Scandinavian Football Free Bets
The British football season is coming to an end and there's no World Cup or European Championships to keep us occupied during the summer. Don't despair though because we'll be introducing plenty of coverage of Scandinavian football over the next few months with the betting options surrounding this area. To get you in the mood for our coverage, this preview takes a look at the football scene in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and not forgetting the Faroe Islands.
We'll also be giving you the heads up on some of the bookies who offer betting markets on these leagues so that you can avail of any free bet offers that can boost your betting budget as you start.
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Denmark Superliga
12 teams compete in the Superliga which was formed in 1991 and is their equivalent of the Premier League, with two teams relegated at the end of the season. The Champions qualify for the Champions League with second and third going into the Europa League.
The past three seasons have seen three different winners of the Superliga and the reigning champions are Aalborg better known in Denmark as AaB. They won the title by six points from FC Copenhagen and it was their first league title since 2008. Runners-up FC Copenhagen were the defending champions last season having won the title for four of the past five seasons.
AaB and FC Copenhagen entered this year's Champions League at the Third qualifying round stage with AaB beating Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 on aggregate and Copenhagen winning 2-0 on aggregate against Dnipro. Neither side made it to the group stages though with AaB losing to APOEL Nicosia 5-1 on aggregate while Copenhagen went down 7-2 to Bayer Leverkussen. Copenhagen went into the Europa League but were knocked out in the Group stages.
In the Europa League, Denmark were represented by Esjberg, who lost in the third qualifying round to Ruch Chorzow, Brondby who went down 5-0 to Club Brugge and Midtjlland who lost 6-2 to Panathinaikos in the Play-off Round.
The 12-team league play 33 matches in a season. Each team plays every other side at least once at home and at least once away. The top six teams from the previous league season get to play 17 games at home and 16 away while the teams who finished 7th to 10th plus the two promoted sides play 16 at home and 17 away.
Sweden Allsvenskan
The top division in Sweden runs from late March or early April to November. It comprises of 16 teams with each side playing 30 games. The league champions qualify for the Champions League with second and third going into the Europa League. The bottom two teams are automatically relegated to the Superettan. The side fiinishing third from bottom takes on the third placed side in the Superettan in a play-off.
Current league champions are Malmo FF who have won the title for the past two seasons. They won the title by six points from Goteborg. In all Malmo have won the title 21 times. They made it through three qualifying rounds to make it to the Group stages but finished bottom of their group with just three points facing Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Olympiakos. Not such good luck in the Europa League though as no Swedish side made the Play-off round.
Finland Veikkausliiga
This is the top league in Finland and comprises of 12 teams. Their season runs from April to October. As in Denmark each side plays a total of 33 games with the top six from the previous season playing 17 games at home and the other teams 16, There is only one team relegated each season. The league champions qualify for the Champions League and the next three teams in the league go into the Europa League.
The 2014 Veikkausliiga was won by HJK who won the title by 13 points from SJK. The win was the 27th time they had won the league, no other side has won the league more than nine times. MYPA finished eighth in the table but were denied a license for the 2015 season and have since gone out of business. FC Honka finished 11th and were also denied a license and are now in the third division with a reserve side.
HJK didn't do well in the Champions League this season losing to APOEL Nicosia 4-2 in the second qualifying round. That led to them going into the Europa League Play-off round and they beat Rapid Vienna 5-4 but they failed to make it through the group stages.
Iceland Pepsideild
There are 12 teams in the top league in Iceland and their season runs from May to September. The league champions go into the Champions League with the next three sides qualifying for the Europa League. The bottom two teams in the league are relegated
Last year the title was won for the first time by Stjarnan who became only the 11th team to win the league title. They won the title by one point from Hafnarfjordur with KR Reykjavik back in third. KR Rejkjavik won the 2013 league title and were knocked out in the 2nd qualifying round by Celtic. Stjarnan knocked Motherwell out of the Europa League and made it to the Play-off round where they lost 9-0 on aggregate to Inter Milan.
Norway Tippeligaen
There are 16 teams in the Norwegian Tippeligaen league and 30 league games are played each season. The season runs from March to early November. May 16 is seen as the national day for football with games attracting higher attendances and takes place a day before Constitution Day. The team finishing top of the table qualify for the Champions League with the next two sides going into the Europa League. The bottom two sides automatically get relegated with the side finishing 14th going into a relegation play-off.
The 2014 title was won by Molde who finished 11 points clear of Rosenborg. It was their third title win in the past four seasons. Stromsgodset won the title in 2013 qualifying them for the 2014-15 Champions League but they were knocked out in the second qualifying round by Steau Bucharest. Molde were knocked out in the third qualifying round of the Europa League.
The Faroe Islands Effodeildin
The top division in the Faroe Islands was formed in the 1940s and for sponsorship reasons the Premier League is now known as the Effodeildin. There are ten teams and they play 27 games in a league season using the format seen in Denmark and Finland. The league champions go into the Champions League with the next three teams qualifying for the Europa League. The bottom two teams are relegated.
The 2014 league was won by B36 Torshavn who won the title by one point from HB Torshavn. HB have won the title on 22 occasions. more than any other team. They made it to the second qualifying round of the Champions League this season losing to Partizan.
- The Faroe Islands didn't start playing in European competitions until 1992.
- Klaemint Olsen has been the top goalscorer in the Faroe Islands league for the past two seasons scoring 43 goals in all
- Two of the teams in the Norwegian Tippeligaen come from north of the Arctic Circle