kids encyclopedia robot

IFK Göteborg facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
IFK Göteborg
IFK Goteborg logo.svg
Full name Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll)
Nickname(s)
  • Blåvitt (Blue-white)
  • Änglarna (The Angels)
  • Kamraterna (The Comrades)
Short name IFK
Founded 4 October 1904; 120 years ago (1904-10-04)
Ground Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg
Ground Capacity 18,454
Chairman Richard Berkling
Head coach Jens Berthel Askou
League Allsvenskan
2023 Allsvenskan, 13th of 16

Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the only club in the Nordic countries that has won one of the main UEFA competitions, having won the UEFA Cup in both 1982 and 1987. IFK is affiliated with Göteborgs Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Gamla Ullevi. The club colours are blue and white, colours shared both with the sports society which the club originated from, Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, and with the coat of arms of the city of Gothenburg. The team colours have influenced the historical nickname Blåvitt. The blue and white are in stripes, with blue shorts and socks.

Besides the two UEFA Cup titles, IFK have won 18 Swedish championship titles, second most in Swedish football after Malmö FF, and have the second most national cup titles with eight. The team has qualified for four group stages of the UEFA Champions League, and reached the semi-finals of the 1985–86 European Cup. IFK Göteborg is the only club team in any sport to have won the Jerring Award, an award for best Swedish sports performance of the year voted by the Swedish people, for the 1982 UEFA Cup victory.

IFK Göteborg play in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan, where they have played for the majority of their history. They have played in the Swedish first tier continuously since 1977, which is the longest ongoing top-flight tenure in Sweden. The club won its first Swedish championship in 1908, four years after the founding, and has won at least one championship title in every decade since, except the 1920s, 1970s and 2010s. IFK Göteborg's most successful period was from 1982 to 1996, when the team prospered in European football and won 10 out of 15 Swedish championships.

History

Ifkgoteborg1905
The IFK Göteborg squad in the year 1905.

IFK Göteborg was founded on 4 October 1904, at Café Olivedal in the Annedal district of Linnéstaden in downtown Gothenburg. It was the third, but the only remaining, IFK association founded in Gothenburg, becoming the 39th overall. A committee for football was created at the historic first meeting; the association's first football match ended in a 4–1 victory against another club from the 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 Gothenburg clubs, were dominant, with IFK Göteborg offering some needed competition.

In 1907, IFK Göteborg became the first Swedish team in four years to beat Örgryte IS. They then went on to win their first Swedish Championship in 1908 by winning the cup tournament Svenska Mästerskapet, and three players from the club were selected to play for Sweden in the national team's first match. That year IFK played teams from outside Sweden for the first time, meeting the Danish clubs Østerbro BK and Boldklubben af 1893.

In 1910, the team played in blue and white striped jerseys for the first time. Two years later the team drew 1–1 in a game against the 1912 Swedish Olympic team, and the newspapers in Stockholm nominated IFK Göteborg as "the best Swedish football club ever". IFK Göteborg won Svenska Serien, the highest Swedish league at the time, but not the Swedish Championship deciding competition, for the fifth time in a row in 1917. The early IFK Göteborg team had no trainer; the club gained its first such official in 1921, when Hungarian manager Sándor Bródy was hired. Bródy was appointed manager for IFK two years later. The first Swedish official national league, Allsvenskan, started in late 1924, the year the legendary Filip Johansson made his debut for IFK Göteborg. The club finished second, but Johansson scored 39 goals in 22 games and was the league's top goalscorer.

IFK Göteborg League Performance
A chart showing the progress of IFK Göteborg through the Swedish football league system. The different shades of grey represent league divisions.

IFK won their first Allsvenskan title in 1934–35, the ten previous seasons of the league saw the club finish in the top four. Swedish football was dominated by teams from Gothenburg during these years, but IFK Göteborg were surprisingly relegated in 1937–38, although the team was promoted back to Allsvenskan the next season. Back in the highest division, IFK finished second, with the league continuing despite the outbreak of World War II. IFK won another title in 1941–42 with a strong team, but the rest of the decade saw mixed results. The 1940s team included the talented Gunnar Gren, who became the top scorer in 1946–47. He was also awarded Guldbollen as the best player in Sweden, and won an Olympic gold medal with the Swedish team at the 1948 Olympics. When Gren left in 1949, IFK were relegated from Allsvenskan the following season. As happened the last time IFK played in a lower league, they were promoted directly back to Allsvenskan after one season in Division 2. IFK went on to compete in a European Cup, the European Champion Clubs' Cup, for the first time in 1958, but were eliminated in the second round by SC Wismut. In 1959, the all-time Allsvenskan record attendance of 52,194 was set when IFK played Örgryte IS at Nya Ullevi.

