Gefle IF

Gefle IF

Full name	Gefle Idrottsförening
Founded	5 December 1882 as Gefle SK
Ground	Gavlevallen, Gävle
Capacity	6,500
Chairman	Leif Lindstrand
Head coach	Roger Sandberg
League	Allsvenskan
2015	Allsvenskan, 10th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Gefle Idrottsförening, also known simply as Gefle IF, Gefle ([ˈjæːvlɛ]), or locally Gif ([ɡɪf]), are a Swedish professional football club based in Gävle. The club is affiliated with Gestriklands Fotbollförbund^[1] and play their home games at Strömvallen, but are due to move to Gavlevallen for the start of the 2015 season.^[2] The club colours are blue and white. Formed on 5 December 1882 as Gefle SK, the club have played twelve seasons in Sweden's highest football league Allsvenskan,^[3] with the first season being 1933–34. The club are currently playing in Allsvenskan, where the season lasts from April to November.^[4]

History

Gefle IF was originally formed as Gefle SK in December 1882 but changed the name to its current form only months after.^[5] The name "Gefle" is one of the old variations of spelling for the town Gävle which was used from the 1500s to the early 1900s.^[6] The multisports club mainly focused on winter sports during its early years, with rowing being their only summertime activity. In 1896 the club started having regular football training sessions under the guidance of an English accountant by the name of Robert Carrick. Although born in England he had grown up in Gävle but returned to his homeland for a few years as a student. There he had picked up the new sport which he brought back with him to Sweden and introduced at Gefle IF.^[5]

The Gefle IF team of 1902 with Robert Carrick holding the Rosenska Pokalen-trophy.

The club found early success at the turn of the century by winning one of the biggest swedish cups at the time, Rosenska Pokalen, three times.^[7] Due to high travel costs Gefle declined to participate in the other major swedish football tournament, Svenska Mästerskapet, during those years. Therefore, the clubs golden generation never got the chance to play against the nations other dominant team at the time, Örgryte IS from Gothenburg.

An ever increasing number of football clubs were starting up in the early 1900s and Gefle were not able to maintain its dominant position among all the new competition. When the first swedish league Svenska Serien started in 1910 Gefle IF were not included and when they entered into the second tier of the league system in 1912–13 they finished dead last.^[8]

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

During the rest of the 20th century the club mostly moved up and down between the second and third level of the Swedish football league system. They only managed two short lived stints at the top level Allsvenskan, one in the early 1930s and one in the early 1980s. Between the 1979 and 1981 season Gefle IF and Brynäs IF merged and played under the name Gefle IF/Brynäs, but the merger split up again in 1982.^[7] In 2004 manager Kenneth Rosén was finally able to bring the club back to the top division after finishing second in the 2004 Superettan. Rosén had missed part of the previous season due to illness and after the club was promoted he again had to be hospitalized and died soon after. Long-time club servant Per "Pelle" Olsson immediately stepped in and took over as manager during the off-season and has managed to keep the club at the top level ever since.^[9]

Supporters

Gefle IF supporters during an away trip in 2012 to Råsunda Stadium where they played against AIK.

Due to their status as a second or third division club the Gefle supporters were late starters in creating an organized supporters club. After some fledgeling attempts in the mid 1990s when the interest in traveling to away games increased, the "Sky Blues" was finally founded in 2001 as the official supporter group.^[10]

In 2009 Gefle IF caused controversy among its fans by changing the sky blue home shirt to white, the color which the club played in during its first 80 years. This caused groups of fans to boycott the singing sections of the home stadium. Eventually before the start of the 2011 season a compromise was reached where they kept the white shirt for their home kit but brought back the sky blue as their new away kit.^[11][12] Further compromise was then reached for the 2015 Allsvenskan season when a new sky blue and white striped kit was launched, inspired by the Argentina national football team. A decision that satisfied both the fans and the club.^[13]

Stadium

Gefle IF are currently playing at Strömvallen, built in 1923. On 30 May 2013 it was announced that the club had agreed with Gävle Municipality to build a new stadium in the Sätraåsen area of Gävle. The proposed stadium is planned to be ready for the 2015 season.^[2]

European Cups History

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2006–07	UEFA Cup	First qualifying round	Llanelli	1–2	0–0	1–2
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	NSÍ Runavík	2–1	2–0	4–1
		Second qualifying round	FC Dinamo Tbilisi	1–2	1–2	2–4
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Narva Trans	5–1	3–0	8–1
		Second qualifying round	Anorthosis	4–0	0–3	4–3
		Third qualifying round	Qarabağ FK	0–2	0–1	0–3

