GuldBageren Ligaen

The Danish Women's Handball League (Danish: Damehåndboldligaen) is the top professional league for Danish women's clubs. It is administered by the Danish Handball Federation, and the winners are recognized as Danish champions. Since January 2009, the league is officially called GuldBageren Ligaen for sponsorship reasons. It was previously known as TOMS Ligaen. The current title holder is Viborg HK. The Danish league is widely recognized as the strongest women's handball league in the world over the last 10-15 years, with Danish clubs having won several international trophies.

Competition format

The Danish Women's Handball League shares the season style with the men's league. It consists of 12 teams, each playing 22 regular season games. The six teams with most points at the end of the regular season advance to the play-offs. They are divided into two groups of three, based on their placement. The composition of the groups has changed since the first season it was used. In 2009/10 Group A was formed by 1, 3 and 6 while Group B was 2, 4 and 5. It was changed in 2010 to the following: Group A formed by 1, 4 and 6, Group B has 2, 3 and 5. Four matches are played in each group, in home and away form. Teams ending first and second at the regular season start with one bonus point. The two group winners advance to the championship finals, while the runner-ups will play for the bronze medal. Both the finals and the bronze matches are played as a "best of three" series.

The lowest placed team of the regular season is directly relegated to the second-best division, and replaced by the winner of this. The teams finishing 7 to 11 will together with number 2 to 4 from 1st division be divided into two groups of four teams. Group A is formed by: 7 from the league (2 bonus points), 9 from the league (1 bonus point) and number 2 and 4 from the 1st division. On the other hand, Group B has: 8 from the league (2 bonus points), 10 from the league (1 bonus point), 11 from the league and number 3 from the 1st division.

The group winners and the runner-ups will qualify for the league in the next season. The teams placed third in each group will meet each other in up to three games to play for the last spot in the league. The loser of this matches and number four in each group will play the 1st division the following season.

Previous format

Before the 2008/09 season, the four best teams of the regular season would advance to the playoffs, semi-finals and finals. Both the semi-finals and the finals were played as a "best of 3" series of matches.

Teams

The twelve teams of the 2009/10 season are:

• Aalborg DH
• FCK Håndbold
• FC Midtjylland Håndbold
• Odense GOG
• Horsens HK
• KIF Vejen
• Randers HK
• SK Aarhus
• Team Tvis Holstebro
• SønderjyskE
• Team Esbjerg
• Viborg HK

Champions

The complete list of champions since 1936:

