Swedish Professional Football Leagues was founded in 1928 (under the name
Föreningen Svenska Serien Division 1) as a counterpart to the Swedish Football Association, with which top division clubs did not have a well-functioning relationship at that time. The organisation was initially only for clubs playing in the top division Allsvenskan, but in 1939 it was changed so that former top division clubs relegated to
Division 2 could remain members. The current name of the organisation was adopted in 1972, and the membership at the time included 14 Allsvenskan clubs, 28 clubs playing in Division 2 and an additional five clubs playing in the third division,
Division 3. From 1986 on, it was decided to only give membership to clubs either playing in the top division or the second division (then called
Division 1, which became
Superettan in 2000). ==Footnotes==