Elfsborg won Västsvenska Serien, and defeated Halmstad BK in the play off, and was promoted to Allsvenskan for the first time. During the 1930s Elfsborg built a very strong team led by striker Sven Jonasson, who appeared in both the 1934 and 1938 World Cup. In 1936 Elfsborg won Allsvenskan for the first time, and two more titles followed soon after (1939 and 1940). During this period Elfsborg had as many as seven players in the Swedish national team. The club also fielded a bandy team for decades. In 1920, 1924, 1927, 1932, 1934, and 1938, IF Elfsborg won the Västergötland bandy district championship. In 1941 Elfsborg left Ramnavallen to play their home games at the newly constructed Ryavallen. The first game at the new ground was supposed to be a friendly between Sweden and Finland, but Finland's involvement in the Second World War prevented them from playing, so they were replaced by Elfsborg, who beat the Swedish national team 2–1. In the mid-1940s Elfsborg came close to winning Allsvenskan again, but finished second three years in a row. By the late 1940s, Elfsborg's glory days were over, and the club was eventually relegated in 1954. In 1960 Elfsborg won promotion after an impressive season with 20 wins in 22 games, and the club won Allsvenskan for the fourth time in 1961, becoming the first Swedish team to go straight from the second level to becoming champions. This was under the leadership of the legendary Sven Andreasson as chairman. In 1977 Elfsborg reached second place, but the following years proved difficult for the club. In 1987 Elfsborg finished last in Allsvenskan, and did not return to the top flight until 1997. The team that won promotion contained several future Swedish internationals including Anders Svensson and Tobias Linderoth. Even though Elfsborg won their first two cup titles (in 2001 and 2003), the club struggled to stay in Allsvenskan in the following years. In 2005 Elfsborg spent a lot of money on building Borås Arena, and bringing back former players. The investments paid off and the fifth Championship was won in 2006 – the club's first Allsvenskan title for 41 years. The year after Elfsborg appeared in the Champions League qualifying stage for the first time, and subsequently reached the group stage in the UEFA Cup for the first time. On the way there they knocked out Linfield FC (Northern Ireland) and