Allsvenskan

This article is about the Swedish football league. For other uses, see Allsvenskan (disambiguation).
Allsvenskan
Country  Sweden
Confederation UEFA
Founded 13 January 1924
Number of teams 16
Level on pyramid 1
Relegation to Superettan
Domestic cup(s) Svenska Cupen
International cup(s) UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League
Current champions Malmö FF
(2014)
Most championships Malmö FF (21 titles)
TV partners TV4 Group
Website Allsvenskan
2015 Allsvenskan

Allsvenskan [ˈal.ˈsvɛnskan]), English: The All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, English: The Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924, and is the top flight of the Swedish football league system, operating on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan. Seasons run from late March or early April to beginning of November, with the 16 clubs all meeting each other twice, resulting in a 30-match season, for a total of 240 matches league-wide.

Allsvenskan is ranked 23rd in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years, just ahead of the Scottish Premiership and behind the Danish Superliga. The current champions are Malmö FF, who won the title in the 2014 season.

Including the 2014 season, Allsvenskan has been running for an unbroken streak of 89 seasons, which amongst national-level football leagues is one of the longest such streak in Europe as well as in the the world.

History

Sune Sandbring, Malmö FF in a game with Sanny Jacobsson, GAIS in 1953.

Allsvenskan started in the 1924–25 Allsvenskan season and the first winner was GAIS. The one-league twelve team Allsvenskan replaced the Svenska Serien, consisting of a southern and northern group that was held before. In 1931, the league started to decide the Swedish football champions.

In the early years, Norrland and Gotland teams were not allowed to play on higher levels in the league system, which was gradually changed to include the Norrland and Gotland teams on higher levels. In the 1955–56 season, Lycksele IF became the first Norrland team to play in an Allsvenskan promotion play-off, however they lost to GAIS.

For the 1959 Allsvenskan, the season start was changed from autumn to spring to be played in one calendar year. In 1973, it was expanded to contain 14 teams. In the 1970s, Malmö FF, under the lead of Spanish Antonio Durán and later English Bob Houghton, won five Allsvenskan and managed to proceed to the 1979 European Cup Final, which they lost to Nottingham Forest F.C..

From the 1982 season, the league introduced a play-off to determine the Swedish football champions. In the late 1980s, Malmö FF were dominant, winning the league five times in a row, but only two Swedish championships. The 1990 season saw the introduction of three points per win. The play-off season years were followed by two years of continuation league, named Mästerskapsserien.

The 1993 season saw a return to the classical format, again with 14 teams. IFK Göteborg won five Allsvenskan league titles in the 1990s.

In the early 2000s, Djurgårdens IF won three titles (2002, 2003 and 2005). In 2004, Örebro SK lost its place in the league due to finical problems, and Assyriska FF got their place. Since 2008, the league consists of 16 teams.

Status

The champions of the Allsvenskan are considered Swedish champions and gold medal winners. The runners-up are awarded the Large Silver medal, the third positioned team are awarded the Small Silver medal and the team positioned in fourth place are awarded the Bronze medal.

There have been seasons with exceptions when the winners of Allsvenskan wasn't considered Swedish champions as well. Allsvenskan winners between 1924 and 1930 were crowned league champions and awarded gold medals, the title of Swedish champions was awarded to the winner of Svenska Mästerskapet up until 1925 and then not at all until 1930. The years 1982 through 1990 are also exceptions, the title was instead decided through play-offs during these years. The same was true for the years 1991 through 1992 when the title was decided through a continuation league called Mästerskapsserien. Historically, there is though a big difference between the Allsvenskan winners before 1931 compared to the period between 1982 and 1992. As winning Allsvenskan in its earlier seasons was the optimal aim for the clubs, while as during the era of play-offs and Mästerskapsserien, the optimal goal wasn't to win Allsvenskan, but the play-offs or Mästerskapsserien.

Competition format

Since 2008 there are 16 clubs in Allsvenskan. During the course of a season (starting in late March and ending in early November) each club plays the others twice (home and away) for a total of 30 games. The two lowest placed teams at the end of the season are relegated to Superettan and the top two teams from Superettan are promoted in their place. The third lowest team in Allsvenskan plays a relegation/promotion play-off against the third placed team in Superettan.

