Ettan Fotboll, or simply Ettan ( en, the one), which also is its common name in everyday speech, is the third level in the
Swedish football league system
The Swedish football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Sweden which is controlled by the Swedish Football Association
The Swedish Football Association ( sv, Svenska Fotbollförbundet, SvFF) is the go ...
and consists of 32
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
teams. It was formerly simply known as ''Division 1''. Division 1 was the second tier from 1987 to 1999, but was replaced by
Superettan
Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...
in 2000. It was reestablished for the 2006 season as the third tier below Superettan.
History
The old Division 1 replaced
Division 2 as the second highest level in 1987 and consisted of two separate leagues with 14 teams each,
Norra (Northern) and
Södra
Södra Skogsägarna, trading as Södra, is a forestry cooperative based in Växjö, Sweden. More than 52,000 forest owners in southern Sweden are members of the economic association that is Södra. They own just over half of all privately owned for ...
(Southern), except for the 1991 and 1992 seasons which comprised 32 teams in four leagues, adding Östra (Eastern) and
Västra (Western). As of the 2018 season, both
Norra and
Södra
Södra Skogsägarna, trading as Södra, is a forestry cooperative based in Växjö, Sweden. More than 52,000 forest owners in southern Sweden are members of the economic association that is Södra. They own just over half of all privately owned for ...
leagues of Ettan are composed of 16 clubs, similar to
Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...
and
Superettan
Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...
.
The competition
There are 32 clubs in Ettan, divided in two groups of 16 teams each representing Northern and Southern Sweden. During the course of a season (starting in April and ending in November) each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. At the end of each season the three lowest placed teams of each group are relegated to
Division 2 and the six winning teams from the six Division 2 leagues are promoted in their place. The top team in each Ettan group is promoted to
Superettan
Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...
and the two lowest placed teams from Superettan are relegated in their place. The second placed teams in each Ettan group plays a promotion/relegation play-off against the third and fourth lowest teams in Superettan.
Current clubs (2021 season)
Stadia and locations
Norra
Södra
*
1 Correct as of end of 2018 season
Seasons: previous winners
Second tier
Third tier
Note: In 2007 the runners up were promoted automatically without playoffs because of Allsvenskan expanding to 16 teams.
Statistics
Top goalscorers Norra
Top goalscorers Södra
References
External links
Official Ettan Website
{{UEFA third leagues
Sports leagues established in 2006
2006 establishments in Sweden
Third level football leagues in Europe
Professional sports leagues in Sweden