After an unglamorous decade, IFK were led by manager and retired footballer Bertil Johansson to a surprising championship title in 1969. The following season was one of the darkest in their history. IFK were relegated, and unlike previous relegations they did not make an immediate return. After three seasons in the second league IFK had lost all signs of being a team from Allsvenskan, and had still not managed to gain promotion. But after hard work from board member Anders Bernmar and others to get the club on the right track, IFK were promoted to Allsvenskan in 1976. In 1979, IFK hired Sven-Göran Eriksson as manager. He introduced the 4–4–2 system with "pressure and support", called the Swenglish model, which would give IFK great success later on, and his first season at the club ended with a second place in Allsvenskan and the club's first gold medal in Svenska Cupen.

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

After reinforcing the team with several expensive players, including Thomas Wernerson and Stig Fredriksson, IFK had finished second in the league and reached the quarter-finals in the UEFA Cup as 1981 came to an end. 1982 then became a turbulent season as the whole board was replaced and the club almost went bankrupt, even needing to borrow money from the official supporter's association to travel to Valencia to play the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup. After the troubled start IFK won every competition they entered, including Allsvenskan, the Allsvenskan play-off, Svenska Cupen, and the UEFA Cup, defeating Hamburger SV 4–0 on aggregate in the finals. During the following 15 years the club was the leading club in Swedish football, winning the Swedish championship ten times, the domestic cup three times and the UEFA Cup twice.

IFK managed to field a strong team for a couple of years and won gold in the league in both 1983 and 1984, and the cup in 1983. In 1986, the team reached the semi-finals of the European Cup but were defeated on 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 UEFA Cup final. The youth manager Roger Gustafsson took over the team from Gunder Bengtsson in 1990, and his time with IFK was to become very successful, winning Allsvenskan five times between 1990 and 1995.

As IFK won the 1993 Allsvenskan, they qualified for European competition. IFK advanced to the group stage of the Champions League, where they faced FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Galatasaray. Elimination at the group stage was widely anticipated, but IFK Göteborg confounded expectations by winning the group and advancing to the knockout stage. However, IFK Göteborg was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Bayern Munich on away goals.

The last years before the new millennium were disappointing for IFK, providing a stark contrast to the earlier success. The team only managed a silver in 1997 and an eighth place in 1998, after buying several expensive players who failed to produce. In both 1998 and 1999 IFK changed managers mid-season, something which had previously never happened in the club's history. The last year of the decade ended with a sixth-place finish. The new millennium offered varied results, with the club playing a relegation play-off in 2002, but challenging for the championship in 2001, 2004, and 2005. In 2007, the first title in eleven years was secured in the last round of Allsvenskan. The club then won the national cup Svenska Cupen the next season. IFK Göteborg are still considered to be one of the "Big Three" in Swedish football, along with Malmö FF and AIK, despite only having won the Allsvenskan title once during the last 20 years.

Before the 2010 season started, the club had several strong wins against teams like FC Moscow. Many people thought they were good enough to win the Allsvenskan. However, they struggled in the spring and were almost relegated. Over the summer, they improved a lot and finished in seventh place. They played in the Europa League qualifiers but lost to AZ Alkmaar, even though they won one of the games. They lost because of goal difference. Later that year, they sold Gustav Svensson to Bursaspor, a Turkish team.

Even though IFK had a bad year in 2010, they kept their manager Jonas Olsson. They tried to improve the team for 2011, but it was still their worst start in the Allsvenskan league since the 1950s.  After bringing in more players, they finished seventh in the league again and missed qualifying for the Europa League. They did well in the Swedish Cup, reaching the semi-finals, but lost to Kalmar FF in a close game that went into extra time. The 2012 season saw a significant overhaul of IFK Göteborg's playing squad. Additionally, they appointed Mikael Stahre, formerly of AIK, as the club's new coach.  A notable addition to the roster was Daniel Sobralense from Kalmar, who became IFK Göteborg's first-ever Brazilian player. Because of the big changes, many thought IFK Göteborg would win the Allsvenskan league.  Newspapers even called them "Real Blåvitt"!  But things fell apart, and after losing nine games in a row, they were almost relegated. In the end, they finished seventh again.

In 2013, the club won its sixth Swedish Cup after defeating Djurgården. However, they lost 3-2 to Malmö in the Swedish Supercup. IFK Göteborg finished the season third in Allsvenskan. Stefan Selakovic played his 200th and last Allsvenskan match for the club, scoring the only goal. Karl Jartun became the new chairman in March 2014, and Mats Gren became sporting director in June. IFK Göteborg ended the 2014 season second in Allsvenskan. The club also won the 2014/15 Swedish Cup, beating Örebro SK 2-1 under new coach Jörgen Lennartsson, who clinched his first Swedish Cup championship.

