Danish Cup

Danish Cup

Founded	1955
Region	Denmark
Number of teams	104
Current champions	FC Nordsjælland (2010–11)
Most successful club	AGF (9 titles)
Website	The Danish Cup
2011–12 Danish Cup

The Danish Cup (Danish: Landspokalturneringen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. Ekstra Bladet is the main sponsor of the cup, and the official name of the tournament is Ekstra Bladet Cup.

The winner will qualify for the UEFA Europa League tournament the following year, where they (as of the 2009–10 season) will enter in the third qualifying round.

The latest edition, Danish Cup 2010-11, was won by Superliga-side FC Nordsjælland, beating Superliga-side FC Midtjylland 3-2 on May 22, 2011 at Parken Stadium.

The final traditionally takes place on Kristi Himmelfarts Dag (The Ascension) and it is always played in the Danish national stadium Parken. However in the 1991 and 1992 seasons the final had been rescheduled to Odense Stadion and Århus Stadion respectively due to the renovation of Parken.

The two clubs with most final appearances are AGF with 11 finals and AaB with 10, but with quite different success; AGF having won 9 of their 11 finals, while AaB have only won 2 finals.

Attention has been brought to the fact that the final on most occasions unpractically is played before the last rounds of the league, which can open up for speculation in the benefit of losing league games at the end of the season especially for the cup runner-up if the winner is heading for the league championship. Recently former AaB player David Nielsen claimed in his autobiography that after losing the cupfinal in 2004 to FC Copenhagen, he deliberately missed opportunities to score against them when AaB and FC Copenhagen met in the final league match because FCK would win the championship (and thereby the double) and land AaB in the UEFA cup as losing cup finalists.

Format

The 2003/04 season finale between F.C. Copenhagen and AaB in Parken Stadium.

Each club may only have one team in the tournament (their first team). If a match (except one of the two-legged semifinals, except if the 2nd match's result gives an aggregate tie, including the away goals rule) ends in a tie, two fifteen-minute extra time periods will be played, with penalty kicks if the tie remains after the extra time.

The participants

The teams are not seeded, but the lowest placed team from the previous season will always get the home pitch advantage.

Until 2005/06

• 1st round, 64 teams
  • 48 teams qualified through preliminary cups held by the regional associations.
  • 16 teams from the 2nd division (all teams)
• 2nd round, 32+8 teams
  • 32 teams from the 1st round (winners)
  • 8 teams from the 1st division (9th–16th placed)
• 3rd round, 20+8 teams
  • 20 teams from the 2nd round
  • 6 teams from the 1st division (3rd–8th placed)
  • 2 teams from the Superliga (11th–12th, the relegated teams which are now in the 1st division)
• 4th round, 14+6 teams
  • 14 teams from the 3rd round
  • 4 teams from the Superliga (7th–10th)
  • 2 teams from the 1st division (1st–2nd, the promoted teams which are now in the Superliga)
• 5th round, 10+6 teams
  • 10 teams from the 4th round
  • 6 teams from the Superliga (1st–6th)
• Quarterfinals, 8 teams
  • 8 teams from the 5th round

– and so on until the finals.

From 2006/07

• 1st round, 88 teams
  • 48 teams qualified through preliminary cups held by the regional associations.
  • 28 teams from the 2nd divisions (all teams)
  • 12 teams from the 1st division (5th–16th placed)
• 2nd round, 44+12 teams
  • 44 teams from the 1st round (winners)
  • 4 teams from the 1st division (1st–4th placed)
  • 8 teams from the Superliga (5th–12th placed).
• 3rd round, 28+4 teams
  • 28 teams from the 2nd round
  • 4 teams from the Superliga (1st–4th placed)
• 4th round, 16 teams
  • 16 teams from the 3rd round
• Quarterfinals, 8 teams
  • 8 teams from the 4th round

– and so on until the finals.

Earlier names

• 1990–1996 Giro Cup
• 1997–1999 Compaq Cup
• 2000–2004 DONG Cup
• 2005-2011 Ekstra Bladet Cup

Winners

Previous winners are:^{[1] [2]}

Year by year

1955: AGF 1956: BK Frem 1957: AGF 1958: Vejle 1959: Vejle 1960: AGF 1961: AGF 1962: B 1909 1963: B 1913 1964: Esbjerg fB 1965: AGF 1966: AaB 1967: Randers Freja 1968: Randers Freja 1969: KB 1970: AaB 1971: B 1909 1972: Vejle 1973: Randers Freja

1974: Vanløse IF 1975: Vejle 1976: Esbjerg fB 1977: Vejle 1978: BK Frem 1979: B 1903 1980: Hvidovre IF 1981: Vejle 1982: B 93 1983: OB 1984: Lyngby 1985: Lyngby 1986: B 1903 1987: AGF 1988: AGF 1989: Brøndby IF 1990: Lyngby 1991: OB 1992: AGF

1993: OB 1994: Brøndby IF 1995: F.C. Copenhagen 1996: AGF 1997: F.C. Copenhagen 1998: Brøndby IF 1999: AB 2000: Viborg FF 2001: Silkeborg IF 2002: OB 2003: Brøndby IF 2004: F.C. Copenhagen 2005: Brøndby IF 2006: Randers FC 2007: OB 2008: Brøndby IF 2009: F.C. Copenhagen 2010: FC Nordsjælland 2011: FC Nordsjælland

Total titles

Titles	Team
9	AGF
6	Vejle BK, Brøndby IF
5	Odense BK
4	F.C. Copenhagen
3	Lyngby BK, Randers Freja
2	Aalborg BK, B 1903, B 1909, BK Frem, Esbjerg fB, FC Nordsjælland
1	AB, B 1913, B 93, Hvidovre IF, KB, Silkeborg IF, Vanløse IF, Viborg FF, Randers FC,

References

1. ^ "Cup finals" (in Danish). dbu.dk. http://www.dbu.dk/turneringer_og_resultater/nationale_turneringer/dbus_landspokalturnering/landspokalvindere.aspx. Retrieved 29 July 2011. 
2. ^ "Denmark - List of Cup Finals". RSSSF. http://rsssf.com/tablesd/dencuphist.html. Retrieved 29 July 2011. 

External links

• Official website
• Cup at UEFA