Allsvenskan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Allsvenskan

Founded	13 January 1924; 101 years ago (1924-01-13)
Country	Sweden
Confederation	UEFA
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 UEFA Conference League
Current champions	Malmö FF (26th title) (2023)
Most championships	Malmö FF (26 titles)
Most appearances	Sven Andersson (431)
Top goalscorer	Sven Jonasson (254 goals)
TV partners	Eurosport Discovery+ International: See list

Allsvenskan is the top professional football league for men's clubs in Sweden. It's often called "the All-Swedish" or "the Football All-Swedish." The league started in 1924. It's the highest level of football in Sweden. Teams can move up to Allsvenskan or down to a lower league called Superettan. This is called promotion and relegation.

The Allsvenskan season runs from late March or early April until early November. There are 16 clubs in the league. Each club plays every other club twice. They play one game at home and one game away. This means each team plays 30 matches in a season. In total, 240 matches are played across the league.

Allsvenskan is ranked 23rd among European leagues by UEFA. This ranking is based on how well Swedish clubs do in European competitions. The current champions are Malmö FF. They won the title in the 2023 season. The teams with the most Swedish championships are Malmö FF (23), IFK Göteborg (18), and IFK Norrköping (13). Allsvenskan has been running for 99 seasons without stopping. It even continued during World War II because Sweden stayed neutral.

History of Allsvenskan

Sune Sandbring of Malmö FF playing against Frank Jacobsson of GAIS in 1953.

Allsvenskan began in the 1924–25 Allsvenskan season. The first team to win was GAIS. Before Allsvenskan, there was a league called Svenska Serien. It had a southern and a northern group. In 1931, Allsvenskan started to decide the official Swedish football champions.

In the early days, teams from Norrland and Gotland were not allowed to play in the top league. This rule was slowly changed over time. In 1959, the season changed. It started in spring and ended in autumn, all within one calendar year. In 1973, the league grew to 14 teams.

In the 1970s, Malmö FF was very strong. They won Allsvenskan five times. They even reached the final of the 1979 European Cup Final in 1979. They lost to Nottingham Forest in that final.

From 1982, the league used a play-off system to decide the Swedish champions. In the late 1980s, Malmö FF won the league five times in a row. However, they only won two Swedish championships because of the play-off system. In 1990, teams started getting three points for a win instead of two. The play-off years were followed by two years of a special league called Mästerskapsserien.

In 1993, Allsvenskan went back to its classic format with 14 teams. IFK Göteborg won five Allsvenskan titles in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, Djurgårdens IF won three titles. Since 2008, the league has had 16 teams.

What it Means to Win

The team that wins Allsvenskan is called the Swedish football champions. They also get a gold medal. The team that finishes second gets a "Large Silver" medal. The third-place team gets a "Small Silver" medal. The fourth-place team gets a "Bronze" medal.

Sometimes, the Allsvenskan winner was not considered the Swedish champion. This happened between 1924 and 1930. During those years, the Swedish champion was decided by another competition. It also happened from 1982 to 1992. In those years, the champion was decided by play-offs or a special league.

How the Competition Works

Since 2008, there are 16 clubs in Allsvenskan. The season starts in late March and ends in early November. Each club plays every other club twice. This means they play 30 games in total. The two teams at the bottom of the league table are moved down to Superettan. The top two teams from Superettan move up to Allsvenskan. The third-lowest team in Allsvenskan plays a special play-off game. They play against the third-placed team in Superettan. The winner of this game gets to play in Allsvenskan next season.

The Allsvenskan winners get to play in the UEFA Champions League. The second and third-placed teams qualify for the UEFA Europa League. The team that wins the Svenska Cupen (Swedish Cup) also qualifies for the Europa League. If the Cup winner has already qualified for a European competition, the fourth-placed team in Allsvenskan gets the Europa League spot.

Changes Over Time

The Lennart Johanssons Pokal trophy.

The Allsvenskan league has changed its format over the years. Here's a quick look at some of those changes:

If teams had the same number of points, the winner was decided by goal average until 1940–41. After that, it was decided by goal difference.

Awards and Trophies

The Trophy

The trophy given to the Swedish champions is called the Lennart Johanssons Pokal. It was created in 2001. The trophy is named after Lennart Johansson, a former head of UEFA. Before this, a different trophy was used. It was named after Clarence von Rosen. That trophy was replaced because von Rosen had connections to a Nazi leader. The Swedish Football Association wanted to avoid being linked to Nazism.

Player and Manager Awards

Besides the main trophy, players and managers also get awards. These include:

• Most valuable player
• Goalkeeper of the year
• Defender of the year
• Midfielder of the year
• Forward of the year
• Newcomer of the year
• Manager of the year

The player who scores the most goals in Allsvenskan also gets an award.