IFK Gothenburg finished fourth in the 2016 Allsvenskan season. They also had an early exit from the Svenska Cupen, being eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 2010. Despite this, the team qualified for the Europa League playoffs. Sadly, during a home match against Malmö, an incident with a firecracker resulted in a 3-0 win being awarded to Malmö. The 2017 season was a major disappointment for the club. They finished eleventh in the Allsvenskan and suffered their largest financial loss since 2008. In 2018, despite finishing eleventh in the Allsvenskan for a second year, the team made a profit of 1.3 million SEK. This was because they sold more players than they bought, resulting in a significant transfer surplus.

In 2023, IFK Gothenburg finished 13th in the Allsvenskan. This was the club's worst Allsvenskan finish ever.

Colours, crest and sponsorship

Colours and kit

The traditional colours of all IFK associations are blue and white, and IFK Göteborg is no exception. Soon after the club's foundation in 1904, it was decided that the kit should consist of a blue and white striped shirt with blue shorts. But the design was too costly and instead a cheaper alternative was used. Thus the club's first kit used a blue shirt with a single horizontal white stripe and a four-pointed star, one of the IFK association symbols, in white on the chest. During the next few years, white or blue shirts without stripes were used. In 1910, a kit comprising a blue and white vertically striped shirt and blue shorts was used for the first time inspired by the kit of Kjøbenhavns Boldklub. This kit has remained as the home colours ever since. The small amount of sponsor logos, together with the longtime use of blue and white stripes, has made the kit a classic in Swedish football. The most common away kit has been red and white in different styles, though other colour combinations, for example orange and white, have been used, mainly in the 1990s and 2000s. The away kit introduced in 2005 once again used red and white. An almost completely white third kit with blue details was introduced in mid-2007 after requests from supporters. In the 2010s, the away-kit colours have seen much variation, including a pink shirt with black shorts, a black kit with light-grey details, the more traditional red kit with white trimmings, and a purple kit with white details introduced in 2016.

Crest

IFK Göteborg 1919
Crest first used in 1919

The crest 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 House of Folkung, and the lion holds the Three Crowns of Sweden, both symbols being used in the coat of arms of Sweden. This arms was granted to Gothenburg by Gustavus Adolphus. The coat of arms of the city sees the lion facing the sinister (heraldic left, which is viewer's right) side which often is interpreted as a fleeing lion, the normal being a lion facing the dexter (heraldic right) side, and IFK chose to use the latter on the club crest. Finally the three letters IFK were added on top. This crest has been used since it first appeared on the kit in 1919. These main elements have not been modified since then, but during the years several different designs of the crest have been used, occasionally having the lion facing the sinister side. In the early 1980s, the club standardised the design and only minor changes, such as element colours and different hues, have been made since then, with the exception of the years 1997–1999 when IFK, with Reebok as kit sponsors, used a crest with some more distinct changes to the standard elements. Details of the crest were slightly updated in 2020 to increase visibility and clarity, and the blue colour was modified. The new blue colour is the result of analysing different blue hues used in home kits from the last 40 years, and selecting the mean colour value. Before 1919 various other symbols were used, with the four-pointed star of the IFK associations featuring on the shirts until 1910.

Sponsorship

Kappa is the club's kit manufacturer since 2016, replacing Adidas, who had supplied the kit for a majority of the seasons since the 1970s.

Apart from the Kappa brand, IFK Göteborg has the logos of the following companies visible on their shirt and shorts: Serneke, a construction company; Elkontakt, an electrical contractor; Morris Law, a law firm; Atea, an IT-infrastructure company; Länsförsäkringar, an insurance company and bank; Rasta, a chain of road restaurants and motels; German automakers Volkswagen; and league sponsors Svenska Spel, a government-owned gambling company.

Serneke replaced Prioritet Finans as the main shirt sponsor before the 2019 season, becoming the third main sponsor in the club's history. The grocery-store chain ICA had sponsored IFK Göteborg since 1974, and their logo was displayed on the chest of the shirt 1980–2010, leading some to consider it an integral part of the shirt. The ICA logo was reproduced in its original red colour for the first few years, but was then changed to a blue-and-white version to better blend with the kit colours.

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
1977–78 Adidas None
1979 Admiral
1980 ICA
1981–92 Adidas
1993–96 ASICS
1997–99 Reebok
2000–10 Adidas
2011–14 Prioritet Finans [sv]
2015 None
2015 Prioritet Finans
2016–18 Kappa
2019 Serneke
2020– Craft

Facilities and stadiums

Facilities

Karlsrofältet Änggården 01
The memorial stone at Karlsrofältet.

