The 2021

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 77th completed 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 fifth season of Eliteserien as rebranding from Tippeligaen. The season was originally scheduled to begin on 5 April and end on 27 November 2021, not including play-off matches. Restrictions enforced by the government due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

forced 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 ...

to postpone the start several times and the league started on 9 May 2021. The last round was played on 12 December 2021. Bodø/Glimt were the defending champions.

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

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Akershus county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger ...

joined as the promoted clubs from the

2020 Norwegian First Division The 2020 1. divisjon (referred to as OBOS-ligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football league season. Teams In the 2019 1. divisjon, Aalesund, Sandefjord and Start were promoted to the 2020 Eliteserien, while Notodden, ...

. They replaced Aalesund and

IK Start Idrettsklubben Start (or simply IK Start) is a Norwegian Association football, football club from the city of Kristiansand that currently plays in the Norwegian First Division, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system. The club was ...

who were relegated to the

2021 Norwegian First Division The 2021 Norwegian First Division (referred to as OBOS-ligaen for sponsorship reasons) is a Norwegian second-tier football league season. The league started on 15 May 2021, and ended on 27 November 2021. HamKam earned promotion to Eliteserien ...

Teams

Sixteen teams competed in the league – the top fourteen teams from the previous season, and two teams promoted from

Norwegian First Division The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with :no:OBOS, OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon ...

. The promoted teams were

and

, both returning to the top flight after an absence of just one year. They replaced Aalesund and

, both relegated after a season's presence.

Stadiums and locations

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

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Transfers

Winter

Summer

League table

Positions by round

Results

Relegation play-offs

The 14th-placed team in the Eliteserien, Brann, played against the winners of the First Division promotion play-offs, Jerv, on neutral ground to decide who would play in the Eliteserien next season. ''4–4 after extra time. Jerv won 8–7 on penalties and were promoted to the Eliteserien; Brann were relegated to the Norwegian First Division.''

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

;Notes ⁴ Player scored 4 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Clean sheets

Discipline

Player

*Most yellow cards: 8 ** Lars Ranger (Lillestrøm) *Most red cards: 1 * Adam Andersson (Rosenborg) * Martin Bjørnbak (Molde) * David Brekalo (Viking) *

Patrik Gunnarsson Patrik Sigurður Gunnarsson (born 15 November 2000) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Belgian Pro League club Kortrijk. A product of the Breiðablik academy and Brentford B, Patrik played the majority of h ...

(Viking) *

Kornelius Normann Hansen Kornelius Normann Hansen (born 6 May 2001) is a Norwegian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Dutch club Almere City. Career Club On 25 May 2020, Normann Hansen signed for Stabæk Fotball on a contract until the 2022 season, from Southam ...

(Stabæk) *

Markus Henriksen Markus Henriksen (born 25 July 1992) is a former Norwegian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder. He last played for Eliteserien club Rosenborg BK, Rosenborg. Club career Rosenborg Henriksen moved from Trond IL ...

(Rosenborg) * Anders Jenssen (Tromsø) * Fredrik Pallesen Knudsen (Brann) * Ibrahima Koné (Sarpsborg 08) * Alioune Ndour (Haugesund) *

Igoh Ogbu Igoh Ogbu (born 8 February 2000) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Slavia Prague, and the Nigeria national team. Club career Ogbu started his career with Gombe United in Nigeria, before joining Norwegian club ...

(Lillestrøm) * Birk Risa (Molde) * Anton Salétros (Sarpsborg 08) * Marcus Sandberg (Stabæk) * Ian Smeulers (Sandefjord) * Albin Sporrong (Mjøndalen) *

Gustav Valsvik Gustav Valsvik (born 26 May 1993) is a Norwegian footballer who plays as a defender who plays for Strømsgodset. Career Born in Vik, Valsvik started his career in the local club Vik IL before he joined Sogndal ahead of the 2010 season. In hi ...

(Strømsgodset)

Club

*Most yellow cards: 53 **

Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg (), is a Norwegian professional football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. ...

** Stabæk *Most red cards: 2 **

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 ...

** Rosenborg **

** Stabæk **

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

League attendances

References

{{2021–22 in European football (UEFA) Eliteserien seasons 1

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 ...