Djurgårdens IF Fotboll

Djurgårdens IF

Full name	Djurgårdens Idrottsförening
Nickname(s)	Blåränderna (The Blue Stripes) Järnkaminerna (The Iron Stoves)
Short name	DIF
Founded	12 March 1891 (1891-03-12) 1899 (1899) (football department)
Ground	Tele2 Arena, Stockholm
Ground Capacity	30,000
Chairman	Lars-Erik Sjöberg
Head coach	Özcan Melkemichel
League	Allsvenskan
2016	Allsvenskan, 7th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Djurgårdens IF Fotbollsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgården [²jʉːʳˌɡoːɖɛn], informally Djurgår'n [ˈjʉːʳɡɔɳ] and (especially locally) Dif or DIF^{[upper-alpha 1]}, is the association football department of Djurgårdens IF and is based at Tele2 Arena in Johanneshov, Stockholm, Sweden.

Formed in 1891, the club has 11 national championship titles and 4 national cup titles. Djurgården has won their Swedish championships during three eras. The first one occurred during the 1910s when the club won four championships, the second during the 1950s and 1960s with the same amount of championships. The latest era occurred in the first half of the 2000s: they finished second in 2001, won Allsvenskan and the cup – Svenska Cupen – in 2002, Allsvenskan in 2003, and Svenska Cupen in 2004, before winning Allsvenskan for a third time in 2005. They currently play in the highest Swedish tier, Allsvenskan. The club is affiliated to the Stockholms Fotbollförbund.^[1]

History

Foundation

Djurgårdens IF was founded 12 March 1891 at a café in Alberget 4A on the island of Djurgården primarily by John G. Jansson. Most of the founding members were young working class men.^[2] The first real football field in Stockholm was created in 1896. Djurgårdens IF's football department was formed in 1899, with the help of former GAIS-player Teodor Andersson.^[3] Djurgården played their first match in July 1899, a 1–2 loss against AIK.^[3]

First era

The first real achievement was made in 1902 when the team finished second in the tournament Rosenska Pokalen. Just two years later, in 1904, the first Swedish Championship final of the club was played, ending in a defeat against Örgryte IS. The team finished second in three more finals before the first Championship victory came in 1912 after two draws in the final matches against Örgryte, and a replay which Djurgården won. The club won three more Swedish Championships in the early years, in 1915 against Örgryte, 1917 against AIK and 1920 against IK Sleipner. However, DIF never managed to win Svenska Serien, the top Swedish league of the period, before the club's first great era ended. Between 1911 and 1935, Tranebergs Idrottsplats was the homeground for Djurgården. For the 1912 Summer Olympics, Stockholms Stadion was built. It became Djurgården's permanent home arena in 1936.

The club did not qualify for the first season of Allsvenskan, and only reached that league twice between 1924 and 1944, being directly relegated back down to Division 2 both times. The club did also play three seasons in the then third highest league, Division 3, between 1929 and 1932. From 1944 on, the club became a stable Allsvenskan club. In 1951, the team became runners-up in Svenska Cupen after Malmö FF; this was the team's first Cup final.

Second era

The second great era took place in the 1950s and 1960s, winning Allsvenskan four times during the period. Djurgården's fifth Swedish championships, and first Allsvenskan championship, was taken in the 1954–55 season under the lead of Frank Soo. In the 1955–56 season, Djurgården became the first Swedish team to enter the European Cup.^[3] Beating Gwardia Warszawa in the first round, Djurgården advanced to quarter finals against Scottish Hibernian that they lost by 1–4 over two matches.^[3]

In 1959, both the football team and Djurgårdens IF's hockey team won their respective Swedish Championships of Sweden's two most popular sports, a remarkable happening. The 1959 title was secured on Råsunda Stadium, in front of 48,894 people, marking a record attendance for Djurgården, with a team of Sven Tumba, Birger Eklund, Lars Broström, John Eriksson, Hans Karlsson, Gösta Sandberg, Olle Hellström, Stig Gustafsson, Arne Arvidsson, Hans Mild and Sigge Parling.^[3]

The year after, in the 1960 season Djurgården finished 11th and was relegated to Division 2. The team only needed one year to return to Allsvenskan. In 1964 and 1966, Djurgården took its seventh and eight championships, with 1966 marking the end of the career of Gösta Sandberg.^[3] Sandberg played 322 league matches for the team 1951–66 and scored 77 goals. Gösta Sandberg is known as "Mr Djurgården" and was in 1991 namned "Djurgårdare of the century". Sandberg also played for the club's Bandy and Ice Hockey section. He passed away on his way home after attending the Tvillingderbyt in 2006.