IFK Göteborg played its first match, a training match between the first and second team of the club, at Karlsrofältet. A memorial stone with the caption "Here at Karlsrofältet, IFK Göteborg played their first ever football match in the year 1904" (Swedish: "Här på Karlsrofältet spelade IFK Göteborg sin första fotbollsmatch år 1904") has been raised by the field to commemorate the event. Karlsrofältet was mainly used as a training pitch in the early years of the club, until IFK stopped using the field completely in 1910.

Kamratgarden Göteborg 2013 02
Overview of Kamratgården.

Between 1946 and 1964, IFK's clubhouse was Lilla Sjödala, located in Pixbo, Mölnlycke, just outside Gothenburg. The house was mostly used by the club's orienteering and athletics departments. On 1 October 1961, a new 220 square metres (2,400 sq ft) complex, Kamratgården, was officially opened near Delsjön. A number of additions were made over the years, and by 2004 the floor area of Kamratgården had grown to 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft), a nearby indoor hall and two full-size grass pitches. The buildings were demolished in February 2011, and a new modern facility was opened on 18 March 2012, housing an administrative and sports area on two floors and 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft).

The football academy of IFK Göteborg as well as Änglagårdsskolan, an elementary school affiliated with IFK, are housed at Prioritet Serneke Arena, a multi-sport complex in the district of Kviberg. The indoor full-size football pitch at Prioritet Serneke Arena is also, on occasion, used for first-team friendly matches.

Stadiums

En stad - Ett lag
IFK Göteborg's first match (11 April 2009) at the new stadium Gamla Ullevi, a match which IFK won 6–0 against Djurgårdens IF.

Historically, IFK Göteborg's main home stadium has been Gamla Ullevi, where the majority of the competitive games have been played. The club has played there in two separate periods, most recently after leaving Ullevi (Nya Ullevi) in 1992, although matches attracting large crowds, such as derbies against the rivals Örgryte IS and GAIS, or international games, were still played at the larger Ullevi stadium. Gamla Ullevi's capacity was 18,000 when used in the 1990s and 2000s, while Nya Ullevi has a capacity of 43,200.

Gamla Ullevi was demolished on 9 January 2007 to make place for a new stadium with the same name, Gamla Ullevi, with a capacity of 18,800. The new stadium was completed in late 2008, but not opened until the start of the 2009 season. During construction, IFK Göteborg played the 2007 and 2008 seasons at Nya Ullevi. On 11 April 2009 IFK Göteborg played their first game on the new Gamla Ullevi stadium and won against Djurgården with 6–0 in front of 18,276 spectators.

Walhalla IP, SM final 1908
Walhalla IP during the 1908 Svenska Mästerskapet Final between IFK Göteborg and IFK Uppsala.

IFK Göteborg have used three other stadia as official home grounds. The first ground was Idrottsplatsen, in use from 1905 to 1915. It was built in 1896 for the cycling club Göteborgs Velocipedklubb, and was originally used for track cycling. During the 1909 season IFK Göteborg also used Örgryte's then home ground, Balders Hage, due to a conflict with the owners of Idrottsplatsen. The third official stadium was Walhalla Idrottsplats, used for a number of home matches at the same time as Idrottsplatsen. A fourth ground, Slottsskogsvallen, has never been the official home ground, but has nonetheless been used a number of times for IFK Göteborg home matches.

Idrottsplatsen fell into decline due to poor leadership and a troubled economy in the 1910s, and a decision was made to completely renovate the arena with the help of outside sponsorship and funding. The construction of the new football ground was started in 1915 and used the site of Idrottsplatsen as foundation. The new stadium, originally named Ullervi, but later changed to Ullevi and finally Gamla Ullevi, was opened in 1916. It was the home ground of IFK Göteborg until 1958, when Nya Ullevi, built for the 1958 World Cup held in Sweden, 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 made in 1992.

Supporters and club relationships

Supporters

Before the foundation of IFK Göteborg, the dominant club in the Gothenburg area was Örgryte IS, which was considered a middle and upper class club. IFK became popular amongst the working class, creating a fierce rivalry based upon both local pride and social class. In the early 20th century, supporters were supposed to act as gentlemen, applauding and supporting both their own team, and the opponents. However, this proved a hard task for supporters of the Gothenburg teams. Local patriotism and class differences sometimes resulted in fights and pitch invasions, making the Swedish press view IFK and Örgryte fans as the scum of Swedish football.

