# 2018 Norwegian First Division

The 2018 1. divisjon (referred to as OBOS-ligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football league season.
The season began on 2 April 2018 and ended on 11 November 2018 (not including playoff matches).

## Team changes from 2017

In the 2017 1. divisjon, Bodø/Glimt, Start and Ranheim were promoted to the 2018 Eliteserien, while Fredrikstad, Elverum and Arendal were relegated to the 2018 2. divisjon.
Sogndal, Aalesund and Viking were relegated from the 2017 Eliteserien, while HamKam, Nest-Sotra and Notodden were promoted from the 2017 2. divisjon.

## Teams
### Stadia and personnel

| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity | Manager |
| Aalesund | Ålesund | Color Line Stadion | 10,778 | Lars Bohinen |
| Florø | Florø | Florø Stadion | 2,700 | Terje Rognsø |
| HamKam | Hamar | Briskeby Arena | 7,800 | Kevin Knappen |
| Jerv | Grimstad | Levermyr Stadion | 3,300 | Arne Sandstø |
| Kongsvinger | Kongsvinger | Gjemselund Stadion | 5,824 | Mark Dempsey |
| Levanger | Levanger | TOBB Arena | 2,100 | Roger Naustan |
| Mjøndalen | Mjøndalen | Isachsen Stadion | 4,200 | Vegard Hansen |
| Nest-Sotra | Sotra | Ågotnes Stadion | 1,200 | Steffen Landro |
| Notodden | Notodden | Idrettsparken | 4,000 | Kenneth Dokken |
| Sandnes Ulf | Sandnes | Sandnes Stadion | 4,969 | Bengt Sæternes |
| Sogndal | Sogndalsfjøra | Fosshaugane Campus | 5,622 | Eirik Bakke |
| Strømmen | Strømmen | Strømmen Stadion | 1,850 | Espen Olsen |
| Tromsdalen | Tromsdalen | TUIL Arena | 1,695 | Gaute Helstrup |
| Ull/Kisa | Jessheim | Jessheim Stadion | 3,500 | Vegard Skogheim |
| Viking | Stavanger | Viking Stadion | 15,900 | Bjarne Berntsen |
| Åsane | Åsane | Myrdal Gress | 2,180 | Mons Ivar Mjelde |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table |
| Aalesund | Trond Fredriksen | Sacked | 12 December 2017 | Pre-season | Lars Bohinen | 20 December 2017 | Pre-season |
| Viking | Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim (interim) | End of caretaker spell | 18 December 2017 | Pre-season | Bjarne Berntsen | 18 December 2017 | Pre-season |
| Levanger | Magnus Powell | Contract expired | 31 December 2017 | Pre-season | Roger Naustan | 1 January 2018 | Pre-season |
| Kongsvinger | Hans-Erik Eriksen | Sacked | 30 April 2018 | 15th | Mark Dempsey | 11 June 2018 | 10th |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Viking (C, P) | 30 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 68 | 44 | +24 | 61 | Promotion to Eliteserien |
| 2 | Mjøndalen (P) | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 49 | 24 | +25 | 60 | Promotion to Eliteserien |
| 3 | Aalesund | 30 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 58 | 31 | +27 | 59 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Sogndal | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 47 | 31 | +16 | 51 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 5 | Ull/Kisa | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 59 | 49 | +10 | 43 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 6 | Nest-Sotra | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 43 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 7 | Tromsdalen | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 43 | |
| 8 | Kongsvinger | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 59 | 49 | +10 | 42 | |
| 9 | HamKam | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 42 | |
| 10 | Sandnes Ulf | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 42 | |
| 11 | Strømmen | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 49 | 53 | −4 | 38 | |
| 12 | Notodden | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 36 | |
| 13 | Jerv | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 31 | 41 | −10 | 35 | |
| 14 | Åsane (R) | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 38 | 57 | −19 | 33 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 15 | Florø (R) | 30 | 8 | 3 | 19 | 27 | 59 | −32 | 27 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 16 | Levanger (R) | 30 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 32 | 71 | −39 | 15 | Relegation to Second Division |

## Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Viking | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Mjøndalen | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Aalesund | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Sogndal | 11 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Ull/Kisa | 6 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Nest-Sotra | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Tromsdalen | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| Kongsvinger | 16 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| HamKam | 9 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Sandnes Ulf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Strømmen | 13 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| Notodden | 10 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
| Jerv | 14 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| Åsane | 1 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| Florø | 8 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Levanger | 7 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
* Promotion to Eliteserien
* Promotion play-offs
* Relegation play-offs
* Relegation to 2. divisjon

