Allsvenskan


Allsvenskan 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 the 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 20th in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years. Allsvenskan is currently ranked second highest of the leagues in Scandinavia after . The current champions are Djurgårdens IF, who won the title in the 2019 season.
Swedes often talk about "The Big Three", which means AIK, IFK Göteborg and Malmö FF. They are generally considered to be the three largest clubs in Sweden from the three largest cities. The three teams with most Swedish championships are Malmö FF, IFK Göteborg and IFK Norrköping.
. Unlike many other European football leagues, the Allsvenskan did not experience an interruption in play during World War II due to Swedish neutrality in that conflict.

History

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.
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.
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. In 2004, Örebro SK lost its place in the league due to financial problems, and Assyriska FF got their place. Since 2008, the league consists of 16 teams.

Status

The champions 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 and 1992 when the title was decided through a continuation league called Mästerskapsserien.
Historically, however, there is 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 each club plays the others twice 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

The decider at equal number 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 the later infamous Nazi leader Hermann Göring during the time he lived in Sweden. The former President of the Swedish Football Association, Lars-Åke Lagrell stated that the reason for the change of trophy was not a personal attack against Von Rosen but rather that the Football Association did not want to be linked to Nazism and constantly engage in discussions regarding this every time the trophy was awarded.

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. Also, the Allsvenskan top scorer is awarded.

Television

The Swiss corporation Kentaro has owned the TV rights for Allsvenskan since 2006. 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, until 2019. Matches can also be bought through the online pay-per-view service C SPORTS.
On March 24, 2017, Discovery-owned broadcaster Eurosport will be the new domestic broadcaster for both SEF competitions effectively from 2020 until 2025.
Beginning in 2018, Allsvenskan matches are broadcast in the UK on Premier Sports and FreeSports until 2021. In October 2018, ESPN picked up the rights to broadcast one Allsvenskan match per week in the United States. Allsvenskan matches also broadcast in several countries; such as : DAZN in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, Sport Klub in Balkan countries, Nova sports in Cyprus and Greece, and TV2 in Norway.

Clubs

A total of 65 clubs have played in Allsvenskan from its inception in 1924 up to and including the 2019 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 91 seasons played out of 96 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 44th season in 2020.
The following 16 clubs are competing in Allsvenskan during the 2020 season:
Club
Position
in 2019		First seasonSeasonsFirst season of
current spell		TitlesLast title
AIK4th1924–2591200662018
BK Häcken6th19831920090
Djurgårdens IF1st1927–2864200172019
Falkenbergs FF13th2014420190
Hammarby IF3rd1924–2551201512001
Helsingborgs IF10th1924–2567201972011
IF Elfsborg8th1926–2776199762012
IFK Göteborg7th1924–25871977132007
IFK Norrköping5th1924–25792011132015
IK Sirius11th1969620170
Kalmar FF14th1949–5032200412008
Malmö FF2nd1931–32842001232017
Mjällby AIF1st in Superettan1980820200
Varbergs BoIS2nd in Superettan2020120200
Örebro SK9th1946–475120140
Östersunds FK12th2016420160

Stadiums and locations

Current team and stadiums:
ClubLocationStadiumCapacity
AIKSolnaFriends Arena54,000
BK HäckenGothenburgBravida Arena6,500
Djurgårdens IFStockholmTele2 Arena33,000
Falkenbergs FFFalkenbergFalcon Alkoholfri Arena5,500
Hammarby IFStockholmTele2 Arena33,000
Helsingborgs IFHelsingborgOlympia16,500
IF ElfsborgBoråsBorås Arena16,899
IFK GöteborgGothenburgGamla Ullevi18,900
IFK NorrköpingNorrköpingÖstgötaporten15,734
IK SiriusUppsalaNya Studenternas10,000
Kalmar FFKalmarGuldfågeln Arena12,182
Malmö FFMalmöEleda Stadion22,500
Mjällby AIFHällevikStrandvallen6,750
Varbergs BoISVarbergVarberg Energi Arena4,500
Örebro SKÖrebroBehrn Arena12,645
Östersunds FKÖstersundJämtkraft Arena9,500

