Danish Football Association


The Danish Football Association is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues, alongside the men's and women's national teams. Based in the city of Brøndby, it is a founding member of both FIFA and UEFA. The DBU has also been the governing body of futsal in Denmark since 2008.

Beginnings

The DBU was founded on 18 May 1889 and was the first national football association outside Great Britain and Ireland. However, it did not register games officially before the 1908 Summer Olympics, meaning that the win in the 1906 Intercalated Olympics tournament was not officially recorded by the DBU.

List of presidents

The following is a list of presidents since its creation in 1905.
PresidentTerm
Frederik Markmann1889–1890
Harald Hilarius-Kalkau1890–1894
Johannes Forchhammer1894–1897
Albert Albertsen1897–1911
Ludvig Sylow1911–1918
Louis Østrup1918–1935
Kristian Middelboe1935–1940
Leo Frederiksen1940–1948
Kristian Middelboe1948–1950
Ebbe Schwartz1950–1964
Vilhelm Skousen1965–1977
Carl Nielsen1977–1990
Hans Erik Jensen1990–1991
Poul Hyldgaard1991–2002
Allan Hansen2002–2014
Jesper Møller2014–present

DBU competitions

Men's

  • Leagues
  • *Superliga
  • *First Division
  • *Second Divisions
  • *Third Divisions
  • *Denmark Series
  • Cups
  • *DBU Pokalen

    Women's

  • Leagues
  • *A-Liga
  • *B-Liga
  • *C-Liga
  • *Denmark Series women
  • Cups
  • Cup

    Defunct

  • Landsfodboldturneringen
  • Provinsmesterskabsturneringen
  • Sylow-Tournament

    Regional structure

The DBU is separated into six regional associations, based on the former counties of Denmark:
The Faroe Islands and Greenland, which are autonomous territories within Denmark, have their own football associations and are not part of the DBU. Greenland is not a member of FIFA or any continental federation, but the Faroe Islands are a member of both FIFA and UEFA.

National teams

The Denmark national football teams represents Denmark in international football competitions and is controlled by the DBU., the teams consist of:

Women's

  • A-level National Team
  • Under-23 National Team
  • Under-19 National Team
  • Under-17 National Team
  • Under-16 National Team

    Men's

  • A-level National Team
  • Under-21 National Team
  • Under-20 National Team
  • Under-19 National Team
  • Under-18 National Team
  • Under-17 National Team
  • Under-16 National Team
  • Futsal National Team
  • Oldboys National Team

    Yearly honours

The DBU awards the best national team players each year, with an award to the best senior team player, as well as the best player in three of the DBU's six national youth teams.
;Player of the Year
Since 1963, the DBU has awarded the Danish Player of the Year in a vote amongst the Danish players. In the time of amateur football, only players in the domestic league could achieve the prize, and even after the emergence of paid football in 1978, no players in foreign clubs were eligible for the award. When the award was finally opened to all Danish players, domestic and abroad, in 1983, national team captain Morten Olsen was the first player to win the Player of the Year award taking all Danish players into consideration. The record number of award wins is four, by Brian Laudrup.
;Young Players of the Year
The Young Players of the Year Awards on the other hand are sponsored by Arla Foods. The awards were initially known as Mælkens talentpriser in order to promote the line of dairy products of the company then known as MD Foods. DBU found new sponsor DONG, an oil company, in 2004 but Arla went on to sponsor the prize which was renamed Arla's talentpriser in 2005.

National team contract negotiations

;Women's national team
In 2017, the negotiations regarding terms and salary with the women's national team broke down, causing DBU to cancel the world cup qualification match against Sweden. The team lost the match 3–0 due to forfeit, and DBU was handed a fine by the UEFA disciplinary committee. After the parties eventually reached a collective bargaining agreement, Denmark finished second in their group and advanced to the playoffs, but failed to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup after losing 4–1 on aggregate to the Netherlands in the playoff semi-finals.
;Men's national team
Following the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the agreement between the DBU and the men's national team expired, leading to a dispute over commercial rights. In September 2018, the DBU selected a temporary squad consisting of lower-league and futsal players for a friendly against Slovakia, which they lost 3–0. The regular national team players returned for the subsequent UEFA Nations League match against Wales after a temporary truce was signed. A new six-year collective bargaining agreement was finalized in late September 2018, lasting until 2024.
The badge remains in use on the Danish men's national team kits, featuring in recent tournaments such as the 2022 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024.
Equal Team Pay
In June 2024, prior to UEFA Euro 2024, the DBU and the players' union agreed to a new four-year deal ensuring equal basic pay for the men's and women's national teams. As part of the agreement, the men's team refused a pay rise to fund equal match fees for the women's team. Additionally, the men's team accepted a 15% reduction in insurance coverage to fund a 50% upgrade in coverage for the women's team and the men's U21 team.