The 2021–22 Danish Women's 1st Division ( Danish: Danmarksturneringens 1. division i kvindefodbold 2021–22) was the thirteenth season of the Danish nation-wide second-tier

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

division since its establishment in 1992 as part of the Danmarksturneringen i kvindefodbold's nation-wide league structure. The two or multiple group format of the second division was abolished and a single division format was reintroduced for the first time since the 2012–13 season and with fewer clubs partaking. Governed by the

Danish FA The Danish Football Association (; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues, alongside the men's and women's national teams. Based i ...

, the season was launched on 7 August 2021 with two fixtures in the preliminary round ( Dalum/Næsby vs

B.93 Boldklubben af 1893, commonly referred to as B.93, is a football club based in Østerbro, Copenhagen, Denmark. The team competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second level of the Danish football league system, after achieving promotion in the ...

and

Odense Q OB Q is a Danish women's football team from Odense, playing in Kvinde-DM Liga (or Kvindeligaen), the professional top-flight league for women's football in Denmark. History The team was originally created as the women's football section of Odens ...

vs Næstved HG) and concluded with the last four matches on 20 November 2021. All eight teams in the league took part in the previous season with four teams, Odense Q, B.93, IF ASA and Sundby BK, proceeding to the Qualification League without gaining promotion to the

first division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. The clubs in the division entered the 2021–22 Danish Women's Cup in the cup tournament's first round proper. The fixtures for the 2021–22 season were announced by the Danish FA's tournament committee and featured a twenty weeks long winter break. In July 2021, Næstved HG Kvindeelite was formed as a superstructure between

Næstved IF Næstved () is a town in the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five elementary schools - and has at least one of each type of the four ...

Fodbold and the women's football department of

Herlufsholm GF Herlufsholm School () is a private day and boarding school by the River Suså in Næstved, about south of Copenhagen. Herlufsholm was founded in 1565 as a boarding school for "sons of noble and other honest men" on the site of a former Benedict ...

, assuming the league license of Herlufsholm GF. Prior to the start of the season, the co-operation between

Dalum IF Dalum Idrætsforening is a Danish football club currently playing in the Denmark Series, the fifth tier of the Danish divisions. They play at Dalum Stadion in southern parts of Odense on Funen, a stadium with a capacity of 4,000. Founded in 1931 ...

and

Næsby BK Næsby is a western central neighbourhood of Odense, in Funen, Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Dani ...

, known as Dalum/Næsby Pigefodbold, was extended to incorporate the first senior women's teams and assumed the league license of Næsby BK. Odense Q, Sundby BK, B.93 and

Varde IF Varde Idrætsforening is an association football club based in Varde, Southern Jutland, Denmark that competes in the Denmark Series, the fifth tier of the Danish football league system. Founded in 1975 as a result of the merger between Varde Gym ...

finished in the league's top half following the conclusion of the preliminary round and progressed to the Qualification League featuring the two lowest placed teams from the preliminary round of the

. The bottom half of the table progressed to the 1st Division play-off round, featuring two qualified teams from the preliminary round of the third division, which determined the promotion and/or relegation spots between the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

tiers.

Summary

Due to economic difficulties and the lack of an elite organization, the women's football department of

approached

Fodbold with the intention of creating a women's superstructure between the two clubs, which resulted in Næstved HG Kvindeelite being formed on 1 July 2021, playing based on the league license of Herlufsholm GF. The superstructure between the women's football departments of

and

, known as Dalum/Næsby Pigefodbold, originally included youth and reserve teams, but beginning this season, it was expanded to incorporate the first senior women's teams and assumed the league license of Næsby BK in the second division under the revised name of Dalum/Næsby Kvinde- og Pigefodbold. At the beginning of the season,

's first senior women's team, represented by B.93 Q ApS (a subsidiary of B.93 Kontrakt Fodbold ApS, who runs the men's first team), were the only club in the league to have a license from the Danish FA to sign professional contracts with its players. With the arrival of an investor and the creation of an

anpartsselskab (; ApS) is the Danish term for a private limited company. ApS, when appended to the end of a Danish company name, is similar to Ltd. after the name of a British company. An ApS is required to have capital of at least 20,000 DKK (approx. 2, ...

was able to sign their first-ever semi-professional player contracts, starting with five players in August 2021. With an average age of nineteen, the players of Vildbjerg SF were reportedly among the youngest squads in the league, while Sundby BK's squad had an average age of 23 years. The 2021–22 season was inaugurated on Saturday 7 August with two fixtures in the preliminary first round; Dalum/Næsby and

played at

Næsby Stadium Næsby Stadium (Danish language, Danish: Næsby Stadion) is an association football stadium located in Odense Municipality#Neighbourhoods and settlements, Kirkendrup in the northern part of Odense, Denmark. It has been the Home (sports), home gro ...

