2017–18 Danish 1st Division

The 2017–18 Danish 1st Division (known as the NordicBet Liga due to sponsorship by NordicBet) marked the 22nd season of the league operating as the second tier of Danish football and the 78th season overall under the 1st Division name. The league is governed by the Danish Football Association (DBU).

NordicBet Liga

Season	2017–18
Champions	Vejle 7th Danish 1st Division title 3rd title at second-tier level
Promoted	Vejle, Esbjerg fB, Vendsyssel
Relegated	Brabrand, Skive
Matches played	198
Goals scored	546 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorer	Anders Dreyer (Esbjerg fB) (18 goals)
Biggest home win	Fredericia 5–1 Brabrand (24 September 2017)
Biggest away win	Fremad Amager 0–6 Viborg (20 August 2017)
Highest scoring	Skive 4–4 Nykøbing (26 November 2017)
Longest winning run	Vejle (6 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	Fredericia (9 matches)
Longest winless run	Thisted (14 matches)
Longest losing run	Brabrand Thisted (6 matches each)
Highest attendance	10,192 Vejle 1–0 Fredericia (16 May 2018)
Lowest attendance	188 Brabrand 1–3 HB Køge (10 September 2017)
Average attendance	1,245
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The division-champion, the runners-up and the third placed team are promoted to the 2018–19 Danish Superliga. The teams in 11th and 12th places are relegated to the 2018–19 Danish 2nd Divisions.

Participants

Esbjerg fB finished last in the 2016–17 Danish Superliga relegation play-off and were relegated to the 1st Division for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Viborg FF lost to FC Helsingør in the relegation play off and were relegated after two seasons in the first tier as well. Hobro IK and FC Helsingør were promoted to the 2017–18 Danish Superliga.

AB and Næstved Boldklub were relegated to the 2017–18 Danish 2nd Divisions. AB were relegated immediately after just one season at the second tier while Næstved Boldklub lasted two seasons in the league. Thisted FC and Brabrand IF won promotion from the 2016–17 Danish 2nd Divisions. Thisted and Brabrand will play at the 1st Division for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

Stadia and locations

Fremad Amager

Brabrand IF

Esbjerg fB

FC Fredericia

HB Køge

Nykøbing FC

FC Roskilde

Skive IK

Thisted FC

Vejle BK

Vendsyssel FF

Viborg FF

Locations of the 2017–18 Danish 1st Division teams.

Club	Location	Stadium	Turf	Capacity	2016–17 position
Brabrand IF	Brabrand	Brabrand Stadion	Natural	1,000	2D, 2nd
Esbjerg fB	Esbjerg	Blue Water Arena	Natural	18,000	Superliga, 14th
FC Fredericia	Fredericia	Monjasa Park	Natural	4,000	8th
FC Roskilde	Roskilde	Roskilde Idrætspark	Natural	6,000	4th
Fremad Amager	Copenhagen	Sundby Idrætspark‡	Natural	7,200	10th
HB Køge	Herfølge/Køge	Castus Park (until 28 February 2018) Capelli Sport Stadion (since 1 March 2018)	Natural	8,000	6th
Nykøbing FC	Nykøbing Falster	Nykøbing Falster Idrætspark (until 5 March 2018) CM Arena (since 6 March 2018)	Natural	10,000	7th
Skive IK	Skive	Spar Nord Arena	Natural	10,000	5th
Thisted FC	Thisted	Sparekassen Thy Arena	Natural	3,000	2D, 1st
Vejle BK	Vejle	Vejle Stadion	Natural	10,418	9th
Vendsyssel FF	Hjørring	Nord Energi Arena	Natural	7,500	2nd
Viborg FF	Viborg	Energi Viborg Arena	Natural	9,566	Superliga, 12th

^‡: Due to the weather conditions (frost), two spring home matches on 4 and 18 March at were moved to Gentofte Sportspark.

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
Brabrand IF	Tom Søjberg	Jesper Brinck	Hummel	Hummel
FC Fredericia	Jesper Sørensen	Christian Ege Nielsen	Hummel	Monjasa
Esbjerg fB	John Lammers	Nikolaj Hagelskjær	Nike	Stofa
FC Roskilde	Rasmus Monnerup	Stefan Hansen	Nike	CP ApS
Fremad Amager	John Jensen	Mohammed Abdalas	Adidas	HC Container
HB Køge	Henrik Lehm	Henrik Madsen	Nike	Castus
Nykøbing FC	Jens Olsen	Lars Pleidrup	Nike	Jyske Bank
Skive IK	Anders Gerber	John Dyring	Nike	Spar Nord
Thisted FC	Henning Pedersen (caretaker)	Allan Høvenhoff	Puma	Sparekassen Thy
Vejle BK	Adolfo Sormani	Jacob Schoop	Hummel	Frøs Herreds Sparekasse
Vendsyssel FF	Jens Berthel Askou	Rune Frantsen	Puma	Spar Nord
Viborg FF	Steffen Højer	Mikkel Rask	Nike	Andelskassen

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Esbjerg fB	Lars Lungi Sørensen	Sacked	19 June 2017[1]	John Lammers	23 June 2017	Pre-Season
Thisted FC	Bo Zinck	Resigned	30 June 2017[2]	Joakim Mattsson	1 July 2017[3]	Pre-Season
Vejle BK	Andreas Alm	Mutual consent	30 June 2017[4]	Adolfo Sormani	1 July 2017[5]	Pre-Season
FC Roskilde	Anders Theil	Promoted to Director of Sport	30 June 2017[6]	René Skovdahl	1 July 2017	Pre-Season
Viborg FF	Johnny Mølby	Sacked	2 August 2017[7]	Steffen Højer	2 August 2017[8]	10th
FC Roskilde	René Skovdahl	Mutual consent	18 September 2017[9]	Rasmus Monnerup	28 September 2017[10]	10th
Skive IK	Kim Kristensen	Sacked	17 October 2017[11]	Anders Gerber	25 October 2017[12]	12th
Thisted FC	Joakim Mattsson	Sacked	8 May 2018[13]	Henning Pedersen (caretaker)	8 May 2018	7th
Vendsyssel FF	Erik Rasmussen	Resigned	8 May 2018[14]	Jens Berthel Askou	8 May 2018	4th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or Relegation
1	Vejle BK (P, C)	33	18	11	4	47	24	+23	65	Promotion to Danish Superliga
2	Esbjerg fB (P)	33	18	6	9	61	36	+25	60	Qualification to Promotion play-offs
3	Vendsyssel FF (P)	33	15	11	7	59	42	+17	56
4	Viborg FF	33	15	9	9	58	42	+16	54
5	HB Køge	33	14	10	9	42	31	+11	52
6	FC Fredericia	33	11	9	13	48	47	+1	42
7	Nykøbing FC	33	10	10	13	54	59	−5	40
8	Thisted FC	33	10	10	13	42	53	−11	40
9	Fremad Amager	33	11	7	15	27	42	−15	40
10	FC Roskilde	33	10	8	15	41	49	−8	38
11	Brabrand IF (R)	33	8	10	15	34	61	−27	34	Relegation to Danish 2nd Divisions
12	Skive IK (R)	33	3	9	21	33	60	−27	18

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