Mo Idrettslag is a football club from

Mo i Rana Mo i Rana () is a city, and the administrative centre of the municipality of Rana, in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the Helgeland region of Nordland, just south of the Arctic Circle. Some of the city's suburbs include Båsmoen and ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

History

Mo IL was founded in 1904, as the first football club in Nord-Norge. In the first couple of years, Mo only played against teams with Englishmen working in the area, but on 7 June 1907 ''Ranen Kompani'' was beaten 2-1 in the first match between two teams from Nord-Norge. One of the most memorable moments from the 2004-season was the 0-2. loss against

Tromsø IL Tromsø Idrettslag is a Norwegian professional football club founded in 1920, based in the city of Tromsø. They play their home games at Alfheim Stadion. Tromsø play in the Eliteserien. Tromsø have won the Norwegian Cup twice, in 1986 and ...

, fielding players such as Morten Gamst Pedersen in their starting eleven, in the third round of the 2004 Norwegian Football Cup. On their way to the third round, they beat the second tier team

Strømsgodset IF Strømsgodset IF is a Norwegian multi-sports club from Gulskogen in Drammen. It has sections for association football, handball and bandy, but is best known for the top-level football section known as Strømsgodset Toppfotball, which plays in El ...

2-0. Mo IL narrowly missed out on promotion to 1. divisjon in the 2005 season. Having led the table for much of the season, their promotion chances were ruined due to form declination during the season-ending fixtures. Before the start of

2006 2. divisjon The 2006 2. divisjon season was the third highest football (soccer) league for men in Norway. 26 games were played in 4 groups, with 3 points given for wins and 1 for draws. Notodden FK, Notodden, Skeid Fotball, Skeid, FK Mandalskameratene, Mandals ...

, there was a media-hype around Mo's chances for promotion. Mo IL got off to a horrendous start of the season, going through the eight first matches without one single victory. Media was speculating whether the current manager,

Thor André Olsen Thor André Olsen (born 28 April 1964) is a Norwegian football coach and former goalkeeper. His last position was head coach in Mo IL. Club career Thor André Olsen played for Mo IL, Molde FK, SK Brann, Djurgårdens IF, Aalborg, IFK Norrk� ...

, was going to be sacked. In an unlikely turn of events, a giant form leap during the autumn of 2006 took Mo from the very bottom of the table to a worthy fifth place at the season's end. Mo was relegated from the 2. divisjon in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, but won their group in the 3. divisjon and won promotion in 2011. Again relegated in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, a victory in the 3. divisjon in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

led to another spell in the 2016 2. divisjon. Notable former members include the football coaches Trond Sollied,

and Charles Berstad, as well as the former football referee Jonny Ditlefsen.

Recent history

Other sections

In the past, Mo IL has had sections in other sports than football. From their now-defunct athletics section, Marit Hemstad participated in the European Championships. Famous politician Gerd-Liv Valla was a middle distance runner for Mo IL as a teenager.

References

External links

Mo Idrettslag results
{{Authority control Defunct football clubs in Norway Defunct athletics clubs in Norway Sport in Nordland Rana, Norway 1904 establishments in Norway 2018 disestablishments in Norway Association football clubs established in 1904 Association football clubs disestablished in 2018