Östersunds FK

Östersunds FK

Full name	Östersunds Fotbollsklubb
Founded	31 October 1996
Ground	Jämtkraft Arena, Östersund
Capacity	6,400
Chairman	Daniel Kindberg
Manager	Graham Potter
League	Allsvenskan
2015	Superettan, 2nd (promoted)
Home colours Away colours

Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known as Östersunds FK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden. The club was formed on 31 October 1996 as a cooperation between three Östersund clubs. They are affiliated to the Jämtland-Härjedalens Fotbollförbund^[1] and play their home games at Jämtkraft Arena. The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are black and red. Since its creation, the club has played mostly in the third tier of Swedish football but in 2013 Östersund achieved promotion to the second tier, Superettan, for the first time ever, after achieving two consecutive promotions.^[2] On 27 October 2015, the club qualified for Allsvenskan for the first time.^[3]

Background

Östersunds FK was created in 1996 when the three local clubs Ope IF, IFK Östersund and Östersund/Torvalla FF came together with the ambition to create a club in the city that would be able to establish itself in the top two tiers of Swedish football. The next year Frösö IF also joined the project. The newly formed club started out their existence in the third tier in 1997 and Östersund/Torvalla FF ceased to exist as a consequence.^[4]

During the 2000s the club started taking on a British flavour and in 2007 the director of football Daniel Kindberg used his friendship with coaches Roberto Martínez and Graeme Jones to start a cooperation with Swansea City where Östersund would loan young players from the club. Swansea also came over to Östersund to play the inauguration game at the newly built stadium.^[5]

After a poor 2010 season the club was relegated to the fourth tier for the first time ever. The next year Daniel Kindberg returned to the role as director of football and increased financial backing from local companies which enabled the hiring of more full-time staff. The club also brought in young English manager Graham Potter who was working at an English university at the time. Through several successful signings, some coming from Potters connections at Nike Football Academy, the club was able to win both the fourth tier and then the third tier immediately the year after.^[6] The club was promoted to Superettan for the 2013 season and finished 10th that season.

In January 2014 the club announced that they had signed a half-billion kronor deal with the government of Libya to develop and educate Libyan football players. Under the terms of the deal, Östersunds FK will train 250 young men from Libya every year, excepting the first year in which they will receive 60 students. Those players will be taught English and computer skills in addition to sports theory and football training. The deal is expected to raise Östersund FKs yearly profits by over 50%.^[7]

Season to season

Season Level Division Section Position Movements 1997 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 7th 1998 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 2nd Promotion Playoffs 1999 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 1st Promotion Playoffs 2000 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 5th 2001 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 3rd 2002 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 5th 2003 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 2nd 2004 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 4th 2005 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 2nd Promoted 2006* Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 11th 2007 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 11th 2008 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 10th 2009 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 11th 2010 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 13th Relegated 2011 Tier 4 Division 2 Norrland 1st Promoted 2012 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 1st Promoted 2013 Tier 2 Superettan 10th 2014 Tier 2 Superettan 5th 2015 Tier 2 Superettan 2nd Promoted * League restructuring in 2006 resulted in a new division being created at Tier 3 and subsequent divisions dropping a level. [8]

Players

First-team squad

As of 8 January 2016^[9]

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 Aly Keita 4 MF Sebastian Lundbäck 5 DF Walid Atta 6 DF Doug Bergqvist 7 MF Monday Samuel 8 MF Jamie Hopcutt 9 FW Emir Smajic 11 FW Andrew Stadler 12 FW Ken Sema 14 DF Bobo Sollander 18 FW Alhaji Gero 19 DF Dennis Widgren

No. Position Player 20 MF Gabriel Somi 21 MF Fouad Bachirou 22 MF Brwa Nouri (vice captain) 23 MF Alex Dyer (captain) 24 DF Ronald Mukiibi 25 DF Samuel Mensah 27 GK Jamal Blackman (on loan from Chelsea) 29 FW Michael Omoh 31 DF Sotirios Papagiannopoulos 77 GK Haraldur Björnsson 93 FW Saman Ghoddos

Current youth players with first-team experience

As of 8 January 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 — GK Edvin Olsson — MF Tobias Sundström

No. Position Player — FW Jonathan Engström — FW Gustav Forsberg

Out on loan

As of 8 January 2016

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

No. Position Player 10 MF Hosam Aiesh (at Varbergs BoIS until 8 January 2017)[upper-alpha 2]

For season transfers, see transfers winter 2015–16.