Watching Allsvenskan

In Sweden

In Sweden, you can watch Allsvenskan matches on Eurosport and Discovery+. These channels started broadcasting the games in 2020.

Around the World

Allsvenskan matches are also shown in many other countries. For example, in the UK, they were shown on Premier Sports and FreeSports. In the US, ESPN broadcasts one match per week. Other countries like Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Balkan countries also show the games.

Current TV Channels

Region	Broadcaster
Sweden	Eurosport, Discovery+
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sport Klub
Croatia
Montenegro
Macedonia
Serbia
Slovenia
Finland	Eurosport
France
Greece
Romania
Spain
Hong Kong	TVB
Iceland	NENT
Iraq	4th Sports
Italy	Sportitalia
United Kingdom	LiveScore

The Clubs of Allsvenskan

A total of 67 clubs have played in Allsvenskan since it started in 1924. No club has been in the league every single season. AIK has played the most seasons, with 96 out of 100 total seasons. Malmö FF holds the record for playing the most seasons in a row: 63 seasons between 1936–37 and 1999. IFK Göteborg currently has the longest ongoing streak, starting their 48th season in 2024.

Here are the 16 clubs playing in Allsvenskan during the 2024 season:

Stadiums and Locations

Friends Arena in Solna.

Tele2 Arena in Stockholm.

Stadion in Malmö.

Each Allsvenskan team plays its home games in a specific stadium. These stadiums are located in different cities across Sweden. Some stadiums have natural grass fields, while others use artificial turf. The capacity of the stadiums varies, from smaller ones holding 5,000 people to larger ones like Friends Arena, which can hold 50,000 fans.

Team Managers

The managers are the coaches who lead the teams. Here are the current managers in Allsvenskan:

	Name	Club	Appointed
	Berg, HenningHenning Berg	AIK	2 July 2023
	Johansen, Pål ArnePål Arne Johansen	BK Häcken	27 December 2023
	Bergstrand, KimKim Bergstrand Lagerlöf, ThomasThomas Lagerlöf	Djurgårdens IF	16 November 2018
	Holmberg, FredrikFredrik Holmberg	GAIS	9 November 2021
	Haglund, MagnusMagnus Haglund	Halmstads BK	7 May 2019
	Hellberg, KimKim Hellberg	Hammarby IF	14 December 2023
	Engelmark, AndreasAndreas Engelmark Mellberg, OlofOlof Mellberg	IF Brommapojkarna	5 December 2022
	Thelin, JimmyJimmy Thelin	IF Elfsborg	6 December 2017
	Askou, Jens BerthelJens Berthel Askou	IFK Göteborg	7 June 2023
	Alm, AndreasAndreas Alm	IFK Norrköping	29 December 2023
	Mravac, AnesAnes Mravac	IFK Värnamo	17 November 2023
	Mattiasson, ChristerChrister Mattiasson	IK Sirius	5 December 2022
	Jensen, HenrikHenrik Jensen	Kalmar FF	28 December 2022
	Rydström, HenrikHenrik Rydström	Malmö FF	17 November 2022
	Torstensson, AndersAnders Torstensson	Mjällby AIF	14 November 2022
	Karlsson, KalleKalle Karlsson	Västerås SK	2 August 2021

Players in Allsvenskan

Rank	Player	Apps	Goals
1	Sven Andersson	431	0
	Andreas Johansson	431	20
3	Thomas Ravelli	416	0
4	Daniel Tjernström	411	24
5	Sven Jonasson	410	254

Most Appearances

Sven Andersson and Andreas Johansson hold the record for playing the most games in Allsvenskan. They both played 431 matches. Sven Jonasson has the record for playing the most matches in a row, with 332 games.

Foreign Players

Before 1974, foreign players were not allowed in Allsvenskan. On April 13, 1974, Ronald Powell from England became the first foreign player. In 1977, Melke Amri from Tunisia was the first non-European player. In 1978, Teitur Þórðarson from Iceland became the first foreign player to win Allsvenskan.

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

Top Scorers

Sven Jonasson has scored the most goals in Allsvenskan history. He scored 254 goals in 410 games. Gunnar Nordahl has been the top scorer four times, which is a record.

Previous Winners

This list shows the teams that won the Allsvenskan league each season. Remember, the league winner wasn't always the official Swedish champion, especially in the 1980s. For a full list of Swedish champions, you can check List of Swedish football champions.

Key

Team Achievements

Medal Table

At the end of each season, the top four teams in Allsvenskan receive medals. The champions get a gold medal. The second-place team gets a "big silver" medal. The third-place team gets a "small silver" medal. The fourth-place team gets a bronze medal. This tradition of giving four medals is unique. It might be because in older competitions, both losing semi-finalists received bronze medals.