None of Gefle's appearances in European competition have been due to cup wins or their league positions (11th, 10th and 11th in the respective years). Instead they have qualified through the Fair Play initiative each time.^[14]

Players

First-team squad

As of 8 January 2016^[15]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Emil Hedvall 2 DF Joshua Nadeau 3 DF Simen Rafn 4 DF Anton Lans 5 DF Jacob Ericsson 6 DF Jesper Florén 7 MF Robin Nilsson (vice captain) 8 MF Simon Skrabb (on loan from FF Jaro) 9 FW Johan Oremo 10 FW Dioh Williams 12 MF Anders Bååth (captain)

No. Position Player 13 MF Johan Bertilsson 14 DF Jens Portin 15 FW Jacob Hjelte 17 MF Jonas Lantto 18 MF Tshutshu Tshakasua 19 FW Abdul-Basit Adams (on loan from New Edubiase United) 20 FW Emil Bellander 21 MF Kwame Bonsu 25 GK Andreas Andersson 29 DF Martin Rauschenberg

Current youth players with first-team experience

As of 20 February 2016^{[upper-alpha 1]}

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

No. Position Player 23 MF Samuel Gussman — DF Albin Lohikangas

No. Position Player — MF Adrian Bjelkendal Haaranen — MF Albin Hultin Svensk

Out on loan

As of 9 February 2016

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

No. Position Player 30 GK Oskar Larsson (at Egersunds IK until 8 January 2017)

For season transfers, see transfers winter 2015–16.

Managers

^[16]

Robert Carrick (1900–07) Sven Klang (1933–34) Erik Nilsson (1935) Václav Simon (1945–46) Erik Norin (1960) Matts Larsson (1961) Sven Bergsten (1963) Sigge Parling (1965) Jörgen Stark (1970–71) Lennart Söderberg (1972–75) Peter Antoine (1976) Rune Karlsson (1977)

Bo Andersson (1978–79) Leif Widén (1980–81) Stefan Lundin (1982–83) Björn Bolling (1984) Bo Andersson (1985–86) Lennart Söderberg (1987–89) Marek Skurczynski (1990–92) Stefan Lundin (1992–96) Per Olsson (1996–02) Kenneth Rosén (2003–04) Per Olsson (2005–13) Roger Sandberg (2014–)

Per Olsson was in charge of Gefle IF for a large part of the past two decades.

Achievements

League

• Superettan:
  • Runners-up (1): 2004
• Division 1 Norra:
  • Runners-up (1): 1995

Cups

• Svenska Cupen:
  • Runners-up (1): 2006
• Rosenska Pokalen:
  • Winners (3): 1899, 1900, 1902

Footnotes

1. Current youth players who at least have sat on the bench in a competitive match.

References

1. "Distrikten Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Gestriklands Fotbollförbund – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2011-01-10.
2. "Pressmeddelande: Förenat framtidsfokus för fotbollen!". gefleiffotboll.se (in Swedish). Gefle IF. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
3. "Maratontabell". Retrieved 2013-07-31.
4. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar 2013 – Gefle IF FF". Retrieved 2013-07-31.
5. "När Gefle IF hade Sveriges bästa fotbollslag". Retrieved 2013-07-27.
6. "Gävle stads namn". Retrieved 2013-07-27.
7. "Historik". Retrieved 2013-07-27.
8. "När Gefle IF var bäst i Sverige". Retrieved 2013-07-30.
9. "Gefle IF:s tränare död". Retrieved 2013-07-31.
10. "Historik Supporterklubben Sky Blues". Retrieved 2013-07-31.
11. "Supportergrupp bojkottar GIF". Retrieved 2013-07-31.
12. "GEFLEBLOGGEN: En gång himmelsblå alltid himmelsblå". Retrieved 2013-07-31.
13. "GIF-fansen: "Tröjan känns helt rätt"". Retrieved 2015-02-15.
14. "Gefle till Europa League-kval". Retrieved 2013-07-30.
15. "Spelartruppen" (in Swedish). Gefle IF. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
16. "4–4–2 Gefle IF Database". Gefle Dagblad. Retrieved 2013-10-10.

External links

• Gefle IF – Official site
• Sky Blues – Official supporter club site
• Himlen är ljusblå – Supporter site
• Gefle Blue Boys – Ultras site