Read the story of Skjern Handball - a green journey from 1992
Skjern Handball was formed as a community between the two parent associations Skjern Gymnastics Association from 1916 and Skjern KFUM and KFUK's Sports Association. The community was established in 1992 with the aim of promoting the sport of handball in Skjern and West Jutland.
At that time, the team played in the 2nd division. With more professionalism and more tasks to be handled, a group of volunteers was formed under the name "The Gang," which continues to handle tasks around Skjern Handball's matches.
In 1998, Anders Dahl-Nielsen was hired as a coach, and already in the first season, Skjern Handball secured promotion to the country's top league.
The surprises and hard work continued, culminating in the club's first Danish Championship in 1998/99 with a victory over Kolding IF. In the same season, Skjern Handball also won the Cup Championship with a win over F.I.F.
In the following season 1999/00, Skjern Handball participated for the first time in the Champions League, where they qualified for the group stage after 2 preliminary rounds. The opponents were Horn Sittardia (NL), Badel Zagreb (Cro) and TV Suhr (CH) and Zaporozhye (Ukr). Skjern Handball finished 3rd in the group stage in this first European adventure.
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Photo: Anders Dahl-Nielsen with the Danish Championship trophy 1999/00 in front of Skjern Hall. The title came after two victories of 23-18 and 24-21.
2000/01 was initiated with a Super Cup, where Skjern Handball won in Skjern Hall 1 against GOG. The same season, the club participated again in the European Cup, and between 2000-09, Skjern Handball played in one of the European tournaments 7 times.
The success in the European Cup culminated when they won the Challenge Cup in both 2001/02 and 2002/03. The final matches were played in the round hall at Messecenter Herning against Macedonian Pelister Bitola and Greek Filippos Verias with 5,000 happy spectators in the stands.
In the 2003/04 season, we participated for the second time in the Champions League and faced, among others, Fotex Veszprem and German SC Magdeburg.
On 20/2-2005, we inaugurated Skjern Bank Arena. New beautiful facilities with space for 2,400 spectators and plenty of seating for our loyal supporters.
2005/06 ended with Skjern Handball winning DM Bronze. The bronze match was match no. 401 for Claus B. Hansen - and his last match for Skjern Handball.
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2002/03: Captain Jesper Jensen lifts the Challenge Cup trophy after an overall victory over Greek Filippos Verias by 62–55. Skjern Handball remains the only Danish men's team to have won a European tournament
The first season in this period culminated in Bronze medals after victory over Nordsjælland Handball. The year is characterized by fantastic Europa Cup experiences, including participation in the world's finest club tournament, the Champions League, for 3 seasons.
In 2012/13, it was again Bronze medals in the Danish league. The Bronze match was simultaneously the last match for club icon and captain Jesper Jensen (457 matches). The following season (2013/14), Skjern Handball could once again adorn themselves with the Cup Champion title after victory over TTH Holstebro.
Before the Champions League experiences, Skjern Handball was one of 4 European teams at the EHF Final4 in Berlin in the 2014/15 season, where they secured Bronze medals. Head coach Ole Nørgaard later stood at the helm of the team when we ended with DM Silver after thrilling finals.
That same season, Skjern Bank Arena was expanded to now 3,264 seats with new beautiful sponsor facilities, TV platform, and locker rooms.
2015/16 offered Champions League experiences, and this was the start of 3 consecutive seasons with Champions League participation. In 2015/16 we celebrated Cup triumph again - this time with a victory over BSH. The following season (2016/17) crowned the effort again with medals; DM Silver.
The 2017/18 season began with a victory in the Super Cup, and ended with the DM title, which was won over BSH. Along the way in this season, triumphs were celebrated on the Champions League journey with, among others, a combined victory over mighty Veszprem. The adventure ended after a great effort against French HBC Nantes.
The year concludes with DM bronze after victory over BSH.
2010/2019: 6 x European handball, 4 x titles, 4 x silver, and 4 x bronze.
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The 2019/20 season was in many ways a remarkable season. Participation in the European Cup ended dramatically with an early exit, where the match in Skjern Bank Arena against Austrian Alpla HC Hard went to a penalty shootout before the Austrians emerged victorious.
In the HTH League, the course was set for the Danish Championship playoffs when Corona hit the whole world and the tournament was canceled in March 2020. The last match ended up being in Aalborg - in front of empty stands, where one of Denmark's most successful handball players retired.
2020/21: Corona continued its campaign, and the tournament was also marked by it. Most matches were held without spectators, and sportingly it again resulted in matches in the EHF European League. This time, it was French Montpellier HB that put a stop to the green journey in the qualifying rounds. The HTH League offered participation in the Danish Championship playoffs, where they secured a 3rd place, resulting in no participation in the medal matches. Through a victory over Skanderborg Handball, Skjern Handball qualified for the Final4, which took place in Boxen, Herning on June 19-20, 2021. The first day resulted in a loss to Mors-Thy Handball, who later won the Cup Masters title. In the match for Cup bronze, Skjern Handball defeated GOG Handball.
2021/22: Skjern Handball participated again in the Danish Championship playoffs, where it was the match for 3rd place against BSH. BSH won the bronze medals in the 3rd and deciding match. There was no European Cup participation in this season. The Cup tournament was stopped in Gudme, where GOG Handball won with a score of 31-28.
2022/23: Back in the European Cup - this time with participation in the EHF European League, where Skjern Handball progressed securely from the group stage. Here, they faced the eventual EHF title winners, German Füchse Berlin, who won the two matches against Skjern. The Cup tournament featured participation in Final4, where Skjern Handball lost the final to GOG Handball. In the HTH League, Skjern finished 4th after 3 matches against FHK.
2023/24: A turbulent season with a coaching change, countless injuries, and serious illness took its toll. BUT... everyone rallied together in the (player) bus and fought heroically. In the EHF European League, we made it all the way to the quarter-finals, where the Romanian champions, Dinamo Bucuresti, took the overall victory and thus the Final4 spot in Hamburg. In the Cup tournament, we said goodbye (and thank you) when we lost away to Aalborg Handball in December 2023, who later lost the final to GOG. In the Men's League, it looked very difficult at one point, but we fought our way into the playoffs via a 6th place. Impressive victories over, among others, GOG and Fredericia secured us a place in the Danish Championship semifinals, where we lost to Aalborg Handball in two matches - who later became Danish Champions 2023/24. 3 matches in the Danish Championship Bronze Series were converted into Bronze Medals for Skjern Handball as we won over Ribe-Esbjerg HH. A long season with many tasks - but fortunately also with the Danish Championship Bronze around our necks, as we finished on June 1, 2024.
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