Royal League

Royal League
	Founded
	2004
	Continent
	Europe (UEFA)
	Number of Teams
	12
	Current Champions (2006-07)
	Brøndby IF
	Most successful club
	F.C. Copenhagen; (2 time champions, 1 time runner up )
	Website
	www.royalleague.com Royal League

The Royal League is an annual Scandinavian football tournament between teams from the three Scandinavian monarchies (Denmark, Sweden, and Norway), starting after the end of the regular domestic seasons of Norway and Sweden. Denmark, however, are in mid-season when the tournament starts. The four best-placed teams in the football leagues of Denmark, Norway and Sweden participate in the tournament.

There have been discussion of expanding the league, and include, the winners of Veikkausliiga and Landsbankadeild, which is the Finnish and the Icelandic premier division.

History

For the Royal League 2004-05 tournament, the twelve participating teams were initially placed into three groups. The two best-placed teams from each country were placed in the same group, while the two other teams were placed in the two other groups. In each group, each team played against the other three teams, home and away. The two best-placed teams of each group were randomly placed into two new groups. The three teams of each new group played each other, home and away. The 2005 Royal League Final was contested on May 26, 2005, by Swedish team IFK Göteborg and F.C. Copenhagen from Denmark. F.C. Copenhagen won the title following a penalty shootout.

In the second season of the tournament, the twelve participating teams were also divided into three preliminary groups. The two best-placed teams of each group, and the two best third-placed teams went on to play quarterfinals. The rest of the tournament was played in a knockout-system. The quarterfinals and semifinals were played both at home and away, while there was only a single final game to decide the winner. The 2006 Royal League Final was contested on April 6, 2006, by F.C. Copenhagen and Lillestrøm S.K. from Norway. F.C. Copenhagen won their second title, when Razak Pimpong scored to 1-0 in the last minutes of the game.

For the Royal League 2006-07 tournament, the structure of initial group stage and subsequent knockout-stage was kept. As opposed to the previous edition of the tournament, the knock-out stages were played as single games, with the team having the best group stage record earning home field advantage. The 2007 Royal League Final was contested on March 15, 2007, by Danish team Brøndby IF and F.C. Copenhagen. Brøndby won 1-0, on a penalty kick converted by Martin Ericsson.

Finals

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance	Date
2006-07	Brøndby IF	1–0	FC Copenhagen	Brøndby Stadion, Brøndby, Denmark	17,914	Thu, March 15, 2007
2005-06	FC Copenhagen	1–0	Lillestrøm SK	Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark	13,617	Thu, April 6, 2006
2004-05	FC Copenhagen	1–1 12–11 (pen)	IFK Göteborg	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	10,216	Thu, May 26, 2005