Swedish football champions (Swedish: Svenska mästare i fotboll) is a title held by the winners of the highest Swedish |football league played each year, Allsvenskan.[1] Malmö FF are the holders of the record of most titles with 23 Swedish championships, the most recent of which was won in 2023. The title has been contested since 1896 in various competition formats.[2] The first Swedish Champions, Örgryte IS, were declared in 1896 when the club won the cup tournament Svenska Mästerskapet. This happened before there existed any Swedish national association, which was created in 1904. The winners of Svenska Mästerskapet between 1896 and 1904 have retroactively been declared holders of the title by the Swedish Football Association (SvFF). After the creation of the SvFF, the title continued to be held by the winners of Svenska Mästerskapet until 1925, even though a Swedish first national league, Svenska Serien, started in 1910.[3] Svenska Mästerskapet was discontinued in 1925.
In 1924–25, a new Swedish national league was created, Allsvenskan, but the Swedish Champions title was not awarded to the winners of that league until 1930 - 31.[4] Since then, the winners of Allsvenskan are considered Swedish Champions, with a few exceptions. Between 1982 and 1990, the title was given to the winners of a play-off held after Allsvenskan was finished, and the following two years, 1991 and 1992, the title was given to the winners of Mästerskapsserien, a continuation league with the best teams from Allsvenskan.[5]
The current trophy, Lennart Johanssons Pokal, has been awarded since 2001, with Hammarby IF being the first winners. Johansson himself handed out the trophy in Sundsvall on 27 October 2001. The first trophy which was in use from 1904 to 2000 was named von Rosen's Pokal after the first chairman of the Swedish FA Clarence von Rosen. However, in November 2000 it was discovered that von Rosen had been active in the Swedish national socialist movement during World War II which prompted the FA to give up using the old trophy.[6]
| Winners also won Svenska Cupen during the same season | ||
| (number of championship titles) | A running tally of the total number of championship titles won by each club is kept in brackets. |
| Year | Winner | Runners-up | Top scorer (club) | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | IFK Göteborg (8) League winner: IFK Göteborg | Hammarby IF | Dan Corneliusson (IFK Göteborg) | 12 | |
| 1983 | IFK Göteborg (9) League winner: AIK | Östers IF | Thomas Ahlström (IF Elfsborg) | 16 | |
| 1984 | IFK Göteborg (10) League winner: IFK Göteborg | IFK Norrköping | Billy Ohlsson (Hammarby IF) | 14 | |
| 1985 | Örgryte IS (12) League winner: Malmö FF | IFK Göteborg | Sören Börjesson (Örgryte IS) Peter Karlsson (Kalmar FF) Billy Lansdowne (Kalmar FF) | 10 | |
| 1986 | Malmö FF (13) League winner: Malmö FF | AIK | Johnny Ekström (IFK Göteborg) | 13 | |
| 1987 | IFK Göteborg (11) League winner: Malmö FF | Malmö FF | Lasse Larsson (Malmö FF) | 19 | |
| 1988 | Malmö FF (14) League winner: Malmö FF | Djurgårdens IF | Martin Dahlin (Malmö FF) | 17 | |
| 1989 | IFK Norrköping (12) League winner: Malmö FF | Malmö FF | Jan Hellström (IFK Norrköping) | 16 | |
| 1990 | IFK Göteborg (12) League winner: IFK Göteborg | IFK Norrköping | Kaj Eskelinen (IFK Göteborg) | 10 |
| Year | Winner | Runners-up | Top scorer (club) | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | IFK Göteborg (13) League winner: IFK Göteborg | IFK Norrköping | Kennet Andersson (IFK Göteborg) | 13 | |
| 1992 | AIK (9) League winner: IFK Norrköping | IFK Norrköping | Hans Eklund (Östers IF) | 16 |
A total of 20 clubs have been crowned Swedish champions from Örgryte IS in 1896 until BK Häcken in 2022.
A total of 119 Swedish championships have been awarded. Malmö FF is the most successful club with 23 Swedish championships.
The 19 title-winning clubs have come from a total of 13 cities. The most successful city is Gothenburg.
| City | Titles | Winning clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Gothenburg | 36 | IFK Göteborg (18), Örgryte IS (12), GAIS (4), Göteborgs IF (1), BK Häcken (1) |
| Stockholm | 25 | AIK (12), Djurgårdens IF (12), Hammarby IF (1) |
| Malmö | 23 | Malmö FF (23) |
| Norrköping | 14 | IFK Norrköping (13), IK Sleipner (1) |
| Borås | 6 | IF Elfsborg (6) |
| Helsingborg | 5 | Helsingborgs IF (5) |
| Växjö | 4 | Östers IF (4) |
| Halmstad | 4 | Halmstads BK (4) |
| Åtvidaberg | 2 | Åtvidabergs FF (2) |
| Eskilstuna | 1 | IFK Eskilstuna (1) |
| Kalmar | 1 | Kalmar FF (1) |
| Mölndal | 1 | Fässbergs IF (1) |
| Gävle | 1 | Brynäs IF (1) |
The Swedish championship has been won by 19 clubs from nine counties. The most successful county is Västra Götaland.
| County | Titles | Winning clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Västra Götaland | 43 | IFK Göteborg (18), Örgryte IS (12), IF Elfsborg (6), GAIS (4), Göteborgs IF (1), Fässbergs IF (1), BK Häcken (1) |
| Skåne | 28 | Malmö FF (23), Helsingborgs IF (5) |
| Stockholm | 25 | AIK (12), Djurgårdens IF (12), Hammarby IF (1) |
| Östergötland | 16 | IFK Norrköping (13), Åtvidabergs FF (2), IK Sleipner (1) |
| Kronoberg | 4 | Östers IF (4) |
| Halland | 4 | Halmstads BK (4) |
| Södermanland | 1 | IFK Eskilstuna (1) |
| Gävleborg | 1 | Brynäs IF (1) |
| Kalmar | 1 | Kalmar FF (1) |