IFK Mariehamn
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IFK Mariehamn | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full name | Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Mariehamn |
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Founded | 1919 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ground | Wiklöf Holding Arena, Mariehamn |
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Capacity | 1,600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chairman | Peter Mattsson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manager | Pekka Lyyski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
League | Veikkausliiga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2006 | Veikkausliiga, 5th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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IFK Mariehamn (or MIFK) is a Finnish football club, based in the Åland Islands in the town of Mariehamn. It currently plays in the Finnish Premier Division (Veikkausliiga). The club's manager is Pekka Lyyski, and it plays its home matches at Wiklöf Holding Arena.
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[edit] History
While IFK Mariehamn was formed in 1919, the sports club did not have a football section until the mid-1930s. Initially the team participated primarily in local tournaments on Åland, only sporadically playing other Finnish or Swedish teams. The team has participated in the Finnish football leagues since 1945.
Until the 1970s, IFK Mariehamn played primarily in the Finnish football divisions 3 and 4. The club reached a then peak in 1975 and 1976, when the club first advanced to division 2 and then reached division 1 (Ykkönen) the following year. After two seasons in division 1, IFK Mariehamn was relegated to division 2, where it would remain up until the 2000s, except for a few seasons in division 3 during the early 1990s.
In 2003, IFK Mariehamn returned to division 1. After only one season in division 1, the club advanced, for the first time in its history, to the premier league of Finnish football, the Veikkausliiga, for the 2005 season. In its first season in the Veikkausliiga, IFK Mariehamn finished 12th out 14 teams. In 2006, the club finished in 5th place.
In addition to playing in the Veikkausliiga, IFK Mariehamn participates in local Åland tournaments, having won the Åland cup 40 times and the Åland football championships 42 times. In recent years, the club has been the most dominant football team on Åland, having in 2006 won its 9th and 13th straight title in these two events, respectively.
[edit] Division history
- 1945 - 1971: Divisions 3 and 4 (two seasons)
- 1972: Division 2
- 1973 - 1975: Division 3
- 1976: Division 2
- 1977 - 1978: Division 1
- 1979 - 1990: Division 2
- 1991 - 1992: Division 3
- 1993 - 2003: Division 2
- 2004: Division 1
- 2005 - : Veikkausliiga (Premier division)
[edit] 2006 squad
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[edit] Notable players
- Daniel Sjölund, currently in Djurgårdens IF, and formerly in West Ham, and a regular in the Finnish national football team
- Mikael Granskog, former player in IFK Norrköping and in the Finnish national team
- Anders Eriksson, former player in Örebro SK and in the Finnish national team
[edit] External link
- (Swedish) Official website
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FC Haka | FC Honka | HJK | IFK Mariehamn | FC Inter | FF Jaro | FC KooTeePee KuPS | FC Lahti | MyPa | Tampere United | Turun Palloseura | VPS |