- Odd Grenland
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Odd 
Full name Odd Grenland Nickname(s) Oddrane Founded 31 March 1894 Ground Skagerak Arena
Skien
(Capacity: 13,500)Chairman Tom Helge Rønning Manager Dag-Eilev Fagermo League Tippeligaen 2010 Tippeligaen, 5th 
Home colours
Away coloursOdd Grenland is an association football club from Skien, Norway. Originally the football section of a multi-sports club, founded in 1894 nine years after the club's founding, all other sports than football were discontinued and the club became dedicated to football only. It got its current name in 1994 in an effort to represent the district of Grenland. Odd plays in the Norwegian Premier League and holds the record for most wins in the Norwegian Football Cup the most times, last in 2000.
Contents
History
IF Odd was founded in 1885,[1] 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.[citation needed]
In the beginning, IF Odd was mainly focused on gymnastics, and also had sections for Nordic skiing and track and field.[1] A sub-section for football named Odds BK was founded on 31 March 1894.[2] 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[dubious ] decided to buy a football. Odd Grenland is counted as Norway's oldest football team still in existence.
It got its current name in 1994 in an effort to represent the district of Grenland, together with Pors Grenland. In conjunction with the name change, a public limited company named Grenland Fotball was founded.[2]
Odds BK / Odd Grenland won the Norwegian Football Cup in 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1913, 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1931 and 2000,[2] 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 finally made it back to the Norwegian Premier League (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 FK in the relegation playoffs. In 2007 the team was relegated to the Norwegian First Division after being beaten by FK Bodø/Glimt in the relegation playoffs. In 2008, with three games still to play, Odd secured the promotion back to the Norwegian Premier League after winning 4-0 at home against IL 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 IL, 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 over 57 metres.[3]
Home ground
Skagerak Arena viewed from Sparebank 1 tribune
The home ground is Skagerak Arena (capacity 13,500). Largest crowd: Approx 12,500 people in 1984 cup semi final against Viking. 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.
Current squad
As of 18 November 2010. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
No. Position Player 1 
GK André Hansen 2 MF Håvard Storbæk 3 DF Ulf Riis 4 DF Morten Fevang (Captain) 6 MF Simen Brenne 7 MF Tommy Svindal Larsen 8 MF Jone Samuelsen 9 
FW Mattias Andersson 10 MF Magnus Lekven 11 FW Frode Johnsen 13 FW Magnus Myklebust 14 DF Fredrik Semb Berge No. Position Player 15 FW Elbasan Rashani 16 MF Alexandar Corovic 17 DF Emil Jonassen 18 MF Herolind Shala 19 FW Snorre Krogsgård 21 DF Steffen Hagen 22 FW Torgeir Børven 23 DF Niklas Gunnarsson 24 
DF Paul Addo 25 
FW George White 30 GK Andreas Lie Achievements
Recent history
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Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes 1999 TL 7 26 12 3 11 42 48 39 quarter-final 2000 TL 8 26 11 5 10 40 31 38 winner 2001 TL 6 26 12 6 8 50 40 42 semi-final 2002 TL 6 26 12 5 9 36 30 41 final 2003 TL 4 26 11 5 10 46 43 38 3rd round 2004 TL 8 26 9 8 9 47 44 35 3rd round 2005 TL 9 26 9 6 11 28 51 33 quarter-final 2006 TL 12 26 7 8 11 30 38 29 3rd round 2007 TL 12 26 8 3 15 33 43 27 Semi-Final Relegated to Adeccoligaen 2008 AL 1 30 20 5 5 76 44 65 Semi-Final Promoted to Tippeligaen 2009 TL 4 30 12 10 8 53 44 46 Semi-Final 2010 TL 5 30 12 10 8 48 41 46 Semi-Final 2011 (in progress) TL 4 29 14 6 9 42 41 48 last 16
European record
Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate 2001-02 UEFA Cup 1. round Helsingborg 2-2 1-1 3-3 2004-05 UEFA Cup 2. qualifying round 
Ekranas 3-1 1-2 4-3 1. round 
Feyenoord 0-1 1-4 1-5 References
- ^ a b Henriksen, Petter, ed (2007). "Odd Grenland" (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/Odd_Grenland. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ a b c Tollefsen, Morten (28 March 2007). "Litt om ODDS BALLKLUBB" (in Norwegian). Odd Grenland. http://www.oddgrenland.no/article.php?Id=18. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "Halfway-line Norwegian header set for record books". BBC Sport. 2 October 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15144508.stm. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
External links
Tippeligaen 2011 Brann · Fredrikstad · Haugesund · Lillestrøm · Molde · Odd Grenland · Rosenborg · Sarpsborg 08 · Sogndal · Stabæk · Start · Strømsgodset · Tromsø · Viking · Vålerenga · AalesundFootball in Norway League competitions Cup competitions Playoff competitions To the First Division (1996–2000) · To the Second Division (2001–2010) · To the First Division (women)National teams Lists and categories Categories:- Norwegian football clubs
- Association football clubs established in 1894
- 1894 establishments in Norway
- Sport in Telemark
- Odd Grenland
- Defunct athletics clubs in Norway
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