The 2019–20 Danish Women's League (known as Gjensidige Kvindeligaen for sponsorship reasons) was the 48th season of the top-flight of the Danish Women's Football League. Brøndby IF were the defending champions and FC Nordsjælland made their debut in the league.
Fortuna Hjørring won their 11th league title, while Odense Q and BSF were relegated to the 1st Division.
Format The main round of the league is played in autumn as a double round-robin tournament between the 8 participating teams, where each team plays against each other both at home and away.
The six best placed teams qualify for spring championship play-offs. The finals consist once again of a double round-robin tournament among the six participating teams. The scores from the main league round carry over into the championship play-offs.
The two bottom ranked teams instead play in qualification play-offs, a double round-robin tournament with the top four teams of the 2019–20 Danish Women's 1st Division for two spots in 2020–21 Danish Women's League. The scores from the main league round are not carried over into the qualification play-offs.
Teams There are 8 teams competing in the regular season of the league: the 6 teams from the previous season's championship play-offs, and the top two teams from the previous season's qualification play-offs. The two teams promoted from the qualification play-offs were Odense Q, keeping their top tier spot, and FC Nordsjælland, winning promotion from the 1st Division, the latter replacing relegated team B.93.
Changes from 2018–19 1st Division to 2019–20 1st Division Nordsjælland B.93
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium Capacity Brøndby Brøndby Brøndby Stadium 29,000 BSF Ballerup Ballerup Sports Park Stadium 4,000 Fortuna Hjørring Hjørring Hjørring Stadium 7,500 KoldingQ Kolding Kolding Stadium 10,000 Nordsjælland Farum Farum Park 10,300 Odense Q Odense Marienlyst Center 1,200 FC Thy-Thisted Q Thisted Sparekassen Thy Arena 3,000 VSK Aarhus Aarhus Vejlby Stadium 5,200
Personnel and kits TeamManagerCaptain Shirt sponsorBrøndby Per Nielsen Louise Lundsgaard Hummel Arbejdernes LandsbankBSF Kasper Klarskov Michelle Madsen Joma SuperBrugsen, Dystan Rosenberg, Ballerup BladetFortuna Hjørring Niclas Hougaard Caroline Rask New Balance Sportmaster, Nord EnergiKoldingQ Anders Jensen Louise Eriksen Nike, Inc. A/S Bolind-HandelNordsjælland Brian Sørensen Catrine Gryholt Nike, Inc. Arbejdernes Landsbank, DHLOdense Q Bo Sundahl Tenna Kappel Joma FolkesparekassenThy-Thisted Torben Overgaard Matilde Kjeldgaard Adidas Skyum, Intersport, Armiga A/SVSK Aarhus Anders Nim Christina Ravn Puma Bistorante Italia
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in the tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentOdense Q Morten ChristiansenSacked27 June 2019Pre-season Steen Hansen1 July 2019BSF Peer LisdorfSacked3 October 20198th Thomas Maale (interim)3 October 2019BSF Thomas Maale (interim)End of interim spell1 January 20208th Kasper Klarskov11 November 2019Fortuna Hjørring Carrie KvetonSigned by OL Reign24 November 20191st Niclas Hougaard1 January 2020VSK Aarhus Hans PaarupResigned27 November 20195th Anders Nim1 January 2019KoldingQ Peter PedersenSacked3 December 20196th Anders Jensen1 January 2020Odense Q Steen HansenMutual consent14 December 20197th Bo Sundahl14 December 2019
Regular season League table
Play-offs Championship Points are reset, but bonus points are awarded for the placement in the main round. 10 points for first place, 8 points for second place and then 6, 4, 2 and 0.
Qualification
Season statistics Top scorers The regular season goals by the championship teams are added to the final tally.
Championship RankPlayerClubGoals1 Nicoline SørensenBrøndby162 Nanna ChristiansenBrøndby143 Caroline MøllerFortuna Hjørring134 Sanni FranssiFortuna Hjørring105 Rikke DybdahlThy-Thisted96 Sarah DyrehaugeThy-Thisted87 Emma SnerleFortuna Hjørring6 Olivia HoldtVSK Aarhus Josefine HasboBrøndby IF Janni ThomsenVSK Aarhus
Regular season RankPlayerClubGoals1 Nicoline SørensenBrøndby162 Caroline MøllerFortuna Hjørring123 Nanna ChristiansenBrøndby114 Rikke DybdahlThy-Thisted9 Sanni FranssiFortuna Hjørring6 Camilla Kur LarsenNordsjælland87 Tenna KappelOdense Q7 Cecilie FløeOdense Q9 Louise LundsgaardBrøndby6 Malene SørensenThy-Thisted
Clean sheets Rank Player Club Cleansheets1 Kathrine LarsenNordsjælland62 Kelsey DaughertyFortuna Hjørring53 Katrine AbelBrøndby3 Maja Bay ØstergaardThy-Thisted Katrine SvaneVSK Aarhus Freja ThisgaardFortuna Hjørring7 Lene ChristensenKoldingQ2 Sarah JacobsenOdense Q
Awards Player of the Month Month Player ClubAugust Nicoline SørensenBrøndby IFSeptember Cecilie FløeOdense QOctober Caroline MøllerFortuna HjørringNovember Emma SnerleFortuna Hjørring
Player of the Season Player Club Nanna ChristiansenBrøndby IF
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic On 6 March 2020, all sport in Denmark were locked down and banned during the coronavirus pandemic, until mid of April. In May, it was announced that the season would restart on 6 June and the remaining matches of the season would be played behind closed doors. The Championship round and the Qualification round, were reduced from a total of 10 matches to 5 matches, per team.
On 10 June 2020, it was decided to reopen stadiums for spectators, with up to 500 people.
Broadcasting In May 2020, the Danish Football Union announced that they had signed a TV-deal with Discovery, Inc., where a number of matches will be shown on Eurosport 2 and Sport Live, as well as the streaming service Dplay.
References
External links Stillinger og resultater dbu.dk Summary - Elitedivisionen on soccerway.com