Helsingborgs IF

Helsingborgs IF
Full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening
Nickname(s) Di Röe (The Reds)
Short name HIF
Founded 4 June 1907 (1907-06-04)
Ground Olympia, Helsingborg
Ground Capacity 16,500
Chairman Sten-Åke Tjärnlund
Manager Henrik Larsson
League Allsvenskan
2015 Allsvenskan, 8th
Website Club home page

Helsingborgs IF (alternative spelling Hälsingborgs IF), commonly referred to as Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF, is a Swedish football club located in Helsingborg. They are currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan. The club, formed 4 June 1907, has won five national championship titles and five national cup titles. Helsingborgs IF have also won Allsvenskan on two occasions when the title of Swedish champions was not decided by the outcome of that league.[1][upper-alpha 1]

Helsingborg was a founder member of Allsvenskan, and between 1924 and 1968 they spent all but two seasons in the top division, and won the league five times. At the end of the 1968 season, HIF was relegated, and while most people initially expected a quick return, they went on to spend the next 24 seasons in the lower leagues before finally getting promoted back to the top flight in 1992. Since returning to Allsvenskan in 1993, Helsingborg has remained in the top division, winning the league twice in 1999 and 2011.

The club is affiliated to the Skånes Fotbollförbund.[3]

History

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

The club was formed in 1907 after the merger of Svithiod and Stattena (not to be confused with the Stattena IF of today), and the club played their first game on 6 June 1907, beating neighbours IFK Helsingborgs 6–2. Otto Malm was a star of the team; in the 1911–12 season he scored 69 goals in only 24 games. At the end of his time at Helsingborgs IF he had played 500 games and scored 735 goals. The year after the club's formation, John Pettersson joined as club president, and during his tenure the club won the league five times. The year after, the club changed their kit from white shirts and blue shorts to red shirts and blue shorts, as well as winning the Scandinavian Championships. In 1914 the club lost in the final of the Svenska Cupen (Swedish Cup) and also in the Svenssons Cup. That year the club were invited to play in the Swedish Series, but declined because they thought that playing friendlies brought higher attendances. Additionally, the club's players were part-time, meaning that regular away matches would have been impractical. On 30 May 1915, the club lost 5–4 to Gӧta in the District Championships. 1918 again saw the club finish second the Svenska Cupen, after losing to IFK Göteborg.

With the arrival of Norwegian manager Åge Hareide things started to look very good for the first time in many years. During Hareides first year HIF finished 2nd in the league and won Allsvenskan in 1999, for the first time since 1941.

Following the World Cup break however, Henrik Larsson arrived at Helsingborg along with a new manager, Stuart Baxter, and Helsingborg started to win matches. After victory in the derby and a 3–2 win at home against IFK Göteborg, Helsingborg finished in fourth place in the league and as winners in the Svenska Cupen after a 2–0 victory over Gefle IF in the cup final.

After a pretty mediocre season Helsingborg finished 8th in the league and everyones expectations were very low before the upcoming UEFA Cup qualifiers. Helsingborg however managed to make it to the group stage after eliminating the Dutch team SC Heerenveen. Helsingborg ended up in the same group as FC Girondins de Bordeaux, Galatasaray S.K, FK Austria Wien and Panionios F.C.

With wins against Galatasaray and Austria Wien, a draw against Panionios and a loss against Bordeaux, Helsingborg finished second in the group and faced PSV Eindhoven in the round of 32. PSV won 2–0 at home and 2–1 away. Stuart Baxter had left the club shortly after the loss against FC Girondins de Bordeaux following a disagreement with the club president Sten-Inge Fredin and was replaced with the club's Director of Football Bo Nilsson. It was from the beginning only supposed to be temporary but after a few months of good results, Nilsson was contracted for the whole season.

Club culture

The official anthem of Helsingborg is "På Gator Röda och Blå" by Björns Band.[4]

Tifo at a Helsingborg home game
Helsingborg supporters displaying the red and yellow Scanian flag

Players

First-team squad

As of 8 January 2016[5]

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

No. Position Player
1 United States GK Matt Pyzdrowski
2 Sweden DF Carl Johansson
3 Denmark DF Frederik Helstrup
5 Sweden MF Johan Mårtensson (vice captain)
6 Sweden MF Andreas Landgren
7 Sweden DF Viktor Ljung
8 Denmark MF Martin Christensen
9 Zimbabwe FW Matthew Rusike
10 Sweden MF Anton Wede
11 Sweden DF Adam Eriksson
13 Sweden MF Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson
15 Sweden FW Linus Hallenius
No. Position Player
16 Sweden FW Mikael Dahlberg
18 Sweden FW Jordan Larsson
19 Sweden MF Darijan Bojanić
20 Sweden MF Carl Wede
23 Sweden DF Jonathan Larsson
24 Sweden FW Anton Kinnander
25 Sweden DF Felix Bindelöv
26 Sweden DF Peter Larsson (captain)
27 Togo MF Lalawélé Atakora
29 Sweden DF Jesper Björkman
41 Canada GK Tomer Chencinski
55 Sweden FW Moustafa Zeidan

Current youth players with first-team experience

As of 8 January 2016[upper-alpha 2]

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

No. Position Player
39 Sweden GK Kalle Joelsson

For season transfers, see transfers winter 2015–16.

Retired numbers

European cup history

UEFA Team Ranking 2012

Rank Team Points
158Cyprus AEK Larnaca F.C.9.366
159Denmark Brøndby IF9.140
160Croatia Hajduk Split8.916
161Sweden Helsingborg IF8.625
162Israel Bnei Yehuda8.575
163Bulgaria CSKA Sofia8.450
164Romania Rapid București8.444

As of 12 February 2013. Source

Managers

  • Denmark Arne Sörensen (1969–70)
  • Sweden Raoul Weimann (1971)
  • Sweden Arne Hagberg (1972–73)
  • Sweden W Schnorrenberger (1974)
  • Sweden Lars-Göran Persson (1975)
  • England Brian Birch (1976–77)
  • Sweden Bert Olsson (1977)
  • Sweden Bernt-Hugo Andersson (1978–80)
  • Sweden Bertil Hanssont (1980–81)
  • Sweden Thomas Borg (1982–83)
  • Sweden Rolf Svensson (1984–86)
  • Sweden Bertil Hansson (1986)
  • Sweden Bo Nilsson (1987–94)

Achievements

League

Cups

Records

Footnotes

  1. 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.[2]
  2. Current youth players who at least have sat on the bench in a competitive match.

References

  1. "Helsingborgs IF". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2012-08-08.
  2. "Svenska mästare 1896–1925, 1931–". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-11-25.
  3. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Skånes Fotbollförbund – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  4. "Björns band – På gator röda och blå". YouTube. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  5. "A-laget" (in Swedish). Helsingborgs IF. Retrieved 6 July 2013.

See also

External links

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