After World War I, the rivalry calmed, and Gothenburg supporters became known as friendly and sportsmanlike fans. However, this only applied to the behaviour on home ground, as IFK supporters continued to behave badly when travelling to away matches by train (called Göteborgstågen, the Gothenburg trains), a phenomenon that grew quickly in the 1920s. This behaviour peaked in 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II, when approximately 1,900 IFK fans travelled to Borås to see IFK play Elfsborg. After a 2–3 loss, the fans fought with the Borås police, before returning home to Gothenburg and disturbing a wartime blackout exercise.

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

As in most other parts of the world, the decades following the World War II were relatively free from football violence and the supporter culture did not change much. Swedish football culture started to change in the late 1960s, becoming heavily inspired and influenced by the English supporter culture. This flourished in the 1970s and 1980s, giving birth to some of the most well-known Swedish supporters clubs, AIK's Black Army, Djurgårdens IF's Blue Saints (later Järnkaminerna), and IFK Göteborg's supporters club, Änglarna (the Angels). The first attempt to found an IFK supporters club was made in 1969, but interest diminished when IFK Göteborg were relegated from the highest league the following year. The supporters club was not re-founded until 1973, which is considered the year of foundation of Änglarna.

As the club gained success in European club tournaments in the 1980s and 1990s, and thousands of IFK fans travelled to Hamburg, Barcelona, Dundee, Milan, Manchester and Munich, the supporters gained influence on the club, for example by lending money to the almost bankrupt IFK Göteborg so the team could go to Valencia to play the quarter-final in the UEFA Cup in 1982, 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 turned in the later years of the decade and the first few years of the new millennium brought 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 in Swedish arenas. From acting as an almost uniform group of fans gathered under the same flag, (Änglarna), IFK fans created separate supporter factions, including Ultra Bulldogs, Young Lions and West Coast Angelz. IFK is the most popular football club in Sweden; a 2004 survey concluded that IFK Göteborg had support from 13% of Swedish football fans, and surveys in 2016 and 2017 again confirmed that IFK was the most popular club in Sweden, with a support of 10%. A majority, 55%, of football fans in Gothenburg support IFK, and the club is the fourth most popular in Stockholm (after AIK, Djurgårdens IF and Hammarby IF) and the second most popular in Malmö, after Malmö FF.

Since 2009, the club's entrance music is "Snart skiner Poseidon" ("Soon Poseidon will shine"), referring to one of Gothenburg's landmarks, Poseidon med brunnskar, a bronze statue created by Carl Milles. The song was written by singer/songwriter Joel Alme.

Club relationships

IFK Göteborg is part of Göteborgsalliansen, an alliance including two other major teams from Gothenburg: GAIS and Örgryte IS. Besides arranging tournaments, they together hosted big games in which the best players from each club represented the side. In 2015, IFK announced a partnership with Utsiktens BK, an agreement involving IFK's players to be loaned out to the club for first team experience. The supporter group Ultras Göteborg have a supporter friendship with Ultras Nürnberg, fans of the German football club 1. FC Nürnberg.

Players

First-team squad

No. Position Player
1 Sweden GK Pontus Dahlberg
2 Sweden DF Emil Salomonsson
4 Sweden DF Mattias Johansson
5 Sweden MF Sebastian Ohlsson
6 Norway DF Anders Trondsen
7 Sweden FW Oscar Pettersson
8 Denmark MF Andreas Pyndt (on loan from Silkeborg IF)
9 Denmark FW Laurs Skjellerup
10 Sweden FW Hussein Carneil
11 Sweden FW Paulos Abraham (on loan from Groningen)
12 Iceland GK Adam Ingi Benediktsson
13 Sweden DF Gustav Svensson (vice-captain)
14 Sweden FW Gustaf Norlin
15 Denmark DF Sebastian Hausner
No. Position Player
16 Sweden FW Linus Carlstrand
17 Sweden DF Oscar Wendt (captain)
19 Albania FW Arbnor Muçolli
20 Nigeria FW Suleiman Abdullahi
21 Sweden MF Adam Carlén
23 Iceland MF Kolbeinn Þórðarson
24 Ivory Coast MF Abundance Salaou
25 Sweden GK Elis Bishesari
26 Sweden MF Benjamin Brantlind
28 Sweden MF Lucas Kåhed
29 Denmark DF Thomas Santos
30 Mali MF Malick Yalcouyé
34 Norway GK Anders Kristiansen (on loan from Sarpsborg 08)

Out on loan

No. Position Player
18 Sweden DF Felix Eriksson (at Sogndal until 31 December 2024)
27 Iraq DF Alai Ghasem (at AFC Eskilstuna until 31 December 2024)
No. Position Player
Norway FW Eman Markovic (at Sandefjord until 31 December 2024)

