2019–20 Danish 1st Division

The 2019–20 Danish 1st Division (known as the NordicBet Liga due to sponsorship by NordicBet) marked the 24th season of the league operating as the second tier of Danish football and the 80th season overall under the 1st Division name. The league is governed by the Danish Football Association (DBU).

NordicBet Liga

Season	2019–20
Champions	Vejle 8th Danish 1st Division title 4th title at second-tier level
Promoted	Vejle
Relegated	Nykøbing Roskilde Næstved
Matches played	198
Goals scored	572 (2.89 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kjartan Finnbogason Martin Koch Helsted (17 goals each)
Biggest home win	Viborg 5–0 Fremad Amager (18 October 2019)
Biggest away win	Nykøbing 0–5 Fredericia (20 October 2019)
Highest scoring	Vejle 5–3 Hvidovre (21 June 2020)
Highest attendance	4,945 Vejle 3–0 Kolding (19 October 2019)
Lowest attendance	180 Roskilde 2–2 HB Køge (14 June 2020)
Average attendance	1,014
← 2018–19 2020–21 →

The division champion earned promotion to the 2020–21 Danish Superliga, while the teams finishing in 10th, 11th, and 12th places were relegated to the 2020–21 Danish 2nd Divisions. This adjustment to the usual promotion and relegation format was implemented due to the reduction of the Danish Superliga to 12 teams for the following season.^[1]

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

The 2019–20 Danish 1st Division season was suspended on 12 March 2020 following a directive from the Danish Football Association (DBU), after Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen advised that all public activities be limited or suspended for an initial period of two weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspension, originally set to end on 29 March, was subsequently extended to 13 April.^[2][3]

Following several months of uncertainty, Divisionsforeningen, the governing body of the professional leagues, announced that the 1st Division would resume on the weekend of 30–31 May 2020. This coincided with the restart of the Danish Superliga, which resumed on 28 May.^[4][5]

To facilitate a safe return, Divisionsforeningen published a 55-page health and safety protocol outlining mandatory COVID-19 testing and operational guidelines. All players and staff were required to undergo testing prior to the resumption and at regular intervals throughout the remaining fixtures. The plan was submitted to the Danish Ministry of Culture for approval, with the objective of completing the season by the end of June.^[6]

In line with temporary amendments approved by FIFA and the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the league adopted a rule allowing five substitutions per team per match, instead of the usual three.^[4][7] However, teams were permitted only three substitution intervals per match, excluding halftime. The change was introduced to mitigate the risk of injuries following the extended layoff and was agreed upon in consultation with clubs and health authorities.^[4]

Participants

Vejle Boldklub were relegated to the 1st Division after finishing last in the 2018–19 Danish Superliga relegation play-offs, marking the end of a single season in the top tier. Vendsyssel FF were also relegated, having lost their relegation play-off to Lyngby Boldklub. Conversely, Silkeborg IF and Lyngby earned promotion to the Danish Superliga for the 2019–20 season.

FC Helsingør and Thisted FC were relegated to the 2019–20 Danish 2nd Divisions. Helsingør suffered a second consecutive relegation, having dropped from the Superliga the previous season, while Thisted returned to the third tier after two seasons in the Danish 1st Division. Skive IK and Kolding IF secured promotion from the 2018–19 Danish 2nd Divisions. Skive returned after just one season's absence, while Kolding gained promotion to the second tier for the first time since the 2010–11 season, when the club competed as part of the now-defunct Kolding FC.

Stadia and locations

Fredericia

Fremad Amager

HB Køge

Hvidovre

Kolding

Nykøbing

Næstved

Roskilde

Skive

Vendsyssel

Vejle

Viborg

Locations of the 2019–20 Danish 1st Division teams.

