The Faroe Islands Premier League (also known as ''Betri deildin menn'' for sponsorship reasons) is the top level of

football in the Faroe Islands Football is the most popular sport in the Faroe Islands, which is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. 60% of those who play sport on the islands play football. Football in the Faroe Islands is governed by the Faroe Islands Footb ...

. It was founded in 1942 as Meistaradeildin, and it is played in current format since 2005, when Premier League replaced

1. deild 1. deild is the second tier league of football in the Faroe Islands. It was founded in 1943. The league is organised by the Faroe Islands Football Association. It was originally the top level of Faroe Islands football but was replaced by the Faro ...

as the country's top football division. The league is organised by the

Faroe Islands Football Association The Faroe Islands Football Association ( fo, Fótbóltssamband Føroya; da, Færøernes fodboldforbund), or FSF, is the governing body of all domestic football in the Faroe Islands, the highest level of which is the Faroe Islands Premier League. ...

. It is contested by 10 clubs. At the end of every season, two teams are relegated and two promoted from

. All teams in the league have

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...

status. As of April 2022, the Faroe Islands Premier League is ranked 44th out of 55 leagues in the

UEFA coefficient In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics based in weighted arithmetic means used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Introduced in 1979 for men's football tournaments, and after applied in wome ...

History

The league was founded in 1942, although clubs did not take part in European competitions until 1992, because the

joined UEFA only in 1990. From 1942 to 1946, the competition was played in a knockout format, and from 1947 onwards in a league format. Before the creation of the

in 1979, the league was organized by the Faroe Islands Sports Association. The only time a season wasn't played was during the

British occupation The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

in 1944, when a lack of footballs caused the season to be cancelled. The league was known by several names; from its foundation in 1942 until 1975, it was known as Meistaradeildin. It changed its name to

in 1976 and introduced

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

system. Since 2005 the league has had different sponsored names, being called ''Formuladeildin'' from 2005 to 2008, ''Vodafonedeildin'' from 2009 to 2012, ''Effodeildin'' from 2012 to 2017, and since 2018 ''Betri deildin menn''.

Competition format

The league is contested by 10 teams, who play each other three times. A draw is made before the elaboration of the next season's fixtures to decide which teams will have an additional home game. Formerly this was decided based on clubs' performance in the previous season.

Promotion and relegation

At the end of the season, two teams are relegated and two are promoted to and from 1. deild. Like in Spain, the teams are allowed to put their B and C teams in the lower divisions, and there will only be relegation if at least one non-

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

finish in the 1. deild top three. In the past, the league used a promotion-relegation playoff between the 9th placed team and the 2nd placed team in 1. deild, played from

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

until

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

European qualification

Currently, the Faroese champion qualify to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

Preliminary round, while the second placed team enter the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

at the first qualifying round. An additional berth in the Europa Conference League first qualifying round is granted to the

Faroe Islands Cup The Faroe Islands Cup (, literally the Prime Minister Cup) is the main football cup competition in the Faroe Islands. The first edition was played in 1955. History The HB–TB decade The first decade of the competition was marked by the alternanc ...

winners. If the winners of that competition have already qualified to a European competition, the berth is given to the third placed team in the league. Since the introduction of Europa Conference League, teams from the Faroe Islands can only qualify directly to the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

by winning the Europa Conference League.

Current teams

List of seasons

Bold indicates teams who also won the

that season, an achievement known as the

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

Performance by club

Clubs in bold are currently playing in the top-tier.
Clubs in ''italics'' are no longer active in adult football.

Notes

References

External links

League at UEFALeague at FSF

League at Faroe SoccerList of football stadiums on the Faroe Islands
– Nordic Stadiums {{UEFA leagues 1 Faroe