Youth players with first-team experience

No. Position Player
33 Sweden DF Rasmus Nåfors Dahlin
35 Sweden DF Ben Magnusson
36 Sweden FW Lion Beqiri
No. Position Player
Sweden MF Oliver Thoreson
Sweden FW Vilmer Tyrén

Notable players

Soccer Field Transparant.svg

Ravelli
Erlingmark
Svensson
Fredriksson
Strömberg
Gren
Johansson
Johansson
Nilsson
The all-star team chosen by Göteborgs-Posten readers in 2004.
Gamla Ullevi Stadium (15393954162)
Gunnar Gren, playing for IFK Göteborg between 1941 and 1949, has been honoured by a statue outside Gamla Ullevi.
BertilJohansson
Bertil Johansson scored 162 goals in 268 league games for IFK Göteborg between 1955 and 1968.
Niclas Alexandersson (cropped)
Niclas Alexandersson has played 109 matches for the national team and has won two Swedish championships with IFK Göteborg.

The following players fulfill one or more of these four criteria:

  1. Have been voted for the greatest ever IFK Göteborg team in a 2004 poll by readers of the regional newspaper Göteborgs-Posten (11 players).
  2. Have been chosen for the dream team presented in the club's official 100-year jubilee book published in 2004 (11 players).
  3. Have been portrayed in the 1997 all-star team book "Alla tiders Blåvitt" (11 players and 5 substitutes).
  4. Have gained more than 80 caps for their national team (10 players).
Name Position IFK Göteborg
career
League record Criteria
Matches Goals 1. 2. 3. 4.
Sweden Erik Börjesson Forward 1907–1910
1912–1920
64 83 x
Sweden Filip Johansson Forward 1924–1932 181 180 x x
Sweden Arne Nyberg Forward 1932–1950 297 131 x
Sweden Gunnar Gren Forward 1941–1949 164 78 x x
Sweden Bengt Berndtsson Forward 1951–1967 348 69 x x x
Sweden Bertil Johansson Forward 1955–1968 268 162 x x x
Sweden Donald Niklasson Defender 1967–1977 189 12 x
Sweden Björn Nordqvist Defender 1975–1978 83 2 x
Sweden Torbjörn Nilsson Forward 1975–1976
1977–1982
1984–1986
212 127 x x x
Sweden Tord Holmgren Midfielder 1977–1987 245 26 x
Sweden Tommy Holmgren Midfielder
Forward
1978–1989 242 20 x x
Sweden Ruben Svensson Defender 1978–1986 195 23 x (x)
Sweden Glenn Strömberg Midfielder 1979–1982 97 9 x x
Sweden Glenn Hysén Defender 1979–1983
1985–1987
155 13 x x
Sweden Stig Fredriksson Defender 1981–1987 179 16 x x
Sweden Thomas Wernerson Goalkeeper 1981–1987 181 0 (x)
Sweden Roland Nilsson Defender 1983–1989 124 7 x
Sweden Peter Larsson Defender 1984–1987 101 13 x
Sweden Stefan Pettersson Forward 1984–1988
1994–1998
162 58 (x)
Norway Erik Thorstvedt Goalkeeper 1988 24 0 x
Sweden Kennet Andersson Forward 1989–1991 63 29 x
Sweden Thomas Ravelli Goalkeeper 1989–1997 211 0 x x x x
Sweden Stefan Rehn Midfielder 1990–1995 138 28 (x)
Sweden Håkan Mild Midfielder 1990–1993
1995–1996
1998–2001
2002–2005
252 26 x
Sweden Jesper Blomqvist Midfielder 1993–1996 73 18 (x)
Sweden Magnus Erlingmark Defender
Midfielder
Forward
1993–2004 280 43 x x
Sweden Teddy Lučić Defender 1996–1998 58 2 x
Sweden Niclas Alexandersson Midfielder 1996–1997
2004–2008
2009
176 32 x
Sweden Marcus Berg Forward 2005–2007
2021–2023
118 51 x
Iceland Ragnar Sigurðsson Defender 2007–2011 125 12 x
Slovakia Marek Hamšík Midfielder 2021 6 1 x

Supporters' player of the year

Tobias Hysen 20090219
Tobias Hysén in a pre-season friendly in 2009, later that year was awarded the "Ärkeängeln" honorary prize.

The supporters' club Supporterklubben Änglarna award the honorary prize "Ärkeängeln" ("The Archangel") to a player for their great loyalty and sporting merits each year since 1973, the prize can only be won once. The following recipients have been decided by board vote until 1982 and by member vote since 1983.

