The history of Brøndby IF

Brøndby IF was founded on December 3^rd 1964 when the two local clubs Brøndbyøster Idrætsforening and Brøndbyvester Idrætsforening merged.

The club initially spent two seasons in the sixth tier of Danish football, Serie 1, before getting promoted to Sjællandsserien in 1967. Further promotions followed in 1971, 1974, and 1977. By advancing to the Danish Second Division Brøndby IF became a part of the invention of paid football in Denmark in 1978.

Three years later, under the leadership of coach Tom Køhlert, Brøndby IF was promoted to the top tier of Danish football for the first time. The club finished its first two seasons in the First Division in fourth place but won its first official title in 1984 by beating AGF 1-0 in the Carlsberg Cup final.

12 months later Brøndby IF became the youngest club in Danish football history to win the league title. By becoming Danish champions Brøndby IF qualified for the European Cup, where the club reached the quarterfinals before being eliminated by the eventual winners FC Porto.

Brøndby IF won another four league titles from 1987 to 1991. In 1991 Brøndby IF had its most successful European campaign as coach Morten Olsen took the club all the way to the semifinals of the UEFA Cup. There, a late goal from Rudi Völler sent AS Roma through to the final 2-1 on aggregate.

Brøndby IF would not repeat its titles in the Danish First Division, now called the Superliga, before 1996. However, the sixth title would start a run of three straight championships with the first national double (league and cup title) coming in 1998. In this three year-period Brøndby IF also eliminated Liverpool FC and Karlsruher SC from the UEFA Cup, the latter after losing the first leg 3-1 at home before winning the away leg 5-0.

In 1998 Brøndby IF qualified for the Champions League for the first time, where the club was drawn against Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and FC Barcelona in the group stage. Brøndby IF began the tournament by beating Bayern Munich 2-1 but would lose the remaining five matches.

From 1998 to 2006 Brøndby IF took another two league titles (2002 and 2005) and were the runners up in the other six seasons. In this period the club also won its fourth and fifth Danish Cup title (2003 and 2005).

Despite further cup success in 2008 and 2018, league title number 11 would elude Brøndby IF for 16 years before captain Andreas Maxsø on May 24^th 2021 was able to raise the trophy after a nerve-racking season.