The 2017–18 Håndboldligaen, known as the 888ligaen for sponsorship reasons, was the 82nd season of the Håndboldligaen, Denmark's premier handball league. Nordsjælland Håndbold was the promoted team from the previous year's 1st Division.

Skjern Håndbold was declared Danish champion after they beat Bjerringbro-Silkeborg in the final.

HC Midtjylland was declared bankrupt during the season, and it was thus administratively relegated to the 2nd Division, the third tier of Danish handball.

Team information

14 clubs competed in the Håndboldligaen during the 2017–18 season:

Team Location Arena Capacity Aalborg Håndbold Aalborg Jutlander Bank Arena 5,009 Aarhus Håndbold Aarhus Ceres Arena 5,001 Bjerringbro-Silkeborg Bjerringbro Jysk Arena 2,845 GOG Gudme SU`VI:T Arena 2,265 HC Midtjylland Herning Messecenter Herning 3,350 KIF Kolding Copenhagen Kolding Copenhagen Tre-For ArenaBrøndby Hall 5,1825,063 Mors-Thy Nykøbing Mors Thisted Jyske Bank Mors Arena Thy Hallen 2,296 1,284 Nordsjælland Håndbold HelsingeHillerød Helsinge-HallenFrederiksborgCentret 1,6001,100 Ribe-Esbjerg Esbjerg Ribe Blue Water Dokken Invactor Arena 3,386 1,976 Skanderborg Skanderborg Fælledhallen 2,000 Skjern Skjern Skjern Bank Arena 3,264 SønderjyskE Sønderborg Skansen 2,200 TTH Holstebro Holstebro Idrætscenter Vest 3,250 TM Tønder Tønder Tønder Sport- og FritidsCenter 1,500

Personnel and kits Following is the list of clubs competing in 2017–18 Håndboldligaen, with their manager, kit manufacturer and shirt sponsor. Team President Head coach Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Aalborg Håndbold Jan Larsen Aron Kristjánsson hummel Jutlander Bank Aarhus Håndbold Henrik Lundorff Erik Veje Rasmussen hummel Sparkassen Kronjylland, Jytas Bjerringbro-Silkeborg Frank Lajer Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen adidas Jyske Bank, Grundfos GOG Kasper Jørgensen Nicolej Krickau Select Fynske Bank, EnergiFyn HC Midtjylland Allan Witt Jonas Wille hummel eptools, KP Industri KIF Kolding Copenhagen Jens Boesen Lars Frederiksen H2O Sportswear Jolly Cola, EWII Mors-Thy Håndbold Johannes Søndergaard Søren Hansen hummel Jyske Bank Nordsjælland Håndbold Jørgen Simonsen Ian Marko Fog hummel GF Forsikring Ribe-Esbjerg Rikke Tangaa Jan Leslie hummel fros Skanderborg Jens Christensen Nick Rasmussen Puma AVR, Skanderborg kommune Skjern Håndbold Henning Kjærgaard Ole Nørgaard Puma Skjern Bank SønderjyskE Klaus B. Rasmussen Kasper Christensen Diadora SeaDane Travel TTH Holstebro Jørgen S. Hansen Patrick Westerholm hummel Vestjysk Bank TM Tønder Uwe Nielsen Torben Sørensen hummel Sparekassen Bredebro

Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in tableRibe-Esbjerg HH Jan LeslieMutual Consent29 November 2017 Sune Agerschou29 November 201711th

Regular season

Standings

! There's a new relegation playoff made in November 2014

Schedule and results

No. 1-8 from the regular season divided into two groups with the top two will advance to the semifinals

Top goalscorers

Regular season Rank Player Club Goals1 Johan Meklenborg Nordsjælland Håndbold1672 Nicolai Pedersen Nordsjælland Håndbold1503 Bo Spellerberg KIF Kolding København1494 Jacob Holm Ribe-Esbjerg HH1465 Erik Thorsteinsen Toft Mors-Thy Håndbold1456 Marcus Dahlin Mors-Thy Håndbold1437 Nikolaj Ø. Nielsen Bjerringbro-Silkeborg1428 Morten Balling Christensen Skanderborg Håndbold1399 Anders Eggert Skjern Håndbold13410 Philip Stenmalm KIF Kolding København130

Overall season Rank Player Club Goals1 Nikolaj Ø. Nielsen Bjerringbro-Silkeborg2022 Bo Spellerberg KIF Kolding København1953 Johan Meklenborg Nordsjælland Håndbold1944 Anders Eggert Skjern Håndbold1895 Nicolai Pedersen Nordsjælland Håndbold1806 Jacob Holm Ribe-Esbjerg HH1687 Lasse Kjær Møller GOG Håndbold1678 Markus Olsson Skjern Håndbold1629 Jacob Lassen Bjerringbro-Silkeborg15910 Erik Thorsteinsen Toft Mors-Thy Håndbold158

Winner's playoff

Group 1

Group 2

Playoff

Semifinal DateHome team in the 1st match & 3rd matchHome team in the 2nd matchResults1st match2nd match3rd match1st match2nd match3rd match 10-05-18 13-05-18 16-05-18 Skjern Håndbold GOG Håndbold 28–31 24–23 38–30 10-05-18 13-05-18 16-05-18 Bjerringbro-Silkeborg Aalborg Håndbold 28–20 32–28 – ! Best of three matches. In the case of a tie after the second match, a third match is played. Highest ranking team in the regular season has the home advantage in the first and possible third match.

3rd place

DateHome team in the 1st match & 3rd matchHome team in the 2nd matchResults1st match2nd match3rd match1st match2nd match3rd match 21-05-18 28-05-18 31-05-18 GOG Håndbold Aalborg Håndbold 25–26 37–31 25–22 ! Best of three matches. In the case of a tie after the second match, a third match is played. Highest ranking team in the regular season has the home advantage in the first and possible third match.

Final

DateHome team in the 1st match & 3rd matchHome team in the 2nd matchResults1st match2nd match3rd match1st match2nd match3rd match 20-05-18 29-05-18 Skjern Håndbold Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 29–29 27–26 –

! Best of three matches. In the case of a tie after the second match, a third match is played. Highest ranking team in the regular season has the home advantage in the first and possible third match.

Relegation playoff No. 5 from the relegation playoff and winner, of the playoff match between 2nd and 3rd, from the first division is meet each other for the last seat. The winner stays in the league. the loser relegated to Division 1.

Number of teams by regions RegionNo. teamsTeams1Midtjylland6Aarhus Håndbold, Bjerringbro-Silkeborg, HC Midtjylland, Skanderborg Håndbold, Skjern Håndbold, TTH Holstebro2Syddanmark5KIF Kolding København, GOG, Ribe-Esbjerg HH, SønderjyskE, TM Tønder3Nordjylland2Aalborg Håndbold, Mors-Thy Håndbold4Hovedstaden 1 Nordsjælland Håndbold

Coach of the season Ian Marko Fog - Nordsjælland Håndbold

References

External links Danish Handball Federaration