Club	Location	Stadium	Turf	Capacity	2018–19 position
FC Fredericia	Fredericia	Monjasa Park	Natural	4,000	6th
FC Roskilde	Roskilde	Roskilde Idrætspark	Natural	6,000	9th
BK Fremad Amager	Copenhagen	Sundby Idrætspark	Artificial	7,200	5th
HB Køge	Herfølge/Køge	Capelli Sport Stadion	Artificial	4,000	7th
Hvidovre IF	Hvidovre	Pro Ventilation Arena	Natural	12,000	10th
Kolding IF	Kolding	Autocentralen Park	Natural	10,000	2D, 2nd
Nykøbing FC	Nykøbing Falster	CM Arena	Natural	10,000	8th
Næstved BK	Næstved	ProfaGroupPark	Natural	7,500	4th
Skive IK	Skive	Hancock Arena	Natural	10,000	2D, 1st
Vejle BK	Vejle	Vejle Stadion	Natural	10,418	Superliga, 14th
Vendsyssel FF	Hjørring	Nord Energi Arena	Natural	10,000[8][9]	Superliga, 12th
Viborg FF	Viborg	Energi Viborg Arena	Natural	9,566	2nd

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
FC Fredericia	Jonas Dal	Christian Ege Nielsen	Hummel	Monjasa
FC Roskilde	Martin Jungsgaard	Nicklas Halse	Puma	CP ApS
BK Fremad Amager	Azrudin Valentić	Mads Gabel	Adidas	—
HB Køge	Aurelijus Skarbalius	Martin Vingaard	Capelli	Castus
Hvidovre IF	Per Frandsen	Christopher Østberg	Nike	KBS Byg
Kolding IF	Morten Mølkjær	Rune Nautrup	Hummel	Mos Mosh
Nykøbing FC	Claus Jensen	Lars Pleidrup	Nike	Jyske Bank
Næstved BK	Kenneth Gangsted	Joel Felix	Joma	Sydbank
Skive IK	Thomas Røll	Christoffer Østergaard	Nike	Spar Nord
Vejle BK	Constantin Gâlcă	Jacob Schoop	Hummel	Arbejdernes Landsbank
Vendsyssel FF	Lasse Stensgaard	Søren Henriksen	Diadora	Spar Nord
Viborg FF	Jacob Neestrup	Jeppe Grønning	Nike	Andelskassen

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
FC Roskilde	Christian Lønstrup	Resigned	27 May 2019[10]	Christian Iversen	26 June 2019[11]	Pre-Season
Nykøbing FC	Jens Olsen	Resigned	30 May 2019[12]	Brian Rasmussen	22 June 2019[13]	Pre-Season
Vendsyssel FF	Peter Enevoldsen	End of contract	2 June 2019[14]	Johnny Mølby	20 June 2019[15]	Pre-Season
Næstved BK	Michael Hemmingsen	Sacked	3 June 2019[16]	Per V. Hansen Dos Santos	3 July 2019[17]	Pre-Season
Viborg FF	Steffen Højer	Sacked	3 June 2019[18]	Jacob Neestrup	20 June 2019[19]	Pre-Season
Fremad Amager	Azrudin Valentić	Made First Team Coach	1 July 2019	Olof Mellberg	1 July 2019[20]	Pre-Season
Næstved BK	Per V. Hansen Dos Santos	Sacked	5 August 2019[21]	Fernando De Argila	7 August 2019[22]	12th
BK Fremad Amager	Olof Mellberg	Signed by Helsingborgs IF	3 September 2019[23]	Azrudin Valentić	3 September 2019[24]	7th
FC Roskilde	Christian Iversen	Resigned	9 September 2019[25]	Martin Jungsgaard	9 September 2019[26]	12th
Kolding IF	Anders Jensen	Sacked	11 November 2019[27]	Morten Mølkjær	19 December 2019[28]	4th
Næstved BK	Fernando De Argila	Sacked	18 November 2019[29]	Maximilian Dentz	1 January 2020[30]	11th
HB Køge	Morten Karlsen	Mutual consent	1 December 2019[31]	Aurelijus Skarbalius	1 January 2020[32]	7th
Nykøbing FC	Brian Rasmussen	Made First Team Coach	7 January 2020[33]	Claus Jensen	7 January 2020	9th
Næstved BK	Maximilian Dentz	Sacked	22 June 2020[34]	Kenneth Gangsted	22 June 2020	11th
Vendsyssel FF	Johnny Mølby	Sacked	15 July 2020[35]	Lasse Stensgaard	15 July 2020[36]	6th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or Relegation
1	Vejle BK (C)	33	20	8	5	63	31	+32	68	Promotion to Danish Superliga
2	Viborg FF	33	17	8	8	66	44	+22	59
3	FC Fredericia	33	15	7	11	60	51	+9	52
4	BK Fremad Amager	33	13	10	10	45	45	0	49
5	Skive IK	33	13	9	11	46	46	0	48
6	Kolding IF	33	13	8	12	50	49	+1	47
7	Vendsyssel FF	33	12	8	13	35	39	−4	44
8	Hvidovre IF	33	10	11	12	46	46	0	41
9	HB Køge	33	9	13	11	43	47	−4	40
10	Nykøbing FC (R)	33	7	12	14	46	63	−17	33	Relegation to Danish 2nd Divisions
11	FC Roskilde (R)	33	8	7	18	43	58	−15	31
12	Næstved BK (R)	33	5	11	17	29	50	−21	26

