Norwegian reserve football teams compete at all levels of league football within theNorwegian football league system apart from the top two divisions,Eliteserien and theFirst Division. The highest league these teams can currently enter is theSecond Division, set at the third tier of the league system. The reserve teams are attached to their first teams with a "2" suffix and must play in a lower league than the first team.
If a reserve team ends up at a promotion spot when it is not allowed to be promoted, the promotion is awarded to the next team in the league standings which is allowed to be promoted. Also, a reserve team is forcefully relegated, regardless of the final league position, if it is no longer qualified for playing at that level - i.e. if the first team is relegated to the same tier as the reserve team. For example, if a First Division team is relegated while its reserve team in the Second Division ends up at a secure place (or even a promotion spot), the reserve team is forcefully relegated to theThird Division. In such a situation, the best placed qualified team at a relegation position in the league that the reserve team is relegated from will keep its place.
Reserve teams have in general been criticized for fielding uneven teams from week to week, with many first-team players one week and more youth players the next. They have also been criticized for keeping smaller clubs out of the Second Division, meaning a more centralized football culture. In 2009 managerIvar Morten Normark proposed to throw the reserve teams out of the ordinary league pyramid,[1] and other managers likeDag-Eilev Fagermo agreed.[2] In a survey, 19 of 31 responding Second Division clubs wanted the reserve teams out, as did 30 of the 49 responding Third Division clubs.[1]
At the 2010 congress of theFootball Association of Norway, new rules for reserve teams were agreed to.[3] Since then the rules have been changed several times, most recently in 2023.[4] As of 2023 the rules prohibit reserve teams for clubs in Eliteserien and the First Division to simultaneously field more than three players who were older than 22 years old at the start of the year, as well as requiring reserve team players to not have started the last competitive fixture for the senior team.[5]
From time to time, a reserve team has won its group in the Second Division. This is the highest sporting position a reserves team can achieve, since promotion is impossible. In the1991 Second Division, the reserve teams of bothBrann andRosenborg won their respective groups.[6] Rosenborg 2 also won their groups in1996[7] and1998.[8] In the1992 Second Division,Lillestrøm's reserve team won group 1.[9] In the2005 Second Division,Viking's reserve team won group 3.[10] Over the years the Second Division has been reduced to just two groups of 14 teams each, and as of 2025 there is only one reserve team playing in the Second Division.
This is a list of where the reserve teams ofEliteserien andFirst Division clubs play, as of the 2025 season.[11]
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| League competitions |
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| Cup competitions |
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| Defunct cup competitions |
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| Playoff competitions |
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| Youth competitions |
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| National teams | |||||
| Others | |||||
| Lists and categories | |||||