It's during this era that the nickname "Järnkaminerna" ("The Iron Stoves") was established, due to the clubs physical playing style. The ideal of a strong and uncomprimising Djurgården player might also be traced back to the clubs working class roots.^[2]

Middle years

The 1970s saw no greater successes, however Djurgården was steady in Allsvenskan and had three third-places and a final loss in the 1975 Svenska Cupen Final as the best results. Gary Williams became the first foreign player in the team in the 1977 season.

The 1980s was not a good decade for the club, being relegated from Allsvenskan in 1981, and losing two promotion play-offs, before making a one-year visit in the highest league in 1986, although DIF returned two years later, and stayed in Allsvenskan for five consecutive seasons, but had no greater success except losing the Championship final in 1988. In 1987, Djurgårdens IF Fotboll presented a 12 million SEK deficit and later transformed into an aktiebolag.^[4] Former England striker Teddy Sheringham had a brief spell at Djurgården early in his career, as a 19-year-old loanee in 1985.

The 1990s saw Djurgården being relegated from Allsvenskan no less than three times, and being promoted back two times. During this decade, the club suffered from great economical problems and was close to bankruptcy. The 1995 season started well, but ended bad; in the last home match of the 1995 Allsvenskan, a supporter, later named Terror-Tommy in media, came on pitch and kicked referee Anders Frisk.^[3]

Third era

In the middle of 1999 season, Zoran Lukic and Sören Åkeby took over the team and won the inaugural 2000 Superettan and finished 2nd as newly promoted in the 2001 Allsvenskan. With a team consisting of Stefan Rehn, Kim Källström, Andreas Johansson, and Andreas Isaksson, Djurgården secured its first title in 36 years in the last round of the 2002 Allsvenskan.^[3] The first half of the 2000s was a golden era for the club, with three championships (2002, 2003 and 2005) and three cup wins (2002, 2004 and 2005). This marked the end of the golden era for Djurgården, which ended on sixth place in 2006. The club was one of the main contenders for the league championship in 2007, which ultimately lead to a third place. The results went downhill in 2008 and 2009; Djurgården ended up on 14th place in 2009, and had to play through a relegation playoff against Assyriska Föreningen to remain in Allsvenskan.

In the early 2010s, Djurgården was a mid-table Allsvenskan team finishing 7th to 11th between 2010 and 2014. When the newly appointed Director of sport Bo Andersson who led Djurgården to three titles in the early 21st century came back in 2014 he was forced to sell players such as Daniel Amartey (who became the most expensive defender ever sold by an Allsvenskan club for about 25 million SEK), Erton Fejzullahu, Christian Rubio Sivodedov and Simon Tibbling which stabilized the financials.

Supporters and rivalries

Djurgården is one of the most supported clubs in Sweden, with most of its supporters living in Stockholm and the neighbouring suburbs.^[5] While other Stockholm clubs have profiled themselves as belonging to a certain borough of Stockholm, Djurgården is seen as more of a pan-Stockholm club. No reliable research exists about the spread of Djurgården supporters, but a 2015 T-shirt campaign suggests that supporters are spread fairly evenly throughout the Stockholm area.^[6]

Although Djurgården's supporters have been organizing themselves since the late 1940s, with the founding of DIF Supporters Club back in 1947, the 1970s saw singing supporter sections emerging which led to a new supporter club to be founded in 1981, named Blue Saints.^[7][8] The supporter club later changed its name in 1997 to Järnkaminerna (lit. The Iron Stoves) since the old name was perceived to be associated with violence. Järnkaminerna is to this day Djurgården's Official Supporters Club with a membership of a few thousand. The 2000s saw the emergence and creation of independent ultras groups. The oldest active ultra group, Ultra Caos Stockholm, formed in 2003 is largely influenced by southern European supporter culture.^[9] In 2005 a specific tifo-group known as Fabriken Stockholm was formed, taking over the role of creating tifos for the team's games, from the former, now abolished group; Ultras Stockholm, founded in the late 1990s. In 2013 Fabriken Stockholm discontinued as the club's tifo-group and instead a more open and larger tifo-organization was started, headed by Ultra Caos Stockholm.

