GIF Sundsvall

GIF Sundsvall
Full name Gymnastik- och
Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall
Nickname(s) Giffarna
Founded 25 August 1903 (1903-08-25)
Ground Norrporten Arena, Sundsvall
Ground Capacity 7,700
Chairman Johan Nikula
Head coach Joel Cedergren
League Allsvenskan
2016 Allsvenskan, 13th
Website Club home page

Gymnastik och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, also known as GIF Sundsvall or simply Sundsvall, are a Swedish professional football club based in Sundsvall. The club are affiliated to Medelpads Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Norrporten Arena.[1] The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are blue. Formed on 25 August 1903, the club have played thirteen seasons in Sweden's highest football league Allsvenskan, the club's first season in the league was in 1965. The club are currently playing in Allsvenskan, where the season lasts from April to October.

History

A chart showing the progress of GIF Sundsvall through the swedish football league system. The different shades of gray represent league divisions.
GIF Sundsvall in their traditional blue and white kits during an Allsvenskan game against Helsingborgs IF.

The club was formed on August 25, 1903 at Matilda Anderssons Café. At that time, GIF Sundsvall stood for "Godtemplarnas Idrotts Förening Sundsvall" which mainly was for Teetotallers up until the alcohol demands was lightened in 1920. The initials then came to stand for, to this day still, "Gymnastik och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall" (Gymnastics and sports club Sundsvall).

The club reached the first tier of the domestic football in 1965. The club has since been a "yo-yo team" mainly playing in the second division but with Allsvenskan stints in 1975, 1987–89, 1991, 2000–06, 2008, 2012 and since 2015.

GIF Sundsvall earlier had women's football and ice hockey on the program. The hockey team folded in the late 1960s, in 1985 the women's team was transferred to Sundsvalls DFF. This mainly because the women's team was disappointed with the lack of support from the men's team.

Norrporten Arena

Norrporten Arena, earlier known as Sundsvalls idrottspark
For more details on this topic, see Norrporten Arena.

Norrporten Arena, formerly known as Idrottsparken, is located in the heart of Sundsvall and was inaugurated on August 6, 1903. It was renovated in 2001–02 for the club's previous stint in Allsvenskan and it can now hold a capacity of 8,000, with 5,000 under roof. In 2006 the stadium's name was officially changed to Norrporten Arena but the name isn't fully adopted by the fans.

Top attendance: 16,507 vs Högadal on October 15, 1961.

Patronerna

The official supporter's club of GIF Sundsvall is called Patronerna. Formed in 1999, mostly as a joke by some friends supporting their friend, the club has in a short period of time amassed a strong reputation. The name is mainly a historical reference to the sawmill owners who were very powerful in Sundsvall during post industrial revolution-era. FP-tifo, Patronerna's fraction of tifo-supporters, won the Swedish tifo-awards sponsored by Canal+, in 2005.

Achievements

Players

First-team squad

As of 11 August 2016[2]

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

No. Position Player
1 England GK Lloyd Saxton
3 Sweden DF Dennis Olsson
4 Sweden DF Stefan Ålander
5 Sweden DF Eric Björkander
7 Iceland MF Kristinn Steindórsson
8 Luxembourg MF Lars Krogh Gerson
9 Sweden FW Johan Eklund (vice captain)
11 Sweden MF Sebastian Rajalakso
14 Sweden FW Joel Enarsson
15 Sweden DF Marcus Danielsson
16 Sweden MF Robin Tranberg
17 Sweden GK Tommy Naurin (captain)
No. Position Player
18 Sweden MF Robbin Sellin
19 Sweden DF Noah Sonko Sundberg (on loan from AIK)
20 Sweden MF Smajl Suljević
21 Sweden DF Eric Larsson
22 Sweden FW Stefan Silva
23 Sweden DF Filip Tägtström
26 Sweden MF Erik Granat
27 Sweden MF Mauricio Albornoz (on loan from Åtvidabergs FF)
29 Sweden MF Amaro Bahtijar
30 Sweden FW Peter Wilson
35 Sweden GK Jonathan Malmberg
– Iceland MF Kristinn Freyr Sigurðsson

Current youth players with first-team experience

As of 11 August 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
31 Sweden DF Linus Sahlin
No. Position Player
32 Sweden MF Jonathan Morsay

Out on loan

As of 11 August 2016

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

No. Position Player
— Sweden MF Granit Buzuku (at Team TG until 8 January 2016)

Retired numbers

10 – Leif Forsberg, forward (1980–1988, 1990–2001)

Managers

Footnotes

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

References

  1. ↑ "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Medelpads Fotbollförbund – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  2. ↑ "Truppen" (in Swedish). GIF Sundsvall. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
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