Jönköpings Södra IF facts for kids
![]() |
||||
Full name | Jönköping Södra Idrottsförening |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | J-Södra | |||
Founded | 9 December 1922 | |||
Ground | Stadsparksvallen, Jönköping | |||
Capacity | 7,300 | |||
Chairman | (Acting) Mats Brändström | |||
Manager | Patrik Ingelsten | |||
League | Ettan | |||
2023 | Superettan, 15th | |||
|
Jönköpings Södra IF, often called J-Södra, is a Swedish football team from Jönköping. The club started in 1922. They play their home games at Stadsparksvallen, which can hold 7,300 fans.
J-Södra has played in Sweden's top football league, Allsvenskan, twelve times. Their best result was finishing second in 1950. In 2023, they were playing in Superettan, the second division, but were moved down to Ettan (the third division) for the 2024 season. The club is connected to the Smålands Fotbollförbund, which is a local football association.
J-Södra is a club where the members have a lot of say. This is because of a Swedish rule called the "50+1% Member-controlled rule." It means that the club's members own at least 51% of the voting rights. This helps keep the club focused on its fans and community.
Contents
History of Jönköpings Södra IF
Jönköpings Södra IF was founded on December 9, 1922. At first, the club played other sports like Bandy, Boxing, Ice hockey, Tennis, and Table tennis. Their first football match was in 1923, but they only had eight players per side because the field was too small!
Five years later, J-Södra finally joined a football league and played in the district championship. Their first big success came in the 1944–45 season. This was only their second year in the second division. They won all 18 league games and the promotion playoffs, which meant they moved up to the top division, Allsvenskan, for the first time ever!
Even though they moved down a league the next season, they quickly came back up. This started a "golden age" for the club in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The best part was finishing second in the 1949–50 Allsvenskan season. They were right behind the strong team Malmö FF.
After 1954, J-Södra only had two short stays in Allsvenskan during the 1960s. They mostly played in the second division until the late 1980s. Then, the club started to drop down through the leagues. In 1996, they reached their lowest point, finishing 8th in the fifth division.
By 2003, the club had climbed back to the third division. They made a big move by signing Olle Nordin, a former coach for the Sweden men's national football team, as their new manager. He helped the club get back to Superettan and stay there. He later became the director of sports.
In 2014, their manager Mats Gren left for another club. The players wanted their youth coach, Jimmy Thelin, to take over. The club's board agreed, and in his second year, Thelin led J-Södra back to Allsvenskan!
After moving down from Allsvenskan again, the club has been a steady team in Superettan. However, after many changes and a tough year, the club was moved down to Ettan in November 2023. A new board was chosen on June 20, 2023, to help guide the club forward.
Players of J-Södra
Here are the players who are part of the Jönköpings Södra IF team. Football teams have players who play different roles, like goalkeepers (GK), defenders (DF), midfielders (MF), and forwards (FW).
|
|
Players on Loan
Sometimes players are "on loan" to another team. This means they play for a different club for a while to get more experience, but they still belong to their original team.
|
Managers of J-Södra
The manager is like the head coach of the football team. They are in charge of training the players, choosing the team for matches, and deciding on the tactics. Many different managers have led Jönköpings Södra IF over the years.
Gunnar Gren (1941–42)
Birger Möller (1942–43)
Sölve Flisberg (1944)
Eigil Nielsen (1945)
Otto Cinadler (1945)
Knut Holmgren (1946–48)
Gerhard Thorsell (1949–51)
Josef Stroh (1951–53)
Gerhard Thorsell (1953–59)
Olle Eriksson (1960)
Vilém Lugr (1961–62)
Per-Olof Johansson (1963–64)
Josef Stroh (1965)
Per-Olof Johansson (1966–67)
Stig Sundqvist (1968–71)
Jan Karlsson (1972)
Stig Sundqvist (1973)
Ingvar Svensson (1974–76)
Max Möller (1977)
Bo Axberg (1978–80)
Weine Wallinder (1981)
Sonny Nordqvist (1981–83)
Roger Johansson (1984–85)
Sven Andersson (1986)
Max Möller (1987–88)
Bo Axberg (1989–91)
Sonny Nordqvist (1992)
Bo Andersson (1992–93)
Ola Henriksson (1993–94)
Jan Karlsson (1995)
Jörgen Augustsson (1996)
Sonny Nordqvist (1997)
Giles Stille (1998–99)
Per-Åke Knutsson (2000–01)
Peter Churchill (2002)
Thomas Ek (2002)
Olle Nordin (2003–07)
Thomas Ek (2008)
Olle Nordin (2008–09)
Andreas Jankevics (2010)
Hans Lindbom (2010–11)
Mats Gren (2012–13)
Jimmy Thelin (2014–17)
Jörgen Wålemark (2018)
Stefan Jörgensen (2018)
Andreas Brännström (2018–2020)
Patric Jildefalk (2021–2022)
Oscar Garcia Rodriguez (2022)
Niclas Tagesson (2022)
Andrés García (2023)
Charbel Abraham (2023)
Niclas Tagesson (2023)
Patrik Ingelsten (2024-)
Club Achievements
Jönköpings Södra IF has achieved some important things in Swedish football:
- Allsvenskan (Sweden's Top League)
- Runners-up: They finished second in the 1949–50 season. This was their best finish ever in the top league!
- Superettan (Sweden's Second League)
- Winners: They won the Superettan league in 2015. This win helped them get promoted back to Allsvenskan.
See also
In Spanish: Jönköpings Södra IF para niños