Danish Superliga

Country	Denmark
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1991
First season	1991
Number of teams	12
Levels on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Danish 1st Division
Domestic cup(s)	Danish Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League
Current champions	F.C. Copenhagen (2012–13)
Most championships	F.C. Copenhagen (10 titles)
TV partners	TV3+ Canal 9 Canal 8 Sport TV 2 Sport Others (see section)
Website	Superliga.dk dbu.dk
2012–13 Danish Superliga

The Danish Superliga (Superligaen in Danish) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the highest chances of relegation in Europe. Superliga has experienced a great development in the past 5 years, with new stadiums and greater attendances, and the league rank has shifted from twenty-third to twelfth in the country ranking system of UEFA. If the current position is kept throughout the rest of the season, the 2012/2013 season would permit the league champion to enter directly into the group stages of Champions League, and the runner-up to enter the qualifying rounds. FC København's recent strong performances in Europe are the main reason for the sudden rise of the Danish Superliga, but teams like Odense Boldklub, AaB Aalborg and Brøndby IF contributed as well.

The Superliga is generally perceived as being able to attract players of a slightly higher level than that of the rest of the Scandinavian leagues, partly favoured by a lucrative tax-scheme. Two of the best players in the league in the season of 2010 were former Manchester United player Eric Djemba-Djemba, who now plays at Hapoel Tel-Aviv F.C., and former Panathinaikos-player Dame N'Doye for FC København. For the 2009–10 season, the average attendance per game was 8,315. According to the soccersite Soccerlens.com the Danish Superliga is number 11 in Europe by attendances, ahead of countries such as Greece, Ukraine and Austria.

History

Founded in 1991, the Danish Superliga replaced the Danish 1st Division as the highest league of football in Denmark. From the start in 1991, 10 teams were participating. The opening Superliga season was played during the spring of 1991, with the ten teams playing each other twice for the championship title. From the summer of 1991, the tournament structure would stretch over two years. The 10 teams would play each other twice in the first half of the tournament. In the following spring, the bottom two teams would be cut off, the points of the teams would be cut in half, and the remaining eight teams would once more play each other twice, for a total of 32 games in a season.

Old logo of Faxe Kondi Ligaen

Old logo of SAS Ligaen

This practice was abandoned before the 1995–96 season, when the number of teams competing were increased to 12, playing each other thrice for 33 games per Superliga season. For the first season of this new structure, Coca-Cola became the name sponsor of the league, which was then named Coca-Cola Ligaen. After a single season under that name, Faxe Brewery became sponsors and the league changed its name to Faxe Kondi Ligaen. Before the 2001–02 season, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) became the head sponsor, and the name of the tournament changed to SAS Ligaen. From the start of the 2010-2011 season, the current Superliga name and logo were adopted, replacing the old SAS Ligaen name and logo.

Structure

Since 1996, 12 clubs have played in the league, playing each other thrice. Each team meets each one of the other teams one time at home, one time away, plus one more time home or away dependent of the clubs placement in the previous season. The two teams with the fewest points are relegated to the Danish 1st Division. The Danish champion will play in the UEFA Champions League in the upcoming season where they will start in the 3rd qualifying round for champions. The runner-up will play the UEFA Champions League they will start in the 3rd qualifying round for non-champions. The third-placed and fourth-placed team will play in the UEFA Europa League the 3rd places will start in the 3rd qualifying round and the 4th places will start in the 2nd qualifying round. And the winner of the Danish Cup will start in the 4th qualifying round.

UEFA ranking

! scope="col"|2007–08 ! scope="col"|2008–09 ! scope="col"|2009–10 ! scope="col"|2010–11 ! scope="col"|Coeff. |- |11||12|| +1|| Greece |4.666 |7.500 |6.500 |7.900 |7.600 |34.166 |- |12||15|| +3|| Denmark |6.125 |5.125 |8.200 |4.400 |6.700 |30.550 |- |13||14|| +1|| Belgium |4.700 |4.500 |4.500 |8.700 |4.600 |27.000 |- |14||08|| −6|| Romania |11.333 |2.600 |2.642 |6.083 |3.166 |25.824 |- |15||16|| +1|| Scotland |6.750 |10.250 |1.875 |2.666 |3.600 |25.141 |- |16||13|| −3|| Switzerland |4.100 |6.250 |2.900 |5.750 |5.900 |24.900 |- |17||20|| +3|| Israel |6.000 |2.375 |1.750 |7.250jfjf |4.625 |22.000 |- |18||18|| —|| Czech Republic |5.750 |5.125 |2.375 |4.100 |3.500 |20.850 |}

