Danish Women's League

Not to be confused with Danish Women's Handball League or KvindeLigaen (ice hockey).

The Danish Women's League (Danish: Danmarksturneringens Kvindeliga, Kvinde-DM Liga or Kvindeligaen) is a semi-professional top-flight league for women's football in Denmark. It is organised by the Danish Football Association (DBU) as part of the nation-wide Danmarksturneringen i kvindefodbold (Kvinde-DM) and is placed as the first division of the Danish football league system.^[3] Clubs in the league must meet certain criteria concerning appropriate facilities and finances.^[4] All of the league's clubs qualify for the proper rounds of the DBU KvindePokalen. The top teams of each season qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Danmarksturneringens Kvindeliga

Organising body	Danish FA (DBU)
Founded	1974; 49 years ago (1974)
First season	1975
Country	Denmark
Confederation	UEFA
Divisions	2 (1975–1980) 1 (1981–present)
Number of teams	20 (1975–1980) 12 (1981–1992) 8 (1993–present)
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Kvinde 1. division
Domestic cup(s)	DBU KvindePokalen (1992–present)
International cup(s)	UEFA Women's Champions League
Current champions	HB Køge (2nd title) (2021–22)
Most championships	Brøndby IF (12 titles)
TV partners	Eurosport 2, Sport Live and Dplay (2020–2021)^[1] Viaplay/TV3 Sport (2021–2024)^[2]
Website	kvindeliga.dk
Current: 2021–22 Danish Women's League

The division has changed its name on several occasions. It has previously been known simply as Danmarksturneringen i damefodbold (1975 until 1980), Dame 1. division (1981 until 1992), Elitedivisionen (1993 until 2015–16) before settling with the current name, Kvindeligaen, beginning with the 2016–17 season.^[5][6] Due to sponsorship arrangements, it was known as 3F Ligaen for fourteen seasons (2005–06 until 2018–19) and since the 2019–20 season as Gjensidige Kvindeligaen.^[7][8]

Format

From 1994 to 2005/06 the league consisted of 8 teams playing each other 3 times and the best team then was awarded the championship. The last team was relegated with the second last team playing a playoff, against the second team of the Kvinde 1. division. 2006/07 was a transition year, because the league was extended to 10 teams. The last team after the season played a relegation match against the third placed team of the 1. division, for a place in Elitedivisionen. The top two teams of the 1. division were automatically promoted.

From 2007/08 to 2012/13 the league consisted of 10 teams. Those 10 teams play a double round robin as a regular season. After that there are 2 Playoff Groups. Place 1 to 4 of the regular season play the Championship Playoff. Place 5 to 10 play the Relegation Playoff. In the Playoffs, the points accumulated over the regular season are divided by 2 (rounding up if necessary). Those points are the starting points for the playoffs. The Championship group plays another round robin (6 matches each) with the winner being awarded the championship title. The Relegation Group plays a single round robin (5 matches each) after which, the bottom two clubs are relegated.

The 2013/14 season again was played only with eight teams. The top six after the regular season play a championship group, the seventh plays a relegation play-off and the eight placed team gets relegated.

Clubs

National champions

Main article: List of Danish women's football champions

Rank	Club	Champions	Runners-up	Winning seasons
1	Brøndby IF	12	8	2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19
2	Fortuna Hjørring	11	22	1994, 1995, 1996, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20
3	Hjortshøj-Egaa IF^[a]	10	6	1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996–97, 1997–98
4	B 1909	5	5	1981, 1983, 1985, 1992, 1993
5	Ribe BK^[b]	5	1	1973, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1979
6	BK Femina	3	4	1975, 1977, 1980
7	Odense Q^[c]	2	0	1999–2000, 2000–01
8	HB Køge	2	0	2020–21, 2021–22
—	BK Stjernen Svendborg	0	2
—	Kolding BK	0	1

The list also includes the national champions of 1973 and 1974 that were crowned before the establishment of a nationwide first division.^[9][10]

2021–22 season

See also: List of Danmarksturneringen i kvindefodbold clubs

• Aalborg BK
• Aarhus GF
• Brøndby IF
• Fortuna Hjørring
• Kolding IF^[d]
• HB Køge
• FC Nordsjælland
• FC Thy-Thisted Q

Footnotes

1. In January 2002 – halfway through the 2001–02 season – Hjortshøj-Egaa IF's two elite women's squads, playing in the national and regional top-flight leagues, merged with IK Skovbakken's women's youth department for economic reasons, transferring the league licenses from Hjortshøj-Egaa IF to IK Skovbakken Kvindefodbold.
2. Ribe BK&GF changed their name to Ribe BK in October 1993 due to Nørremarkens BK being merged into the club.
3. In March 2016, the women's elite department, OB Kvinde Elite, was refounded as a separate association football club named Odense Q, assuming the league license of Odense BK beginning from the 2016–17 season.
4. In September 2021, it was announced that KoldingQ would merge and become part of Kolding IF, which occurred at the end of October 2021 – the first match under the Kolding IF Women banner was played on 1 November 2021.

References

1. Muminovic, Arnela (29 May 2020). (in Danish). DR.dk. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
2. (in Danish). Kvindedivisionsforeningen. 3 March 2021. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
3. . www.dbu.dk (in Danish). Dansk Boldspil-Union (DBU). June 2021. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
4. (PDF). www.dbu.dk (in Danish). Danish Football Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
5. Pedersen, Christine Møller (6 February 2016). (in Danish). DR.dk. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022. Udover ændringen af slutspillet skifter den bedste danske liga, Elitedivisionen, nu navn til Kvindeligaen.
6. (in Danish). Dansk Boldspil-Union (DBU). 4 February 2016. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022. Fakta: Ændringerne i strukturen for kvinde- og pigehold,- hvis ikke andet nævnt, gældende fra sæson 16/17. 3F-ligaen: Formel ændring af navnet "Elitedivision" til "Kvindeliga"
7. Import (30 June 2005). (in Danish). Tipsbladet.dk. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
8. Sønnichsen, Thomas; Ipsen, Christian (30 July 2019). (in Danish). TV2 Sport. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
9. Bernd Timmermann (4 January 2006). . RSSSF. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
10. . www.dbu.dk (in Danish). Dansk Boldspil-Union (DBU). 2021. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2021.

External links

• Official league site (in Danish)