The winners of Allsvenskan qualify for the UEFA Champions League, the runner-up together with the third placed team in the table qualify for the UEFA Europa League as well as the team who wins the Svenska Cupen. In case the winner of the Cup has already qualified to Champions League or Europa League, the third Europa League spot is given to the team that finishes fourth in Allsvenskan.

Changes in competition format

Lennart Johanssons Pokal
From To Number of teams Number of match-weeks Season Start Season End Play-offs
1924–25 1956–57 12 22 Autumn Spring —
1957–58 33 Next autumn —
1959 1972 22 Spring Autumn —
1973 1981 14 26 —
1982 1983 12 22 Play-offs with eight teams
1984 1990 Play-offs with four teams
1991 1992 10 18 Summer League with six teams
1993 2007 14 26 Autumn —
2008 Present 16 30 —

The decider at equal amount of points was goal ratio until the 1940–41 season, thereafter goal difference.

Awards

Trophy

The current trophy awarded to the Swedish champions is the Lennart Johanssons Pokal. Created in 2001, the trophy is named after former UEFA chairman, Lennart Johansson. A different trophy that was named after Clarence von Rosen, the first chairman of the Swedish Football Association, had previously been used between 1903 and 2000, but was replaced after journalists reported that von Rosen had personal connections to infamous nazi leader Hermann Göring.[1] The former President of the Swedish Football Association, Lars-Åke Lagrell stated that the reason for the change of trophy wasn't a personal attack against Von Rosen but rather that the Football Association didn't want to be linked to nazism and constantly engage in discussions regarding this every time the trophy was awarded.[1]

Player and manager awards

In addition to the winner's trophy and the individual winner's medals awarded to players, Allsvenskan also awards the most valuable player, goalkeeper of the year, defender of the year, midfielder of the year, forward of the year, newcomer of the year and manager of year at Allsvenskans stora pris together with C More and Magasinet Offside.[2] Also, the Allsvenskan top scorer has is awarded.

Television

The Swiss corporation Kentaro has owned the TV rights for Allsvenskan since 2006.[3] Through licence agreements with the media company TV4 Group matches are aired through C More Entertainment who broadcasts them on their C More Sport and C More Live channels. Matches can also be bought through the online pay-per-view service C SPORTS. The current license agreement is valid to 2019.[4]

Clubs

A total of 62 clubs have played in Allsvenskan from its inception in 1924 up to and including the 2014 season. No club have been a member of the league for every season since its inception, AIK are the club to have participated in most seasons with a record of 86 seasons played out of 90 seasons in total. Malmö FF have the record of most consecutive seasons, 63 consecutive seasons between 1936–37 and 1999. IFK Göteborg are currently the club with the longest running streak, starting their 39th season in 2015.

The following 16 clubs are competing in Allsvenskan during the 2015 season:

Club
 Position
in 2014		 First season Number of seasons First season of
current spell		 Titles Last title
AIK3rd1924–2586200652009
BK Häcken5th19831420090 N/A
Djurgårdens IF7th1927–2859200172005
Falkenbergs FF13th2014120140 N/A
GIF Sundsvall2nd in Superettan19651420150 N/A
Gefle IF14th1933–341420050 N/A
Halmstads BK10th1933–3452201342000
Hammarby IF1st in Superettan1924–2546201512001
Helsingborgs IF9th1924–2564199372011
IF Elfsborg4th1926–2771199762012
IFK Göteborg2nd1924–25821977132007
IFK Norrköping12th1924–25742011121992
Kalmar FF11th1949–5027200412008
Malmö FF1st1931–32792001212014
Åtvidabergs FF8th196819201221973
Örebro SK6th1946–474620140 N/A

Stadia and locations

Friends Arena in Stockholm.
Tele2 Arena in Stockholm.
Swedbank Stadion in Malmö.

