Danish 2nd Division

This article is about the Danish men's association football third-tier league tournament. For the women's second-tier league tournament, see Danish Women's 2nd Division.
Danmarksturneringens 2. division
Organising bodyDivisionsforeningen
Founded1936; 88 years ago (1936)[1]
First season1936–37
CountryDenmark
ConfederationUEFA
Divisions2 (2018–2021)
1 (from 2021)[2]
Number of teams28 (2020–2021)
12 (from 2021)[2]
Level on pyramid3
Promotion to1st Division
Relegation to3rd Division
Domestic cup(s)Danish Cup (1954–present)
International cup(s)UEFA Europa Conference League
(via winning Danish Cup)
Current championsKolding IF (1st title)
(2022–23)
TV partnersKanal Sport (2014–2016)[3]
Ekstra Bladet PLUS (2019–present)[4]
Website2-division.dk
Current: 2024–25 Danish 2nd Division

The 2nd Division (Danish: Danmarksturneringens 2. division[nb 1] or Herre-DM 2. division[nb 1]) is a professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark.[5][6][7] It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Football Association (Danish FA; DBU) as part of the nation-wide Danmarksturneringen i fodbold (Herre-DM) and is positioned between the second-tier 1st Division and the fourth-tier Danish 3rd Division in the Danish football league system.[8] Clubs in the league must meet certain criteria concerning appropriate facilities and finances.[9] All of the 2nd Division clubs qualify for the proper rounds of the DBU Pokalen. The number of promoted and relegated clubs has fluctuated over the years. In the 2020–21 season two clubs were directly promoted to the 1st Division, while eight teams were relegated to the Denmark Series.[2] From the 2021–22 season, it was changed to two promotion spots and two relegation spots.[2]

A third-tier league under the auspices of the Danish FA was introduced to the nation-wide league structure in 1936, beginning with two divisions of four clubs each in the 1936–37 season.[1] Due to World War II, the league was placed on hiatus for five years until its reintroduction as a single division with 10 clubs in 1945. In the 1966 season, the league was expanded to include two divisions, coinciding with the dissolution of the Kvalifikationsturneringen and the introduction of the new fourth-tier, Denmark Series (Danmarksserien). It returned to a single division format in the 1975 season, before once again converting to a two division format in 1986, a single division in 1997 and a two division format in 2005. From 1991 to 1997 the league was played as semi-annual seasons, when the higher ranking leagues switched to an autumn-spring calendar match schedule while the lower ranking leagues continued with spring-autumn tournaments — a revisit to the same calendar schedule that had been played until 1956. In 2015–2020, the league consisted of two stages; a preliminary round split into 2–3 groups with clubs qualifying for either a promotion or relegation round.

From 1936–37 and 1939–40, 1966 until 1964 and in the 1986 season, a championship final was played at the end of the season to determine the overall league winners between the west and east groups. The short lived Kvalifikationsligaen in the springs from 1992 to 1995 meant that the league's status as the third-tier in Danish football was dropped one level to temporarily become the fourth best level. In the seasons from 2005–06 to 2010–11, the tournament rules were changed to allow a maximum of eight Superliga reserve teams to compete in the third-tier — the reserve teams were eventually moved to the 2011–12 Danish Reserve League upon its creation. The division has changed its name on several occasions. It has previously been known as III Serie (1936–37 until 1939/40; or 3. Serie), 3. Division (1945/46 until 1990; or 3. division[10]), before settling with the current name beginning with the 1991-season. Due to a sponsorship arrangement, it was known as Kanal Sport Divisionen during the 2015–16 season.[3]

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