# 1981 Norwegian Second Division

The 1981 1. divisjon|2. divisjon was a Norwegian second-tier football league season.
The league was contested by 24 teams, divided into two groups: A and B. Both groups consisted of 12 teams. The winners of groups A and B were promoted to the 1982 1. division. The second-placed teams in groups A and B met the 10th-best finisher in 1. divisjon in a qualification round where the winner was promoted to 1. divisjon. The bottom three teams in both groups were relegated to the 3. division.
Mjøndalen won group A with 31 points. Sogndal won Group B with 31 points. Both teams were promoted to the 1982 1. Division. The second-placed teams, Pors and Molde, met Brann in the promotion play-offs. Molde won the qualification round on goal difference and won promotion.

## Tables
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Mjøndalen (C, P) | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 42 | 23 | +19 | 31 | Promotion to First Division |
| 2 | Pors | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 51 | 28 | +23 | 30 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 3 | Kongsvinger | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 41 | 19 | +22 | 29 | |
| 4 | Eik | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 43 | 29 | +14 | 26 | |
| 5 | Vard | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 29 | 23 | +6 | 24 | |
| 6 | Kopervik | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 34 | 31 | +3 | 22 | |
| 7 | Odd | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 26 | 27 | −1 | 22 | |
| 8 | Kvik Halden | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 22 | −5 | 22 | |
| 9 | Raufoss | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 29 | −16 | 21 | |
| 10 | Ørn (R) | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 31 | 30 | +1 | 20 | Relegation to Third Division |
| 11 | Bærum (R) | 22 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 18 | 54 | −36 | 9 | Relegation to Third Division |
| 12 | Skeid (R) | 22 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 16 | 46 | −30 | 8 | Relegation to Third Division |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Sogndal (C, P) | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 44 | 14 | +30 | 31 | Promotion to First Division |
| 2 | Molde (O, P) | 22 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 41 | 20 | +21 | 29 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 3 | Mo | 22 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 33 | 20 | +13 | 27 | |
| 4 | Sunndal | 22 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 25 | 26 | −1 | 23 | |
| 5 | Varegg | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 31 | 35 | −4 | 23 | |
| 6 | Mjølner | 22 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 24 | 30 | −6 | 22 | |
| 7 | Bodø/Glimt | 22 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 21 | |
| 8 | Steinkjer | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 25 | 28 | −3 | 21 | |
| 9 | Kristiansund | 22 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 27 | 31 | −4 | 20 | |
| 10 | Tromsø (R) | 22 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 28 | −16 | 17 | Relegation to Third Division |
| 11 | Nessegutten (R) | 22 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 16 | Relegation to Third Division |
| 12 | Bergsøy (R) | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 22 | 39 | −17 | 14 | Relegation to Third Division |

## Promotion play-offs
### Results

* Molde – Pors 3–1
* Pors – Brann 2–1
* Brann – Molde 3–2
Molde won the qualification round and was promoted to the 1. divisjon.

### Play-off table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Molde (O, P) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 2 | Promotion to First Division |
| 2 | Brann (R) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 3 | Pors | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | Remained in Second Division |