Current team and stadiums:

Club Location Stadium Capacity
AIK Stockholm Friends Arena 54,000
BK Häcken Gothenburg Gamla Ullevi 18,900
Djurgårdens IF Stockholm Tele2 Arena 33,000
Falkenbergs FF Falkenberg Falkenbergs IP 5,000
Gefle IF Gävle Gavlevallen 6,500
GIF Sundsvall Sundsvall Norrporten Arena 7,700
Halmstads BK Halmstad Örjans Vall 15,500
Hammarby IF Stockholm Tele2 Arena 33,000
Helsingborgs IF Helsingborg Olympia 16,500
IF Elfsborg Borås Borås Arena 16,899
IFK Göteborg Gothenburg Gamla Ullevi 18,900
IFK Norrköping Norrköping Nya Parken 15,734
Kalmar FF Kalmar Guldfågeln Arena 12,182
Malmö FF Malmö Swedbank Stadion 24,000
Åtvidabergs FF Åtvidaberg Kopparvallen 8,000
Örebro SK Örebro Behrn Arena 13,129

Managers

Åge Hareide, manager of the reigning champions Malmö FF is the only foreign manager in the league.

The current managers in Allsvenskan are:

Name Club Appointed
SwedenGerhardsson, PeterPeter GerhardssonBK Häcken20 November 2008
SwedenAndersson, JanneJanne AnderssonIFK Norrköping1 December 2010
SwedenAlm, AndreasAndreas AlmAIK16 December 2010
Sweden
Sweden		Cedergren, JoelJoel Cedergren
Franzén, RogerRoger Franzén		GIF Sundsvall14 December 2012
SwedenBergstrand, NanneNanne BergstrandHammarby IF6 November 2013
SwedenOlsson, PerPer OlssonDjurgårdens IF20 November 2013
SwedenSandberg, RogerRoger SandbergGefle IF10 December 2013
NorwayHareide, ÅgeÅge HareideMalmö FF9 January 2014
SwedenAxén, AlexanderAlexander AxénÖrebro SK13 June 2014
SwedenLarsson, HenrikHenrik LarssonHelsingborgs IF10 November 2014
SwedenHaglund, MagnusMagnus HaglundIF Elfsborg12 November 2014
SwedenJönsson, JanJan JönssonHalmstads BK19 November 2014
SwedenSwärdh, PeterPeter SwärdhKalmar FF24 November 2014
SwedenLennartsson, JörgenJörgen LennartssonIFK Göteborg25 November 2014
SwedenEklund, HansHans EklundFalkenbergs FF26 November 2014
SwedenHansen, RoarRoar HansenÅtvidabergs FF12 December 2014

Players

RankPlayerAppsGoals
1 Sweden Sven Andersson 431 0
2 Sweden Thomas Ravelli 416 0
3 Sweden Daniel Tjernström 411 24
4 Sweden Sven Jonasson 410 254
5 Sweden Bengt Andersson 387 3

Appearances

Sven Andersson has the record for most appearances in Allsvenskan with 431 appearances for Örgryte IS and Helsingborgs IF. Sven Jonasson has the record for most matches in a row with 332 matches for IF Elfsborg between 11 September 1927 and 1 November 1942.

Foreign players

Until 1974, foreign players were banned from playing in Allsvenskan, however not on all levels of football in Sweden.[5] In the first season of allowance, on 13 April 1974, English Ronald Powell in Brynäs IF became the first foreign player in Allsvenskan[5] In 1977, Tunisian Melke Amri became the first non-European player. In 1978, Icelandic Teitur Þórðarson in Östers IF became the first foreign player to win the Allsvenskan[6]

RankPlayerAppsGoals
1 Sweden Sven Jonasson 410 254
2 Sweden Carl-Erik Holmberg 260 194
3 Sweden Filip Johansson 181 180
4 Sweden Harry Lundahl 176 179
5 Sweden Harry Bild 288 162
Sweden Bertil Johansson 267 162

Top scorers

Sven Jonasson has made the most goals in the Allsvenskan history, with 254 goals in 410 appearances. Gunnar Nordahl has become the top scorer most times, with four wins.

Previous winners

Key
Season when the league didn't decide the Swedish champions
Season when Swedish champions wasn't awarded at all

SeasonWinnerRunner-up
1924–25GAIS (1)IFK Göteborg
1925–26Örgryte IS (1)GAIS
1926–27GAIS (2)IFK Göteborg
1927–28Örgryte IS (2)Helsingborgs IF
1928–29Helsingborgs IF (1)Örgryte IS
1929–30Helsingborgs IF (2)IFK Göteborg
1930–31GAIS (3)AIK
1931–32AIK (1)Örgryte IS
1932–33Helsingborgs IF (3)GAIS
1933–34Helsingborgs IF (4)GAIS
1934–35IFK Göteborg (1)AIK
1935–36IF Elfsborg (1)AIK
1936–37AIK (2)IK Sleipner
1937–38IK Sleipner (1)Helsingborgs IF
1938–39IF Elfsborg (2)AIK
1939–40IF Elfsborg (3)IFK Göteborg
1940–41Helsingborgs IF (5)Degerfors IF
1941–42IFK Göteborg (2)GAIS
1942–43IFK Norrköping (1)IF Elfsborg
1943–44Malmö FF (1)IF Elfsborg
1944–45IFK Norrköping (2)IF Elfsborg
1945–46IFK Norrköping (3)Malmö FF
1946–47IFK Norrköping (4)AIK
1947–48IFK Norrköping (5)Malmö FF
1948–49Malmö FF (2)Helsingborgs IF
1949–50Malmö FF (3)Jönköpings Södra IF
1950–51Malmö FF (4)Råå IF
1951–52IFK Norrköping (6)Malmö FF
1952–53Malmö FF (5)IFK Norrköping
1953–54GAIS (4)Helsingborgs IF
1954–55Djurgårdens IF (1)Halmstads BK
1955–56IFK Norrköping (7)Malmö FF
1956–57IFK Norrköping (8)Malmö FF
1957–58IFK Göteborg (3)IFK Norrköping
1959Djurgårdens IF (2)IFK Norrköping
1960IFK Norrköping (9)IFK Malmö
1961IF Elfsborg (4)IFK Norrköping
1962IFK Norrköping (10)Djurgårdens IF
1963IFK Norrköping (11)Degerfors IF
1964Djurgårdens IF (3)Malmö FF
1965Malmö FF (6)IF Elfsborg
1966Djurgårdens IF (4)IFK Norrköping
1967Malmö FF (7)Djurgårdens IF
1968Östers IF (1)Malmö FF
1969IFK Göteborg (4)Malmö FF
SeasonWinnerRunner-up
1970Malmö FF (8)Åtvidabergs FF
1971Malmö FF (9)Åtvidabergs FF
1972Åtvidabergs FF (1)AIK
1973Åtvidabergs FF (2)Östers IF
1974Malmö FF (10)AIK
1975Malmö FF (11)Östers IF
1976Halmstads BK (1)Malmö FF
1977Malmö FF (12)IF Elfsborg
1978Östers IF (2)Malmö FF
1979Halmstads BK (2)IFK Göteborg
1980Östers IF (3)Malmö FF
1981Östers IF (4)IFK Göteborg
1982IFK Göteborg (5)Hammarby IF
1983AIK (3)Malmö FF
1984IFK Göteborg (6)AIK
1985Malmö FF (13)Kalmar FF
1986Malmö FF (14)IFK Göteborg
1987Malmö FF (15)IFK Norrköping
1988Malmö FF (16)IFK Göteborg
1989Malmö FF (17)IFK Norrköping
1990IFK Göteborg (7)IFK Norrköping
1991IFK Göteborg (8)Örebro SK
1992IFK Norrköping (12)Östers IF
1993IFK Göteborg (9)IFK Norrköping
1994IFK Göteborg (10)Örebro SK
1995IFK Göteborg (11)Helsingborgs IF
1996IFK Göteborg (12)Malmö FF
1997Halmstads BK (3)IFK Göteborg
1998AIK (4)Helsingborgs IF
1999Helsingborgs IF (6)AIK
2000Halmstads BK (4)Helsingborgs IF
2001Hammarby IF (1)Djurgårdens IF
2002Djurgårdens IF (5)Malmö FF
2003Djurgårdens IF (6)Hammarby IF
2004Malmö FF (18)Halmstads BK
2005Djurgårdens IF (7)IFK Göteborg
2006IF Elfsborg (5)AIK
2007IFK Göteborg (13)Kalmar FF
2008Kalmar FF (1)IF Elfsborg
2009AIK (5)IFK Göteborg
2010Malmö FF (19)Helsingborgs IF
2011Helsingborgs IF (7)AIK
2012IF Elfsborg (6)BK Häcken
2013Malmö FF (20)AIK
2014Malmö FF (21)IFK Göteborg

