Countries Denmark Founded 1936 Domestic cup(s) Santander Cup | Confederation EHF Number of teams 14 International cup(s) EHF Champions League | |
The Danish Handball League, officially known as 888ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the men's top Danish professional handball league. The winners of the Danish Handball League are recognised as the Danish handball champions. The current champions are KIF Kolding, who gained their twelfth title in June 2009 defeating previous champions FCK Håndbold in playoff finals.
Contents
Season
The Danish Handball League season consists of 14 teams, each playing 26 regular season games. The eight best teams of the regular season advance to further games, where they are divided into two groups of four teams each. No. 1 and 2 from the regular season start with 2 points. No. 3 and 4 start with 1 point, while no. 5-8 start with no points. After these six games the two group winners meet in the championship finals, while the runners-up will play for the bronze medals. Both the finals and the bronze matches are played as a "best of 3" series. The lowest placed team of the regular season is directly relegated to the second-best division, and replaced by the winner of this. The teams finishing as 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 will together with no. 2, 3 and 4 from 1st division be divided in two groups of four teams each. The group winners and the runners-up will qualify for the league in the next season. No. 3 in each group will meet each other in up to three games to play for the last spot in the league. The loser and no. 4 in each group will play the 1st division the following season.
Championship playoffs until and including 2007/2008
The four best teams of the regular season advance to playoffs, semi finals and finals. Both semi finals as well as the final are played as a "best of 3" serie
Teams
The fourteen teams of the 2015-16 season are:
Champions
The complete list of the Danish handball champions since 1936.