Broadcasting rights

As of 2008, Modern Times Group owns the rights to broadcast all of the matches from the league, and uses them to broadcast matches on channels TV3+ and TV 2 Sport (through sub licensing). However, the current deal was found, by the Danish Competition Authority (Konkurrencestyrelsen) not to comply with the Danish competition legislation. Therefore, a new deal was made on 21 December 2008, dividing the Superliga TV-rights between three parties. The deal amounted to DKK 1,062,300,000 (USD 210 million, EUR 140 million), effective from the 2009–10 season.

Danish football rights from 2009–10 – overview

Rights package	Buyer	Channels	Details
TV, I	Modern Times Group	TV3+, TV3+ HD	Grants exclusive rights to broadcast the game played Sunday 18.00 (1st choice)
TV, II	Bonnier Group	Canal 9, Canal 8 Sport, DR1, DR2	Grants exclusive rights to broadcast the games played Sunday 14.00 and 16.00 on live television (2nd and 5th choice)
TV, III	TV 2 Sport	TV 2 Sport, TV 2 Sport HD	Grants exclusive rights to broadcast the games played Saturday 17.00, Sunday 16.00 and Monday 19.00 on live television (3rd, 4th and 6th choice)
TV, Cup	SBS Broadcasting Group	Kanal 5, Kanal 5 HD, 6'eren	Grants exclusive rights to broadcast the games in the Danish Cup on live television
TV, 1st Division	TV 2 Sport	TV 2 Sport, TV 2 Sport HD	Grants exclusive rights to broadcast the games in the Danish 1st Division on live television
Radio	DR	DR P3	Grants exclusive rights to broadcast all the games on live radio
Highlights	DR, TV 2	DR1, TV 2	Grants rights to show highlights in sports news broadcasts
^1 Channels that are likely to broadcast the matches. ^2 Original buyers were DR and Telenor in a consortium, but they sold the rights to Bonnier Group. ^3 The fourth choice was originally at Modern Times Group, but they have chosen to give it to TV 2 Sport.

Foreign rights

Outside of Scandinavia, IMG holds the rights to the Superliga until the 2011–2012 season, and they have reportedly sold the rights to networks in Greece, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates, as well as several betting sites. It airs on Terra TV in Brazil.

Seasons

Current teams (2012–13)

AaB Fodbold

AC Horsens

Aarhus Gymnastikforening

Brøndby IF

Esbjerg fB

F.C. Copenhagen

FC Midtjylland

FC Nordsjælland

Odense Boldklub

Randers FC

Silkeborg IF

SønderjyskE

Locations of the 2012–13 Danish Superliga teams

Club	Finishing position last season	First season in top division	First season of current spell in top division
AaB	07 !7th	1928–29	1987
AC Horsens	04 !4th	1929–30	2010–11
AGF	05 !5th	1927–28	2011–12
Brøndby	09 !9th	1982	1982
Esbjerg	11 !1st in 1st Division	n/a	2012–13
Copenhagen	02 !2nd	1992–93	1992–93
Midtjylland	03 !3rd	2000–01	2000–01
Nordsjælland	01 !1st	2002–03	2002–03
OB	10 !10th	1927–28	1999–00
Randers	12 !2nd in 1st Division	n/a	2012–13
Silkeborg	08 !8th	1988	2009–10
SønderjyskE	06 !6th	2000–01	2008–09

