Notodden

Two clubs in the same town decided in 1999 that neither had a future on its own. Notodden FK grew out of a merger between the football departments of SK Snøgg and Heddal IL, formalised on 3 November that year with the aim of building one stable side capable of holding a place in the higher divisions rather than two smaller ones drifting between them. The arrangement was meant to last five years; Heddal pulled out in 2005 and went back to running its own team, and Snøgg's players carried on under the Notodden name.

Money from outside the boardroom shaped much of what followed. Kjetil Holta, an industrialist from the local Tinfos family, backed the club financially from 2002 until around 2020, a period that took in a 2016 bonus scheme that drew criticism at the time. Between 2008 and 2022 the club played away from its old ground at the Tinfos Arena, later renamed Optime Arena, before financial pressure sent it back to the municipal pitches at Sætre.

On the pitch, Notodden built its record in the lower divisions: third-tier titles in 2003 and 2004, then promotion from the second tier in 2006 and 2011, with relegations from the first division following in 2009, 2012 and 2019. The high point came in 2018, when the club reached the Norwegian Cup final and lost 0–1 to FK Jerv on its own ground. Fans and local press know the side as Gullet, a nickname rooted in the town's dialect, and matches against Pors Grenland carry the weight of a Telemark derby with no love lost.

What began as an attempt to stop two clubs from cancelling each other out is still, in essence, the same experiment: one team, from one town, trying to hold its place above the level either half could have reached alone.