Idrottsklubben Brage, also known simply as IK Brage, is a Swedish football club located in Borlänge. The club is affiliated with Dalarnas Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Domnarvsvallen.[1] The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are green and white. The club can be seen as a continuation of IK Blixt which was founded in the early 1920s but merged into Domnarvets GoIF in 1923. Two years later the merger was split and IK Blixt changed their name to IK Brage. The club has played a total of 18 seasons in Allsvenskan, which is the highest level of the Swedish football league system. They currently play in the second highest level Superettan where the season lasts from April to November. IK Brage also recently spent time in lower divisions (Division 1 and Division 2 between 2005 and 2009) but has mainly played in the two highest swedish divisions since its foundation.
History
[2]
Creation and early rise
Brage playing in the 1937 promotion playoff game against
Djurgårdens IF which qualified them for their first ever Allsvenskan season.
In the early 1920s the two Borlänge clubs IK Blixt and Domnarvets GIF merged to form a new club by the name of Domnarvets GoIF. The motive for the merger was to combine their efforts in building the new stadium that would become Domnarvsvallen. The merger did not go smoothly however as the IK Blixt members felt that there needed to be more focus on the football part of the multisport club. This caused them to want to bring back the original IK Blixt but the newly formed Domnarvets GoIF would not allow this since they technically owned the name as IK Blixt was half of the new club. So in 1925 the old IK Blixt members started up a new football club instead and decided in a meeting that the new name would be IK Brage, named after the Norse god Bragi.
After its creation, the club quickly advanced through the divisions until it reached the second highest level after the 1929–1930 season. The club would then go on to have a very successful 1930s which included playing at the highest level for the first time ever in the 1937–38 Allsvenskan. This first golden age culminated in the fourth-place finish two years later but was quickly followed by a relegation followed by a long period of time spent in the second tier.
1970s misery and 1980s success
During the mid-1970s the club had fallen down into the third tier for the first time in nearly 30 years. After spending four straight seasons at such a low level the club brought in Rolf Zetterlund from AIK as their new player manager. During his reign the club advanced quickly through the divisions and made their return to the highest level in the 1980 Allsvenskan were they finished in fourth place, again matching their best ever finish. That same year the club also came close to winning their first major title as they finished runners-up in Svenska Cupen. The success would continue throughout the 1980s as Brage established themselves as an Allsvenskan club. During this period, which is the most successful in club history, Brage finished in the top five three times. This qualified them to compete in the UEFA Cup on several occasions where they played against clubs like Werder Bremen and Inter Milan.
Recent years
Brage was relegated to the second tier in 1990 and then again in their latest Allsvenskan season in 1993 after having spent the entire year in last place from the first to the last round of the league. After that they have not been able to come back to Allsvenskan. Things got even worse at the start of the new millennium when the club was relegated first into the third tier but then also into the fourth, a level which the club hadn't played at since its creation in the 1920s. However, they have since bounced back and reestablished themselves in the second tier of swedish football which is now called Superettan.
Players
First-team squad
- As of 2 February 2014[3]
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
|
| 23 |
 |
MF |
Martin Rosell
|
| 35 |
|
MF |
Gustaf Nordkvist
|
| 26 |
|
MF |
Rikard Karlsson
|
| 92 |
|
GK |
Tim Carsting
|
| — |
|
DF |
Daniel Björkman
|
| — |
|
DF |
Linus Bolin
|
| — |
|
DF |
Viktor Ekervik Eriksson
|
| — |
|
DF |
Gustav Sundström
|
| — |
|
MF |
Robert Hedman
|
| — |
|
FW |
Erik Törnros |
|
Available youth players
- As of 14 July 2013
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
|
| 24 |
|
DF |
Markus Bergström |
|
For season transfers, see transfers winter 2012–13 and transfers summer 2013.
Notable players
The following players have received the player of the year award that supporter group "Serik Fans" started giving out in 1996,[4] or are listed as either "club legends"[5][6] or foreign players with over 50 games at the club[7] on the official Brage website.
Managers
[8]
Achievements
League
Cups
External links
Footnotes