Performances

Medal table

Historically the players and coaching staff from the four best teams in Allsvenskan are awarded medals at the end of each season. The champions are awarded the gold medal while the runners-up receive the "big silver" medal. The third place team gets the "small silver" medal instead of the more commonly used bronze medal which is instead awarded to the fourth place finisher. This tradition of awarding four medals and not three is thought to have to do with the fact that the losers of the Semi-finals of Svenska Mästerskapet were both given bronze medals since no bronze match was played.[7]

The overall medal rank is displayed below after points in descending order. 5 points are awarded for a "gold" medal, 3 points for a "big silver" medal, 2 points for a "small silver" medal and 1 point for a bronze medal. The table that follows is accurate as of the end of the 2014 season.[7]

Rank Club Gold Big Silver Small Silver Bronze Points
1Malmö FF211498173
2IFK Göteborg1312169142
3IFK Norrköping12947102
4AIK51211891
5Helsingborgs IF7791084
6IF Elfsborg666767
7Djurgårdens IF739365
8GAIS444444
9Östers IF433338
10Örgryte IS226634
11Halmstads BK422232
12Kalmar FF122318
13Åtvidabergs FF220117
14Hammarby IF122217
15Örebro SK022414
16Degerfors IF022212
17IK Sleipner111111
18Landskrona BoIS00135 [8][9]
19Sandvikens IF00135
20BK Häcken01003
IFK Malmö01003
Jönköpings Södra IF01003
Råå IF01003
24Trelleborgs FF00113
25IK Brage00033

Honoured clubs

Clubs in European football are commonly honoured for winning multiple league titles and a representative golden star is sometimes placed above the club badge to indicate the club having won 10 league titles. In Sweden the star instead symbolizes 10 Swedish championship titles for the majority of the clubs as the league winner has not always been awarded the title of Swedish champions.[lower-alpha 1] Stars for Allsvenskan clubs was not common practise until 2006, although AIK had already introduced a star to their kit in 2000. IFK Göteborg, Malmö FF, IFK Norrköping, Örgryte IS and Djurgårdens IF were the first teams after AIK to introduce their stars. No new club has introduced a star since 2006, the clubs closest to their first are IF Elfsborg with 6 Swedish championship titles and Helsingborgs IF with 7 Allsvenskan titles depending on what the star symbolizes. The following table is ordered after number of stars followed by number of Swedish championship titles and then the number of Allsvenskan titles.

Statistics updated as of the end of the 2014 season
Club Swedish championship titles Allsvenskan titles Stars Introduced Stars symbolizes
Malmö FF 18 21 2006 Number of Allsvenskan titles[11]
IFK Göteborg 18 13 2006 Number of Swedish championship titles
IFK Norrköping 12 12 2006 Number of Swedish championship titles
Örgryte IS 12 2 2006 Number of Swedish championship titles
Djurgårdens IF 11 7 2006 Number of Swedish championship titles
AIK 11 5 2000 Number of Swedish championship titles

Cities

Locations of the cities who have won the league
Town or city League wins Clubs
Malmö
21
 Malmö FF (21)
Gothenburg
19
 IFK Göteborg (13), GAIS (4) Örgryte IS (2)
Norrköping
13
 IFK Norrköping (12), IK Sleipner (1)
Stockholm
13
 Djurgårdens IF (7), AIK (5), Hammarby IF (1)
Helsingborg
7
 Helsingborgs IF (7)
Borås
6
 IF Elfsborg (6)
Halmstad
4
 Halmstads BK (4)
Växjö
4
 Östers IF (4)
Åtvidaberg
2
 Åtvidabergs FF (2)
Kalmar
1
 Kalmar FF (1)

All-time Allsvenskan table

The all-time Allsvenskan table, "maratontabellen" in Swedish, is a cumulative record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in Allsvenskan since its inception in 1924–25. It uses three points for a win even though this system was not introduced until the 1990 season. The matches played in the championship play-offs between 1982 and 1990 or the matches played in Mästerskapsserien in 1991 and 1992 are not included. The table that follows is accurate as of the end of the 2014 season.[12]

Malmö FF are the current leaders, having had the lead since the end of the 2012 season when they overtook the lead from IFK Göteborg. IFK Göteborg are the club to have spent most seasons in the top spot with 48 seasons as leaders with a record of the most consecutive seasons as leaders with 35 seasons between 1938 and 1972. Six clubs have been in the lead, the lead having changed among them ten times since 1925. The former leader with the lowest current ranking in the table is GAIS, currently placing 10th and 1584 points short of Malmö FF.

