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 is part of the Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and 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. Their most successful time was in the 1970s. During this period, they won two national championship titles 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. Currently, the team plays in Division 2. Their season runs from April to November.
Contents
Club History
Starting the Journey
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 create a new club, Åtvidabergs FF, just for football. This new club was formed from the football part of the old multi-sport club.
Ericsson also owned a company called Facit. Many people in Åtvidaberg worked there. This allowed him to give more money to the football team.
Climbing the Ranks
Åtvidaberg 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. This meant they didn't get paid to play football. But Åtvidaberg could offer new players good jobs at the Facit factory. This made the club very attractive.
They also hired coaches from other countries, like Kálmán Konrád. These things helped the club move up through the different football divisions. They became a strong team in the second division and even played one year in Allsvenskan, which is the top league.
The Golden Age
The years that followed were the most successful for Åtvidabergs FF. During this time, they brought in famous players like Ralf Edström, Roland Sandberg, and Conny Torstensson.
In 1967, they were promoted to Allsvenskan, the top league. Just five years later, in 1972, they won the league title for the first time. They won it again the next year, in 1973. This amazing time for the club happened when the Facit company, which had supported their success, was having big problems. Facit was eventually sold to another company, Electrolux.
Coming Back Strong
After a tough time in the 1990s, where they dropped to the fourth division, Åtvidaberg worked hard to climb back up. By the early 2000s, they were back in the second division. To become even stronger, the club started working with Djurgårdens IF in 2003. Djurgården was a top team at the time. This partnership also meant that some Djurgården players could play for Åtvidaberg on loan.
In 2009, Åtvidaberg was promoted back to Allsvenskan for the first time since 1982. They went down to a lower league again but quickly came back up. In 2012, they finished eighth in the 2012 Allsvenskan. For several seasons, Åtvidaberg stayed in the middle of the top league. This was thanks to three key players who stayed with 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 to the third division, Division 1.
Players
First-team squad
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Youth players in use
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Management
Technical staff
As of 1 July 2023
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Achievements
- Swedish Champions
- Winners (2): 1972, 1973
League Titles
- Allsvenskan: (Top Swedish League)
- Winners (2): 1972, 1973
- Runners-up (2): 1970, 1971
- Superettan: (Second Swedish League)
- Winners (1): 2011
- Runners-up (1): 2009
Cup Wins
- Svenska Cupen: (Swedish Cup)
- Winners (2): 1969–70, 1970–71
- Runners-up (4): 1946, 1972–73, 1978–79, 2005
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
