The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991, the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of

football in Denmark Association football () is the most popular sport in Denmark, with 331,693 players and 1,647 clubs registered () under the Danish Football Association, Danish FA. The game was introduced into Denmark by British sailors. Kjøbenhavns Boldklub is ...

. With the formation of the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

, the 1st Division became the second tier of Danish football. While all the teams in the Superliga are full-time professional the 1. Division has a mixture of full-time professional and semi-professional teams. The top-ranking teams each year win

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the Superliga, while the bottom finishers get

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

to the

Danish 2nd Division The 2nd Division () is a professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Football Association (Danish FA; DBU) as part of the nation-wide Da ...

Viaplay Viaplay is a Swedish video streaming service owned by Viaplay Group. History Originally owned by Modern Times Group, it was launched in May 2007 as Viasat On Demand. It was rebranded as Viaplay in 2011. Viaplay released its first origina ...

broadcasts all matches from the league.

History

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the format of the top-flight football division in Denmark, the "Championship League", where reverted with the tournament now named the "1st Division". There were 10 teams in the top division once again, playing each other twice, with the lowest team being

. The 1953–54 season saw the first non-Copenhagen team win the Danish championship, when

Køge Boldklub Køge Boldklub is a Danish football club from Køge, Zealand. History In 1954, the club became the first outside Copenhagen to win the Danish Championship. The club declared bankruptcy in February 2009, but continued as an amateur side in the ...

won the title. The championship title was not reclaimed by a Copenhagen team in more than ten years, until

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (AB) is a Denmark, Danish professional football (soccer), football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The ...

(AB) won the 1967 season. From 1958, the Danish championship was arranged through one calendar year, and the 1956–57 season lasted 18 months with the teams playing each other thrice for a 27 games total. From 1958 to 1974, the tournament was expanded to 12 teams, playing each other twice for 22 games per season each, but now the bottom two teams faced relegation. The number of teams was increased to 16 for the 1975 season, which resulted in 30 games per season. In 1986, the number of participants was altered once more, this time decreasing the number of teams to 14, and the number of games to 26. In 1991, the Danish Superliga was created. This meant the 1st Division became the second-highest league. Together with the Superliga introduction the best Danish leagues changed back to autumn-spring seasons. In 1996, the 1st Division had its first name sponsor, as the league received the official name "Faxe Kondi Divisionen" after main sponsor

Faxe Brewery Faxe Brewery is a Danish brewery located in the town of Faxe. The brewery was founded in 1901 by Nikoline and Conrad Nielsen. It was called Fakse Dampbryggeri, but after her husband's death, Nikoline christened the brewery Faxe Bryggeri. And i ...

. The sponsor deal ended in 2001, but from 2004 to mid-2007 it was named "Viasat Sport Divisionen". The "Sport" was omitted upon the closing of the

Viasat Sport V Sport is the common brand of several sports channels targeting the Nordic countries, owned by Viaplay Group. The brand has been introduced in June 2020, replacing the former brands Viasat Sport and Viasport (Norway only). Its main competitors ...

-channels in Denmark, and the opening of TV 2 Sport. The sponsorship finally ended prior to the start of the 2010–11 season.

Logos

Former 1st Division logos: File:Viasat Divisionen 2007.svg, Viasat Divisionen
(2007/08–2008/09)
Sponsor: Viasat File:Danish 1st Division 2011.svg, 1. Division
(01.07–31.12.2011)
No league sponsor File:Betsafe Liga 2012.svg, Betsafe Liga
(01.01.2012–19.02.2013)
Sponsor: Betsafe/

Betsson Betsson AB is an online gambling company, producing casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos ...

File:NordicBet Liga 2013.svg, NordicBet Liga
(19.02.2013–31.12.2014)
Sponsor:

File:Danish 1st Division 2011.svg, 1. Division
(01.01–30.06.2015)
No league sponsor File:Bet25 Liga 2015.svg, Bet25 Liga
(2015/16–season)
Sponsor:

Bet25 Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched as ...

File:Danish 1st Division 2011.svg, 1. Division
(01.07.2016–02.03.2017)
No league sponsor File:NordicBet Liga 2017.svg, NordicBet Liga
(03.03.2017–''01.07.2022'')
Sponsor:

File:NordicBet Liga 2022-.png, NordicBet Liga (Present)

Current teams (2024–25)

Previous winners

First tier until 1990, then second tier

Footnotes

External links

* {{UEFA second leagues 2

Professional sports leagues in Denmark