## Results

| Home \ Away | AAL | FLO | HAM | JER | KON | LEV | MJØ | NES | NOT | SAN | SOG | STR | TRO | ULL | VIK | ÅSA |
| Aalesund | — | 4–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 |
| Florø | 1–4 | — | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 |
| HamKam | 1–3 | 3–0 | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 |
| Jerv | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | — | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Kongsvinger | 1–3 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 7–2 |
| Levanger | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 | — | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Mjøndalen | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | — | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 1–1 |
| Nest-Sotra | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 5–0 | 1–0 |
| Notodden | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 5–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Sandnes Ulf | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Sogndal | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 5–1 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 |
| Strømmen | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–6 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–6 | 3–0 |
| Tromsdalen | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 3–2 | — | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Ull/Kisa | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | — | 4–5 | 1–1 |
| Viking | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 1–0 | — | 4–0 |
| Åsane | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–5 | 3–1 | 1–5 | 1–2 | — |

## Play-offs
### Promotion play-offs

The 3rd to 6th placed teams took part in the promotion play-offs; these were single leg knockout matches. In the first round, the 3rd placed team played at home against the 6th placed team, and the 4th placed team played at home against the 5th placed team. The two winners then played against each other in the second round, where the team with the highest table position played at home. The winner of the second round, Aalesund, advanced to play the 14th placed team in Eliteserien over two legs in the Eliteserien play-offs for a spot in the top-flight next season.

#### Second round
### Relegation play-offs

The 14th placed team, Åsane, took part in a two-legged play-off against KFUM Oslo, the winners of the 2. divisjon play-offs, to decide who would play in the 2019 1. divisjon. KFUM Oslo won 4-3 on aggregate and were therefore promoted, while Åsane got relegated.
KFUM Oslo won 4–3 on aggregate.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Tommy Høiland | Viking | 21 |
| 2 | Hólmbert Friðjónsson | Aalesund | 19 |
| 3 | Sindre Mauritz-Hansen | Strømmen | 17 |
| 4 | Sigurd Haugen | Sogndal | 15 |
| 4 | Shuaibu Ibrahim | Kongsvinger | 15 |
| 6 | Kristoffer Normann Hansen | Ull/Kisa | 13 |
| 6 | Alexander Dang | Nest-Sotra | 13 |
| 8 | Torbjørn Agdestein | Aalesund | 12 |
| 8 | Johnny Furdal | Nest-Sotra / Viking | 12 |
| 10 | Ole Andreas Nesset | Ull/Kisa | 11 |
| 10 | Adem Güven | Kongsvinger | 11 |
| 10 | Vegard Lysvoll | Tromsdalen | 11 |

### Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Viking | 118,499 | 15,900 | 6,009 | 7,900 | +7.0%$^1$ |
| 2 | Aalesund | 72,177 | 5,524 | 4,362 | 4,812 | −20.6%$^1$ |
| 3 | Sogndal | 31,338 | 3,113 | 1,587 | 2,089 | −35.6%$^1$ |
| 4 | Mjøndalen | 27,627 | 3,630 | 1,352 | 1,842 | +8.3%$^†$ |
| 5 | HamKam | 25,358 | 4,683 | 952 | 1,691 | +27.1%$^2$ |
| 6 | Sandnes Ulf | 25,012 | 4,364 | 1,300 | 1,667 | +6.2%$^†$ |
| 7 | Kongsvinger | 22,981 | 2,912 | 1,024 | 1,532 | +9.4%$^†$ |
| 8 | Jerv | 18,755 | 1,705 | 985 | 1,250 | −14.8%$^†$ |
| 9 | Florø | 14,751 | 1,586 | 610 | 983 | −20.5%$^†$ |
| 10 | Ull/Kisa | 11,077 | 1,332 | 465 | 738 | +3.5%$^†$ |
| 11 | Notodden | 9,997 | 1,373 | 472 | 666 | +2.3%$^2$ |
| 12 | Levanger | 8,848 | 1,042 | 220 | 590 | −24.2%$^†$ |
| 13 | Åsane | 7,557 | 1,031 | 290 | 504 | −6.1%$^†$ |
| 14 | Strømmen | 6,144 | 739 | 190 | 410 | −6.4%$^†$ |
| 15 | Tromsdalen | 5,803 | 1,160 | 100 | 387 | +2.9%$^†$ |
| 16 | Nest-Sotra | 4,722 | 840 | 169 | 315 | +22.1%$^2$ |
| | League total | 407,513 | 15,900 | 100 | 1,697 | +19.3%$^†$ |
Source: nifs.no Notes: 1: Team played last season in Eliteserien. 2: Team played last season in 2. divisjon.

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Manager of the season | Steffen Landro | Nest-Sotra |
| Player of the season | Johnny Furdal | Nest-Sotra / Viking |
| Young player of the season | Kristian Thorstvedt | Viking |
| OBOS Player of the season | Hólmbert Friðjónsson | Aalesund |