B-Liga

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B-Liga
Organising body Danish FA (DBU)
Founded1992;33 years ago (1992)
First season 1993
Country Denmark
Confederation UEFA
Divisions1 (2021–present)
Number of clubs8 (2021–present)
Level on pyramid 2
Promotion to A-Liga
Relegation to C-Liga
Domestic cup(s) DBU KvindePokalen (1992–present)
Website kvindeliga.dk/1-division
Current: 2025–26 B-Liga

B-Liga (formerly the Danish Women's 1st Division) is the second-highest division of women's football in Denmark.

Contents

Format

The B-Liga consists of 8 teams playing in a double round-robin tournament, with home and away games. [1] The teams that finish in the top four spots compete in the qualification play-offs against the two worst ranked A-Liga teams to determine two promotion spots. The four bottom placed teams instead play against the two top placed teams from each of the C-Liga groups in the B-Liga qualification play-offs. The two bottom placed teams from the 1st division qualification play-offs are relegated to C-Liga. Both the A-Liga and B-Liga qualification play-offs consist of a double round-robin tournaments among the six participating teams. [2] This has been the format since the 2021–2022 season.

History

Until and including the 2006–07 season, the B-Liga comprised 12 teams playing a double round-robin tournament – each team playing each other twice; once home, once away. The champion was promoted to the A-Liga, called Elitedivisionen at the time. The runner-up played a promotion game against the second worst placed team of the A-Liga for a spot in the next season of A-Liga. Meanwhile, the two worst ranked teams were relegated to C-Liga, known as the Women's Denmark Series at the time.

B-Liga was reduced to 10 teams from the 2007–08 season.

From 2013–14 until the 2019–20 season, the B-Liga was expanded to include 16 teams, divided into two groups - East and West - each consisting of eight teams. The highest ranked team from each group would play in the A-Liga qualification play-offs together against the four lowest-ranked teams of A-Liga. The top two teams in the qualification play-offs achieved promotion to the A-Liga.

The 2020–21 B-Liga contained 20 teams, split into four groups of five, each playing a double roun-robin tournament. The top two teams of each group advanced to promotion qualifiers, split into two groups of four. A total of four teams advanced to the qualification play-offs. The remaining 12 teams were in the relegation play-offs, consisting of two groups of six teams each.

Teams

2025–26 season

Club#SinceTotalC-LigaA-LigaNotes
ASA Fodbold 32023 2022–23
B.93 12025 2024–25
Esbjerg fB [a] 12025
F.C. Copenhagen 12025 2024–25 Established in 2024.
FC Thy-Thisted Q 22024 2023–24
Næstved HG [b] 52021Established in 2021.
Østerbro IF 42022 2021–22
AaB Women 22024 2017–18 2023–24

Source: Danish Football Association

  1. Esbjerg is a amalgamation of Varde IF and Esbjerg fB. The club inherited Varde IF's license when Varde was promoted to B-Liga in 2025.
  2. Næstved is a amalgamation of Herlufsholm GF and Næstved IF.

References

  1. "Ny landsdækkende 1. division og to 2. divisioner" (in Danish). Kvindedivisionsforeningen. 18 November 2020. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  2. "Love og Regler" [Laws and Rules] (in Danish). DBU. 23 July 2024.