# 2019 Norwegian First Division

The 2019 1. divisjon (referred to as OBOS-ligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football league season.
Aalesund set a new record for most points in a 1. divisjon season with 79. They surpassed IK Start's previous record of 74 points, from the 2004 season.

## Season summary

On 20 October, Aalesund secured both promotion and league title with three games to spare by winning 1–0 away over Tromsdalen. The same day, Tromsdalen were the first team to be relegated as their defeat coincided with a victory for Strømmen. On 2 November, Sandefjord secured promotion to the first tier with one match to spare after their 1–0 win over Jerv at Komplett Arena. On the same day, Skeid were the second team to be relegated as their draw against Notodden meant that survival was out of reach before the ultimate round.

## Teams

In the 2018 1. divisjon, Viking and Mjøndalen were promoted to the 2019 Eliteserien, while Åsane, Florø and Levanger were relegated to the 2019 2. divisjon.
Start and Sandefjord were relegated from the 2018 Eliteserien, while Raufoss, Skeid and KFUM Oslo were promoted from the 2018 2. divisjon.

### Stadia and personnel

| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity | Manager |
| Aalesund | Ålesund | Color Line Stadion | 10,778 | Lars Bohinen |
| HamKam | Hamar | Briskeby Arena | 7,800 | Gaute Helstrup |
| Jerv | Grimstad | Levermyr Stadion | 3,300 | Arne Sandstø |
| KFUM Oslo | Oslo | KFUM Arena | 1,500 | Jørgen Isnes |
| Kongsvinger | Kongsvinger | Gjemselund Stadion | 5,824 | Vítor Gazimba |
| Nest-Sotra | Sotra | Ågotnes Stadion | 1,200 | Steffen Landro |
| Notodden | Notodden | Idrettsparken | 4,000 | Kenneth Dokken |
| Raufoss | Raufoss | Nammo Stadion | 1,800 | Christian Johnsen |
| Sandefjord | Sandefjord | Komplett Arena | 6,582 | Martí Cifuentes |
| Sandnes Ulf | Sandnes | Sandnes Stadion | 4,969 | Bengt Sæternes |
| Skeid | Oslo | Nordre Åsen$^1$ | 2,000 | Tom Nordlie |
| Sogndal | Sogndal | Fosshaugane Campus | 5,622 | Eirik Bakke |
| Start | Kristiansand | Sør Arena | 14,448 | Jóhannes Harðarson |
| Strømmen | Strømmen | Strømmen Stadion$^2$ | 1,850 | Ole Martin Nesselquist |
| Tromsdalen | Tromsdalen | TUIL Arena | 1,695 | Jonathan Hill |
| Ull/Kisa | Jessheim | Jessheim Stadion | 3,500 | Trond Fredriksen |
* $^1$Skeid played their home games at Intility Arena from 25 May 2019.
* $^2$Strømmen played their last home game at Jessheim Stadion due to nonapproved floodlights at Strømmen Stadion.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table |
| HamKam | Kevin Knappen | Contract expired | 11 November 2018 | Pre-season | Gaute Helstrup | 29 November 2018 | Pre-season |
| Strømmen | Espen Olsen | Contract expired | 11 November 2018 | Pre-season | Ole Martin Nesselquist | 29 November 2018 | Pre-season |
| Ull/Kisa | Vegard Skogheim | Contract expired | 11 November 2018 | Pre-season | Trond Fredriksen | 7 December 2018 | Pre-season |
| Kongsvinger | Mark Dempsey | Resigned | 13 November 2018 | Pre-season | Vítor Gazimba | 16 January 2019 | Pre-season |
| Tromsdalen | Gaute Helstrup | Signed by HamKam | 29 November 2018 | Pre-season | Jonathan Hill | 10 January 2019 | Pre-season |
| Start | Kjetil Rekdal | Mutual agreement | 2 April 2019 | 15th | Jóhannes Harðarson | 3 April 2019 | 15th |
* ↑ Harðarson was initially appointed as caretaker on 3 April 2019, and as interim head coach for the rest of the season on 10 July 2019. Harðarson was appointed as permanent head coach on 23 October 2019.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Aalesund (C, P) | 30 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 67 | 25 | +42 | 79 | Promotion to Eliteserien |
| 2 | Sandefjord (P) | 30 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 53 | 30 | +23 | 65 | Promotion to Eliteserien |
| 3 | Start (O, P) | 30 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 54 | 31 | +23 | 62 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 4 | KFUM Oslo | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 58 | 42 | +16 | 48 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 5 | Kongsvinger | 30 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 38 | 36 | +2 | 46 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 6 | Sogndal | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 51 | 39 | +12 | 45 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 7 | Nest-Sotra | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 43 | 31 | +12 | 44 | |
| 8 | Ull/Kisa | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 47 | 47 | 0 | 39 | |
| 9 | Sandnes Ulf | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 46 | 49 | −3 | 38 | |
| 10 | HamKam | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 38 | |
| 11 | Raufoss | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 47 | 59 | −12 | 38 | |
| 12 | Jerv | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 34 | 54 | −20 | 33 | |
| 13 | Strømmen | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 32 | 46 | −14 | 30 | |
| 14 | Notodden (R) | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 35 | 53 | −18 | 25 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 15 | Skeid (R) | 30 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 38 | 54 | −16 | 22 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 16 | Tromsdalen (R) | 30 | 3 | 4 | 23 | 36 | 79 | −43 | 13 | Relegation to Second Division |
* ↑ Nest-Sotra have been deducted a total of 4 points due to financial difficulties. They were deducted 1 point in May and 3 points in October.
* ↑ Strømmen have been deducted 1 point.

