Mo Idrettslag is a football club from Mo i Rana

Mo i Rana

Mo i Rana is a town in the municipality of Rana, Nordland, Norway, located just south of the Arctic Circle and in the region Helgeland. The town is called "Mo i Rana" to distinquish it from other places named Mo - most notably the town of Mosjøen, also in Helgeland - though locally the town is...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. They currently play in the Norwegian Third Division

Norwegian Third Division

The Norwegian Third Division is the fourth highest division of the men's football league in Norway. Like the rest of the Norwegian football league system, the season runs from spring to autumn, running approximately from April to October...

, the fourth highest division in the Norwegian football league system

Norwegian football league system

The current national league system administered by the football association is organised as 1-1-4-12, where Tippeligaen is the highest Norwegian level and Adeccoligaen the second highest, followed by four third level and 12 fourth level ....

, having been relegated from the 2010 Norwegian Second Division

2010 Norwegian Second Division

The 2010 season of the 2. divisjon, the third highest association football league for men in Norway.26 games were played in 4 groups, with 3 points given for wins and 1 for draws. HamKam, Notodden, Stavanger and Skeid were relegated from the 2009 Norwegian First Division. Asker, Hødd, Randaberg and...

.

Among its better known members are football referee Jonny Ditlefsen. Their former coach Thor André Olsen had a professional playing career, so did their current coach Charles Berstad

Charles Berstad

Charles Berstad is a retired Norwegian football player and current coach.He played for Disenå, Skarnes before playing for Kongsvinger from 1983 to 1992. He then played for Bodø/Glimt from 1993 to 1994, then Kongsvinger again from 1995 to 1998...

.

2004

One of the most memorable moments from the 2004-season was the 0-2. loss against Tromsø IL, fielding players such as Morten Gamst Pedersen

Morten Gamst Pedersen

Morten Gamst Pedersen is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers and the Norway national football team.-Tromsø IL:...

 in their starting eleven, in the third round of the 2004 Norwegian Football Cup

2004 Norwegian Football Cup

The Norwegian men's football cup 2004 started on May 5. It was contested by 128 teams, going through 7 rounds before a winner could be declared. The final match was played on November 7....

. On their way to the third round, they beat the second tier team Strømsgodset IF 2-0.

2005

Mo IL narrowly missed out on promotion to Adeccoligaen

Adeccoligaen

The Norwegian First Division is the second highest division of the Norwegian football league system. Since 2005, the official name of the league has been Adeccoligaen....

 in the 2005 season

2005 Norwegian Second Division

The 2005 season of the 2. divisjon, the third highest football league for men in Norway.26 games were played in 4 groups, with 3 points given for wins and 1 for draws. Sarpsborg Sparta, Manglerud Star, Haugesund and Tromsdalen were promoted to the First Division. Number twelve, thirteen and...

. Having led the table for much of the season, their promotion chances were ruined due to form declination during the season-ending fixtures.

2006

Before the start of 2006 Norwegian Second Division, there was a media-hype around Mo's chances for promotion. Mo IL got off to a horrendous start of the season, going through the eight first matches without one single victory. Media was speculating whether their current manager Thor André Olsen were to be sacked. In an unlikely turn of events, a giant form leap during the autumn of 2006 took Mo from the very bottom of the table to a worthy fifth place at the season's end.

Other sections

In the past, Mo IL has had sections in other sports than football by association. From their now-defunct athletics section, Marit Hemstad

Marit Hemstad

Marit Hemstad was a Norwegian sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres. She represented the club Mo IL.She never participated in the Summer Olympics, but finished fourth at the 1946 European Championships at Bislett stadion in a personal best time of 25.7 seconds. This remained her career best...

 participated in the European Championships. Famous politician Gerd-Liv Valla

Gerd-Liv Valla

Gerd-Liv Valla was the leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions . She took over in 2001 and resigned in 2007. In 1997 she was the Norwegian Minister of Justice....

was a middle distance runner for Mo IL as a teenager.