Season	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1935–1936	K.I.
1936–1937	K.K.G.
1937–1938	K.I.
1938–1939	R.H. 33
1939–1940	K.K.G.
1940–1941	K.K.G.
1941–1942	AGF
1942–1943	K.I.
1943–1944	K.I.
1944–1945	Didn't take place
1945–1946	K.K.G.
1946–1947	K.I.
1947–1948	K.I.
1948–1949	AGF
1949–1950	K.I.
1950–1951	H.G.
1951–1952	V.R.I.
1952–1953	H.G.
1953–1954	K.I.
1954–1955	USG
1955–1956	FIF
1956–1957	H.G.
1957–1958	H.G.
1958–1959	FIF
1959–1960	H.G.
1960–1961	Svendborg HK
1961–1962	FIF
1962–1963	Helsingør IF
1963–1964	H.G.
1964–1965	H.G.
1965–1966	FIF	H.G.	IK Skovbakken
1966–1967	FIF	H.G.	IK Skovbakken
1967–1968	H.G.	FIF	K.I.
1968–1969	H.G.	FIF	K.I.
1969–1970	H.G.	FIF	Glostrup IC
1970–1971	FIF	H.G.	Glostrup IC
1971–1972	FIF	Glostrup IC	Hørsholm-Usserød IK
1972–1973	FIF	Funder GF	Næstved IF
1973–1974	FIF	H.G.	Glostrup IC
1974–1975	H.G.	FIF	Helsingør IF
1975–1976	FIF	AIA-Tranbjerg	H.G.
1976–1977	H.G.	FIF	Svendborg HK
1977–1978	FIF	AIA-Tranbjerg	Svendborg HK
1978–1979	Svendborg HK	FIF	AIA-Tranbjerg
1979–1980	FIF	Helsingør IF	Greve IF
1980–1981	FIF	IF Stjernen	Svendborg HK
1981–1982	AIA-Tranbjerg	Svendborg HK	FIF
1982–1983	Helsingør IF	Holstebro KFUM	FIF
1983–1984	Helsingør IF	AIA-Tranbjerg	Rødovre HK
1984–1985	FIF	Helsingør IF	IF Stjernen
1985–1986	IF Stjernen	Rødovre HK	GOG
1986–1987	Rødovre HK	Lyngså BK	NNfH Lemvig
1987–1988	Lyngså BK	Rødovre HK	GOG
1988–1989	FIF	AIA-Tranbjerg	GOG
1989–1990	GOG	FIF	Lyngså BK
1990–1991	GOG	Viborg HK	FIF
1991–1992	GOG	Viborg HK	FIF
1992–1993	GOG	Viborg HK	FIF
1993–1994	Viborg HK	GOG	Ikast FS
1994–1995	Viborg HK	GOG	Ikast FS
1995–1996	Viborg HK	GOG	Ikast FS
1996–1997	Viborg HK	Frederikshavn fI	GOG
1997–1998	Ikast FS	Viborg HK	FIF
1998–1999	Viborg HK	Ikast FS	Frederikshavn fI
1999–2000	Viborg HK	FIF	Ikast-Bording EH
2000–2001	Viborg HK	GOG	Ikast-Bording EH
2001–2002	Viborg HK	Ikast-Bording EH	Randers HK
2002–2003	Slagelse FH	Ikast-Bording EH	GOG
2003–2004	Viborg HK	Slagelse FH	Ikast-Bording EH
2004–2005	Slagelse DT	Aalborg DH	Ikast-Bording EH
2005–2006	Viborg HK	Slagelse DT	Aalborg DH
2006–2007	Slagelse DT	Viborg HK	Aalborg DH
2007–2008	Viborg HK	Ikast-Bording EH	FCK Håndbold
2008–2009	Viborg HK	Aalborg DH	FCK Håndbold

Medal table

The DHF gives each club tree points for a gold medal, two for a silver and one for a bronze. Thus, the all-time medal table as of May 2008 is as follows:

Team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Pts.
FIF København	12	8	6	58
Viborg HK	11	5	0	43
GOG	4	4	5	25
HG København	5	4	1	24
Ikast-Bording EH	1	4	6	17
Slagelse DT	3	2	0	13
IF AIA-Tranbjerg	1	4	1	12
Helsingør IF	2	2	1	11
Rødovre HK	1	2	1	8
Svendborg HK	1	1	3	8
IF Stjernen	1	1	1	6
Lyngså BK	1	1	1	6
Glostrup IC	0	1	3	5
IK Skovbakken	0	1	2	4
Frederikshavn f.I.	0	1	1	3
Funder GF	0	1	0	2
Holstebro KFUM	0	1	0	2
K.I. København	0	0	2	2
Aalborg DH	0	0	2	2
Randers HK	0	0	1	1
Hørsholm-Usserød IK	0	0	1	1
Næstved IF	0	0	1	1
Greve IF	0	0	1	1
NNfH Lemvig	0	0	1	1
FCK Håndbold	0	0	1	1

Top scorers

The following list shows the top scorers from recent seasons:

• 2000/01: Mette Vestergaard, FIF (133)
• 2001/02: Camilla Andersen, Slagelse FH (181)
• 2002/03: Camilla Andersen, Slagelse FH (215)
• 2003/04: Bojana Petrović, Slagelse FH (175)
• 2004/05: Bojana Popović, Slagelse FH (174)
• 2005/06: Tanja Milanović, Ikast-Bording EH (172)
• 2006/07: Mette Sjøberg, FCK Håndbold (167)
• 2007/08: Nadine Krause, FCK Håndbold (153)
• 2008/09: Grit Jurack, Viborg HK (125)