Östersunds FK

Östersunds FK

Full name	Östersunds Fotbollsklubb
Founded	31 October 1996 (31 October 1996)
Ground	Jämtkraft Arena, Östersund
Ground Capacity	6,032
Chairman	Daniel Kindberg
Manager	Graham Potter
League	Superettan
2013	Superettan, 10th
Home colours Away colours

Östersunds FK is a Swedish football club located in Östersund, Sweden. The club was formed on 31 October 1996 as a cooperation between three Östersund clubs. They are affiliated to the Jämtland-Härjedalens Fotbollförbund^[4] and play their home games at Jämtkraft Arena. The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are black and red. Since its creation, the club has played mostly in the third tier of Swedish football but in 2013 Östersund achieved promotion to the second tier, Superettan, for the first time ever, after achieving two consecutive promotions.^[5]

Background

Östersunds FK was created in 1996 when the three local clubs Ope IF, IFK Östersund and Östersund/Torvalla FF came together with the ambition to create a club in the city that would be able to establish itself in the top two tiers of Swedish football. The next year Frösö IF also joined the project. The newly formed club started out their existence in the third tier in 1997 and Östersund/Torvalla FF ceased to exist as a consequence.^[6]

During the 2000s the club started taking on a British flavour and in 2007 the director of football Daniel Kindberg used his friendship with coaches Roberto Martínez and Graeme Jones to start a cooperation with Swansea City where Östersund would loan young players from the club. Swansea also came over to Östersund to play the inauguration game at the newly built stadium.^[7]

After a poor 2010 season the club was relegated to the fourth tier for the first time ever. The next year Daniel Kindberg returned to the role as director of football and increased financial backing from local companies which enabled the hiring of more full-time staff. The club also brought in young English manager Graham Potter who was working at an English university at the time. Through several successful signings, some coming from Potters connections at Nike Football Academy, the club was able to win both the fourth tier and then the third tier immediately the year after.^[8] The club was promoted to Superettan for the 2013 season and finished 10th that season.

In January 2014 the club announced that they had signed a half-billion kronor deal with the government of Libya to develop and educate Libyan football players. Under the terms of the deal, Östersunds FK will train 250 young men from Libya every year, excepting the first year in which they will receive 60 students. Those players will be taught English and computer skills in addition to sports theory and football training. The deal is expected to raise Östersund FKs yearly profits by over 50%.^[9]

Season to season

Players

First-team squad

As of 29 January 2014^[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Petter Augustsson (captain) 2 MF Thomas Boakye 4 MF Ammar Ahmed 5 MF Éder López 6 DF James Baldwin 7 MF Stefan Ilić 8 MF Jamie Hopcutt 9 FW Emir Smajić 10 MF Alexis Mendiola 12 FW Taylor Morgan 14 FW Bobo Sollander

No. Position Player 17 FW Filip Rogić 18 MF Linus Sjöberg 19 MF Dennis Widgren 21 GK Aly Keita 22 MF Brwa Nouri 23 MF Alex Dyer 25 DF Robert Hammarstedt (vice captain) 32 DF Marcus Törnstrand — DF Tomáš Peciar — FW Modou Barrow

For season transfers, see transfers winter 2012–13 and transfers summer 2013.

Notable players

This list of notable players includes those who have either been named player of the year at the club,^[12] or has become league top goalscorer, or went on to play in Allsvenskan (or for larger clubs abroad).

Paul Sheerin Mattias Eriksson Mikael Berg Lasse Oscarsson Lasse Mattila Kjell Jönsson Fredrik Aliris Martin Johansson Joakim Lundstedt Erik Lantto Alan Al-Kadhi Lee Makel Bobo Sollander Brian Wake Daryl Smylie David Accam Michael Tidser Samuel Mensah

Brian Wake became the combined top goalscorer of all six regional fourth tier leagues in 2011 with 24 goals in 20 games.[1]

Management

Technical staff

As of 20 February 2013^[13]

Name Role Daniel Kindberg Director of Football Graham Potter Head Coach Björn Hamberg Assistant Coach Kyle Macaulay Assistant Coach Video Analyst Brian Wake Assistant Coach Tomas Näsholm Fitness coach Bengt Olsson Social Guide Bengt-Uno Nilsson Equipment manager Jennifer Taylor Physiotherapist

Managers

Leif Widegren (1997) Christer Andersson (1998) Sören Åkeby (1999) Jan Westerlund (1999–2001) Hans Eskilsson (2002–2003) Ulf Kvarnlöf (2004–2005) Stefan Regebro (2006–2007) Neil McDonald (2007) Karl-Gunnar Björklund (2008–2009) Lee Makel (2010) Graham Potter (2011–) [14]

Englishman Neil McDonald helped the team avoid relegation during his short time with the club at the end of the 2007 season.[2]

Attendances

In recent seasons Östersunds FK have had the following average attendances:

Jämtkraft Arena opened up in 2007 with a friendly game between Östersunds FK and Swansea City.^[3]

Achievements

League

• Division 1 Norra:
  • Winners (1): 2012

References

1. ↑ "Brian Wake - målkung i förbundsserierna". Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
2. ↑ "Heta möten mot Vasalund". Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
3. ↑ "Swansea till Östersund!!!". Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
4. ↑ "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Jämtland-Härjedalens Fotbollförbund - Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2011-01-12. 
5. ↑ "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar 2013 - Östersunds FK". Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
6. ↑ "Östersunds FF Historia". Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
7. ↑ "Östersunds satsar brittiskt". Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
8. ↑ "ÖFK Tillbakablick". Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
9. ↑ "Superettan klubb får en halvmiljard". Retrieved 2014-01-10. 
10. ↑ "GAIS - Lagfacta - Östersunds FK". Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
11. ↑ "Truppen 2014" (in Swedish). Östersunds FK. Retrieved 13 January 2014. 
12. ↑ "Östersunds FF Klubben". Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
13. ↑ "Truppen 2013". Retrieved 2013-01-16. 
14. ↑ "Östersunds FF Klubben". Retrieved 2013-01-16. 
15. ↑ "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar - Svenska Fotbollförbundet - svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2010-11-19. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Östersunds FK.

• Östersunds FK - official site