Football in Denmark

Association football is the national sport of Denmark, with 331,693 players and 1,647 clubs registered (as of 2016) under the Danish FA. The game was introduced into Denmark by British sailors.

The top four levels in Denmark are governed by the Danish Football Association. The top 3 are collectively called Danmarksturneringen (literally: the Denmark Tournament or Danish Championship), and share a common set of rules more geared towards professional football.

Until the 2004-05 season, there was only one 2nd division and, until 2015-16 season, three Denmark Series (Danmarksserie(r)).

Second squads are generally only allowed to reach the Denmark Series, however 8 second squads of the Superliga teams are allowed to participate in the 2nd Division. If the first squad of a team is relegated from the Superliga to the 1st Division, its second squad will be relegated to the Denmark Series. If a second squad finishes in a promotion spot and is not eligible for the promotion, the next eligible team will be promoted. Therefore, both 2nd Divisions and Denmark Series can be won by the same team more than once in a row, unlike 1st Division where the winner will always be part of next season's Superliga.

From the 2010-11 season the clubs in the Superliga will have their own reserve competition, where there are also the recent relegators and four wild cards participating. The Superliga clubs' other teams will be playing no higher than in the Denmark Series.

The lower divisions are controlled by the regional associations.

The format is generally two (regional name) series (example: Funen's series (Fynsserien)), followed by Serie 1, Serie 2 and so forth. The number of lower series vary from 3 in LFBU to 6 in JBU.

The following table pictures the JBU structure as of the 2016-17 season.

The following teams have advanced to elimination rounds in the European Cup.

The following teams have advanced to elimination rounds in the UEFA Champions League.