Åtvidabergs FF facts for kids
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| Full name | Åtvidabergs Fotbollförening | ||
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| Founded | 1 July 1907 (as Åtvidabergs IF) | ||
| Ground | Kopparvallen, Åtvidaberg | ||
| Capacity | 8,100 | ||
| Chairman | Martin Siggesjö | ||
| Head coach | Anders Bååth | ||
| League | Division 2 | ||
| 2022 | Ettan Södra, 13th of 16 | ||
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Åtvidabergs Fotbollförening, often called Åtvidabergs FF or just Åtvidaberg, is a Swedish professional football club. It is based in the town of Åtvidaberg. The club plays its home games at Kopparvallen. Their team colors are blue and white, which you can see on their logo and uniforms.
The club started on July 1, 1907, as Åtvidabergs IF. Åtvidaberg FF had its most successful time in the 1970s. During that period, they won two national championships and two national cup titles. Åtvidaberg is a small town with about 7,000 people. This makes it the smallest town ever to win a Swedish league title! The team currently plays in Division 2. Their season runs from April to November.
Contents
Club History
How Åtvidaberg FF Grew
In the 1920s, Åtvidabergs IF was a small club playing in the fifth level of Swedish football. A local businessman named Elof Ericsson wanted to change this. He became the chairman and helped separate the football part from the other sports. This created the new club, Åtvidabergs FF.
Elof Ericsson's company, Facit, employed many people in Åtvidaberg. This allowed him to give more money to the football team. Åtvidaberg FF was one of the first clubs to look for players from all over Sweden, not just locally. Back then, all players in Sweden were amateurs. So, offering new players a good job at the Facit factory made the club very appealing. This, along with hiring coaches from other countries like Kálmán Konrád, helped the club move up. They became a strong team in the second division and even played one year in Allsvenskan, the top league.
Åtvidaberg's Golden Age
The years that followed were the most successful for Åtvidabergs FF. During this time, they brought in talented players like Ralf Edström, Roland Sandberg, and Conny Torstensson.
In 1967, they moved up to Allsvenskan. Five years later, in 1972, they won the league for the first time ever! They won it again the very next year, in 1973. It's interesting that this "golden age" happened at the same time the Facit company was having problems. Facit, which had helped the club so much, was eventually sold.
Coming Back in the New Millennium
After a tough time in the 1990s, where they even dropped to the fourth division, Åtvidaberg started to climb back up. By the early 2000s, they were back in the second division. To make their club stronger and improve their money situation, they started working with Djurgårdens IF in 2003. Djurgården was a champion team at the time. This deal also meant that some Djurgården players could play for Åtvidaberg on loan.
In 2005, the chairman of Djurgården suggested that Åtvidaberg's team should move to the nearby city of Linköping. Linköping did not have a team in the higher divisions. Åtvidaberg supporters did not like this idea at all. The cooperation finally ended in 2006. This happened when the Åtvidaberg Municipality refused to cover any money losses for Djurgården.
In the years after, Åtvidaberg usually finished in the top half of the Superettan league. Then, in 2009, they were promoted back to Allsvenskan! This was their first time back in the top league since 1982. They were sent down again but quickly came back up. In 2012, they finished eighth in Allsvenskan.
For several seasons, Åtvidaberg stayed in the middle of the top league. This was thanks to three key players who stayed loyal to the club for a long time:
- Goalkeeper Henrik Gustavsson played 487 league games between 1997 and 2015.
- Defender Daniel Hallingström played 350 games and scored 29 goals between 1999–2000 and 2002–2015.
- Midfielder Kristian Bergström played 489 games and scored 118 goals between 1992–1997 and 2004–2015.
All three players retired after the 2015 season. That year, Åtvidaberg finished last in Allsvenskan and went back down to Superettan. Two years later, in 2017, the club was relegated again, this time from Superettan to the third division, Division 1.
Team Players
Current Squad
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Club Management
Coaching Staff
As of July 1, 2023
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Club Achievements
- Swedish Champions
- Winners (2): 1972, 1973
League Titles
- Allsvenskan:
- Winners (2): 1972, 1973
- Runners-up (2): 1970, 1971
- Superettan:
- Winners (1): 2011
- Runners-up (1): 2009
Cup Titles
- Svenska Cupen:
- Winners (2): 1969–70, 1970–71
- Runners-up (4): 1946, 1972–73, 1978–79, 2005
Past Managers
Kálmán Konrád (1942–1947)
Erik Almgren (1948)- József Nagy (1948–1952)
George Raynor (1952–1954)
Karl Durspekt (1956–1957)
Antonio Durán (1960–1963)- Bengt Gustavsson (1966–1970)
- Sven-Agne Larsson (1971–1972)
- Ottó Dombos (1973–1974)
- Ingvar Svensson (1977–1979)
- Björn Westerberg (Jan 1979 – Dec 1982)
- Bo-Leine Larsson
- Conny Torstensson (1986)
- Håkan Stenbäck (1989)
- Mats "Tott" Karlsson (1997 – 1999)
- Jörgen Augustsson (2000)
- Steve Creutz & Hans "Lerdala" Andersson (2000–2003)
- Kent Karlsson (2004 – 2006)
- Peter Swärdh (2007 – 2008)
- Daniel Wiklund (2009)
- Andreas Thomsson (2010 – 2012)
- Peter Swärdh (2013 – 2014)
- Roar Hansen (2015 – 2017)
- Andreas Thomsson (2017)
- Daniel Hallingström & Pontus Hydén (2018)
- Rickard Johansson (2018 – 2019)
- Tor-Arne Fredheim (2019)
- Jesper Ny (2019 – 2021)
- Rickard Larsén (2022)
- Jan Stahre (2022)
- Anders Bååth (2023 – present)
See also
In Spanish: Åtvidabergs Fotbollförening para niños