Managers

The current managers in Allsvenskan are:
NameClubAppointed
Falkenbergs FF26 11 2014
IFK Norrköping1 6 2016
Örebro SK28 8 2017
Varbergs BoIS
IFK Göteborg21 11 2017
IF Elfsborg6 12 2017
BK Häcken8 12 2017
Hammarby IF10 1 2018

Djurgårdens IF16 11 2018
IK Sirius22 12 2019
Helsingborgs IF3 9 2019
Mjällby AIF10 12 2019
Kalmar FF13 12 2019
Malmö FF05 1 2020
Östersunds FK11 7 2020
AIK31 7 2020

Players

RankPlayerAppsGoals
1 Sven Andersson4310
2 Thomas Ravelli4160
3 Daniel Tjernström41124
4 Sven Jonasson410254
5 Bengt Andersson3873

Appearances

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. In the first season of allowance, on 13 April 1974, English Ronald Powell in Brynäs IF became the first foreign player in Allsvenskan 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
RankPlayerAppsGoals
1 Sven Jonasson410254
2 Carl-Erik Holmberg260194
3 Filip Johansson181180
4 Harry Lundahl176179
5 Harry Bild288162
5 Bertil Johansson267162

Top scorers

has scored the most goals in 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 IFK Göteborg
1925–26Örgryte IS GAIS
1926–27GAIS IFK Göteborg
1927–28Örgryte IS Helsingborgs IF
1928–29Helsingborgs IF Örgryte IS
1929–30Helsingborgs IF IFK Göteborg
1930–31GAIS AIK
1931–32AIK Örgryte IS
1932–33Helsingborgs IF GAIS
1933–34Helsingborgs IF GAIS
1934–35IFK Göteborg AIK
1935–36IF Elfsborg AIK
1936–37AIK IK Sleipner
1937–38IK Sleipner Helsingborgs IF
1938–39IF Elfsborg AIK
1939–40IF Elfsborg IFK Göteborg
1940–41Helsingborgs IF Degerfors IF
1941–42IFK Göteborg GAIS
1942–43IFK Norrköping IF Elfsborg
1943–44Malmö FF IF Elfsborg
1944–45IFK Norrköping IF Elfsborg
1945–46IFK Norrköping Malmö FF
1946–47IFK Norrköping AIK
1947–48IFK Norrköping Malmö FF
1948–49Malmö FF Helsingborgs IF
1949–50Malmö FF Jönköpings Södra IF
1950–51Malmö FF Råå IF
1951–52IFK Norrköping Malmö FF
1952–53Malmö FF IFK Norrköping
1953–54GAIS Helsingborgs IF
1954–55Djurgårdens IF Halmstads BK
1955–56IFK Norrköping Malmö FF
1956–57IFK Norrköping Malmö FF
1957–58IFK Göteborg IFK Norrköping
1959Djurgårdens IF IFK Norrköping
1960IFK Norrköping IFK Malmö
1961IF Elfsborg IFK Norrköping
1962IFK Norrköping Djurgårdens IF
1963IFK Norrköping Degerfors IF
1964Djurgårdens IF Malmö FF
1965Malmö FF IF Elfsborg
1966Djurgårdens IF IFK Norrköping
1967Malmö FF Djurgårdens IF
1968Östers IF Malmö FF
1969IFK Göteborg Malmö FF
1970Malmö FF Åtvidabergs FF
1971Malmö FF Åtvidabergs FF
1972Åtvidabergs FF AIK

