Östersunds FK facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Östersunds FK

Full name	Östersunds Fotbollsklubb
Short name	ÖFK
Founded	31 October 1996; 28 years ago (31 October 1996)
Ground	Jämtkraft Arena, Östersund
Ground Capacity	8,545
Chairman	Peja Lindholm
Head coach	Thomas Gabrielsson Fredrik Åsmund Eliassen
League	Superettan
2024	Superettan, 14th of 16
Home colours Away colours

Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, often called Östersunds FK or just ÖFK, is a professional football club from Östersund, Sweden. They play in the Superettan, which is the second-highest league in Swedish football. The club was started in 1996 when several local teams joined together.

ÖFK plays its home games at Jämtkraft Arena. The team's colors are red and black, which you can see on their logo and uniforms. For many years, the club played in the third tier of Swedish football. But in 2013, they moved up to the Superettan. Then, in 2016, Östersunds FK reached the top league, Allsvenskan, for the very first time! A big moment for the club was winning the Svenska Cupen in 2017. This win allowed them to play in the UEFA Europa League, a major European competition. In 2021, the club was moved back down to the Superettan.

How ÖFK Started and Grew

Östersunds FK was formed in 1996. Three local clubs, Ope IF, IFK Östersund, and Östersund/Torvalla FF, decided to merge. Their goal was to create a stronger team that could play in Sweden's top two football leagues. The next year, another club, Frösö IF, also joined them.

The new club began playing in the third tier of Swedish football in 1997. In the early 2000s, ÖFK started to work with English football. In 2007, they teamed up with Swansea City from Wales. Östersunds FK would borrow young players from Swansea. Swansea City even came to Östersund to play the first game at the new Jämtkraft Arena.

Rising Through the Ranks

After a tough season in 2010, ÖFK was moved down to the fourth tier. But things soon changed! In 2011, Daniel Kindberg returned to help the club. They also hired a young English coach named Graham Potter. He found talented players, and the team quickly won both the fourth tier and then the third tier in a row. This meant ÖFK was promoted to the Superettan for the 2013 season. They finished 10th in their first year in the second league.

On October 27, 2015, ÖFK made history by getting promoted to the Allsvenskan, Sweden's top league, for the first time ever!

Playing in Europe: The Europa League Journey

In 2017, Östersunds FK won their first big trophy, the Svenska Cupen. They beat IFK Norrköping 4–1 in the final. This win meant they would play in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, which was their first time in a European competition!

Their European adventure was amazing. On July 13, 2017, ÖFK surprised everyone by beating the strong Turkish team Galatasaray 2–0 at home. They then drew 1–1 in Istanbul, which meant they knocked Galatasaray out of the competition! Two goals from Saman Ghoddos helped them beat PAOK on August 24. This win sent ÖFK into the group stage of the Europa League. They were the only Swedish team to reach this stage that season.

ÖFK did very well in the group stage, losing only one game. They finished second in a tough group with teams like Athletic Bilbao and Hertha Berlin. This made them the first Swedish club to get past the Europa League group stage. In the next round, they played against the famous English team Arsenal. ÖFK won 2–1 away from home, which was a huge achievement! However, they lost the first game 3–0, so they were eliminated from the competition with a total score of 4–2.

Changes and Challenges

On June 11, 2018, coach Graham Potter left Östersunds FK to become the manager of Swansea City. He had been with ÖFK for eight successful seasons.

On October 31, 2021, ÖFK was moved down from the Allsvenskan after losing to Varberg BoIS. In the 2022 season, Östersunds FK just managed to avoid being moved down from the Superettan. They finished 14th and had to play extra games to stay in the league, which they did. Östersund played six seasons in the Allsvenskan before they were moved down.

ÖFK's European Football Record

Östersunds FK has played in the UEFA Europa League. Here's a quick look at their overall record in European games:

Important European Matches

Here are some of ÖFK's matches in the Europa League:

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Galatasaray	2–0	1–1	3–1
		3Q	Fola Esch	1–0	2–1	3–1
		PO	PAOK	2–0	1–3	3–3 (a)
		Group J	Athletic Bilbao	2–2	0–1	2nd
			Hertha BSC	1–0	1–1
			Zorya Luhansk	2–0	2–0
		R32	Arsenal	0–3	2–1	2–4

ÖFK's UEFA Ranking

This list shows Östersunds FK's current position in the UEFA club rankings:

