The 2018 Eliteserien was the 74th completed season of top-tier football in Norway. This was second season of Eliteserien as rebranding from Tippeligaen.
The season began on 11 March and ended 24 November 2018, not including play-off matches. Fixtures for the 2018 season were announced on 19 December 2017. Rosenborg were the defending champions, while Bodø/Glimt, Start and Ranheim entered as the promoted teams from the 2017 1. divisjon.
Rosenborg won their fourth consecutive title, their 26th top-flight title overall, with one match to spare following a 1–0 away win against Start on 11 November 2018.
Overview Summary Brann started the season well and won eight of their nine opening games. They lost their first match 0–4 against Molde in the 15th round. Rosenborg started the season poorly with no win in the first three games, but managed to tighten the gap to Brann. Head coach Kåre Ingebrigtsen was sacked on 19 July although Rosenborg was placed second in the league, two points behind Brann at the time.
On 11 November, Rosenborg were confirmed as Eliteserien champions following their 1–0 away win against Start in the 29th round. They won their fourth consecutive title and 26th top-flight title overall. Molde won eight of their final nine games and finished in second place, five points behind Rosenborg.
Sandefjord were the first team to be relegated to the 1. divisjon when they drew 1–1 against Sarpsborg 08 in their penultimate game. Before the 30th and final round, five teams were in risk of either relegation or relegation play-offs. Start lost 1–3 away to Haugesund and was relegated as the second team from bottom. Stabæk drew 2–2 against Strømsgodset after a goal by Strømsgodset's Mustafa Abdellaoue in the last minute of the game. That goal made sure Strømsgodset retained their spot in the next season's Eliteserien, while Stabæk were forced to play relegation play-offs. Stabæk won the play-offs against Aalesund 2–1 on aggregate and retained their spot in Eliteserien.
Teams Sixteen teams competed in the league – the top thirteen teams from the previous season, and three teams promoted from 1. divisjon. The promoted teams were Bodø/Glimt, Start (both returning to the top flight after a season's absence) and Ranheim (returned to the top flight after an absence of sixty-one years). They replaced Sogndal, Aalesund and Viking ending their top flight spells of two, eleven and twenty-nine years respectively.
Stadia and locations
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order. Team Location Arena Turf CapacityBodø/Glimt 23 Bodø Aspmyra Stadion Artificial 5,635 Brann 61 Bergen Brann Stadion Natural 12,914The capacity of Brann Stadion was reduced from 17,686 to 12,914 due to renovations. Haugesund 12 Haugesund Haugesund Stadion Natural8,754 Kristiansund 2 Kristiansund Kristiansund Stadion Artificial 4,277 Lillestrøm 55 Lillestrøm Åråsen Stadion Natural 11,500 Molde 42 Molde Aker Stadion Artificial11,249 Odd 37 Skien Skagerak Arena Artificial11,767 Ranheim 8 Trondheim EXTRA Arena Artificial3,000 Rosenborg 55 Trondheim Lerkendal Stadion Natural 21,421 Sandefjord 7 Sandefjord Komplett Arena Natural6,582 Sarpsborg 08 7 Sarpsborg Sarpsborg Stadion Artificial8,022 Stabæk 22 Bærum Nadderud Stadion Natural4,938 Start 41 Kristiansand Sør Arena Artificial 14,448 Strømsgodset 31 Drammen Marienlyst Stadion Artificial8,935 Tromsø 31 Tromsø Alfheim Stadion Artificial6,687 Vålerenga 58 Oslo Intility Arena Artificial16,555
Notes
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsor Bodø/Glimt Kjetil Knutsen Martin Bjørnbak Diadora Sparebanken Nord-Norge Brann Lars Arne Nilsen Vito Wormgoor Nike Sparebanken Vest Haugesund Eirik Horneland Christian Grindheim Macron Haugaland Kraft Kristiansund Christian Michelsen Dan Peter Ulvestad Macron SpareBank 1 Nordvest Lillestrøm Jörgen Lennartsson Frode Kippe Puma DNB Molde Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ruben Gabrielsen Nike Sparebanken Møre Odd Dag-Eilev Fagermo Steffen Hagen Hummel SpareBank 1 Telemark Ranheim Svein Maalen Mads Reginiussen Umbro SpareBank 1 SMN Rosenborg Rini Coolen (interim) Mike Jensen Adidas SpareBank 1 SMN Sandefjord Martí Cifuentes Håvard Storbæk Macron Jotun Sarpsborg 08 Geir Bakke Patrick Mortensen Select Borregaard Stabæk Henning Berg Andreas Hanche-Olsen Macron SpareBank 1 Østlandet Start Kjetil Rekdal Simon Larsen Macron Sparebanken Sør Strømsgodset Bjørn Petter Ingebretsen Jakob Glesnes Puma DNB Tromsø Simo Valakari Simen Wangberg Select Sparebanken Nord-Norge Vålerenga Ronny Deila Daniel Fredheim Holm Umbro DNB