SeasonWinnerRunner-up
1973Åtvidabergs FF Östers IF
1974Malmö FF AIK
1975Malmö FF Östers IF
1976Halmstads BK Malmö FF
1977Malmö FF IF Elfsborg
1978Östers IF Malmö FF
1979Halmstads BK IFK Göteborg
1980Östers IF Malmö FF
1981Östers IF IFK Göteborg
1982IFK Göteborg Hammarby IF
1983AIK Malmö FF
1984IFK Göteborg AIK
1985Malmö FF Kalmar FF
1986Malmö FF IFK Göteborg
1987Malmö FF IFK Norrköping
1988Malmö FF IFK Göteborg
1989Malmö FF IFK Norrköping
1990IFK Göteborg IFK Norrköping
1991IFK Göteborg Örebro SK
1992IFK Norrköping Östers IF
1993IFK Göteborg IFK Norrköping
1994IFK Göteborg Örebro SK
1995IFK Göteborg Helsingborgs IF
1996IFK Göteborg Malmö FF
1997Halmstads BK IFK Göteborg
1998AIK Helsingborgs IF
1999Helsingborgs IF AIK
2000Halmstads BK Helsingborgs IF
2001Hammarby IF Djurgårdens IF
2002Djurgårdens IF Malmö FF
2003Djurgårdens IF Hammarby IF
2004Malmö FF Halmstads BK
2005Djurgårdens IF IFK Göteborg
2006IF Elfsborg AIK
2007IFK Göteborg Kalmar FF
2008Kalmar FF IF Elfsborg
2009AIK IFK Göteborg
2010Malmö FF Helsingborgs IF
2011Helsingborgs IF AIK
2012IF Elfsborg BK Häcken
2013Malmö FF AIK
2014Malmö FF IFK Göteborg
2015IFK Norrköping IFK Göteborg
2016Malmö FF AIK
2017Malmö FF AIK
2018AIK IFK Norrköping
2019Djurgårdens IF Malmö FF

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.
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 2019 season.
RankClubGold Big Silver Small Silver Bronze Points
1Malmö FF2315108188
2IFK Göteborg13131610146
3IFK Norrköping131057112
4AIK614129105
5Helsingborgs IF7791084
6Djurgårdens IF8310372
7IF Elfsborg666868
8GAIS444444
9Östers IF433338
10Örgryte IS226634
11Halmstads BK422232
12Hammarby IF123320
13Kalmar FF122318
14Åtvidabergs FF22-117
15Örebro SK-22414
16Degerfors IF-22212
17IK Sleipner111111
18Landskrona BoIS--135
18Sandvikens IF--135
20BK Häcken-1-14
21IFK Malmö-1--3
21Jönköpings Södra IF-1--3
21Råå IF-1--3
24Trelleborgs FF--113
25IK Brage---33

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. 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.
ClubSwedish championship titlesAllsvenskan titlesStarsIntroduced
Malmö FF20232006
IFK Göteborg18132006
IFK Norrköping13132006
AIK1262000
Djurgårdens IF1282006
Örgryte IS1222006

Cities

Town or cityLeague winsClubs
Malmö
23
Malmö FF
Gothenburg
19
IFK Göteborg, GAIS, Örgryte IS
Stockholm
15
Djurgårdens IF, AIK, Hammarby IF
Norrköping
14
IFK Norrköping, IK Sleipner
Helsingborg
7
Helsingborgs IF
Borås
6
IF Elfsborg
Halmstad
4
Halmstads BK
Växjö
4
Östers IF
Åtvidaberg
2
Åtvidabergs FF
Kalmar
1
Kalmar FF

