the Denmark national team to victory at the 1992 European Championship. From the 1971 season until the 2002–03 season the club had an uninterrupted run in the Danish divisions, with, among others, striker John Eriksen (1975–1977, 1991–1993). Led by head coach Viggo Jensen (1982–1987), the club experienced its third-best season in the 1986 Danish 2nd Division. At the onset of this stretch the club's spectator record also occurred, with over 8,000 spectators present at Høje Bøge Stadium on 9 November 1975 – the end of the 1975 Danish 2nd Division – where the club faced eventual promotee and regional rivals Odense Boldklub (OB). Svendborg fB never managed to participate in the highest tier of Danish football, but played in the second tier for 15 seasons the third tier for 26 seasons. Svendborg fB reached the greatest achievement its league history in the 1996–97 season, finishing third, only six points from promotion to the Danish Superliga. In a direct match for promotion at Høje Bøge Stadium against eventual promotees, Aarhus Fremad, on 9 June 1997, the Funen club lost 1–3. After suffering relegation from the third tier following the 2002–03 season, another successive relegation saw Svendborg fB compete in the fifth tier, the former Kvalifikationsrækken, in the autumn season 2004 as a result of a last place finish in the 2003–04 Denmark Series. To make matters worse the club faced financial issues after the relegations, effectively ending their venture into professional football which saw most players leave. However, the finances and equity of SfB Prof ApS, the professional division of Svendborg fB, were normalised at an extraordinary general meeting on 26 November 2004 through a capital injection from the club's amateur division, retaining the majority shareholding, and businesses in south Funen, which meant that Svendborg fB would once again be eligible to receive a license from the Danish Football Union to conduct professional football in the event of a promotion to the Danish divisions. The club eventually won their group in the fifth division during the spring of 2005, and immediately returned to the Denmark Series. In their first season back in the fourth tier, Svendborg ended fifth in the table after having competed for promotion throughout most of the season under head coaching duo Ole Pedersen and player-coach Graham Easter. After a five-year absence from the divisions, the team managed to reach promotion to the third tier again in the