This article is about the Danish men's association football third-tier league tournament. For the women's second-tier league tournament, seeDanish Women's 2nd Division.
The2nd Division (Danish:Danmarksturneringens 2. division[nb 1] orHerre-DM 2. division[nb 1]) is a professionalassociation football league for men and the third division in Denmark.[5][6][7] It is organised by theDivisionsforeningen on behalf of theDanish Football Association (Danish FA; DBU) as part of the nationwideDanmarksturneringen i fodbold (Herre-DM) and is positioned between the second-tier1st Division and the fourth-tierDanish 3rd Division in theDanish football league system.[8] Clubs in the league must meet certain criteria concerning appropriate facilities and finances.[9] All of the 2nd Division clubs qualify for the proper rounds of theDBU Pokalen. The number ofpromoted and relegated clubs has fluctuated over the years. In the2020–21 season two clubs were directly promoted to the 1st Division, while eight teams were relegated to the Denmark Series.[2] From the 2021–22 season, it was changed to two promotion spots and two relegation spots.[2]
A third-tier league under the auspices of the Danish FA was introduced to the nationwide league structure in 1936, beginning with two divisions of four clubs each in the1936–37 season.[1] Due toWorld War II, the league was placed on hiatus for five years until its reintroduction as a single division with 10 clubs in 1945. In the 1966 season, the league was expanded to include two divisions, coinciding with the dissolution of theKvalifikationsturneringen and the introduction of the new fourth-tier,Denmark Series (Danmarksserien). It returned to a single division format in the 1975 season, before once again converting to a two division format in 1986, a single division in 1997 and a two division format in 2005. From 1991 to 1997 the league was played as semi-annual seasons, when the higher ranking leagues switched to an autumn-spring calendar match schedule while the lower ranking leagues continued with spring-autumn tournaments — a revisit to the same calendar schedule that had been played until 1956. In 2015–2020, the league consisted of two stages; a preliminary round split into 2–3 groups with clubs qualifying for either a promotion or relegation round.
From 1936–37 and 1939–40, 1966 until 1964 and in the 1986 season, a championship final was played at the end of the season to determine the overall league winners between the west and east groups. The short livedKvalifikationsligaen in the springs from 1992 to 1995 meant that the league's status as the third-tier inDanish football was dropped one level to temporarily become the fourth best level. In the seasons from 2005–06 to 2010–11, the tournament rules were changed to allow a maximum of eightSuperligareserve teams to compete in the third-tier — the reserve teams were eventually moved to the2011–12 Danish Reserve League upon its creation. The division has changed its name on several occasions. It has previously been known asIII Serie (1936–37 until 1939/40; or3. Serie),3. Division (1945/46 until 1990; or3. division[10]), before settling with the current name beginning with the 1991-season. Due to asponsorship arrangement, it was known asKanal Sport Divisionen during the2015–16 season, and since the 2025–26 season asCampoBet 2. Division.[3][11]
The decision to establish a nationwide third-tier league as part of theDanmarksturneringen i fodbold below the second-tierII Serie was made at the annual convention of the Danish FA (DBU), in 1936.[1] The league started its operation in August 1936, when III Serie was created with two geographically divided constituencies, each including four teams playing two matches at home and away. Out of the eight teams, only one gained promotion to the second-tier the following season, following the promotion play-offs at the end of the season, which at the same time determined the overall league champions. With theoccupation of Denmark during World War II, the Danmarksturneringen's three league structure was disbanded in 1940.
(L–R) The trophies presented to the winners of the third division in the1964 and2010–11 (west) seasons.
In 1945, a Danish third level was reintroduced as the bufferzone between the elite teams and the amateur clubs with 10 teams.[1] One team gained promotion to 2nd Division, and one relegated to the club's respective regional football league. In 1951, The 3rd Division was expanded to 12 teams and to teams was relegated to a newly created Kvalifikationsturneringen – the new buffer between the Danmarksturneringen and the regional football leagues. The structure was changed again in 1966. Two geographical groups with 12 teams each were created. Only one team could be promoted and two teams be relegated. The Danish 2nd Division West would for the most part consist of teams from the Jutland FA and Funen FA, while Danish 2nd Division East would consist of teams from the Zealand FA, Copenhagen FA, Lolland-Falster FA and Bornholm FA. In 1975, the number of teams in the league got expanded and the 3rd Division rolled into one row with 16 teams, where two teams could be promoted to the 2nd Division and teams relegated to theDenmark Series.