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 2019 season.
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 11th and 1891 points short of Malmö FF.
A total of 66 clubs have played at least one season at Allsvenskan up to and including 2020 season.
PosTeamSeasPldWDLGFGAGDPtsLstSeas
1Malmö FF842039102151450436682386+128235772020
2IFK Göteborg87209199349959938612782+107934782020
3AIK91218794857566436382912+72634192020
4IFK Norrköping79189783246959633512693+65829652020
5IF Elfsborg76184674945664130902832+25927032020
6Helsingborgs IF67162371734855830002517+48324992020
7Djurgårdens IF64158365539053825162207+30923552020
8Örgryte IS56130648732149821532048+10517822009
9Halmstads BK54134946634953418882067−17917472017
10Örebro SK51127845333149417551911−15616902020
11GAIS54125346429449519692029−6016862012
12Hammarby IF51126244429852018712045−17416272020
13Kalmar FF3284830222332310671167−10011292020
14Östers IF3379429523126811661014+15211162013
15Landskrona BoIS3480026119434512071501−2949772005
16Degerfors IF2965823415626810221102−808581997
17BK Häcken19534192139203791760+317152020
18Åtvidabergs FF20512177118217713766−536492015
19Sandvikens IF2147116581225775948−1735761961
20Trelleborgs FF18476134121221552766−2145232018
21IK Brage18408126109173493655−1624871993
22GIF Sundsvall19498112145241553835−2824812019
23IK Sleipner1635213761154702738−364721941
24Gefle IF16434116119199488710−2224672016
25IFK Malmö132979063144428619−1913331962
26IFK Eskilstuna143178659172560850−2903171964
27Jönköpings Södra IF122808171128392568−1763142017
28Västra Frölunda IF102406465111266395−1292572000
29Mjällby AIF82205954107234333−992312020
30IS Halmia112446148135351539−1882311979
31Gårda BK8176535271233324−912111943
32Östersunds FK4120453144170169+11662020
33IK Sirius6164423785181297−1161632020
34IF Brommapojkarna61763838100159324−1651522018
35IFK Sundsvall5130363757161236−751451981
36Falkenbergs FF4120242175125251−126932020
37Västerås SK496231756101217−116861997
38Syrianska FC39020165488153−65762013
39Råå IF244168206685−19561952
40Ljungskile SK25611113454109−55442008
41AFC Eskilstuna2608163651110−59402019
42Westermalms IF2441072769120−51371929
43Umeå FC12686123545−10301996
44IFK Uddevalla2446122658114−56301927
45Hallstahammars SK2446122656114−58301939
46Stattena IF244843258155−97281930
47Motala AIF13367203568−33251958
48Dalkurd FF13066183057−27242018
49Redbergslids IK12255123560−25201931
50Ludvika FfI12262143056−26201945
51IK Oddevold12654172043−23191996
52IFK Luleå12246122044−24181971
53IF Saab12646162653−27181973
54Reymersholms IK12244142757−30161942
55Norrby IF12236133052−22151956
56BK Derby12636171853−35151977
57Assyriska FF12642201752−35142005
58Brynäs IF12628162763−36141974
59Enköpings SK12635182259−37142003
60Högadals IS12233162456−32121962
61Västerås IK12225152166−45111925
62IFK Holmsund12231182479−55101967
63Sandvikens AIK12221192472−4871955
64IK City12214173283−5171926
65Billingsfors IK12203192884−5631947

LeadersYearsSeasonsAccumulated seasons in lead
GAIS1925–192844
Örgryte IS192911
Helsingborgs IF193011
GAIS1931–193559
IFK Göteborg193611
GAIS1937110
IFK Göteborg1938–19723536
AIK1973–197977
Malmö FF1980–19992020
IFK Göteborg2000–20111248
Malmö FF2012–Present727

Statistics

UEFA coefficients

The following data indicates Swedish coefficient rankings between European football leagues.
;Country ranking:
UEFA League Ranking as of August 23, 2019:
;Club ranking:
UEFA 5-year Club Ranking as of August 23, 2019:
The record for highest average home attendance for a club was set by Hammarby in 2015. Most other attendance records for Allsvenskan were set in the 1959 season, coinciding with 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, second highest average home attendance for a club, and the highest ever average attendance for Allsvenskan as a whole.
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

Allsvenskan has 24 active referees that are available for matches as of the 2018 season. Currently there are six fully certified international FIFA referees in Allsvenskan. There are also a further eleven referees who are certified by the Swedish Football Association who have refereed matches in Allsvenskan. Markus Strömbergsson and Stefan Johannesson are still active referees who previously have been certified by FIFA. A further seven referees certified by the Swedish Football Association are available to referee Allsvenskan matches but have not done so as of 2018.

FIFA certified referees

were runners up in the 1978–79 European Cup, after a 1–0 defeat against Nottingham Forest. IFK Göteborg won the UEFA Cup twice, in 1981–82 and 1986–87. 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.
The following teams have participated in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA-Cup/UEFA Europa League group stages:
ClubUEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Europa League
IFK Göteborg1992–93
1994–95
1996–97
1997–98
Malmö FF2014–15
2015–16		2011–12
2018–19
2019–20
Helsingborgs IF2000–012007-08
2012–13
AIK1999–20002012–13
IF Elfsborg2007-08
2013–14
Halmstads BK2005–06
Östersunds FK2017–18

Footnotes