, while

and Næstved HG played at exhibition pitch at Marienlystcentret, marking the debut matches of the two new superstructure of Næstved HG and Dalum/Næsby. B.93's Viktoria Einsbor scored the first goal of the season in the 12th minute behind Dalum/Næsby's

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Silje Cassandra Simonsen netted the second goal for B.93 in the 60th minute, securing a victory in the first match. The first round matches between Sundby BK vs

Sundby Idrætspark Sundby Idrætspark is a sports complex, that consists of a combined association football and athletics stadium (referred to as ''Sundby Stadium''), three sports halls, tennis courts (clay and synthetic), and a swimming hall (referred to as ''Sundb ...

and IF ASA vs Vildbjerg SF on the artificial turf at Frederiksbjerg Idrætsanlæg got postponed to 18 September. Sundby BK started playing their home matches at the exhibition pitch at Sundby Idrætspark starting from this season to comply with future league license criteria from the Danish FA, after previously having played their games at the amateur sports facilities of Kløvermarken next to their offices. The local derby between Sundby BK and B.93 on 20 August 2021 attracted an attendance of 350 spectators. In December 2021, Sundby BK announced that five investors would contribute to the professional and commercial department involving the first men's and women's teams. The third round match between Næstved Herlufsholm Fodbold and Vildbjerg SF at Næstved Stadium was a repeat of last season's 1st Division championship final at

Vildbjerg Vildbjerg is a railway town with a population of 4,138 (1 January 2025), While the 2020–21 division final was won by Herlufsholm GF with 6–1, in the present season's first encounter between the two teams Vildbjerg SF secured a 3–2 away win against NIF HG seven minutes before full time. Næstved HG's losing streak was extended to six games in a row, producing a bottom place in the table, and resulting in the management's sacking of head coach

Jeppe Tengbjerg Jeppe Tengbjerg (born 28 December 1973) is a Danish football manager and former football player. In his playing career, Tengbjerg represented a number of Danish clubs, as well as Dutch clubs SC Cambuur and Excelsior Rotterdam. Managerial career ...

during the women's international match window. The first win of the season for Næstved HG was achieved in the seventh round, in the first match under the new head coach, and former sports director, Steen "Olsen" Hansen, by defeating Dalum/Næstby at their own home ground. Israeli international forward Rachel Shtainshnaider scored two goals and made an assist in NIF HG's third goal netted by Nicoline Dam Schrøder. With Steen Hansen unavailable for the home game against Sundby BK on 7 November 2021, Dennis Deleuran – the U-19 men's head coach of

Næstved BK Næstved () is a town in the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five elementary schools - and has at least one of each type of the four ...

– stepped in as interim coach, guiding the Næstved HG's squad to their only second win of the 2021 fall season. Odense Q gained an early lead in the league standings by procuring five victories and five clean sheets in the first five games, with Swedish goalkeeper Isabelle Granlund recording eight clean sheets by the end of the fall season and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Kamilla Ørskov Jensen shared top scorer title in the preliminary round together with Sissel Bøje of Sundby BK, both scoring nine goals. Ten league matches into the season, Odense Q secured their participation in the Qualification League for two promotion spot to the next season's top-flight league and was joined by Sundby BK, B.93 and Varde IF after the 13th, 12th and 14th round respectively including the two lowest placed teams from the preliminary round of the

Danish Women's League The Danish Women's League () is a professional top-flight league for women's football in Denmark. It is organised by the Danish Football Association (DBU) as part of the nation-wide Danmarksturneringen i kvindefodbold (Kvinde-DM) and is placed a ...

, AGF Kvindefodbold and AaB Kvinde Elitefodbold. ASA Fodbold, Dalum/Næsby Vildbjerg SF and Næstved HG moved on to the 1st Division play-off round for two relegation spots, together with the two winners of the 2nd Division preliminary round,

Østerbro IF Østerbro () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located close to present-day ...

and JAI Fodbold.

Teams

Eight teams competed in the league – four teams from the Qualification League and four teams from

second division play-offs The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

of the previous season. The four teams from the Qualification League were

, IF ASA, and Sundby BK, who extended their spells in the second-tier of one, two, five, and nine years respectively, with B.93 having participated in the qualifications four seasons in a row. During the summer break, two new superstructures were formed, with Næstved HG assuming the league license of Herlufsholm GF, while Dalum/Næsby took Næsby BK's place in the second division.

Stadiums and locations

Personnel

Coaching changes

Preliminary round

League table

Every team played two games against the other teams, at home and away, totaling 14 games each. Teams received three points for a win and one point for a draw. If two or more teams were tied on points, places were then determined by

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. The four teams with the most points at the end of the preliminary round, qualify to play in the Qualification League against the two lowest placed teams of the

, while the remaining four teams, joined by the two highest-placed teams of the

preliminary round A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the third division, continued to the 1st Division play-off round.

Results

1st Division play-off round

League table

The four lowest placed teams in the preliminary round were joined by the two highest-placed teams, eligible for promotion, of the

of the third division to partake in the 1st Division play-off round that determined promotion and/or relegations between the second and third tiers. Every team in the 1st Division play-off round play two games against the other teams, at home and away, totaling 10 each. Teams received three points for a win and one point for a draw. If two or more teams were tied on points, places were then determined by

. The goal score and points from the preliminary rounds were reset. The two teams with the fewest points would be relegated to the 2022–23 Danish Women's 2nd Division.

Summary

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Personnel

Coaching changes

Preliminary round

League table

Results

1st Division play-off round

League table

Results

Statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

Clean sheets

References