1973 – Sweden Reine Feldt
1974 – Sweden Jan Nordström
1975 – Sweden Conny Karlsson
1976 – Sweden Reine Olausson
1977 – Sweden Björn Nordqvist
1978 – Sweden Reine Almqvist
1979 – Sweden Torbjörn Nilsson
1980 – Sweden Tord Holmgren
1981 – Sweden Glenn Hysén
1982 – Sweden Ruben Svensson
1983 – Sweden Jerry Carlsson
1984 – Sweden Stig Fredriksson
1985 – Sweden Thomas Wernerson
1986 – Sweden Tommy Holmgren
1987 – Sweden Stefan Pettersson
1988 – Sweden Roland Nilsson
1989 – Sweden Magnus "Lill-Tidan" Johansson
1990 – Sweden Ola Svensson
1991 – Sweden Thomas Ravelli
1992 – Sweden Johnny Ekström
1993 – Sweden Peter Eriksson
1994 – Sweden Mikael Nilsson
1995 – Sweden Jonas Olsson
1996 – Sweden Stefan Lindqvist
1997 – Sweden Magnus Erlingmark
1998 – Sweden Mikael Martinsson
1999 – Sweden Håkan Mild
2000 – Sweden Stefan Landberg
2001 – Sweden Bengt Andersson
2002 – Sweden Tomas Rosenkvist
2003 – Sweden Mikael Antonsson
2004 – Sweden Niclas Alexandersson
2005 – Sweden Magnus "Ölme" Johansson
2006 – Sweden Dennis Jonsson
2007 – Iceland Hjálmar Jónsson
2008 – Sweden Stefan Selaković
2009 – Sweden Tobias Hysén
2010 – Iceland Ragnar Sigurðsson
2011 – Sweden Thomas Olsson
2012 – Sweden Jakob Johansson
2013 – Sweden Hannes Stiller
2014 – Sweden Emil Salomonsson
2015 – Sweden John Alvbåge
2016 – Bolivia Martin Smedberg-Dalence
2017 – Sweden Sebastian Eriksson
2018 – Sweden Robin Söder
2019 – Denmark Lasse Vibe
2020 – Sweden Mattias Bjärsmyr
2021 – Sweden Tobias Sana
2022 – Sweden Marcus Berg
2023 – Sweden Gustav Svensson

Management

Organisation

Name Role
Sweden Richard Berkling Chairman
Sweden Peter Brandt Secretary
Sweden Håkan Mild Club director
Sweden Ola Larsson Technical director
Sweden Marcus Hermansson Financial manager
Sweden Magnus Eriksson Commercial manager
Sweden Jonas Olsson Director of youth academy
Norway Stig Torbjørnsen Head scout
Sweden David Vuković Sports assistant
Sweden Hannes Stiller Team manager

Technical staff

Name Role
Denmark Jens Berthel Askou Head coach
Norway Sindre Tjelmeland Assistant coach
Scotland Lee Baxter Goalkeeping coach
Sweden Magnus Edlund Football developer
Sweden Marcus Berg Player developer
Sweden Marwan Salman Analyst
Sweden Kalle Olsson Strength and conditioning coach
Sweden Fredrik Larsson Physiotherapist
Sweden Kaj Leuther Physiotherapist
Sweden Calle Persson Physiotherapist
Sweden Rolf Gustavsson Equipment manager
Sweden Håkan Lindahl Equipment manager

Notable managers

The following 15 managers either have won at least one major honour with IFK Göteborg or have managed the team for 100 or more league matches. The managers are listed according to when they were first appointed manager for IFK Göteborg.

Sven-Goran Eriksson 2012
Sven-Göran Eriksson managed IFK Göteborg between 1979 and 1982.
Name IFK Göteborg career League matches Swedish Championship Svenska Cupen UEFA Cup
Sweden Henning Svensson 1924–1929
1931–1932
1943
183
Sweden Eric Hjelm 1930
1933–1938
137 1934–35
Sweden Ernst Andersson 1941–1942 43 1941–42
Hungary József Nagy 1943–1948 110
Austria Walter Probst 1954–1958 99 1957–58
Sweden Bertil Johansson 1967–1970 88 1969
Sweden Sven-Göran Eriksson 1979–1982 87 1978–79
1981–82
1981–82
Sweden Gunder Bengtsson 1982
1985–1987
79 1982
1987
1986–87
Sweden Björn Westerberg 1983–1984 44 1983
1984
1982–83
Sweden Roger Gustafsson 1990–1995
2002
165 1990
1991
1993
1994
1995
1991
Sweden Mats Jingblad 1996–1998 60 1996
Sweden Stefan Rehn 2007–2010 100 2007 2008
Sweden Jonas Olsson 2007–2011 146 2007 2008
Sweden Mikael Stahre 2012–2014
2021–2023
142 2012–13
Sweden Jörgen Lennartsson 2015–2017 74 2014–15
Sweden Poya Asbaghi 2018–2020 78 2019–20