The Danish top-flight league was renamed in 1991, which included the second-tier being renamed to 1st Division and the third-tier becoming known as the 2nd Division. From 2005, the 2nd Division was changed to have 14 teams each in the East and West pools, with three teams to promote. In addition, access of up to eight reserve teams of theDanish Superliga clubs was allowed in the 2nd Division. The number of teams in the 2nd Division was increased to 16 teams in 2008. In 2010, the reserve teams were removed from the 2nd Division following the foundation of theDanish Reserve League. The 2nd Division did change again in 2015, that reduced the number of teams in the 2nd Division from 32 to 24. 3 pools with each 8 teams was created, where the four top finishers in each pool would be playing for promotion to the 1st Division, with promotion for the two best-placed teams. Also, there would be a relegation pool for the 12 teams that end up as 5–8 in one of their 3 pools, where the 9–12th places relegated to the Denmark Series.
In 2011, it was announced that for the first time, the third-tier would be given its own logo, taking effect at the start of the 2011–12 season. The league changed its official name to Kanal Sport Divisionen for the 2015–16 season, when the naming rights were acquired by the Danish sports TV-channelKanal Sport.[3] In June 2025, Soft2Bet, the operator of CampoBet and Betinia, chose to become the title sponsor of the second, third, and fourth divisions starting from the 2025/26 season and for at least two seasons.[11]
Former and current logos for the 2nd Division.
2. division (2011–12 until 2014–15) No league sponsor
Kanal Sport Divisionen (2015–16 season)[3] Sponsor:Kanal Sport
2. division (2016–17 until 2024–25) No league sponsor
^abThe spelling reform of 1948 by theDanish Ministry of Education, known as the 'Retskrivningsbekendtgørelsen fra 1948', meant that theDanish language moved away the practice of writing common nouns with a capital letter. This meant that the spelling of the leagues' official names changed from1. Division,2. Division and3. Division to1. division,2. division and3. division, beginning with the 1950 season.
^abcdefghIn the summer of 1991, one of the several changes to the format of theDanmarksturneringen i fodbold was the introduction of theKvalifikationsligaen in the spring section of the season, which meant that the levels below in the overallDanish football league system was dropped by one, while at the same time being increased by one in the autumn season. This tournament format lasted until the spring of 1995.
^abcd"Om 2. division".divisionsforeningen.dk (in Danish). Foreningen af Divisionsklubber i Danmark. Archived fromthe original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved5 August 2019.
^Hoffskov, Ole (2 May 2020)."Ingen planer om corona-test i 2. division" (in Danish).Tipsbladet. Archived fromthe original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved30 May 2020.Hvor spillerne i Superligaen og NordicBet Ligaen er på kontrakt, er langt hovedparten af spillerne i Danmarks tredjebedste række amatørspillere og har et arbejde, de passer ved siden af fodbolden.
^Marboe, Mads Bye (8 May 2020)."Pessimistisk Hillerød-boss: 2. division kræver en helt anden model" (in Danish).Tipsbladet / tipsbladet.dk. Archived fromthe original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved30 May 2020.På grund af de mange forskellige setups i rækken vil det kræve, at man går anderledes til værks end i Superligaen og NordicBet Ligaen [..] I Hillerød er spillerne amatører. Omvendt har eksempelvis FC Helsingør fuldtidsprofessionelle spillere.
^Lundberg, Knud (1988). "Danmarksturneringen: 1964: 3. Division".Dansk Fodbold 3 - Gennembruddet til verdensklasse (in Danish). Copenhagen: Forlaget Rhodos;Dansk Boldspil-Union. p. 176.ISBN87-7245-260-9.
^"Resultater og stillinger fra hele landet: 3. division: Stillingen: Topscorere: 3. division". Sport (in Danish). Vol. 93, no. 318.Aktuelt. 16 November 1964. p. 19.
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![Kanal Sport Divisionen (2015–16 season)[3] Sponsor: Kanal Sport](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKanal_Sport_Divisionen_2015.svg)