Winners

See also: List of Danish football champions

Season	Champions	Performance
		Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1991	Brøndby IF	26	18	10	6	2	26	15	+11
1991–92	Lyngby BK	32	14	9	2	3	22	7	+15
1992–93	F.C. Copenhagen	32	14	8	3	3	31	23	+8
1993–94	Silkeborg IF	31	14	8	2	4	23	15	+8
1994–95	AaB	31	14	7	4	3	30	13	+17
1995–96	Brøndby IF	67	33	20	7	6	71	32	+39
1996–97	Brøndby IF	68	33	20	8	5	64	39	+25
1997–98	Brøndby IF	76	33	24	4	5	81	33	+48
1998–99	AaB	64	33	17	13	3	65	37	+28
1999-00	Herfølge BK	56	33	16	8	9	52	49	+3
2000–01	F.C. Copenhagen	63	33	17	12	4	55	27	+28
2001–02	Brøndby IF	69	33	20	9	4	74	28	+46
2002–03	F.C. Copenhagen	61	33	17	10	6	51	32	+19
2003–04	F.C. Copenhagen	68	33	20	8	5	56	27	+29
2004–05	Brøndby IF	69	33	20	9	4	61	23	+38
2005–06	F.C. Copenhagen	73	33	22	7	4	62	27	+35
2006–07	F.C. Copenhagen	76	33	23	7	3	60	23	+37
2007–08	AaB	71	33	22	5	6	60	38	+22
2008–09	F.C. Copenhagen	74	33	23	5	5	67	26	+41
2009–10	F.C. Copenhagen	68	33	21	5	7	61	22	+39
2010–11	F.C. Copenhagen	81	33	25	6	2	77	29	+48
2011–12	FC Nordsjælland	68	33	21	5	7	49	22	+27
2012-13	F.C. Copenhagen	65	33	18	11	4	62	32	+30

Relegations

Season	Relegated team(s)
1991	Ikast FS
1991–92	Vejle BK
1992–93	BK Frem, B 1909
1993–94	Viborg FF, B93
1994–95	Fremad Amager
1995–96	Ikast FS, Næstved BK
1996–97	Viborg FF, Hvidovre IF
1997–98	Ikast FS, Odense BK
1998–99	Aarhus Fremad, B93
1999–00	Vejle BK, Esbjerg fB
2000–01	Herfølge BK, HFK Sønderjylland
2001–02	Vejle BK, Lyngby BK
2002–03	Silkeborg IF, Køge BK
2003–04	BK Frem, AB
2004–05	Herfølge BK, Randers FC
2005–06	SønderjyskE, AGF Aarhus
2006–07	Vejle BK, Silkeborg IF
2007–08	Viborg FF, Lyngby BK
2008–09	AC Horsens, Vejle BK
2009–10	AGF, HB Køge
2010–11	Randers FC, Esbjerg fB
2011–12	Lyngby BK, HB Køge

Notable players

Top goalscorers

Season	Tally	Top scorer(s)
1991	11	Bent Christensen (Brøndby IF)
1991–92	17	Peter Møller (AaB)
1992–93	22	Peter Møller (AaB)
1993–94	18	Søren Frederiksen (Viborg FF)
1994–95	24	Erik Bo Andersen (AaB)
1995–96	20	Thomas Thorninger (AGF)
1996–97	26	Miklos Molnar (Lyngby FC)
1997–98	28	Ebbe Sand (Brøndby IF)
1998–99	23	Heine Fernandez (Viborg FF)
1999–00	16	Peter Lassen (Silkeborg IF)
2000–01	21	Peter Graulund (Brøndby IF)
2001–02	22	Peter Madsen (Brøndby IF) and Kaspar Dalgas (OB)
2002–03	18	Søren Frederiksen (Viborg FF) and Jan Kristiansen (Esbjerg fB)
2003–04	19	Steffen Højer and Mwape Miti (both OB), Mohamed Zidan (FC Midtjylland) and Tommy Bechmann (Esbjerg fB)
2004–05	20	Steffen Højer (OB)
2005–06	16	Steffen Højer (Viborg FF)
2006–07	19	Rade Prica (AaB)
2007–08	17	Jeppe Curth (AaB)
2008–09	16	Morten Nordstrand (F.C. Copenhagen) and Marc Nygaard (Randers FC)
2009–10	18	Peter Utaka (OB)
2010–11	25	Dame N'Doye (F.C. Copenhagen)
2011–12	18	Dame N'Doye (F.C. Copenhagen)