Honours

Domestic

  • Swedish Champions
    • Winners (18): 1908, 1910, 1918, 1934–35, 1941–42, 1957–58, 1969, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2007

League

  • Allsvenskan:
    • Winners (13): 1934–35, 1941–42, 1957–58, 1969, 1982, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2007
    • Runners-up (13): 1924–25, 1926–27, 1929–30, 1939–40, 1979, 1981, 1986, 1988, 1997, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2015
  • Svenska Serien:
    • Winners (5): 1912–13, 1913–14, 1914–15, 1915–16, 1916–17
  • Fyrkantserien:
    • Winners (2): 1918, 1919
  • Mästerskapsserien:
    • Winners (1): 1991
  • Division 2
    • Winners (3): 1938–39, 1950–51, 1976
    • Runners-up (2): 1972, 1975

Cups

  • Svenska Cupen:
    • Winners (8): 1978–79, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1991, 2008, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2019–20
    • Runners-up (5): 1985–86, 1998–99, 2004, 2007, 2009
  • Allsvenskan play-offs:
    • Winners (5): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990
    • Runners-up (1): 1985
  • Svenska Mästerskapet:
    • Winners (3): 1908, 1910, 1918
  • Svenska Supercupen:
    • Winners (1): 2008
    • Runners-up (4): 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015
  • Kamratmästerskapen:
    • Winners (11): 1909, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1940
    • Runners-up (2): 1906, 1908

European

  • UEFA Cup:
    • Winners (2): 1981–82, 1986–87
  • European Cup/UEFA Champions League:
    • Semi-finals (2): 1985–86, 1992–93
    • Quarter-finals (3): 1984–85, 1988–89, 1994–95
  • UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:
    • Quarter-finals (1): 1979–80
  • Intertoto Cup:
    • Winners (8): 1967 (Group B4), 1980 (Outright Winner), 1981 (Group 7), 1982 (Group 9), 1983 (Group 7), 1985 (Group 3), 1986 (Group 10), 1988 (Group 2)
  • Royal League:
    • Runners-up (1): 2004–05

Doubles, trebles and quadruples

Doubles

  • Fyrkantserien and Svenska Mästerskapet (Swedish Champions):
    • Winners (1): 1918
  • Allsvenskan play-offs (Swedish Champions) and Svenska Cupen:
    • Winners (1): 1983
  • Allsvenskan and Allsvenskan play-offs (Swedish Champions):
    • Winners (2): 1984, 1990
  • Svenska Cupen and Svenska Supercupen:
    • Winners (1): 2008

Trebles

  • Allsvenskan, Allsvenskan play-offs (Swedish Champions) and the UEFA Cup:
    • Winners (1): 1987
  • Allsvenskan, Mästerskapsserien (Swedish Champions) and Svenska Cupen:
    • Winners (1): 1991

Quadruples

  • Allsvenskan, Allsvenskan play-offs (Swedish Champions), Svenska Cupen and the UEFA Cup:
    • Winners (1): 1982

Records

  • Home victory, Allsvenskan: 9–1 vs. IK Sleipner, 10 May 1925; 8–0 vs. Hammarby IF, 2 June 1925; 8–0 vs. Stattena IF, 21 April 1930
  • Away victory, Allsvenskan: 9–2 vs. IFK Eskilstuna, 8 October 1933; 7–0 vs. IK Sleipner, 20 April 1941
  • Home loss, Allsvenskan: 2–9 vs. Malmö FF, 10 September 1949
  • Away loss, Allsvenskan: 0–7 vs. IFK Norrköping, 1 May 1960
  • Highest attendance, Nya Ullevi: 52,194 vs. Örgryte IS, 3 June 1959
  • Highest attendance, Gamla Ullevi: 31,064 vs. GAIS, 27 May 1955
  • Highest attendance, Slottsskogsvallen: 21,580 vs. AIK, 25 October 1931
  • Highest average attendance, season: 23,796, 1977
  • Most appearances, total: 609, Mikael Nilsson 1987–01
  • Most appearances, Allsvenskan: 348, Bengt Berndtsson 1951–67
  • Most goals scored, total: 333, Filip Johansson 1924–34
  • Most goals scored, Allsvenskan: 180, Filip Johansson 1924–34
  • Most goals scored, season, Allsvenskan: 39, Filip Johansson 1924–25

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: IFK Göteborg para niños

kids search engine
IFK Göteborg Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.