# Odds BK

Odds Ballklubb, commonly known as Odd, is a Norwegian professional football club from Skien. Originally the football section of a multi-sports club, founded in 1894 nine years after the club's founding. Most sports other than football and gymnastics were discontinued and the club became dedicated primarily to football. Odd plays in the Norwegian First Division, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system, and holds the record of winning the Norwegian Football Cup the most times with twelve wins, the last coming in 2000. The club was known as Odd Grenland between 1994 and 2012. Founded in 1894, Odd is the oldest football club in Norway. As of 13 May 2017 the club was granted a membership in Club of Pioneers. It then became the first Nordic football club to be granted this membership.

## History

IF Odd was founded in 1885, and is thus one of the older sports clubs in Norway still in existence. The name derives from Viktor Rydberg's novel Seierssverdet, where one of the main characters was a Norwegian athlete called Orvar Odd.
In the beginning, IF Odd was mainly focused on gymnastics, and also had a department for Nordic skiing and track and field. A department for football, named Odds BK, was founded on 31 March 1894. This was the club's second effort to do so, some time after English workers at nearby Skotfoss brought the game of football to Skien, and the city decided to buy a football. Odd is counted as Norway's oldest football team still in existence.
Odd started a cooperation with the local club Pors in 1994, and changed their names to Odd Grenland and Pors Grenland, in an effort to represent the district of Grenland. In conjunction with the name change, a public limited company named Grenland Fotball was founded. Pors Grenland withdrew from the cooperation in December 2009, and in January 2013 Odd Grenland decided to change its name back to Odds BK because they wanted to be a club for the entire county of Telemark.
Odd won the Norwegian Football Cup in 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1913, 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1931 and 2000, more than any other team in Norway. In the late 20th century, the men's team struggled in the lower divisions for many years, but made it back to the Tippeligaen in 1999 and stayed there until they were relegated in 2007. The team had survived relegation twice; first in 2005 after a dreadful start of the campaign, then in 2006 when the team only survived relegation by beating Bryne in the relegation play-offs. In 2007 the team was relegated to the 1. divisjon after being beaten by Bodø/Glimt in the relegation play-offs. In 2008, with three games still to play, Odd secured the promotion back to the Tippeligaen after winning 4–0 at home against Hødd.
On 25 September 2011, Odd player Jone Samuelsen scored what is claimed to be the longest headed goal ever scored in a match, in a match against Tromsø, when he headed the ball from within his own half of the pitch into Tromsø's open goal, the goalkeeper having come forward for a late corner in the match. Norwegian police were invited to measure the distance, and calculated the length as to be 58.13 metres.

## Home ground

Club's home ground is Skagerak Arena (capacity 12,000), has seen the largest crowd (approx 12,500 people) at the 1984 Cup semi-final against Viking, though the official number is 8854. Officially, the highest attendance is 12.436, achieved in the 2015 Europa League play-off against Borussia Dortmund. The stadium was rebuilt to hold a capacity of between 13,000 and 14,000, and was finished in 2008. It is named Skagerak Arena after local sponsor Skagerak Energi.

## Players and staff
### First-team squad

    As of 19 March, 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | NOR | André Hansen |
| 2 | DF | NOR | Jørgen Vedal Sjøl |
| 3 | DF | PHI | Josef Baccay |
| 4 | DF | NOR | Nikolas Walstad |
| 6 | MF | NOR | Tobias Svendsen |
| 7 | MF | NOR | Filip Rønningen Jørgensen |
| 8 | MF | NOR | Etzaz Hussain |
| 9 | FW | NOR | Ole Erik Midtskogen |
| 11 | FW | NOR | Oliver Hagen |
| 12 | GK | NOR | Sebastian Hansen |
| 13 | DF | NOR | Samuel Skjeldal |
| 14 | DF | NOR | Julian Gunnerød |
| 15 | DF | NOR | Sondre Solholm Johansen |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | FW | NOR | Casper Glenna Andersen |
| 17 | DF | NOR | Solomon Owusu |
| 18 | MF | NOR | Syver Aas |
| 19 | FW | NGA | Abduljeleel Abdulateef |
| 21 | DF | NOR | Steffen Hagen (captain) |
| 22 | FW | NOR | Torgeir Børven |
| 23 | MF | NOR | Noah Kojo |
| 24 | FW | SOM | Bilal Njie |
| 25 | DF | NOR | Godwill Ambrose |
| 26 | FW | GHA | Abdul Zakaria Mugees |
| 27 | MF | NGA | Mukhtar Adamu |
| 32 | FW | NOR | Elion Krosa |
| — | FW | ISL | Hinrik Hardarson |
For season transfers, see transfers winter 2024–25 and transfers summer 2024.