Most capped players

See also: Category:Danish Superliga players

Twenty players with most Superliga appearances

Rank	Player	Appearances	Club(s)
1	Per Nielsen	394	Brøndby IF
2	Jimmy Nielsen	375	AaB, Vejle BK
3	Michael Hansen	371	Silkeborg IF, OB, Esbjerg fB, FC Midtjylland
	Mogens Krogh	371	Ikast FS, Brøndby IF
5	Arek Onyszko	362	Viborg FF, OB, FC Midtjylland
6	Michael Nonbo	355	Næstved IF, AGF, Viborg FF, SønderjyskE
7	Jens Jessen	341	AaB, FC Midtjylland
	Jakob Glerup	341	Viborg FF
	Thomas Augustinussen	341	AaB
9	Steffen Højer	339	Viborg FF, AaB, OB
10	Kim Daugaard	336	Brøndby IF
11	Søren Frederiksen	335	Viborg FF, Silkeborg IF, AaB
12	Heine Fernandez	326	Silkeborg IF, Viborg FF, F.C. Copenhagen, AB
13	Henrik Rasmussen	322	AaB
	Karim Zaza	322	F.C. Copenhagen, OB, Brøndby IF, AaB
15	Michael Hemmingsen	315	B 1909, OB
16	Peter Møller	310	AaB, F.C. Copenhagen, Brøndby IF
	Jesper Sørensen	310	AGF, F.C. Copenhagen, AB
	Bora Zivkovic	310	Silkeborg IF, F.C. Copenhagen, Herfølge BK, Vejle BK
19	Calle Facius	300	AaB, Ikast FS, Vejle BK
20	Alex Nørlund	299	Vejle BK, Viborg FF, AGF
As of end of season 2010–11

Most capped foreign players

Main article: List of foreign Danish Superliga players

Twenty foreign players with most Superliga appearances

Rank	Player	Appearances	Club(s)
1	Arek Onyszko	363	Viborg FF, OB, FC Midtjylland
2	Karim Zaza	322	FC København, OB, Brøndby IF, AaB
3	Todi Jónsson	243	Lyngby BK, FC København
4	Andrew Tembo	218	OB
5	Mwape Miti	178	OB
6	Dan Eggen	167	BK Frem, Brøndby IF
7	Abdul Sule	160	AB, AC Horsens
8	Sibusiso Zuma	158	FC København, FC Nordsjælland
9	Fernando Derveld	156	OB, Esbjerg fB
10	Kolja Afriyie	154	Esbjerg fB, FC Midtjylland
11	Aurelijus Skarbalius	150	Brøndby IF, Herfølge BK
12	Martin Ericsson	146	AaB, Brøndby IF
13	Razak Pimpong	145	FC Midtjylland, FC København
14	Atiba Hutchinson	139	FC København
15	Oscar Wendt	138	FC København
16	Rawez Lawan	136	AC Horsens, FC Nordsjælland
	Jakup Mikkelsen	136	Herfølge BK
18	Mattias Jonson	131	Brøndby IF
19	Andreas Klarström	127	Esbjerg fB
20	Gilberto Macena	123	AC Horsens
As of end of season 2010–11

Attendances

Season	Average	Total	Max	Min
1991	3,937	354,348	13,935	712
1991–92	4,428	646,510	16,500	1,014
1992–93	5,023	733,299	22,862	484
1993–94	4,739	691,855	26,679	475
1994–95	5,930	865,755	36,623	487
1995–96	5,689	1,126,414	39,640	704
1996–97	5,318	1,052,922	28,491	585
1997–98	5,519	1,092,688	33,124	939
1998–99	4,974	984,874	37,940	180
1999–2000	5,838	1,155,917	28,818	1,493
2000–01	5,837	1,155,662	40,281	1,003
2001–02	5,727	1,133,920	40,186	314
2002–03	7,307	1,446,752	40,254	800
2003–04	7,980	1,580,011	41,005	1,011
2004–05	8,589	1,700,532	40,654	843
2005–06	7,957	1,575,399	41,201	1,307
2006–07	8,108	1,605,367	40,463	1,799
2007–08	8,499	1,682,791	32,153	1,035
2008–09	8,815	1,745,308	32,856	1,609
2009–10	8,315	1,646,405	30,191	707
2010–11	7,049	-	28,387	1,017
2011–12	7,103	-	25,651	1,059

According to soccerlens.com the Danish Superliga was number 11 in Europe in 2009, ahead of strong leagues such as Greece, Austria and Ukraine: http://soccerlens.com/the-top-15-leagues-in-europe/39185/

See also

• List of Danish Superliga clubs
• Sports league attendances