Allsvenskan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Allsvenskan | |
 |
|
| Country | Sweden |
|---|---|
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Founded | 1924 |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Relegation to | Superettan |
| Domestic cup(s) | Svenska Cupen |
| UEFA cup(s) | Champions League UEFA Cup Intertoto Cup |
| Current champions | IFK Göteborg (2007) |
| TV | CANAL+, TV4, Säsongskortet |
| Website | http://www.svenskfotboll.se/t1all.aspx?p=152184/ |
 Allsvenskan 2008 |
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Allsvenskan (literally, "The All Swedish") is the highest league in the league system of Swedish football. The league was created in 1924. Before that, the top league in Sweden had been called Svenska Serien. As of 2008 season 16 teams will participate instead of earlier 14.
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[edit] Status
The winners of Allsvenskan are considered Swedish Champions since 1931. The winners of Allsvenskan before that, between 1924 and 1930, were only considered league winners. The same is true for the years 1982 through 1990 when the champions were decided through play-offs and 1991–1992 when the champions were decided through a continuation league called Mästerskapsserien.
[edit] The competition
There are 16 clubs in Allsvenskan, increased from 14 participants from 2008 onwards. During the course of a season (starting in March and ending in October) 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 were 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, and enters the competition at the first qualifying round. The runner-up team qualify for the UEFA Cup, and enters the competition at the first qualifying round. The third placed team enters the UEFA Intertoto Cup. This also depends on which team wins Svenska Cupen, as that team is assured a place in the UEFA Cup. Since the start of Royal League in 2004, the four top placed teams enter that tournament together with four teams from Norway and four from Denmark.
[edit] UEFA Rankings
UEFA Country Ranking for league participation in 2007-08 European football season (Previous year rank in italics) [1]
- 26
(25) 
Croatian League - 27
(28) 
Cypriot League - 28 (26)
Swedish League - 29
(29) 
Slovenian League - 30 (30)
Bosnian League
[edit] Television
The swiss corporation Kentaro has since 2006[2] owned the tv-rights for Allsvenskan, through license agreements with broadcasters matches are aired through, C More Entertainment, owns the rights to most matches and broadcasts them through their main channel CANAL+ and the pay-per-view package "Season ticket" (Säsongskortet) and TV4 who before the 2008 season the rights for 14 games which airs on TV4. But with the expansion of Allsvenskan to the 2008 season with two teams, Kentaro sold TV4 the rights to 36 extra matches to be aired on TV4 Sport, this has led to a lawsuit from C More Entertainment suing Kentaro over the rights for the new matches, the case has at the moment has been appealed to the Supreme Court of Sweden, the verdict from the Court of Appeal was in C More Entertainment's favour[3].
[edit] Current clubs
| Club |
Last season | First season in league |
First season of current spell |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIK* | 5th | 1924–25 | 2006 |
| Djurgårdens IF | 3rd | 1927–28 | 2001 |
| IF Elfsborg | 4th | 1926–27 | 1997 |
| GAIS* | 11th | 1924–25 | 2006 |
| Gefle IF | 10th | 1933–34 | 2005 |
| IFK Göteborg* | 1st | 1924–25 | 1977 |
| Halmstads BK | 7th | 1933–34 | 1993 |
| Hammarby IF* | 6th | 1924–25 | 1998 |
| Helsingborgs IF* | 8th | 1924–25 | 1993 |
| Kalmar FF | 2nd | 1949–50 | 2004 |
| Ljungskile SK | 2nd (Superettan) | 1997 | 2008 |
| Malmö FF | 9th | 1931–32 | 2001 |
| IFK Norrköping* | 1st (Superettan) | 1924–25 | 2008 |
| GIF Sundsvall | 3rd (Superettan) | 1965 | 2008 |
| Trelleborgs FF | 13th | 1985 | 2007 |
| Örebro SK | 12th | 1946–47 | 2007 |
- * Participated in the first Allsvenskan.
[edit] Stadiums
| Club | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| AIK | Råsunda | 36 608 |
| Djurgården | Stockholms Stadion | 14 417 |
| Elfsborg | Borås Arena | 17 800 |
| GAIS | Ullevi | 43 200 |
| Gefle | Strömvallen | 7 197 |
| IFK Göteborg | Ullevi | 43 200 |
| Halmstad | Örjans Vall | 15 500 |
| Hammarby | Söderstadion | 16 120 |
| Helsingborg | Olympia | 17 100 |
| Kalmar | Fredriksskans | 8 500 |
| Ljungskile SK | H. A. Bygg Arena | 6 000 |
| Malmö | Malmö Stadion | 26 500 |
| IFK Norrköping | Idrottsparken | 17 000 |
| GIF Sundsvall | Norrporten Arena | 8 800 |
| Trelleborg | Vångavallen | 10 000 |
| Örebro | Behrn Arena | 14 500 |
[edit] Previous winners
- See also: Swedish football champions
[edit] League winners
- See also: Swedish football champions
| Titles | Club |
|---|---|
| 18 | Malmö FF |
| 13 | IFK Göteborg |
| 12 | IFK Norrköping |
| 7 | Djurgårdens IF |
| 6 | Helsingborgs IF |
| 5 | IF Elfsborg |
| 4 | AIK |
| 4 | GAIS |
| 4 | Halmstads BK |
| 4 | Östers IF |
| 2 | Åtvidabergs FF |
| 2 | Örgryte IS |
| 1 | Hammarby IF |
| 1 | IK Sleipner |
