2016–17 Danish 1st Division

The 2016–17 Danish 1st Division (known as the NordicBet Liga due to sponsorship by NordicBet) marked the 21st season of the league operating as the second tier of Danish football and the 77th season overall under the 1st Division name. The league is governed by the Danish Football Association (DBU).

NordicBet Liga

Season	2016–17
Champions	Hobro 1st Danish 1st Division title 1st 2nd tier title
Promoted	Hobro Helsingør
Relegated	Næstved AB
Matches	198
Goals	522 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorer	Dominic Vinicius (Vejle) (15 goals)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The 1st Division comprises 12 teams, each playing the others three times for a total of 33 matches per team. Following structural changes to the Danish Superliga, the promotion format was revised for the 2016–17 season. The league champion earns automatic promotion to the 2017–18 Danish Superliga, while the second- and third-placed teams enter promotion playoffs against Superliga opponents for two additional top-flight berths. The teams finishing 11th and 12th are relegated to the 2017–18 Danish 2nd Divisions.

Participants

Hobro IK were relegated from the 2015–16 Danish Superliga, having finished in 12th place. Lyngby Boldklub, Silkeborg IF, and AC Horsens were promoted to the 2016–17 Danish Superliga as part of the league's expansion to 14 teams.^[1]

AB, Fremad Amager, and Nykøbing were promoted from the 2015–16 Danish 2nd Divisions.

Stadia and locations

AB

Fremad Amager

Fredericia

HB Køge

Helsingør

Hobro

Næstved

Nykøbing

Roskilde

Skive

Vejle

Vendsyssel

Locations of the 2016–17 Danish 1st Division teams.

Club	Location	Stadium	Turf	Capacity	2015–16 position
AB	Gladsaxe	Gladsaxe Stadium	Natural	13,800	2D, 1st
FC Fredericia	Fredericia	Monjasa Park	Natural	4,000	6th
FC Helsingør	Helsingør	Helsingør Stadion	Natural	4,500	7th
FC Roskilde	Roskilde	Roskilde Idrætspark	Natural	6,000	9th
Fremad Amager	Copenhagen	Sundby Idrætspark	Natural	7,200	2D, 2nd
HB Køge	Herfølge/Køge	Castus Park	Natural	8,000	8th
Hobro IK	Hobro	DS Arena	Natural	8,000	Superliga, 12th
Nykøbing FC	Nykøbing Falster	Enelco Arena (until 31 December 2016) Nykøbing Falster Idrætspark (since 1 January 2017)	Natural	10,000	2D, 3rd
Næstved BK	Næstved	Euro Outlets Stadion Næstved	Natural	7,500	10th
Skive IK	Skive	Spar Nord Arena	Natural	10,000	11th
Vejle BK	Vejle	Vejle Stadion	Natural	10,418	5th
Vendsyssel FF	Hjørring	Bredbånd Nord Arena	Natural	7,500	4th

Personnel and sponsoring

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
AB	Søren Bjerg	Rasmus Grønborg Hansen	Hummel	MASCOT Workwear
FC Fredericia	Jesper Sørensen	Christian Ege Nielsen	Hummel	Monjasa
FC Helsingør	Christian Lønstrup	Andreas Holm	Diadora	Spar Nord
FC Roskilde	Anders Theil	Nikolaj Hansen	Nike	CP ApS
Fremad Amager	John Jensen	Mohammed Abdalas	Adidas	HC Container
HB Køge	Henrik Lehm	Henrik Madsen	Nike	Castus
Hobro IK	Thomas Thomasberg	Mads Justesen	Puma	DS Gruppen, Spar Nord
Nykøbing FC	Jens Olsen	Mathias Olsen	Nike	Jyske Bank
Næstved BK	Michael Hemmingsen	Kristoffer Munksgaard	Joma	Sydbank
Skive IK	Kim Kristensen	Jakob Andersen	Nike	Spar Nord
Vejle BK	Andreas Alm	Steffen Kielstrup	Hummel	VTK / BLITE
Vendsyssel FF	Erik Rasmussen	Chris Sørensen	Puma	Spar Nord

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Skive IK	Joakim Mattsson	End of contract	30 June 2016[2]	Kim Kristensen	1 July 2016[3]	Pre-Season
Vendsyssel FF	Jacob Krüger & Ole Søndergaard	End of tenure as caretakers	30 June 2016	Joakim Mattsson	1 July 2016[4]	Pre-Season
Vejle BK	Steen Thychosen	End of tenure as caretaker	30 June 2016	Andreas Alm	5 July 2016[5]	Pre-Season
Hobro IK	Ove Pedersen	Sacked	28 November 2016[6]	Thomas Thomasberg	4 January 2017[7]	1st
AB	Per Frandsen	Sacked	13 December 2016[8]	Søren Bjerg	12 January 2017[9]	12th
Vendsyssel FF	Joakim Mattsson	Sacked	13 February 2017	Erik Rasmussen	13 February 2017[10]	2nd
Næstved BK	Mogens Krogh	Sacked	27 March 2017[11]	Michael Hemmingsen	29 March 2017[12]	11th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or Relegation
1	Hobro IK (P, C)	33	17	7	9	54	34	+20	58	Promotion to Danish Superliga
2	Vendsyssel FF	33	16	7	10	51	39	+12	55	Qualification to Promotion play-offs
3	FC Helsingør (P)	33	14	11	8	43	31	+12	53
4	FC Roskilde	33	14	8	11	44	43	+1	50
5	Skive IK	33	15	4	14	41	51	−10	49
6	HB Køge	33	11	14	8	33	27	+6	47
7	Nykøbing FC	33	13	7	13	50	51	−1	46
8	FC Fredericia	33	11	10	12	36	43	−7	43
9	Vejle BK	33	10	11	12	49	46	+3	41
10	Fremad Amager	33	10	11	12	42	45	−3	41
11	Næstved BK (R)	33	9	8	16	45	51	−6	35	Relegation to Danish 2nd Divisions
12	AB (R)	33	6	6	21	34	61	−27	24

Source: Danish FA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated