IFK Göteborg

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This article is about IFK Göteborg's football section. For other sections of the club, see IFK Göteborg (disambiguation).
IFK Göteborg
logo
Full name Idrottsföreningen
Kamraterna Göteborg
Nickname(s) Blåvitt (Blue-white)
Änglarna (The Angels)
Kamraterna (The Comrades)
Founded 1904
Ground Ullevi,
Gothenburg
Capacity 43.000
Chairman Flag of Sweden Stig Lundström
Manager Flag of Sweden Stefan Rehn
Flag of Sweden Jonas Olsson
League Allsvenskan
2006 Allsvenskan, 8th
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
　
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
　
Away colours
The IFK Göteborg squad year 1905.
The IFK Göteborg squad year 1905.

IFK Göteborg is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. The club is often referred to simply as IFK, although this can be confusing as there are many other clubs in Sweden whose name has that abbreviation as a prefix. The club, formed on 4 October 1904, has won 17 national championship titles, four national cup titles, and two UEFA Cups.

With Malmö FF and AIK, IFK Göteborg are often considered to make up the classic "Big Three" in Swedish club football, with 42 championship titles among them, IFK arguably being the most successful club in Sweden, and perhaps in Scandinavia as well.[1] IFK Göteborg is also the only Swedish team to have won a European cup competition, the UEFA Cup in 1982 and 1987. They are currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan, where they have played the majority of the seasons during their existence. The last time they played in a lower division was back in 1976.

Contents

[edit] History

Main article: History of IFK Göteborg

IFK Göteborg was founded on 4 October 1904, becoming the 39th IFK association. A committee for football was created at the historical first meeting, and the first match ever played ended in a 4–1 victory against a club from the local area, IK Viking. The foundation of IFK Göteborg was important for the development of football in the city, as until that point, Örgryte IS, the largest of the area clubs, had dominated the scene. IFK Göteborg represented some needed competition.[2]

IFK Göteborg, became the first Swedish team in four years to beat Örgryte IS in 1907. IFK won the Swedish Championships for the first time in 1908 by winning the cup tournament Svenska Mästerskapet, and three players from the club were selected to play for Sweden. IFK played international teams for the first time the same year, meeting the Danish clubs Østerbro BK and Boldklubben af 1893.

In 1910 the team played its first game ever using their blue and white striped jerseys. Two years later, in 1912, team played 1–1 in a game against the to-be Swedish Olympic team, and the newspapers in Stockholm nominated IFK Göteborg as "the best Swedish football club ever".[3] IFK Göteborg won Svenska Serien for the fifth time in a row 1917. The club gained its first official coach in 1921, Alexander Brody from Hungary. The first Swedish official national league, Allsvenskan, was started in the autumn 1924, the same year as the legendary Filip 'Svarte-Filip' Johansson made his debut for IFK Göteborg. The club finished second, but 'Svarte-Filip' scored 39 goals in 22 games and won the top-scoring league.

IFK won its first Allsvenskan title in the spring of 1935 after eight silver and bronze medals since the league start. Swedish football was no longer dominated by teams from Gothenburg in the later half of the thirties, and IFK Göteborg was relegated in 1937–38, although the team was promoted back to Allsvenskan the next season. Back in the highest division, IFK finished second as it was decided to finish the league, even after the breakout of World War II.

The 1940s were a sad time for the supporters of the club and the decade was ended by IFK being relegated from Allsvenskan for the second time. The only light in the dark was Gunnar Gren, being the top scorer in 1946–47. He was also awarded Guldbollen as the best player in Sweden, and won an Olympic Games gold medal with the Swedish team in 1948. IFK was promoted to Allsvenskan after one season in Division 2. IFK competed in a European cup (the European Champion Clubs' Cup) for the first time in 1958, being eliminated in the second round. The still unbeaten Allsvenskan record attendance of 52,194 was set when IFK played ÖIS on Nya Ullevi in 1959.

The team won Allsvenskan in 1969 after a mediocre decade. The following year was the darkest in their history as the team was relegated in 1970.[4] After three seasons in the second league IFK had bought 34 players but still had not managed to gain promotion. IFK was finally promoted to Allsvenskan in 1976. In 1978, IFK hired Sven-Göran Eriksson as manager. He introduced the 4-4-2 system with "pressure and support", a system that was going to give IFK great success later on. The 1970s ended with a second place in Allsvenskan and the first gold medal in Svenska Cupen.

IFK Göteborg and their fans celebrate a goal against Örebro SK in 2004.
IFK Göteborg and their fans celebrate a goal against Örebro SK in 2004.

After reinforcing the team with several good players, IFK finished second in the league and reached the quarter-finals in the UEFA Cup. 1982 became a turbulent season, as the whole board was replaced, and the club almost went bankrupt and had to borrow money from the supporter club to be able to go to Valencia and play the quarter-final in the UEFA Cup. After the troubled start IFK won everything they could win that year, including Allsvenskan, Svenska Cupen, and the UEFA Cup, defeating Hamburger SV in the finals. During the next 15 years the club was the leading club in Swedish football.[5]

IFK managed to field a strong team for a couple of years and won gold in both the league in 1983 and 1984 and the cup in 1983. In 1986, the team advanced to the semi-finals in the European Cup but was defeated after penalties against FC Barcelona. A new team of talents won both the UEFA Cup and Allsvenskan once again in 1987, after beating Dundee United in the finals. The new junior coach Roger Gustafsson took over the team from Gunder Bengtsson in 1990, he was very successful and won Allsvenskan five times with IFK between 1990 and 1995. As IFK won Allsvenskan in 1993 they qualified for European competition. IFK advanced to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League then facing FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Galatasaray. No one really believed that IFK would survive the group and enter the quarter-final stage, despite this IFK Göteborg won the group. However, IFK Göteborg was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Bayern München after a 0-0 draw in Munich and a 2-2 draw at home.

The last years before the new millennium were a disaster, with "only" a silver in 1997 and an eighth place in 1998, after buying several expensive players without success. IFK changed coach in the middle of a season two years in a row, the club had never done this before. The last year of the decade ended with a sixth place finish. The new millennium has offered varied results, with the club almost being relegated in 2002, but also being involved in a battle for the championship in both 2001, 2004 and 2005.

[edit] Colours and badge

The traditional colours of all IFK associations are blue and white, and IFK Göteborg is no exception. The first kit used was a blue jersey with a single horizontal white stripe and the regular four-pointed star in white on the chest, used by most IFK clubs. The next few years white and/or blue jerseys without stripes was used. In 1910, the first game was played in the blue and white vertically striped jersey and blue shorts. This kit has been in use as the home kit ever since, without any exceptions. A blue and white logotype of the main sponsor ICA, a grocery store chain, has figured on the jersey front since 1982, and has almost become part of the kit.[6] No other major sponsors are seen on the kit which, together with the long time use, has made the kit a classic in Swedish football. The traditional away kit is red and white, in different styles, even though other colour combinations, for example orange and white, have been used, mainly in the 1990s and 2000s. The 2005 away kit once again uses red and white.

The badge of IFK Göteborg has its origins in the coat-of-arms of the city of Gothenburg which in turn is based on several other heraldic arms. The lion on a field of silver and blue is the heraldic arms of the Folkungaätt, holding the Three Crowns of Sweden, both symbols being used in the Coat of Arms of Sweden. This arm was granted to the city by Gustavus Adolphus. The coat-of-arms of Gothenburg sees the lion facing the sinister (heraldic right) side which often is interpreted as a fleeing lion, the normal being a lion facing the dexter (left) side, but IFK chose to have the lion facing dexter on the club badge. Adding the three letters IFK on top and the badge used since its first appearance in 1919 is complete.

[edit] Stadium

See also: Gamla Ullevi, Ullevi, and Nya Gamla Ullevi
Gamla Ullevi seen from north-west.
Gamla Ullevi seen from north-west.

IFK Göteborg's main home stadium is Gamla Ullevi where the majority of the games have been played since 1992 when the club moved back there from Ullevi (Nya Ullevi), which had been the home stadium since it was built in 1958. Games attracting large crowds, for example derbies against the rivals Örgryte IS, or international games are still played at the larger Ullevi arena. There are plans for a new arena that will be built on the same spot as Gamla Ullevi, which will be torn down in October 2006. The new arena, currently nameless, is to be finished in 2008.

IFK Göteborg has also used three other arenas as official home grounds. The first ground used, from 1905 to 1916, was Idrottsplatsen. It was an arena built in 1896 on the same spot as present day Gamla Ullevi. The arena was originally built for Göteborgs Velocipedklubb, and was primarily used for track cycling. For a short time in 1909 IFK also used the home arena of Örgryte IS at the time, Balders Hage, during a conflict with the owners of Idrottsplatsen. The third arena used by IFK was Walhalla Idrottsplats, used for a number of home matches since its opening in 1908 until 1916.

Idrottsplatsen fell into decline due to bad leadership and a troubled economy, and it was decided to totally renovate the arena with the help of outside sponsorship and funding. The building of the new football ground was started in 1915 and used the site of Idrottsplatsen as foundation. The new arena, originally named Ullervi, but later changed to Ullevi and finally Gamla Ullevi, was opened in 1916 and was used as home ground for IFK Göteborg until 1958, when Nya Ullevi was opened. Due to a number of seasons with low attendance in Swedish football in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a move back to Gamla Ullevi was decided and made in 1992.

Gamla Ullevi was demolished on the 8th of January 2007 to make place for a new stadium, Nya Gamla Ullevi, which will be opened in 2008. During construction, IFK Göteborg will play the 2007 season at Nya Ullevi.

[edit] Supporters

See also: Supporterklubben Änglarna

Before the foundation of IFK Göteborg, the dominant club in the Gothenburg area was Örgryte IS, which was considered a middle class club, and in later years an upper class club, like most clubs of that time. IFK became popular amongst the working class which created a fierce rivalry as the supporters not only supported different teams, they were also belonging to different social classes. During this time, in the early 20th century, supporters were supposed to act as gentlemen, applauding and supporting both their own team, and the opponents. This was however a hard task for the supporters of the Gothenburg teams, as local patriotism and class differences sometimes made the matches end with fights and pitch invasions, making the Swedish press consider IFK and Örgryte fans to be the scum of Swedish football.[7]

After the First World War, the rivalry began to calm down, and Gothenburg supporters instead became known as friendly and sportsmanlike fans. This was however only applicable to the behaviour on the home ground, as IFK supporters continued to behave badly when travelling by train to away matches (called göteborgstågen, the Gothenburg trains), a phenomenon that grew fast in the 1920s. The behaviour culminated in 1939, just after the outbreak of the Second World War, as approximately 1,900 IFK fans travelled to Borås to see IFK play IF Elfsborg. After a 2-3 loss, the fans fought with the Borås police, before returning home to Gothenburg and disturbing a wartime blackout exercise.[7]

IFK Göteborg supporters at the home derby against Örgryte IS in 2005.
IFK Göteborg supporters at the home derby against Örgryte IS in 2005.

As in most other parts of the world, the decades following the Second World War were relatively free from football violence and the supporter culture did not change much. Things started to happen to the Swedish football culture in the late 1960s, being heavily inspired and influenced by the English supporter culture, which flourished in the 1970s and 1980s, giving birth to some of the most classic Swedish supporter clubs, AIK's Black Army, Djurgårdens IF's Blue Saints (later Järnkaminerna), and IFK Göteborg's supporter club, Änglarna. The first try to found an IFK supporter club was made in 1969, but the relegation of IFK Göteborg from the highest league the year after lessened the interest and the supporter club was not re-founded until 1973, which is considered the year of foundation of Änglarna.[8]

As the club gained success in the European club tournaments in the 1980s and 1990s, and thousands of IFK fans travelled to Hamburg, Barcelona, Dundee, Milano, Manchester and Munich, the supporters gained influence on the club, for example by loaning money to the almost bankrupt IFK Göteborg so the team could go to Barcelona and play the semi-final in the European Cup in 1986, or by being the main force behind the move back to Gamla Ullevi in 1992. The early 1990s saw a downward trend in attendance numbers, even though the club was successful on the pitch, but the trend would turn in the later years of the decade and the first few years of the new millennium would bring the club's highest average attendance since the early 1980s.

In the 2000s, supporter culture in Sweden started to shift from being English-influenced to being more influenced by the Southern European countries and their football culture, making tifos and ultras a common sight on Swedish arenas. From being an almost uniform group of fans gathered under the same flag, the supporter club Änglarna, IFK fans now created supporter factions separate from Änglarna, including Ultra Bulldogs, Young Lions and West Coast Angelz. IFK Göteborg is currently, according to a survey made in 2004, the most popular football club in Sweden with 13 % of the football fan base supporting them. IFK has the majority, 55 %, of the football fans in Gothenburg on their side, and is also the fourth most popular club in Stockholm (after AIK, Djurgårdens IF and Hammarby IF) and the second most popular club in Malmö, after Malmö FF.[9]

[edit] Current squad

As of 7 March 2007:

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Sweden GK Bengt Andersson
3 Flag of Argentina DF José Shaffer (on loan from Racing Club de Avellaneda)
4 Flag of Sweden MF Bastian Andersson
5 Flag of Sweden DF Mattias Bjärsmyr
6 Flag of Sweden DF Adam Johansson
8 Flag of Sweden MF Thomas Olsson
9 Flag of Sweden FW Stefan Selakovic
10 Flag of Sweden MF Niclas Alexandersson
11 Flag of Sweden FW Mathias Ranégie
13 Flag of Sweden DF Gustav Svensson
14 Flag of Iceland DF Hjálmar Jónsson
15 Flag of Sweden MF Jakob Johansson
No. Position Player
16 Flag of Sweden DF Magnus 'Ölme' Johansson
17 Flag of Sweden FW George Mourad
18 Flag of Sweden FW Jonas Wallerstedt
19 Flag of Sweden MF Pontus Wernbloom
20 Flag of Sweden MF Eldin Karisik
21 Flag of Sweden FW Marcus Berg
22 Flag of Iceland DF Ragnar Sigurðsson
23 Flag of Sweden MF Andres Vasquez
24 Flag of Sweden MF Jonatan Berg
25 Flag of Sweden GK Erik Dahlin
— Flag of Sweden GK Alexander Nadj (On loan to Raufoss I.L.)
— Flag of Canada FW Ali Gerba (On loan to AC Horsens)

[edit] Noted players

The above team was voted forward as the greatest ever IFK Göteborg team by the readers of Göteborgs-Posten in 2004.[10]
Main article: List of IFK Göteborg players

Listed according to when they debuted for IFK Göteborg (year in parentheses):

[edit] Noted managers

Listed according to when they became managers for IFK Göteborg (year in parentheses):

[edit] Achievements

Main article: IFK Göteborg records
  • Swedish Champions:
    • Winners (17): 1908, 1910, 1918, 1934–35, 1941–42, 1957–58, 1969, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
  • Allsvenskan:
    • Winners (12): 1934–35, 1941–42, 1957–58, 1969, 1982, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
    • Runners-up (10): 1924–25, 1926–27, 1929–30, 1939–49, 1979, 1981, 1986, 1988, 1997, 2005
  • Mästerskapsserien:
    • Winners (1): 1991
  • Allsvenskan play-off:
    • Winners (5): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990
    • Runners-up (1): 1985
  • Svenska Serien:
    • Winners (5): 1912–13, 1913–14, 1914–15, 1915–16, 1916–17
  • Fyrkantserien:
    • Winners (1): 1918, 1919
  • Svenska Mästerskapet:
    • Winners (3): 1908, 1910, 1918
  • Svenska Cupen:
    • Winners (4): 1978–79, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1991
    • Runners-up (3): 1985–86, 1998–99, 2004
  • UEFA Cup:
    • Winners (2): 1981–82, 1986–87
  • Royal League:
    • Runners-up (1): 2004–05

[edit] Records

Main article: IFK Göteborg records

[edit] References

Print
  • CEFOS/SOM-Institutet (2004-04-27). "Svenska fotbollssupportrar". Göteborg University.
  • Göransson, Mattias; Josephson, Åke (ed.) (2005). Blåvit gryning. Göteborg: Offside Fanatik. ISBN 91-85279-03-X. 
  • Jönsson, Ingemar (ed.); Josephson, Åke (ed.) (2004). IFK Göteborg 1904-2004: en hundraårig blåvit historia genom elva epoker. Göteborg: IFK Göteborg. ISBN 91-631-4659-2. 
  • Nylin, Lars (2004). Den nödvändiga boken om Allsvenskan: svensk fotboll från 1896 till idag, statistik, höjdpunkter lag för lag, klassiska bilder. Sundbyberg: Semic. ISBN 91-552-3168-3. 
Online

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ See for example Cresswell, Nylin, pp. 27 & 47 or the all-time table at the Swedish Football Association homepage.
  2. ^ Jönsson, pp. 11–13.
  3. ^ Jönsson, p. 20.
  4. ^ Nylin, p.49.
  5. ^ Jönsson, p.50.
  6. ^ Jönsson, pp. 177–178.
  7. ^ a b Jönsson, p. 190.
  8. ^ Johansson.
  9. ^ CEFOS/SOM-Institutet, p. 7.
  10. ^ Jönsson, p. 356.

[edit] External links

Official site
Supporter club sites
News sites
Supporter sites
IFK Göteborg
v • d • e
The club History Records Änglarna
Managers Players Top players Ullevi – Gamla Ullevi
IFK Göteborg current squad
v • d • e

1 Be. Andersson | 3 (loaned-in) Shaffer | 5 Bjärsmyr | 6 A. Johansson | 8 Olsson | 9 Selakovic | 10 Alexandersson | 11 Ranégie | 13 Svensson | 14 Jónsson | 15 J. Johansson | 16 M. Johansson | 17 Mourad | 18 Wallerstedt | 19 Wernbloom | 20 Karisik | 21 M. Berg | 22 Sigurðsson | 23 Vasquez | 24 J. Berg | 25 Dahlin | – Ba. Andersson
Football in Sweden
v • d • e
National association National team List of clubs Champions
Records Women's national team List of women's clubs Seasons
Competitions in Swedish football
Allsvenskan Superettan Division 1 (N, S) Division 2 Division 3
Damallsvenskan Svenska Cupen Supercupen League system
Allsvenskan 2007
v • d • e

AIK | IF Brommapojkarna | Djurgårdens IF | IF Elfsborg | GAIS | Gefle IF | IFK Göteborg | Halmstads BK | Hammarby IF | Helsingborgs IF | Kalmar FF | Malmö FF | Trelleborgs FF | Örebro SK
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