Notable Djurgården supporters

• Carl XVI Gustaf,^[10] King of Sweden
• Fredrik Reinfeldt,^[10] former Prime Minister of Sweden
• Olof Palme,^[11] former Prime Minister of Sweden
• Lars Ohly,^[12] former party leader of Vänsterpartiet, the Left Party
• Joakim Thåström,^[13] musician
• Stefan Persson, former CEO, Chairman of the Board and major shareholder of H&M^[14]
• Carl-Henric Svanberg, business leader
• Christer Fuglesang,^[15] astronaut, first Scandinavian in space

Rivalry

Djurgården's archrival is AIK due to several reasons. Djurgårdens IF and AIK were both founded in 1891, just three weeks apart. Because of this, games between the teams are called Tvillingderbyt (lit. The twin derby). Both teams are originally from Stockholm's city centre. The strong rivalry can also be traced back to the two clubs older history, when Djurgården was a working class club and AIK a middle class club.^[2] Games between the two teams are very popular and draw large attendances. The games can often be heated occasions given the fact that there is a lot of animosity between both sets of supporters and can produce great atmospheres. They are also historically the biggest and most successful clubs from Stockholm, with 11 Swedish Championships each.

Hammarby IF is the other main rival, mostly because of the geographical proximity with Djurgården originating from the north eastern part of Stockholm and Hammarby from the south part of the city. Since 2013, the two teams share the same home ground: Tele2 Arena.

Affiliated clubs and schools

^[16]

Affiliated clubs

• Division 2
  • Konyaspor KIF
  • Håbo FF
• Division 3
  • IFK Lidingö FK
  • Spårvägens FF
• Division 4
  • Kista Sports Club

On May 22, 2016 Djurgården announced a cooperation with Spårvägens FF as part of strengthening the presence of Djurgården in the southern suburbs of Stockholm as for example Skarpnäck, Bagarmossen and Skölndal. One of the aims of the cooperation is to make a natural way for talents in Southern Stockholm to become a part of Djurgården. On 4 August 2016 a similar cooperation with Kista Sports Club was announced.

Affiliated schools

• Engelbrektsskolan in Östermalm (grade 4-9)
• Sjölins Gymnasium in Södermalm (high school)
• Stockholms Idrotts Gymnasium in Östermalm (high school)

Updated 4 August 2016

Kit

The home shirt is vertically striped in dark and light blue.

Kit manufacturers and sponsors

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor (chest)
1977–1979	Adidas	None
1980		MasterCharge
1981		Köpkort
1982		None
1983		Atari
1984–1987		Året Runt
1988		QC Business Card
1989–1992		Mita Copiers
1993		ICA
1994–1996		Graphium
1997		"Nej till våld och droger!"
1998		HP
1999		Bewator
2000–2004		Kaffeknappen
2005–2012		ICA
2013		Djurgårdsandan
2014–		Prioritet Finans

Stadiums

Djurgården's primary stadium since 2013 is Tele2 Arena. The club's first match at the new arena was the 1–2 defeat to IFK Norrköping on 31 July 2013, with an attendance of 27,798 people, which also counts as Djurgården's record attendance on the arena.

Between 1936 and 2013, Djurgården's primary stadium was Stockholm Olympic Stadium, where the national league and cup games were played. The secondary stadium was Råsunda Stadium, where Stockholm derbies against AIK and Hammarby IF were played. The old Olympic Stadium, built in 1912, didn't fulfill UEFA's stadium requirements and therefore international cup games were also played at Råsunda. The club's record attendance at the Olympic Stadium is at least 21,995 against AIK on 16 August 1946.^{[17][upper-alpha 2]} Djurgården's record attendance at Råsunda is 48,894 against IFK Göteborg on 11 October 1959.^[18]

