The 2020

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

was the 76th season of top-tier

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in Norway. This was fourth season of Eliteserien as rebranding from Tippeligaen. The season was scheduled to begin on 4 April. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway the opening games of the season were delayed. It was first delayed until 2 May, then further delayed until 23 May. The season was scheduled to end 29 November 2020, not including play-off matches, but was rescheduled to conclude on 22 December. On 7 May, the Norwegian government allowed the league to start on 16 June with full training starting immediately.

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

were the defending champions. Aalesund,

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

and

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

joined as the promoted clubs from the 2019 1. divisjon. They replaced Lillestrøm,

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

and

Ranheim Ranheim is a neighbourhood in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the borough of Østbyen in Trondheim Municipality. The neighbourhood is approximately to the east of the centre of Trondheim. It comprises Older ...

who were relegated to the 2020 1. divisjon.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

The season was scheduled to begin on 4 April, but on 12 March it was revealed that the first five rounds of the season were postponed and the opening game therefore would be delayed until 2 May due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway. On 24 March, the

Norwegian Football Federation The Norwegian Football Federation (, ; NFF) is the governing body of football (soccer), football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the Norway national football team, men's and Norway women's national football team, women's national te ...

announced that the football season was further delayed till 23 May. On 7 May, the Norwegian government allowed the teams to begin with full training starting immediately, and opened for the league season to start on 16 June. On 12 June, the NFF announced that 200 spectators would be allowed to attend the games. On 30 September, the

Minister of Culture and Church Affairs The Minister of Culture and Equality (; sometimes just ''kulturminister'' or ''likestillingsminister'' depending on context) is a Council of State (Norway), councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Culture and Equality. The minis ...

Abid Raja Abid Qayyum Raja (born 5 November 1975) is a Norwegian lawyer and Liberal Party (Norway), Liberal Party politician who served as Minister of Culture from 2020 to 2021. He was elected to the Storting as representative for Akershus (Storting constit ...

, announced that clubs would be able to have crowds of 600 at games from 12 October.

Teams

Sixteen teams compete in the league – the top thirteen teams from the previous season, and three teams promoted from 1. division. The promoted teams were Aalesund (after an absence of two years),

and

(both returning to the top flight after one season's absence). They replaced Lillestrøm,

and

, ending their top flight spells of forty-five, five and two years respectively.

Stadiums and locations

:''Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.''

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Transfers

Winter

Summer

League table

Results

Relegation playoffs

The 14th-placed team in Eliteserien will play against the winners of the 1. divisjon promotion play-offs on neutral ground to decide who will play in the

2021 Eliteserien The 2021 Eliteserien was the 77th completed season of top-tier Association football, football in Norway. This was fifth season of Eliteserien as rebranding from Tippeligaen. The season was originally scheduled to begin on 5 April and end on 27 No ...

. ''Mjøndalen IF won 3–2 and maintained their position in the

; Sogndal Fotball stayed in the

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

.''

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

Clean sheets

Discipline

Player

*Most yellow cards: 9 ** Niklas Gunnarsson (Strømsgodset) *Most red cards: 2 ** Alexander Betten Hansen (Mjøndalen) ** Ipalibo Jack (Strømsgodset)

Club

*Most yellow cards: 69 **Aalesund *Most red cards: 3 **Mjøndalen **Molde **Sandefjord **Vålerenga

Awards

Annual awards

League attendances

Due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

restrictions only 200 people were allowed in each match at the beginning of the season. Two clubs were punished for incidents of racism during their matches, having to play certain games without attendants.

References

{{2020–21 in European football (UEFA) Eliteserien seasons 0

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...