Östers IF

For the club's former ice hockey department, see Östers IF (ice hockey).
Öster
Full name Östers Idrottsförening
Founded 1930
Ground Myresjöhus Arena,
Växjö
Ground Capacity 12,000
Chairman Sven Johannesson
Head coach Thomas Askebrand
League Division 1 Södra
2015 Division 1 Södra, 3rd

Östers Idrottsförening (usually abbreviated to Östers IF, or Öster) is a Swedish sports club located in Växjö, currently specializing in football. The club has previously also competed in ice hockey (see separate article), bandy, and bowling. Öster was formed on 20 April 1930 as Östers Fotbollförening and is currently playing in the third division of Swedish football, Division 1 Södra. In 1968 Öster became the second ever team to win Allsvenskan as newcomers (the only other team being IF Elfsborg in 1961). However, they were the first ever team to win Allsvenskan at the first attempt, since 1968 was their first ever season in Allsvenskan (IF Elfsborg had been playing in Allsvenskan before 1961, winning the league in 1936, 1939 and 1940).[1] This ignited the teams golden age which lasted until the early 80's and saw them win a total of four Swedish championships. The club is affiliated to the Smålands Fotbollförbund.[2]

On March 31, 2011, Öster broke ground on their new arena, Myresjöhus Arena,[3] which was inaugurated in August 2012. The arena hosted four games of the UEFA Women's Euro 2013 tournament.[4]

History

A chart showing the progress of Östers IF through the swedish football league system. The different shades of gray represent league divisions.

Öster (English: "East") was named after a district in the city of Växjö. They were not part of the upper divisions in the early days of swedish football and only made their first appearance in the third tier in 1947. During the 50's and early 60's the club made a push to raise the level of football by inviting and playing against foreign teams such as Flamengo, Juventus and Fluminense. This coupled with an increase in the amount of training helped the team establish themselves in the second tier.

In 1961 Öster had their first ever chance to qualify for Allsvenskan but ended up in last place in the four team promotion playoffs. Success in the promotion playoffs would instead come six years later in 1967 when they beat IK Brage in the deciding game in front of a home crowd of 26,404 people. Öster defied the odds during their first ever season in the top division and won the league on goal difference after a total of four teams had ended the season on exactly the same number of points. Following their championship title the club had ten years of solid Allsvenskan finishes before becoming dominant in the late 70's and early 80's where they won the league three times in four years.

After that successful era followed a slow decline over the next couple of decades which culminated in their relegation to the second tier in 1998. After that the club has found it hard to reestablish itself in Allsvenskan and has only made short one year appearances. In 2012 they won Superettan in a dominant fashion and will now once again play in the 2013 Allsvenskan.[5]

Current squad

As of 2 May 2015[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Sweden GK Malkolm Nilsson
3 Sweden DF Karl-Johan Lindblad
4 Sweden DF Tom Stahre
5 Sweden DF Elmin Nurkić
6 Sweden DF Mario Vasilj
7 Sweden FW Freddy Söderberg
8 Sweden MF Denis Velić (captain)
9 Sweden MF Robin Strömberg
10 Sweden MF Mehmed Hafizovic
11 Sweden FW Björn Berglund
14 Sweden MF Robin Östlind
16 Sweden DF Filip Stenmark
No. Position Player
18 Sweden MF Jonathan Drott
19 Sweden FW Matteo Blomqvist-Zampi
20 Sweden MF Daniel Ask
21 Sweden DF Filip Örnblom
22 Sweden MF Josef Elvby (vice captain)
23 Sweden DF Jonathan Stolth
24 Sweden DF Fritiof Björken
25 Ghana MF Richard Donkor
26 Ghana MF Isaac Shaze
28 Sweden MF Johan Hjalmarsson
85 Sweden GK Rasmus Rydén

For season transfers, see transfers winter 2013–14 and transfers summer 2014.

Personnel

The team during a pregame warmup in 2012 wearing their traditional red and blue kits.

Current technical staff

Director of Football: Sweden Peter Wibrån
Head Coach: Sweden Roberth Björknesjö
Assistant Coach: Sweden Peter Wibrån
Goalkeeper Coach: Sweden Göran Mårtensson
Physiotherapist: Sweden Håkan Nilsson
Doctor: Sweden Anders Willstedt

Managers

[7]

Achievements

Striker Harry Bild was part of the team that won the club's first title in the 1968 Allsvenskan.

League

Cups

Attendances

Värendsvallen: Öster stadium 1966–2012
Myresjöhus Arena: Öster stadium 2012–

In recent seasons Östers IF have had the following average attendances:

Season Average Attendance Division / Section Level
2004 2,670 Superettan Tier 2
2005 3,517 Superettan Tier 2
2006 5,364 Allsvenskan Tier 1
2007 2,791 Superettan Tier 2
2008 1,817 Div 1 Södra Tier 3
2009 1,919 Div 1 Södra Tier 3
2010 2,145 Superettan Tier 2
2011 2,637 Superettan Tier 2
2012 4,733 Superettan Tier 2
2013 5,751 Allsvenskan Tier 1
2014 3,289 Superettan Tier 2

* Attendances are provided in the Publikliga sections of the Svenska Fotbollförbundet website.[8]

Footnotes

A ^ Current youth players who at least have sat on the bench in a competitive match.
B. ^ The title of "Swedish Champions" has been awarded to the winner of four different competitions over the years. Between 1896 and 1925 the title was awarded to the winner of Svenska Mästerskapet, a stand-alone cup tournament. No club were given the title between 1926 and 1930 even though the first-tier league Allsvenskan was played. In 1931 the title was reinstated and awarded to the winner of Allsvenskan. Between 1982 and 1990 a play-off in cup format was held at the end of the league season to decide the champions. After the play-off format in 1991 and 1992 the title was decided by the winner of Mästerskapsserien, an additional league after the end of Allsvenskan. Since the 1993 season the title has once again been awarded to the winner of Allsvenskan.[9]

References

External links

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