The Royal League was an annual

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

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 ...

tournament held three times between teams from the three Scandinavian monarchies (

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

), starting after the end of the regular domestic seasons of Norway and Sweden. Denmark, however, was in mid-season when the tournament started. The four best-placed teams in the football leagues of

and

participate in the tournament. There was discussion of expanding the league, and include the winners of

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

and

Landsbankadeild The Besta deild karla () is the top level men's football league in Iceland. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in Iceland, it is generally played in the spring and summer (May to Septem ...

, which are the Finnish and the Icelandic premier divisions. The 2007–08 edition was cancelled for financial reasons.

History

For the

2004–05 Royal League The Royal League 2004–05 was the first season of the Scandinavian Royal League football tournament. Play started on 11 November 2004, and ended in a final between FC Copenhagen and IFK Göteborg on 26 May 2005, with Copenhagen winning the title ...

tournament, the twelve participating teams were initially placed into three groups. The two best-placed teams from each country were placed in the same group, while the two other teams were placed in the two other groups. In each group, each team played against the other three teams, home and away. The two best-placed teams of each group were randomly placed into two new groups. The three teams of each new group played each other, home and away. The 2005 Royal League Final was contested on 26 May 2005, by

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 ...

team IFK Gothenburg and

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

from

. FC Copenhagen won the title following a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

. In the second season of the tournament, the twelve participating teams were also divided into three preliminary groups. The two best-placed teams of each group, and the two best third-placed teams went on to play quarterfinals. The rest of the tournament was played in a knockout-system. The quarter-finals and semi-finals were played both at home and away, while there was only a single final game to decide the winner. The 2006 Royal League Final was contested on 6 April 2006, by FC Copenhagen and

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger be ...

from Norway. FC Copenhagen won their second title, when

Razak Pimpong Razak Pimpong (born 30 December 1982) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a striker and attacking midfielder for FC Midtjylland, FC Copenhagen, Viborg FF and other clubs. He was very versatile and could also play wide eit ...

scored to 1–0 in the last minutes of the game. For the 2006–07 Royal League tournament, the structure of initial group stage and subsequent knockout-stage was kept. As opposed to the previous edition of the tournament, the knock-out stages were played as single games, with the team having the best group stage record earning home field advantage. The 2007 Royal League Final was contested on 15 March 2007, by

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

team

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was p ...

and FC Copenhagen. Brøndby won 1–0, on a penalty kick converted by

Martin Ericsson Martin Kjell Henrik Ericsson (born 4 September 1980) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He represented IK Brage, IFK Göteborg, Aalborg BK, Brøndby IF, IF Elfsborg, and BK Häcken during a career that spann ...

. The league has received quite a lot of criticism since the first season. The teams rarely bother to play with their best side, and this leads to a lack of interest. Raising the award money and/or giving direct place in 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 ...

have been suggested as ways to improve the situation. The 2007–08 edition was cancelled for financial reasons, but the board planned to resurrect the tournament for the 2008–09 season. On 11 October 2008 it was announced that the 2008–09 season would not be held either, as the TV rights for the tournament had not been sold. There were however plans for a tournament in 2010, but under a new name; Royal Cup."Fem danske hold i Royal Cup"
(Bold.dk, 19 February 2009)

Finals

All-time table by country

References

External links

Official site

Royal League Live Scores, Fixtures and Results

RSSSF {{Inter-Nordic competitions Defunct international club association football competitions in Europe Sport in Scandinavia Football competitions in Denmark Football competitions in Norway Football competitions in Sweden Recurring sporting events established in 2004 Recurring events disestablished in 2007 Inter-Nordic sports competitions

History

Finals

All-time table by country

See also

References

External links