Pos Team Seas Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1Malmö FF 79188993048047933782254+11243270
2IFK Göteborg 82194193045955236272589+10383249
3AIK 86203785953564333882790+5983112
4IFK Norrköping 74174774543456830822530+5522669
5IF Elfsborg 71169669241259228472607+2402488
6Helsingborgs IF 64153369033351028942371+5232403
7Djurgårdens IF 59143257935649722682042+2262093
8Örgryte IS 56130648732149821532048+1051782
9Halmstads BK 52128945733150118381978−1401702
10GAIS 54125346429449519692029−601686
11Örebro SK 46112840529343015591660−1011508
12Hammarby IF 46111238025747516171841−2241394[lower-alpha 2]
13Östers IF 3379429523126811661014+1521116
14Landskrona BoIS 3480026119434512071501−294977
15Kalmar FF 27698260185253912954−42965
16Degerfors IF 2965823415626810221102−80858
17Åtvidabergs FF 19482175109198688711−23634
18Sandvikens IF 2147116581225775948−173576
19Trelleborgs FF 17446131115200528702−174508
20IK Brage 18408126109173493655−162487
21BK Häcken 14384124104156544592−48476
22IK Sleipner 1635213761154702738−36472
23Gefle IF 14373100103170418603−185403
24IFK Malmö 132979063144428619−191333
25GIF Sundsvall 1434873105170374598−224324
26IFK Eskilstuna 143178659172560850−290317
27Västra Frölunda IF 102406465111266395−129257
28Jönköpings Södra IF 102206748105329483−154249
29Mjällby AIF 82205954107234333−99231
30IS Halmia 112446148135351539−188231
31Gårda BK 8176535271233324−91211
32IFK Sundsvall 5130363757161236−75145
33IF Brommapojkarna 5146303680134260−126126
34Västerås SK 496231756101217−11686
35Syrianska FC 39020165488153−6576
36IK Sirius 37415194064134−7064
37Råå IF 244168206685−1956
38Ljungskile SK[lower-alpha 3] 25611113454109−5544
39Westermalms IF 2441072769120−5137
40Falkenbergs FF 13096153749−1233
41Umeå FC 12686123545−1030
42IFK Uddevalla 2446122658114−5630
43Hallstahammars SK 2446122656114−5830
44Stattena IF 244843258155−9728
45Motala AIF 13367203568−3325
46Redbergslids IK 12255123560−2520
47Ludvika FfI 12262143056−2620
48IK Oddevold 12654172043−2319
49IFK Luleå 12246122044−2418
50IF Saab 12646162653−2718
51Reymersholms IK 12244142757−3016
52Norrby IF 12236133052−2215
53BK Derby 12636171853−3515
54Assyriska FF 12642201752−3514
55Brynäs IF 12628162763−3614
56Enköpings SK 12635182259−3714
57Högadals IS 12233162456−3212
58Västerås IK 12225152166−4511
59IFK Holmsund [lower-alpha 4] 12231182479−5510
60Sandvikens AIK 12221192472−487
61IK City 12214173283−517
62Billingsfors IK 12203192884−563
Leaders Years Seasons Accumulated seasons in lead
GAIS 1925–1928 4 4
Örgryte IS 1929 1 1
Helsingborgs IF 1930 1 1
GAIS 1931–1935 5 9
IFK Göteborg 1936 1 1
GAIS 1937 1 10
IFK Göteborg 1938–1972 35 36
AIK 1973–1979 7 7
Malmö FF 1980–1999 20 20
IFK Göteborg 2000–2011 12 48
Malmö FF 2012–Present 3 23
2015 Allsvenskan
2015 Superettan
Lower divisions
Defunct or merged into other club

Attendance

Last five seasons average attendance
Year Spectators per match
2010
6,518
2011
7,326
2012
7,210
2013
7,627
2014
7,132

Most attendance records for Allsvenskan were set in the 1959 season, coincidentally the first season that the league switched from an autumn–spring format to a spring–autumn format. 1959 saw records for highest attendance at a match (52,194 at an Örgryte win over IFK Göteborg at Ullevi), highest average home attendance for a club (25,520 for Örgryte's 11 home matches), and the highest ever average attendance for Allsvenskan as a whole (13,369).

