Start

Svein Mathisen holds both club records — most goals and most appearances.

The club came out of an older attempt at football in Kristiansand. Christianssands Fotballklubb, formed in 1891, broke up in 1898; the game carried on at Ørvarodd and Gyldenløve, and out of those two Start was founded on 19 September 1905.

Pål Lydersen left for Arsenal and played for Norway. Beyond the titles the trophy cabinet is thin: seven Norwegian Cup semi-finals, in 1975, 1978, 1988, 2000, 2006, 2011 and 2018, and no final. Second place in the league in 2005 remains the best finish since the championship years, and the club has won the 1. divisjon four times, most recently in 2012.

The worst of it ran from 12 July 2015 to 18 September 2016: 39 top-flight matches without a win.

It holds 14,563, though for Eliteserien matches the capacity is usually cut to 11,700 to tighten the atmosphere. The shirts are yellow, the shorts and socks black; the badge carries red, white and blue. In 2017 the club replaced the old blue-and-white flag with a black logo, then went back to the earlier design in 2022.

Ownership has changed hands more than once — private investors in 2003, a rescue by the local authority in 2008, and since 2024 American owners.