Editing Odds BK (section)

== History ==
'''IF Odd''' was founded in 1885,<ref name=snl>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2007|title=Odd Grenland|encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]]|editor=Henriksen, Petter|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/Odd_Grenland|language=no|access-date=20 December 2010|archive-date=15 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015081208/http://snl.no/Odd_Grenland|url-status=live}}</ref> 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|date=December 2010}}

In the beginning, IF Odd was mainly focused on gymnastics, and also had a department for [[Nordic skiing]] and [[track and field]].<ref name=snl/> A department for football, named Odds BK, was founded on 31 March 1894.<ref name=oddhist>{{cite web|url=http://www.oddgrenland.no/article.php?Id=18|title=Litt om ODDS BALLKLUBB|last=Tollefsen|first=Morten|date=28 March 2007|publisher=Odd Grenland|language=no|access-date=20 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223144446/http://www.oddgrenland.no/article.php?Id=18|archive-date=23 December 2010}}</ref> 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|date=December 2010}} decided to buy a football. Odd is counted as Norway's oldest football team still in existence.

Odd started a cooperation with the local club [[Pors Grenland|Pors]] in 1994, and changed their names to Odd Grenland and Pors Grenland, in an effort to represent the district of [[Grenland]]. In conjunction with the name change, a [[Allmennaksjeselskap|public limited company]] named Grenland Fotball was founded.<ref name=oddhist/> Pors Grenland withdrew from the cooperation in December 2009,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostafjells/telemark/1.6891599 |language=no |title=Pors ut av Grenland fotball |publisher=NRK |first=Else Jorunn |last=Saga |date=2 December 2009 |access-date=2 January 2013 |archive-date=3 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203123413/http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostafjells/telemark/1.6891599 |url-status=live }}</ref> and in January 2013 Odd Grenland decided to change its name back to Odds BK because they wanted to be a club for the entire county of [[Telemark]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://fotball.aftenposten.no/eliteserien/article262530.ece |language=no |title=Odd stryker Grenland fra klubbnavnet |newspaper=Aftenposten |agency=Norwegian News Agency |date=2 January 2013 |access-date=2 January 2013}}</ref>

Odd won the [[Norwegian Football Cup]] in 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1913, 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1931 and 2000,<ref name=oddhist/> 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 made it back to the [[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|Bryne]] in the relegation play-offs. In 2007 the team was relegated to the [[1. divisjon]] after being beaten by [[FK Bodø/Glimt|Bodø/Glimt]] in the relegation play-offs. In 2008, with three games still to play, Odd secured the promotion back to the Tippeligaen after winning 4–0 at home against [[IL Hødd|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|Tromsø]], 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 to be 58.13 metres.<ref name=record>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15144508.stm|title=Halfway-line Norwegian header set for record books|date=2 October 2011|work=BBC Sport|access-date=2 October 2011|archive-date=17 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217033926/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/15144508|url-status=live}}</ref>