Sweden
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The top part of the Swedish football league system is a series of interconnected leagues controlled by the Swedish Football Association. It comprises 276 teams in 22 leagues divided into five levels.
Below those five levels, additional regional levels numbering six to ten exist but these lower leagues are controlled by the regional associations and not by the national association. There is promotion and relegation to and from all levels. Allsvenskan, founded in 1924, is the country's primary football competition and is contested by 16 clubs. However in historical terms Swedish champions go back to 1896. IFK Göteborg has been the most successful club, closely followed by Malmö FF. Other clubs that have made a significant impact are IFK Norrköping, Örgryte IS, AIK and Djurgårdens IF as thay have all won the championship more than ten times. The Superettan (Super First) was established in 2000 and is the second tier of the league system. The second tier of Swedish football had previously consisted of a varying number of regionalised leagues operating under Division 2 (1924–1986) and Division 1 (1987–1999). At the present time Division 1 is the third tier with two sections, Division 2 is the fourth tier with six sections and Division 3 is the fifth tier with twelve sections. Svenska Cupen (Swedish Cup), is a knockout cup competition which in recent years has had a restricted entry to 98 teams. |
This comprises 16 teams from Allsvenskan and 16 teams of Superettan, together with 68 teams from lower tiers of the league system. The competition was introduced in 1941 and Malmö FF has been the most successful club to date.
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Main league tables & results
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See Current League Tables - for more coverage
Season by season matrix
Appreciation: Full recognition and acknowledgement is made to Foot.dk and and the work of the many contributors to the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation who have catalogued the above tables. Current league standings are provided bySvenska Fotbollförbundet (Swedish Football Association).
See Historic League Tables - for more coverage
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