The club's first stadium was Stockholms idrottspark where the club played from 1899 when the football department was founded until 1906 when the club moved to the newly built Östermalm Athletic Grounds.^[19] Djurgården did not stay long at Östermalm, in August 1910 the club signed a 25-year contract with the Stockholm City Council to dispose of an area in Traneberg, a district west of the inner city, to build a stadium.^[20] Tranebergs Idrottsplats was finished in October 1911 and inaugurated by Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf.^[20] The contract expired in 1935, and the City Council intended to build a residential area where the stadium was situated. Djurgården therefore moved to the Stockholm Olympic Stadium in 1936, where the club had played previously on several occasions since it was finished in 1912.^[21]

The later half of the 1940s saw a significant increase in attendances, which led the club to play some games at the larger, more modern, Råsunda Stadium.^[22][23] As Djurgården climbed in the league table in the beginning of the 1950s, all games were played at Råsunda.^[23] The end of the 1960s saw a return to the Olympic stadium, and soon all games were played there, with the exception of derbies.^[23]

The club's achievements in the early 2000s drew large attendances with led Djurgården to plan for a new stadium. The old 1912 Olympic Stadium also lacked modern facilities and individual seats. Along with political promises in 2006, Djurgården aimed for a rehaul of Stockholm Olympic Stadium and later an entirely new stadium at Östermalm Athletic Grounds.^[24][25][26] These plans were abandoned in December 2011 due to the building costs exceeding the club's financial capabilities.^[27] New stadium requirements from the Swedish Football Association also did not allow Djurgården to play at the Olympic Stadium after 2013.^[28] Thus, the club board made the decision to move to Tele2 Arena for the 2013 season.^[29]

Youth academy

The youth academy is located on Hjorthagens IP. In December 2012 an indoor arena named "Johan Björkmans hall" with one full size turf, and two smaller turfs was build on Hjorthagens IP which enabled football training all year around.^[30] In 2007 Djurgården invested 65 million SEK (roughly 7 million Euro) for the upcoming five years in their youth academy. This project was described as a unique investment by a Swedish club by the former Director of Sport, Göran Aral.^[31] In 2015 the training ground of the first team was renovated which enabled the U-19 and U-17 teams to be training at Kaknäs IP and therefore came closer to the first team. The academy has produced players like Simon Tibbling (FC Groningen), Emil Bergström (Rubin Kazan) and Christian Rubio Sivodedov (Schalke 04).

Players

First-team squad

As of 2 December 2016^[32]

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 Andreas Isaksson 2 DF Tim Björkström 3 DF Elliot Käck 4 DF Jacob Une Larsson 5 DF Niklas Gunnarsson 6 MF Jesper Karlström 7 MF Magnus Eriksson 8 MF Kevin Walker (captain) 9 MF Haris Radetinac 10 MF Daniel Berntsen 11 FW Amadou Jawo 14 MF Besard Sabovic 16 DF Jonathan Augustinsson 17 FW Michael Olunga

No. Position Player 18 MF Kerim Mrabti 19 DF Marcus Hansson (vice captain) 21 MF Mihlali Mayambela 24 FW Tino Kadewere 25 GK Oscar Jonsson[upper-alpha 3] 27 DF Kebba Ceesay 31 DF Marcus Enström[upper-alpha 3] 32 DF Michael Jahn[upper-alpha 3] 36 MF Filip Tasic[upper-alpha 3] 58 MF Othman El Kabir — DF Kevin Deeromram[upper-alpha 3] — MF Yoon Soo-yong — MF Joseph Ceesay

Current youth players with first-team experience

As of 11 August 2016^{[upper-alpha 4]}

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

No. Position Player 37 DF Wilhelm Loeper

No. Position Player

Notable players

List criteria:

• player has been named Allsvenskan Top Goalscorer of the year,^[33] or
• player has won Guldbollen,^[34] or
• player is one of the 12 players named as "DIF-heroes" on the official club website.^[35]

Name	Nationality	Djurgården career	Total appearances	Total goals	Guldbollen	Allsvenskan top goalscorer
Jeppson, HasseHasse Jeppson	Sweden	1948–51	51	58		1951
Parling, SiggeSigge Parling	Sweden	1949–60	200	12
Sandberg, GöstaGösta Sandberg	Sweden	1951–66	328	79	1956
Eriksson, JohnJohn Eriksson	Sweden	1951–60	123	72
Arvidsson, ArneArne Arvidsson	Sweden	1952–65	269	0
Mild, HansHans Mild	Sweden	1957–65	160	6	1964
Hellström, OlleOlle Hellström	Sweden	1957–64 1968	129	4
Skiöld, LeifLeif Skiöld	Sweden	1960–65	75	60		1962
Pettersson, RonneyRonney Pettersson	Sweden	1960–70	123	0
Lindman, SvenSven Lindman	Sweden	1965–68 1969–80	326	49
Berggren, TommyTommy Berggren	Sweden	1968–84	299	55		1978
Knežević, VitoVito Knežević	Sweden	1977–88	242	18
Nilsson, LeifLeif Nilsson	Sweden	1984–92	215	5
Rehn, StefanStefan Rehn	Sweden	1984–89 2000–02	210	52

