1 2012* 0 — 3 2016, 2017, 2022 Sandefjord Sandefjord 4 1 2022* 0 — 3 2002, 2003, 2012 Ullensaker/Kisa Ullensaker 3 0 — 0 — 3 2012, 2017, 2018 Stabæk Bærum 2 2 2016*, 2018* 0 — 0 — Lillestrøm Skedsmo 2 1 1990* 1 2019* 0 — Steinkjer Steinkjer 2 1 1977 0 — 1 1982 Djerv 1919 Haugesund 2 1 1987 0 — 1 1989 Strindheim Trondheim 2 1 1983 0 — 1 1991 Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 2 1 2013* 0 — 1 2009 Aalesund Ålesund 2 1 2008* 0 — 1 2018 Mo Rana 2 0 — 0 — 2 1972, 1977 Vidar Stavanger 2 0 — 0 — 2 1984, 1986 Lyn Oslo 3 0 — 0 — 3 1976, 1987, 2024 Drøbak/Frogn Frogn 2 0 — 0 — 2 1986, 1992 Hødd Ulstein 2 0 — 0 — 2 2013, 2015 Jerv Grimstad 3 1 2021 0 — 2 2015, 2016 Raufoss Vestre Toten 2 1 1972 0 — 1 2021 Vard Haugesund Haugesund 1 1 1975 0 — 0 — Haugar Haugesund 1 1 1980 0 — 0 — Hønefoss Ringerike 1 0 — 1 2010* 0 — Mjølner Harstad 1 0 — 0 — 1 1973 Eidsvold Turn Eidsvoll 1 0 — 0 — 1 1974 Strømmen Skedsmo 1 0 — 0 — 1 1992 Kjelsås Oslo 1 0 — 0 — 1 1998 Løv-Ham (defunct) Bergen 1 0 — 0 — 1 2010 Nest-Sotra Øygarden 1 0 — 0 — 1 2018 KFUM Oslo Oslo 2 0 — 0 — 2 2019, 2021EgersundEgersund 1 0 — 0 — 1 2024ÅsaneÅsane 1 0 — 0 — 1 2020KristiansundKristiansund 3 1 2023 0 — 2 2014, 2015

References