The table below shows how many medals each club has won. Points are given for each medal: 5 points for gold, 3 for big silver, 2 for small silver, and 1 for bronze. This table is updated up to the end of the 2023 season.

Rank	Club	Gold	Big Silver	Small Silver	Bronze	Points
1	Malmö FF	26	15	10	8	203
2	IFK Göteborg	13	13	16	10	146
3	IFK Norrköping	13	10	5	8	113
4	AIK	6	15	12	8	107
5	Helsingborgs IF	7	8	8	10	85
6	Djurgårdens IF	8	4	11	5	79
7	IF Elfsborg	6	8	6	9	75
8	GAIS	4	4	4	4	44
9	Östers IF	4	3	3	3	38
10	Örgryte IS	2	2	6	6	34
11	Halmstads BK	4	2	2	2	32
12	Hammarby IF	1	2	4	3	22
13	Kalmar FF	1	2	2	4	19
14	Åtvidabergs FF	2	2	-	1	17
15	Örebro SK	-	2	2	4	14
16	BK Häcken	1	1	2	1	13
17	Degerfors IF	-	2	2	2	12
18	IK Sleipner	1	1	1	1	11
19	Landskrona BoIS	-	-	1	3	5
	Sandvikens IF	-	-	1	3	5
21	IFK Malmö	-	1	-	-	3
	Jönköpings Södra IF	-	1	-	-	3
	Råå IF	-	1	-	-	3
24	Trelleborgs FF	-	-	1	1	3
25	IK Brage	-	-	-	3	3

Honored Clubs (Stars)

In European football, clubs often get a golden star above their badge for winning 10 league titles. In Sweden, this star usually means 10 Swedish championship titles. This is because the league winner wasn't always the Swedish champion. Clubs started adding stars around 2006. AIK was the first in 2000.

Here are the clubs with stars:

Statistics updated as of the end of the 2021 season

Club	Swedish championship titles	Allsvenskan titles	Stars	Introduced
Malmö FF	23	26		2006
IFK Göteborg	18	13		2006
IFK Norrköping	13	13		2006
AIK	12	6		2000
Djurgårdens IF	12	8		2006
Örgryte IS	12	2		2006

Winning Cities

All-Time Allsvenskan Table

The "all-time Allsvenskan table" is a record of all the results from every team that has played in Allsvenskan since 1924–25. It counts three points for a win, even though this rule started in 1990. Games played in play-offs or special leagues are not included. This table is updated up to the end of the 2023 season.

Malmö FF is currently at the top of this all-time table. They took the lead from IFK Göteborg in 2012. IFK Göteborg has spent the most seasons at the top, with 48 seasons as leaders. They also held the lead for 35 seasons in a row. A total of 67 clubs have played at least one season in Allsvenskan.

Statistics

UEFA Rankings

These numbers show how Swedish football leagues rank compared to other European leagues. This is based on how well their clubs do in European competitions.

Attendance

The record for the highest average number of fans at home games was set by Hammarby in 2022. They had 26,372 fans per match. Most other attendance records for Allsvenskan were set in the 1959 season. That was the first season the league changed from an autumn-spring format to a spring-autumn format. In 1959, the highest attendance at a single match was 52,194. This was for an Örgryte game against IFK Göteborg. The highest average attendance for the whole league was also in 1959, with 13,369 fans per game.

In the past, AIK often had the highest attendance for the season. They were followed by IFK Göteborg and Örgryte. But for the last twenty years, Hammarby has had the most fans. This is partly because they moved to the larger Tele2 Arena. Other teams that have had the best attendance for at least one season include Helsingborg, Malmö FF, Djurgården, GAIS, Örebro SK and Öster.

Referees

Mohammed Al-Hakim

Allsvenskan has 23 active referees for matches as of the 2020 season. Seven of these referees are fully certified by FIFA, which means they can referee international games. There are also twelve other referees certified by the Swedish Football Association who have refereed Allsvenskan matches. Four more referees are available but have not yet refereed an Allsvenskan game.

FIFA Certified Referees

• Mohammed Al-Hakim
• Andreas Ekberg
• Kristoffer Karlsson
• Glenn Nyberg
• Bojan Pandžić
• Martin Strömbergsson
• Kaspar Sjöberg

Allsvenskan in European Competitions

Malmö FF was the runner-up in the European Cup in 1978–79. They lost 1–0 to Nottingham Forest in the final. IFK Göteborg won the UEFA Cup twice. They won in 1981–82 against Hamburger SV and again in 1986–87 against Dundee United. IFK Göteborg also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1985–86.

The following teams have played in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, or UEFA Europa Conference League:

See Also

In Spanish: Allsvenskan para niños

• Damallsvenskan
• List of Allsvenskan top scorers
• List of foreign Allsvenskan players
• Seasons in Swedish football
• Sports attendances