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| Full name | Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Giffarna | ||
| Founded | 25 August 1903 | ||
| Ground | Idrottsparken, Sundsvall | ||
| Capacity | 7,700 | ||
| Chairman | Johan Nikula | ||
| Head coach | Henrik Åhnstrand | ||
| League | Superettan | ||
| 2020 | Superettan, 6th | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɡɪfː ˈsɵ̂nː(d)sval])[1] or simply Sundsvall, is a Swedish professional football club based in Sundsvall. The club is affiliated with Medelpads Fotbollförbund and plays its home games at Idrottsparken.[2] Formed on 25 August 1903, the club has played 17 seasons in Sweden's highest football league Allsvenskan, the club's first season in the league was in 1965.
History
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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 2015–19.
GIF Sundsvall earlier had women's football, bandy and ice hockey on the program. The bandy team became district champions for Västernorrland in 1921.[3] 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.
Idrottsparken
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GIF Sundsvall's home stadium is Idrottsparken, formerly known as Norrporten Arena. It is located in the heart of Sundsvall and was inaugurated on August 6, 1903.
It was renovated in 2001–2002 and it can now hold a capacity of 7,700, with 5,000 under roof.
Between 2006–2016 the name was changed to Norrporten Arena and during 2017 the club expect to present a new sponsor and name of the stadium.
The stadium's grass is artificial turf since 2004.
Top attendance: 16,507 vs Högadal on October 15, 1961.
Supporters
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 the post-industrial-revolution era. In 2005, FP-tifo, the group who designs the club's terrace choreography, won the Swedish tifo awards arranged by Canal+.
Achievements
- Superettan:
- Runners-up (2): 2011, 2014
- Division 1 Norra:
- Winners (2): 1990, 1999
- Norrländska Mästerskapet:
- Winners (1): 1942
- Runners-up (2): 1928, 1951
Players
First-team squad
- As of 25 August 2020[4]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth.
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Retired numbers
10 – Leif Forsberg, forward (1980–1988, 1990–2001)
Managers
Stig Sundqvist (1955–58)
Jimmy Meadows (1976)- Anders Grönhagen (1986–89)
- Jan Mattsson (1990–92)
- Anders Grönhagen (1999–01)
Per Joar Hansen (2002–03)
Patrick Walker (2002–04)- Rikard Norling (Jan 2004 – Dec 2004)
- Jan Halvor Halvorsen (Jan 2005 – Aug 2005)
- Anders Högman (2005)
- David Wilson (July 2005 – July 2006)
Mika Sankala (2006–07), (2008–Ass.)- Per Joar Hansen (Jan 2008 – Oct 2008)
- Sören Åkeby (Oct 2008 – Nov 2012)
- Joel Cedergren (Nov 2012–Present) & Roger Franzén (Nov 2012 – Sep 2016)
Footnotes
References
- ^ Jöran Sahlgren; Gösta Bergman (1979). Svenska ortnamn med uttalsuppgifter (in Swedish). p. 23.
- ^ "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Medelpads Fotbollförbund – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2011-01-12.
- ^ Eric Sköld (ed.): Boken om bandy, Uppsala: Bygd och Folk Förlag (1948), p. 469 (in Swedish)
- ^ "Truppen" (in Swedish). GIF Sundsvall. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
External links
- GIF Sundsvall – official site
- Patronerna – official supporter club site