with an away win against the only remaining competitor, Copenhagen. Silkeborg fans flocked to the national arena, Parken Stadium, where the match was witnessed by the largest crowd in history of the Danish Superliga, namely 26,679. The many visiting SIF fans, however, witnessed SIF scoring the first goal of the match but eventually losing 1–4. The situation before the final round was that SIF should provide a better result than Copenhagen to become champions. At home, SIF played Aalborg BK and won 2–0 on two goals by leading scorer Heine Fernandez. In Odense, OB obtained a lead over Copenhagen in the 2nd half and won 3–2 on a goal in injury time, securing SIF the championship. 2001 cup winners and relegation In 2001, Silkeborg won the Danish Cup with a 4–1 victory against league rivals AB. Behind 0–1 at half-time, the team scored 4 times in the second half of the match by Brian Pedersen, Thomas Poulsen and 2 from Henrik Pedersen. Steven Lustü, who later would become a prominent player for Silkeborg, played the entire game for AB. The following years' results were not very impressive. After the cup victory, the club sold Henrik Pedersen to Bolton Wanderers, Peter Kjær to Beşiktaş and Thomas Røll to Copenhagen. At the same time, Morten Bruun, the player with most caps to his name in the club history, retired. In 2003, the team was relegated to the 1st Division, but returned to the Superliga the following year. For two seasons in a row, the team finished eighth in the league with 12 teams, but in 2007 the team was again relegated. When former player Troels Bech returned to the club as head coach in 2009, however, he transformed the team and helped the club to promotion. Silkeborg finished fifth in the league in 2011, the best result in 15 years. 2018–19 1st Division Title In the 2018–19 Danish 1st Division Silkeborg IF were crowned champions of the First Division for a third time, ensuring a return to the Danish Superliga for the 2019–20 season following a one-year absence. Danish Striker Ronnie Schwartz was the league's top scorer for Silkeborg with 17 league goals registered; sharing the golden boot with Roskilde's Emil Nielsen. They secured the league title with 61 points, only 1 point clear of nearest rivals Viborg FF ensuring an automatic return to the Superliga. From promotion to Europe As Silkeborg