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Jönköpings Södra IF
Jonkopings Sodra IF logo.svg
Full name Jönköping Södra
Idrottsförening
Nickname(s) J-Södra
Founded 9 December 1922; 102 years ago (1922-12-09)
Ground Stadsparksvallen, Jönköping
Ground Capacity 7,300
Chairman Henning Albertsson
Manager Patrik Ingelsten
League Ettan
2024 Ettan Södra (7th of 16)
Third colours

Jönköpings Södra IF, often called J-Södra, is a Swedish football team. They are based in the city of Jönköping. The club started in 1922.

J-Södra has played in Sweden's top football league, Allsvenskan, twelve times. Their best result was finishing second in 1950. They were last in Allsvenskan in 2017. As of July 2025, they play in Ettan Södra, which is the third tier of Swedish football. The team plays its home games at Stadsparksvallen. This stadium can hold 7,300 fans.

The club is mostly owned by its members. This is because of a Swedish rule called the "50+1% Member-controlled rule." This rule helps fans have a say in how their club is run.

Club History and Achievements

Jönköpings Södra IF League Performance
A chart showing Jönköpings Södra's journey through the Swedish football leagues.

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. They only had eight players per side because the pitch was too small. Five years later, J-Södra joined a league and started playing for championships.

The team's first big success came in the 1944–45 season. It was only their second year in the second division. But J-Södra won all 18 league games! They also won the promotion playoffs. This meant they moved up to the top league, Allsvenskan, for the first time.

Even though they went down to a lower league the next year, they quickly came back up. The late 1940s and early 1950s were a "golden age" for the club. They stayed in the top division. Their best moment was finishing second in the 1949–50 Allsvenskan season. They were right behind the strong team Malmö FF.

Jönköpings Södra IF-IK Sirius, 2 juni 2015
J-Södra playing at home against IK Sirius in 2015.

After 1954, J-Södra only had two short stays in Allsvenskan during the 1960s. They mostly played in the second division. In the late 1980s, the club started to drop down the leagues. By 1996, they were in the fifth tier of Swedish football.

In 2003, the club had returned to the third division. They signed Olle Nordin, a famous former coach for the Sweden men's national football team. He helped the club move up to Superettan, the second division. He also became their sports director.

In 2014, their manager Mats Gren left suddenly. The players wanted their youth coach, Jimmy Thelin, to be the new manager. The club's board agreed. In his second year, Thelin led the team back to Allsvenskan.

After being relegated from Allsvenskan in 2017, the club played steadily in Superettan. However, after a difficult year with many changes, the club was relegated to Ettan Södra in November 2023.

Current Players

Here are the players currently on the Jönköpings Södra IF team:

No. Position Player
1 Sweden GK Alexander Eriksson
2 Sweden DF Lukas Eek
3 North Macedonia DF Daniel Markovski
4 Sweden DF Andreas Carlsson
6 Sweden DF Sebastian Crona
7 Sweden MF Isak Ellbring
8 Sweden MF Benjamin Tannus
9 Sweden FW Linus Lyck
10 Sweden MF Dženis Kozica
11 Sweden FW Anmar Kiwarkis
12 Sweden MF Faiz Benatallah
13 Sweden DF Hugo Lyck
No. Position Player
14 Sweden MF Christoffer Hellström
15 Sweden MF Arvid Eriksson
16 Sweden FW Hampus Israelsson
17 Sweden MF Olle Almström
18 Sweden MF Jonathan Drott
19 Sweden MF Milian Sipos
20 Sweden MF Colin Farnerud
21 Kosovo MF Agon Uka
28 Sweden FW Jacob Shamoun
30 Sweden GK Simon Svensson
- Estonia FW Kristoffer Grauberg

Players on Loan

Some players are currently playing for other teams to gain experience:

No. Position Player
27 Sweden DF Axel Edgren (at IK Tord until 31 December 2025)
23 Sweden MF Christian Azizsson (at IK Tord until 31 December 2025)

Club Managers

Many different managers have led Jönköpings Södra IF over the years. Here is a list of some of them:

  • Sweden Gunnar Gren (1941–42)
  • Sweden Birger Möller (1942–43)
  • Sweden Sölve Flisberg (1944)
  • Denmark Eigil Nielsen (1945)
  • Austria Otto Cinadler (1945)
  • Sweden Knut Holmgren (1946–48)
  • Sweden Gerhard Thorsell (1949–51)
  • Austria Josef Stroh (1951–53)
  • Sweden Gerhard Thorsell (1953–59)
  • Sweden Olle Eriksson (1960)
  • Czech Republic Vilém Lugr (1961–62)
  • Sweden Per-Olof Johansson (1963–64)
  • Austria Josef Stroh (1965)
  • Sweden Per-Olof Johansson (1966–67)
  • Sweden Stig Sundqvist (1968–71)
  • Sweden Jan Karlsson (1972)
  • Sweden Stig Sundqvist (1973)
  • Sweden Ingvar Svensson (1974–76)
  • Sweden Max Möller (1977)
  • Sweden Bo Axberg (1978–80)
  • Sweden Weine Wallinder (1981)
  • Sweden Sonny Nordqvist (1981–83)
  • Sweden Roger Johansson (1984–85)
  • Sweden Sven Andersson (1986)
  • Sweden Max Möller (1987–88)
  • Sweden Bo Axberg (1989–91)
  • Sweden Sonny Nordqvist (1992)
  • Sweden Bo Andersson (1992–93)
  • Sweden Ola Henriksson (1993–94)
  • Sweden Jan Karlsson (1995)
  • Sweden Jörgen Augustsson (1996)
  • Sweden Sonny Nordqvist (1997)
  • England Giles Stille (1998–99)
  • Sweden Per-Åke Knutsson (2000–01)
  • England Peter Churchill (2002)
  • Sweden Thomas Ek (2002)
  • Sweden Olle Nordin (2003–07)
  • Sweden Thomas Ek (2008)
  • Sweden Olle Nordin (2008–09)
  • Sweden Andreas Jankevics (2010)
  • Sweden Hans Lindbom (2010–11)
  • Sweden Mats Gren (2012–13)
  • Sweden Jimmy Thelin (2014–17)
  • Sweden Jörgen Wålemark (2018)
  • Sweden Stefan Jörgensen (2018)
  • Sweden Andreas Brännström (2018–2020)
  • Sweden Patric Jildefalk (2021–2022)
  • Spain Oscar Garcia Rodriguez (2022)
  • Sweden Niclas Tagesson (2022)
  • Spain Andrés García (2023)
  • Sweden Charbel Abraham (2023)
  • Sweden Niclas Tagesson (2023)
  • Sweden Patrik Ingelsten (2024-)

Team Honours

Jönköpings Södra IF has won some important titles:

  • Allsvenskan (Sweden's top league)
    • Runners-up: 1949–50 (finished second place)
  • Superettan (Sweden's second league)
    • Winners: 2015 (won the league)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Jönköpings Södra IF para niños

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