Lennart Johanssons Pokal

Lennart Johanssons Pokal is a trophy awarded annually by the Swedish Football Association to the football club that wins Allsvenskan, Sweden's highest football league. The winner of Allsvenskan is named Swedish champion of football.

Lennart Johanssons Pokal
Lennart Johanssons Pokal
Awarded forWinning Allsvenskan and thus becoming Swedish champions
Presented bySwedish Football Association
First awarded2001
Currently held byMalmö FF
Websitesvenskfotboll.se

The trophy was introduced in 2001 after it had become known that Clarence von Rosen, the man after which the previous trophy was named, had nazi sympathies during the 1930s.[1] The first club to lift the trophy was Hammarby IF in 2001 and most recently Malmö FF in 2020. Malmö FF is the club to have lifted the trophy the most times, having lifted it in 2004, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020.

The trophy

The trophy is made of silver and has a football mounted on a socle with two large handles on each side of the socle. The trophy was designed by Anja Nibbler Kothe and was inspired by a trophy that the Sweden national football team had been awarded for winning the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The trophy is named after former UEFA president Lennart Johansson, who was in office between 1990 and 2007. The thought behind the trophy was to connect the biggest trophy a Swedish club could win with the biggest Swedish football leader.

Secret inscription controversy

In 2010 Dagens Nyheter wrote an article where goldsmith Peter Gustafsson told the newspaper that his old colleague Ingemar Eklund who made the trophy had engraved "Bajen Forever" on the inside of the trophy.[2] "Bajen" is the nickname for the first holders of the trophy Hammarby IF. The Swedish football association went as far as to actually open the top of the trophy to make sure nothing subjective was engraved on the inside of the trophy. Instead of "Bajen Forever" the words "Djurgården är bäst!!" (literally "Djurgården are the best") were found on the inside of the trophy.[3] The chairman of the football association later told the media that the engravings would be removed when the 2010 champions Malmö FF received their engravings on the outside of the trophy.

Trophy winners

Nine teams have lifted the trophy since 2001. Hammarby IF were the first holders of the trophy and AIK are the current holders. Malmö FF have held the trophy a record six times.

References
  1. Thorén, Petra. "SM-pokalen ska skrotas". aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  2. Löwgren, Göran. "Lennart Johansson: Smaklöst". dn.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  3. "Lennart Johanssons pokal opererad". dn.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2011-01-03.
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