## 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 |
| Aalesund | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sandefjord | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Start | 11 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| KFUM Oslo | 11 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| Kongsvinger | 3 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Sogndal | 7 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| Nest-Sotra | 16 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| Ull/Kisa | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| Sandnes Ulf | 7 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 9 |
| HamKam | 11 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| Raufoss | 2 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 |
| Jerv | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Strømmen | 10 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Notodden | 11 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Skeid | 3 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Tromsdalen | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 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 | HAM | JER | KFU | KIL | NSO | NOT | RAU | SAN | ULF | SKE | SOG | IKS | SIF | TUI | UKI |
| Aalesund | — | 5–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 |
| HamKam | 1–2 | — | 2–2 | 4–4 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Jerv | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–7 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| KFUM Oslo | 2–4 | 2–0 | 5–0 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 |
| Kongsvinger | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 |
| Nest-Sotra | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Notodden | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | — | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 |
| Raufoss | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 | — | 0–2 | 2–5 | 4–5 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 6–4 | 4–2 |
| Sandefjord | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Sandnes Ulf | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–4 | — | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–3$^1$ | 3–2 | 2–0 |
| Skeid | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Sogndal | 2–3 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | — | 0–1 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 3–0 |
| Start | 0–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Strømmen | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–4 | 1–1 |
| Tromsdalen | 0–1 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | — | 0–8 |
| Ull/Kisa | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | — |
* $^1$Due to a frozen pitch at Sandnes Stadion, the game was cancelled and the result was set to 0–3.

## 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 fifth-placed team played at home against the sixth-placed team. The winner of the first round then met the fourth-placed team on away ground in the second round. The winner of the second round then met the third-placed team on away ground. The winner of the third round 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.

#### Third round
### Relegation play-offs

The 14th placed team took part in a two-legged play-off against the winners of the 2. divisjon play-offs to decide who would play in the 2020 1. divisjon.
Åsane won 5–3 on aggregate.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Pontus Engblom | Sandefjord | 19 |
| 2 | Niklas Castro | Aalesund | 17 |
| 3 | Adem Güven | Kongsvinger | 15 |
| 4 | Kent Håvard Eriksen | Sandnes Ulf | 14 |
| 5 | Pape Habib Guèye | Aalesund | 13 |
| 5 | Aron Sigurðarson | Start | 13 |
| 7 | Sivert Gussiås | Strømmen | 12 |
| 7 | Simen Nordli | HamKam | 12 |
| 7 | Martin Ramsland | Start | 12 |
| 10 | Torbjørn Agdestein | Aalesund | 10 |
| 10 | Sigurd Hauso Haugen | Sogndal | 10 |
| 10 | Kachi | Sandnes Ulf | 10 |
| 10 | Moses Mawa | KFUM Oslo | 10 |
| 10 | David Tavakoli | Skeid/KFUM Oslo | 10 |