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |

### Coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Knut Rønningene |
| Assistant coach | Martin Reier |
| Goalkeeper coach | Terje Abrahamsen |
| Sport director | Morten Rønningen |
| Personal developer | Amir Roland Iranmanesh |
| Physical and mental coach | Mikkel Fillingsnes Marker |
| Physical therapist | Anders Braastad |
| Player logistic | Thomas Skilbred |
| Player developer | Flamur Kastrati |
| Equipment manager | Nils Thomas Strømdal |
| Team coordinator | Tore Andersen |
| Doctor | Ola Stamnes |

## Honours

* Eliteserien:
** Runners-up (2): 1950–51, 1956–57
* 1. divisjon:
** Winners (2): 1998, 2008
* Norwegian Football Cup:
** Winners (12) (Joint-Record): 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1913, 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1931, 2000
** Runners-up (9): 1902, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1921, 1937, 1960, 2002, 2014

## Recent history

    Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes 2000 Tippeligaen 8 2611510 403138 Winner 2001 Tippeligaen 6 261268 504042 Semi-final 2002 Tippeligaen 6 261259 363041 Final 2003 Tippeligaen 4 2611510 464338 Third round 2004 Tippeligaen 8 26989 474435 Third round 2005 Tippeligaen 9 269611 285133 Quarter-final 2006 Tippeligaen 12 267811 303829 Third round 2007 Tippeligaen ↓ 12 268315 334327 Semi-final Relegated to the 1. divisjon 2008 1. divisjon ↑ 1 302055 764465 Semi-final Promoted to the Tippeligaen 2009 Tippeligaen 4 3012108 534446 Semi-final 2010 Tippeligaen 5 3012108 484146 Semi-final 2011 Tippeligaen 5 3014610 444448 Fourth round 2012 Tippeligaen 10 3011712 404339 Fourth round 2013 Tippeligaen 7 3011712 433940 Fourth round 2014 Tippeligaen 3 301776 523258 Final 2015 Tippeligaen 4 3015105 614155 Quarter-final 2016 Tippeligaen 3 301569 443551 Fourth round 2017 Eliteserien 6 3012612 273942 Fourth round 2018 Eliteserien 9 3011712 393840 Fourth round 2019 Eliteserien 4 301578 454052 Semi-final 2020 Eliteserien 7 3013413 525143 Cancelled 2021 Eliteserien 13 308913 445833 Fourth round 2022 Eliteserien 5 3013611 434545 Fourth round 2023 Eliteserien 10 3010812 424438 Third round 2024 Eliteserien ↓ 16 305817 265423 Third round Relegated to the 1. divisjon

## European record
### Overview

    As of 3 August 2017
| Competition | S | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup | 5 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 37 | 32 | +5 |
| Total | 5 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 37 | 32 | +5 |

### Matches

| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg | Aggregate |
| 2001–02 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Helsingborgs IF | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 (a) |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Cup | 2Q | FK Ekranas | 3–1 | 1–2 | 4–3 |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Feyenoord | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–5 |
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | FC Sheriff Tiraspol | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Shamrock Rovers | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 |
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 3Q | Elfsborg | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 |
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | PO | Borussia Dortmund | 3–4 | 2–7 | 5–11 |
| 2016–17 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | IFK Mariehamn | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| 2016–17 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | PAS Giannina | 0–3 | 3–1 | 3–4 |
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Ballymena United | 3–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 |
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Vaduz | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 3Q | Dinamo Zagreb | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 |

#### Notes

* 1Q: First qualifying round
* 2Q: Second qualifying round
* 1R: First round
* PO. Play-off round

## Managers

* Lennart Söderberg (1983–84)
* Tore Andersen (1990)
* Paul Wilson (1991–93)
* Lars Borgar Waage (1994–97)
* Tom Nordlie (1998–99)
* Arne Sandstø (1 January 1999– 28 September 2007)
* Gaute Larsen (2005–07)
* Ove Flindt-Bjerg (28 September 2007 – 17 December 2007)
* Dag-Eilev Fagermo (17 December 2007 – 31 January 2020)
* Jan Frode Nornes (11 March 2020 – 8 January 2022)
* Pål Arne Johansen (24 January 2022 – 31 December 2023)
* Kenneth Dokken (16 January 2024 – 13 November 2024)
* Knut Rønningene (interim) (13 November 2024 – 10 December 2024)
* Knut Rønningene (10 December 2024 –)