Rank	Team	Points
89	Malmö FF	16.000
116	Torino FC	12.330
117	HNK Rijeka	10.500
118	AEK Larnaca FC	10.000
119	Östersunds FK	10.000
120	FC Sheriff Tiraspol	10.000
121	Osmanlispor	8.000
145	AIK	6.000
187	IFK Norrköping	3.975
188	BK Häcken	3.975

Players of ÖFK

Current Team Squad

Here are the players currently on the Östersunds FK first team:

No. Position Player 1 GK Aly Keita (captain) 3 DF Chrisnovic N'sa 4 DF Kristian Novak 5 DF Sunday Anyanwu 6 DF Jakob Hedenquist 7 MF Nebiyou Perry 8 MF Erick Brendon 9 FW Sebastian Karlsson Grach 10 FW Simon Marklund 11 MF Mykola Musolitin 12 GK Adam Ingi Benediktsson 13 DF Onahi Ogbu 14 FW Arquimides Ordóñez (on loan from Cincinnati)

No. Position Player 15 MF Jamie Hopcutt 16 FW Albin Sporrong 18 DF Philip Bonde 19 MF André Nader 20 MF Michael Aduragbemi Oluwayemi 21 MF Simon Kroon 22 MF Ahmed Bonnah 23 DF Ali Suljić 24 MF Henrik Norrby 25 MF Mansour Sinyan 27 DF Ziad Ghanoum 28 MF Yannick Adjoumani 77 GK Arnold Origi

Well-Known Players of ÖFK

This list includes players who were named player of the year for the club, were top goal scorers in a league, or went on to play for bigger clubs.

Brian Wake scored 24 goals in 20 games in 2011, making him a top scorer in the fourth tier league.

Player Achievements and Records

Top 10 Players with Most Games for ÖFK

These players have played the most matches for Östersunds FK:

Nr	Name	Games	Goals
1	Aly Keita	213	0
2	Lars Oscarsson	212	10
3	Samuel Mensiro	204	4
4	Martin Johansson	193	15
5	Jamie Hopcutt	190	47
6	Daniel Westerlund	184	58
7	Dennis Widgren	179	3
8	Petter Jacobsson	172	7
9	Bobo Sollander	163	24
10	Brwa Nouri	154	23

ÖFK Player of the Season Winners

Each year, one player is chosen as the best player of the season for ÖFK:

Year	Name
1997	Paul Sheerin
1998	Mattias Eriksson
1999	Mikael Berg
2000	Lars Oscarsson
2001	Lasse Mattila
2002	Kjell Jönsson
2003	Fredrik Aliris
2004	Martin Johansson
2005	Joakim Lundstedt
2006	Erik Lantto
2007	Erik Lantto
2008	Lee Makel
2009	Bobo Sollander
2010	Christoffer Fryklund
2011	Brian Wake
2012	Petter Augustsson
2013	Samuel Mensiro
2014	Modou Barrow
2015	Fouad Bachirou
2016	Douglas Bergqvist
2017	Saman Ghoddos
2018	Saman Ghoddos
2019	Dino Islamovic
2020	Aly Keita
2021	Aly Keita
2022	Ludvig Fritzson

Top 10 Players with Most Goals for ÖFK

These players have scored the most goals for Östersunds FK:

Nr	Name	Goals	Games
1	Daniel Westerlund	58	184
2	Jamie Hopcutt	47	190
3	Saman Ghoddos	41	93
4	Joakim Lundstedt	33	97
5	Brian Wake	26	33
6	Bobo Sollander	24	163
7	Brwa Nouri	23	154
8	Daniel Johansson	21	36
8	Blair Turgott	21	68
10	Alex Dyer	19	93

Coaches of ÖFK

Many coaches have led Östersunds FK over the years:

Englishman Neil McDonald helped ÖFK avoid being moved down in 2007.

• 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)
• Kalle Björklund (2008–2009)
• Lee Makel (2010)
• Graham Potter (2011–2018)
• Ian Burchnall (2018–2020)
• Amir Azrafshan (2020–2021)
• Per Joar Hansen (2021–2022)
• Magnus Powell (2022-2024)

ÖFK's Home Stadium and Fans

Östersunds FK plays at Jämtkraft Arena. This stadium opened in 2007 with a friendly game between ÖFK and Swansea City.

Jämtkraft Arena is ÖFK's home stadium.

The number of fans who come to watch ÖFK's games has changed over the years: