History of the Swedish Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan is on top of the tree in the hierarchy of Swedish league football. The football league was founded in1924, but only since 1931 have the winners been acknowledged as Swedish football champions. The winners between 1924 and 1930 were considered to be league winners. From 1982 to 1990, the winner was decided by playoff soccer games. Mästerskapsserien was the extension of Allsvenskan in 1991 and 1992, where the top six teams faced off in playoffs to decide the winner of the tournament. In a similar vein, the last four teams participated in playoffs which included teams from Division 1. The format was subsequently scrapped after that.
Every year the soccer season kicks off in March and goes on till the end of October. The number of teams participating has gone up to 16 from the original 14. The two top placed teams in the Superettan qualify to play in the Allsvenskan next season, whereas the two bottom placed teams in Allsvenskan are relegated directly to Superettan. The 14th placed team has to go through a playoff round against the third placed from first division to decide the final spot. IFK Göteborg has been the most successful soccer team in Allsvenskan history with 18 wins. Malmö FF is second on the list with 15 titles to their credit. IFK Norrköping and Örgryte IS share third place honours having won the Allsvenskan 12 times.
Previous Allsvenskan season(s)
IFK Göteborg won their record 18th Allsvenskan football title in 2007. They were closely followed by Kalmar FF, but scraped through by a point. The 2008 Allsvenskan football season was again a closely fought battle. The top two teams Kalmar FF and Elfsborg were going neck and neck till the end. Kalmar FF went on to win the title edging past Elfsborg by one point. Patrik Ingelsten scored 19 goals for Kalmar FF, making him the top marksman that season. Ljungskile, GIF Sundsvall and IFK Norrköping were the three soccer teams to be relegated to Superettan, having only been promoted to Allsvenskan in the same season.