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

Results

First half of the season

Home \ Away	FRE	ROS	AMA	HBK	HVI	KIF	NYK	NST	SKI	VEJ	VEN	VIB
FC Fredericia	—	2–0	1–2	2–2	3–2	4–3	2–2	3–1	0–2	1–2	1–2	1–3
FC Roskilde	1–2	—	2–1	2–3	0–2	1–0	3–1	4–0	1–1	0–4	2–0	0–2
BK Fremad Amager	4–2	2–1	—	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–3	1–0	0–0	2–2	3–0	1–2
HB Køge	1–3	2–1	3–1	—	1–1	1–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–0	2–0	2–1
Hvidovre IF	2–3	3–2	0–0	2–2	—	1–2	1–0	3–1	4–2	0–1	1–1	0–1
Kolding IF	1–2	4–3	0–0	0–2	2–1	—	3–1	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–2	3–1
Nykøbing FC	0–5	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	3–2	—	0–1	4–2	0–0	0–3	1–2
Næstved BK	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	0–2	0–0	—	1–0	2–3	3–0	1–3
Skive IK	2–2	1–3	2–1	1–1	2–1	0–2	3–3	3–1	—	0–0	1–3	0–2
Vejle BK	0–1	2–0	4–0	1–0	3–0	3–0	2–4	1–1	2–1	—	1–0	4–1
Vendsyssel FF	0–1	2–0	0–1	2–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–3	—	1–0
Viborg FF	2–2	3–0	5–0	0–0	1–1	1–2	3–0	2–1	1–1	3–4	1–1	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of the season

Home \ Away	FRE	ROS	AMA	HBK	HVI	KIF	NYK	NST	SKI	VEJ	VEN	VIB
FC Fredericia	—	—	3–1	—	1–2	2–0	2–2	3–2	—	—	2–4	—
FC Roskilde	1–0	—	—	2–2	—	—	2–2	—	2–2	—	1–3	—
BK Fremad Amager	—	2–0	—	—	—	—	4–0	1–0	0–0	4–1	—	2–2
HB Køge	2–2	—	0–1	—	—	1–0	—	2–2	—	2–1	—	—
Hvidovre IF	—	0–0	3–0	1–1	—	—	—	—	0–2	—	—	1–4
Kolding IF	—	2–2	2–2	—	0–2	—	—	—	2–1	0–1	—	—
Nykøbing FC	—	—	—	0–1	1–1	2–2	—	2–1	—	—	0–2	—
Næstved BK	—	0–2	—	—	0–2	0–1	—	—	—	1–1	0–0	2–2
Skive IK	1–0	—	—	3–2	—	—	3–2	2–0	—	—	—	0–1
Vejle BK	2–0	4–1	—	—	5–3	—	1–0	—	1–2	—	—	1–1
Vendsyssel FF	—	—	0–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	—	—	0–1	0–2	—	—
Viborg FF	0–2	4–2	—	4–2	—	0–2	4–3	—	—	—	4–1	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.