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Table Incoming manager Date of appointment Table Start Mick Priest (interim) End of caretaker spell 1 December 2017Pre-season Mark Dempsey 1 December 2017Pre-season Sandefjord Lars Bohinen Signed by Aalesund 20 December 2017 Magnus Powell 16 January 2018 Sandefjord Magnus Powell Sacked 25 April 2018 12th Geir Ludvig Fevang (interim) 27 April 2018 12th Start Mark Dempsey Sacked 18 May 2018 16th Johannes Hardarson (interim) 19 May 2018 16th Sandefjord Geir Ludvig Fevang (interim) End of caretaker spell 31 May 2018 16th Martí Cifuentes 31 May 2018 16th Start Johannes Hardarson (interim) End of caretaker spell 1 June 2018 15th Kjetil Rekdal 1 June 2018 15th Strømsgodset Tor Ole Skullerud Resigned 6 June 2018 12th Bjørn Petter Ingebretsen 7 June 2018 12th Lillestrøm Arne Erlandsen Sacked 26 June 2018 13th Arild Sundgot (interim) 26 June 2018 13th Stabæk Antoni Ordinas Sacked 27 June 2018 14th Jan Peder Jalland (interim) Gaute Larsen (interim) 28 June 2018 14th Stabæk Jan Peder Jalland (interim) Gaute Larsen (interim) End of caretaker spell 4 July 2018 14th Henning Berg 4 July 2018 14th Lillestrøm Arild Sundgot (interim) End of caretaker spell 13 July 2018 13th Jörgen Lennartsson 13 July 2018 13th Rosenborg Kåre Ingebrigtsen Sacked 19 July 2018 2nd Rini Coolen (interim) 19 July 2018 2nd
Transfers
Winter
Summer
League table
Positions by round
Relegation play-offs
The 14th-placed team, Stabæk takes part in a two-legged play-off against Aalesund, the winners of the 1. divisjon promotion play-offs, to decide who will play in the 2019 Eliteserien.
Stabæk won 2–1 on aggregate and retained their position in Eliteserien.
Results
Season statistics Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoalsGamesAverage1 Franck Boli Stabæk17290,592 Marcus Pedersen Strømsgodset14230,613 Erling Haaland Molde12250,48 Patrick Mortensen Sarpsborg 0812280,43 Thomas Lehne Olsen Lillestrøm12290,416 Sam Johnson Vålerenga11240,46 Daouda Bamba Kristiansund/Brann11290,388 Bård Finne Vålerenga10250,40 Kristian Fardal Opseth Bodø/Glimt10300,3010 Mads Reginiussen Ranheim9260,35 Steffen Lie Skålevik Brann9280,32 Bendik Bye Kristiansund9300,30 David Akintola Haugesund9300,30
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Marcus Pedersen Strømsgodset Odd 3–0 (H) Erling Haaland4 Molde Brann 4–0 (A) Bendik Bye Kristiansund Strømsgodset 3–2 (A)
Notes 4 Player scored 4 goals(H) – Home team(A) – Away team
Clean sheets
RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 André HansenRosenborg122 Samuel Şahin-RadlingerBrann113 Adam Larsen KwaraseyVålerenga104 Per Kristian BråtveitHaugesund95 Andreas LindeMolde8 Sondre RossbachOdd7 Jonas DeumelandStart5 Aslak FalchSarpsborg 08 Gudmund KongshavnTromsø Sean McDermottKristiansund
Discipline
Player
Most yellow cards: 10 Flamur Kastrati (Sandefjord/Kristiansund)
Most red cards: 1 Aliou Coly (Kristiansund) Simon Larsen (Start) Mathias Normann (Molde) Jacob Rasmussen (Rosenborg) Ivan Näsberg (Vålerenga) Lars-Jørgen Salvesen (Start) Emil Pálsson (Sandefjord) Tokmac Nguen (Strømsgodset) Abdisalam Ibrahim (Vålerenga) Frode Kippe (Lillestrøm) Marius Amundsen (Lillestrøm) Ivar Furu (Ranheim)
Club
Most yellow cards: 57 Start
Most red cards: 2 Lillestrøm Start Vålerenga
Attendances
Awards Award Winner Club Player of the Year André Hansen Rosenborg Breakthrough of the Year Erling Haaland Molde Manager of the Year Svein Maalen Ranheim Goal of the Year Jon-Helge Tveita Sarpsborg 08
References