AIK has had the league's highest attendance for the season more often than any other club, followed by IFK Göteborg and Örgryte. Other teams that have for at least one season had the best attendance in the league include Helsingborg, Malmö FF, Djurgården, GAIS, Hammarby, Örebro SK, and Öster.

Referees

Martin Hansson

Allsvenskan has 22 active referees that are available for matches as of the 2014 season. Currently there are seven fully certified international FIFA referees in Allsvenskan. There are also a further ten referees who are certified by the Swedish Football Association who have refereed matches in Allsvenskan. Markus Strömbergsson is the only as of now active referee who has been a FIFA certified referee (2006–2012) but who is now active only as a referee certified by the Swedish Football Association. A further five referees certified by the Swedish Football Association are available to referee Allsvenskan matches but have not done so as of 2014.[13]

FIFA certified referees

Allsvenskan in international competition

Malmö FF were runners up in the 1978–79 European Cup, after a 1–0 defeat against Nottingham Forest.[14] IFK Göteborg won the UEFA Cup twice, in 1981–82 (defeating Hamburger SV in the finals)[15] and 1986–87 (defeating Dundee United in the finals).[16] IFK Göteborg also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1985–86. They won 3–0 against FC Barcelona, and lost 0–3 at Camp Nou, Barcelona won on penalty shootout.[17]

The following teams have participated in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League group stages:

Club UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
IFK Göteborg 1992–93
1994–95
1996–97
1997–98		 N/A
AIK 1999–2000 2012–13
Helsingborgs IF 2000–01 2012–13
Malmö FF 2014–15 2011–12
IF Elfsborg N/A 2013–14

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The title of "Swedish Champions" has been awarded to the winner of four different competitions over the years. Between 1896 and 1925 the title was awarded to the winner of Svenska Mästerskapet, a stand-alone cup tournament. No club were given the title between 1926 and 1930 even though the first-tier league Allsvenskan was played. In 1931 the title was reinstated and awarded to the winner of Allsvenskan. Between 1982 and 1990 a play-off in cup format was held at the end of the league season to decide the champions. After the play-off format in 1991 and 1992 the title was decided by the winner of Mästerskapsserien, an additional league after the end of Allsvenskan. Since the 1993 season the title has once again been awarded to the winner of Allsvenskan.[10]
  2. ↑ Hammarby IF were deducted three points in 2006.
  3. ↑ Ljungskile SK were known as Panos Ljungskile SK during the season of 1997.
  4. ↑ IFK Holmsund played in Allsvenskan in 1967. The team went into bankruptcy in 1990.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Thorén, Petra. "SM-pokalen ska skrotas". aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  2. ↑ http://www.allsvenskan.se/allsvenskans-stora-pris-2013/
  3. ↑ "Tar kameran – med våld" (in Swedish). 2008-04-26. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  4. ↑ "Nytt tv-avtal för allsvenskan". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). The Swedish Football Association. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Importsvenskan". Aftonbladet.
  6. ↑ http://www.fotbollsweden.se/Allsve%201978.htm
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Guld, stort silver, litet silver och brons?". svenskfotboll.se (The Swedish Football Association). Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  8. ↑ "Helsingborgs IF – ALLSVENSKAN 1937/38". hif.se.
  9. ↑ "AIK Statistikdatabas (Herrar)". aik.se.
  10. ↑ "Svenska mästare 1896–1925, 1931–" [Swedish champions 1896–1925, 1931–]. svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). The Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Nu finns årets matchställ i MFF Shopen". mff.se (in Swedish). Malmö FF. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  12. ↑ Lindahl, Jimmy. "Allsvenska maratontabellen 1924/25-2009". Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  13. ↑ "Elitdomare i herrfotboll". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 23 February 2013..
  14. ↑ "UEFA Champions League 1978/79 - History - All matches – UEFA.com". Uefa.com.
  15. ↑ "UEFA Europa League 1981/82 - History - All matches – UEFA.com". Uefa.com.
  16. ↑ "UEFA Europa League 1986/87 - History - All matches – UEFA.com". Uefa.com.
  17. ↑ "UEFA Champions League 1985/86 - History - All matches – UEFA.com". Uefa.com.

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