The 2021 Norwegian First Division (referred to as OBOS-ligaen for sponsorship reasons) is a Norwegian second-tier football league season.
The league started on 15 May 2021, and ended on 27 November 2021.
HamKam earned promotion to Eliteserien on 6 November 2021, after a 1–0 win against Stjørdals-Blink. Aalesund secured their promotion in the penultimate round.
Teams
In the 2020 1. divisjon, Tromsø and Lillestrøm were promoted to the 2021 Eliteserien, while Kongsvinger and Øygarden were relegated to the 2021 2. divisjon.
Start and Aalesund were relegated from the 2020 Eliteserien, while Fredrikstad and Bryne were promoted from the 2020 2. divisjon.
Stadiums and locations TeamLocationArenaCapacityManagerAalesundÅlesundColor Line Stadion10,778 Lars Arne NilsenBryneBryneBryne Stadion4,000 Jan Halvor HalvorsenFredrikstadFredrikstadFredrikstad Stadion12,500 Bjørn JohansenGrorudOsloGrorud Arctic Match1,700 Johan Gjønnes NilsenHamKamHamarBriskeby Arena7,800 Kjetil RekdalJervGrimstadLevermyr Stadion3,300 Arne SandstøKFUM OsloOsloKFUM Arena2,000 Jørgen IsnesRanheimTrondheimExtra Arena3,000 Hugo PereiraRaufossRaufossNammo Stadion1,800 Christian JohnsenSandnes UlfSandnesØster Hus Arena6,043 Bjarne BerntsenSogndalSogndalsfjøraFosshaugane Campus5,622 Eirik BakkeStartKristiansandSør Arena14,448 Sindre TjelmelandStjørdals-BlinkStjørdalshalsenM.U.S Stadion2,000 Tom DentStrømmenStrømmenStrømmen Stadion2,000 Ole Martin NesselquistUll/KisaJessheimJessheim Stadion4,500 Steffen LandroÅsaneBergenÅsane Arena3,300 Morten Røssland
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Table Incoming manager Date of appointment Table Stjørdals-Blink Roar Vikvang Appointed head of Rosenborg's academy 31 December 2020Pre-season Tom Dent 1 January 2021Pre-season Ull/Kisa Trond Fredriksen Mutual consent 11 January 2021 Sindre Tjelmeland 12 January 2021 Grorud Eirik Kjønø Signed by Stabæk as assistant 4 February 2021 Aksel Bergo 1 March 2021 Start Jóhannes Harðarson Sacked 14 June 20217th Sindre Tjelmeland 19 June 2021 12th Ull/Kisa Sindre Tjelmeland Signed by Start 19 June 2021 11th Arild Sundgot 1 July 2021 11th Ranheim Svein Maalen Mutual consent 22 June 2021 15th Hugo Pereira 7 July 2021 15th Sandnes Ulf Steffen Landro Mutual consent 14 July 2021 16th Bjarne Berntsen 12 August 2021 14th Grorud Aksel Bergo Mutual consent 27 August 2021 16th Johan Gjønnes Nilsen (interim) 27 August 2021 16th Ull/Kisa Arild Sundgot Sacked 3 October 2021 14th Steffen Landro 5 October 2021 14th
League table
Results
Play-offs Promotion play-offs
The teams from third to sixth place will take part in the promotion play-offs; these are single leg knockout matches. In the first round, the fifth-placed team will play at home against the sixth-placed team. The winner of the first round will meet the fourth-placed team on away ground in the second round. The winner of the second round will meet the third-placed team on away ground. The winner of the third round will advance to play the 14th-placed team in the Eliteserien on neutral ground in the Eliteserien play-offs for a spot in the top-flight next season.
First round
Second round
Third round
Relegation play-offs The 14th-placed team, Stjørdals-Blink, took part in a two-legged play-off against the winners of the Second Division play-offs, Hødd, to decide who would play in the First Division next season.
Stjørdals-Blink won 5–3 on aggregate.
Season statistics Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Oscar Aga Grorud242 Sigurd Hauso Haugen Aalesund213 Elias Hoff Melkersen Ranheim174 Eman Markovic Start165 Jonas Enkerud HamKam146 Kristian Eriksen HamKam13 Erlend Hustad Sandnes Ulf Taofeek Ismaheel Fredrikstad9 Joacim Holtan Bryne11 Alagie Sanyang KFUM Oslo Nicolay Solberg Fredrikstad
Awards Monthly awards MonthCoach of the MonthPlayer of the MonthYoung Player of the MonthReferencesCoachClubPlayerClubPlayerClubJune Kjetil RekdalHamKam Oscar AgaGrorud Vetle SkjærvikHamKamJuly Bjørn JohansenFredrikstad Nicolay SolbergFredrikstad Elias MelkersenRanheimAugust Kjetil RekdalHamKam Kristian EriksenHamKam Oscar AgaGrorudSeptember Lars Arne NilsenAalesund Simen Bolkan NordliAalesund Taofeek IsmaheelFredrikstadOctober Johan Gjønnes NilsenGrorud Elias MelkersenRanheim
Annual awards AwardWinnerClubCoach of the Year Kjetil RekdalHamKamPlayer of the Year Kristian EriksenBreakthrough of the Year Taofeek IsmaheelFredrikstad
References