Notable players

This list of notable players includes those who have either been named player of the year at the club,^[10] or has become league top goalscorer, or went on to play in Allsvenskan (or for larger clubs abroad).

Paul Sheerin Mattias Eriksson Mikael Berg Lasse Oscarsson Lasse Mattila Kjell Jönsson Fredrik Aliris Martin Johansson Joakim Lundstedt Modou Barrow

Erik Lantto Alan Al-Kadhi Lee Makel Bobo Sollander Brian Wake Daryl Smylie David Accam Michael Tidser Samuel Mensah Jason Walker

Brian Wake became the combined top goalscorer of all six regional fourth tier leagues in 2011 with 24 goals in 20 games.[11]

Management

Technical staff

As of 16 January 2015^[12]

Name Role Daniel Kindberg Director of Football Graham Potter Head Coach Billy Reid Assistant Coach Björn Hamberg Assistant Coach Analyst Kyle Macaulay Scout Analyst Brian Wake Assistant Coach Linus Eriksson Goalkeeper Coach Frida Eklund Physiotherapist Bengt-Uno Nilsson Equipment Manager Bengt Olsson Social Coach Rachel Potter Pilates Instructor Jenny Larsson Physiotherapist

Managers

Leif Widegren (1997) Christer Andersson (1998) Sören Åkeby (1999) Jan Westerlund (1999–2001) Hans Eskilsson (2002–2003) Ulf Kvarnlöf (2004–2005) Stefan Regebro (2006–2007) Neil McDonald (2007) Karl-Gunnar Björklund (2008–2009) Lee Makel (2010) Graham Potter (2011–) [13]

Englishman Neil McDonald helped the team avoid relegation during his short time with the club at the end of the 2007 season.[14]

Attendances

In recent seasons Östersunds FK have had the following average attendances:

Jämtkraft Arena opened up in 2007 with a friendly game between Östersunds FK and Swansea City.^[15]

Season Average Attendance Division / Section Level 2005 573 Div 2 Norrland Tier 3 2006 535 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2007 1,060 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2008 1,104 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2009 1,134 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2010 992 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2011 783 Div 2 Norrland Tier 4 2012 1,695 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2013 3,320 Superettan Tier 2 2014 3,022 Superettan Tier 2 2015 3,857 Superettan Tier 2 * Attendances are provided in the Publikliga sections of the Svenska Fotbollförbundet website. [16]

Achievements

League

• Division 1 Norra:
  • Winners (1): 2012

Footnotes

1. Current youth players who at least have sat on the bench in a competitive match.
2. Östersunds FK have a cooperation with Varbergs BoIS and might temporarily loan out players to them during the season.

References

1. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Jämtland-Härjedalens Fotbollförbund – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2011-01-12.
2. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar 2013 – Östersunds FK". Retrieved 20 January 2013.
3. Calle Lindberg (27 October 2015). "Östersunds FK allsvenskt för första gången" (in Swedish). SVT Sport. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
4. "Östersunds FF Historia" (in Swedish). Retrieved 20 January 2013.
5. "Östersunds satsar brittiskt" (in Swedish). Retrieved 20 January 2013.
6. "ÖFK Tillbakablick" (in Swedish). Retrieved 20 January 2013.
7. "Superettan klubb får en halvmiljard" (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 January 2014.
8. "GAIS – Lagfacta – Östersunds FK". Retrieved 2010-03-09.
9. "Truppen 2016" (in Swedish). Östersunds FK. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
10. "Östersunds FF Klubben". Retrieved 2013-01-20.
11. "Brian Wake – målkung i förbundsserierna". Retrieved 2013-01-20.
12. "Truppen 2015". Retrieved 2015-01-16.
13. "Östersunds FF Klubben". Retrieved 2013-01-16.
14. "Heta möten mot Vasalund". Retrieved 2013-01-20.
15. "Swansea till Östersund!!!". Retrieved 2013-01-20.
16. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Svenska Fotbollförbundet – svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2010-11-19.

External links

Media related to Östersunds FK at Wikimedia Commons

• Östersunds FK – official site