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 1 December 2016^[32]

Name Role Bo Andersson Director of Sport Özcan Melkemichel Head Coach Anders Johansson Assistant Coach Hugo Berggren Coach Kjell Frisk Goalkeeping Coach Johan Forsbring Fitness Coach Christian Andersson Naprapath Kalle Barrling Naprapath Håkan Nyberg Doctor Daniel Granqvist Player Manager Inge Lindström Team Arranger

Boardroom

As of 5 March 2015^[36]

Name Role Lars-Erik Sjöberg Chairman Anders Grönhagen Boardmember Gustaf Törngren Boardmember Patrik Nilsson Boardmember Ellinor Persson Boardmember Johan Lindén Boardmember Mikael Pawlo Boardmember Claes-Göran Sylvén Boardmember Per "Pelle" Kotschack Honorary Boardmember

Managers

It is not known for sure who was the team's manager until 1922, though it is believed that Birger Möller was in charge during a part of the club's first decades.^[37]

Honours

• Swedish Champions^{[upper-alpha 6]}
  • Winners (11): 1912, 1915, 1917, 1920, 1954–1955, 1959, 1964, 1966, 2002, 2003, 2005

League

• Allsvenskan:
  • Winners (7): 1954–1955, 1959, 1964, 1966, 2002, 2003, 2005
  • Runners-up (3): 1962, 1967, 2001
• Superettan:
  • Winners (1): 2000
• Division 1 Norra:
  • Winners (3): 1987, 1994, 1998
  • Runners-up (1): 1997
• Svenska Serien:
  • Runners-up (1): 1911–1912

Cups

• Svenska Cupen:
  • Winners (4): 1989–1990, 2002, 2004, 2005
  • Runners-up (4): 1951, 1974–1975, 1988–1989, 2013
• Svenska Mästerskapet:
  • Winners (4): 1912, 1915, 1917, 1920
  • Runners-up (7): 1904, 1906, 1909, 1910, 1913, 1916, 1919
• Allsvenskan play-offs:
  • Runners-up (1): 1988
• Corinthian Bowl:
  • Winners (1): 1910
  • Runners-up (2): 1908, 1911
• Rosenska Pokalen:
  • Runners-up (2): 1902
• Wicanderska Välgörenhetsskölden:
  • Winners (4): 1907, 1910, 1913, 1915
  • Runners-up (3): 1908, 1914, 1916

Records

• Victory, Allsvenskan: 9–1 vs. Hammarby IF (13 August 1990)
• Loss, Allsvenskan: 1–11 vs. IFK Norrköping (14 October 1945)
• Highest attendance, Råsunda Stadium: 48,894 vs. IFK Göteborg (11 October 1959)
• Highest attendance, Stockholms Stadion: 21,995 vs. AIK (16 August 1946)
• Highest attendance, Tele2 Arena: 27,798 vs. IFK Norrköping (21 July 2013)
• Most appearances, Allsvenskan: 312, Sven Lindman (1965–80)
• Most goals scored, Allsvenskan: 70, Gösta 'Knivsta' Sandberg (1951–66)
• Record transfer fee paid - Rumoured to be 14 million Swedish krona, Thiago Quirino from Atlético Mineiro (winter of 2006)
• Record transfer fee received - Rumoured to be 30 million Swedish krona, Sam Johnson to Wuhan Zall (summer of 2016)

Most appearances

Competitive matches only, includes appearances as substitute. Numbers in brackets indicate goals scored.

#	Name	Years	League	Cup	Europe	Other	Total
1	Sandberg, GostaGösta Sandberg	1951–1966	322 (77)	00 0(0)	06 (1)	00 (1)	328 (79)
2	Lindman, SvenSven Lindman	1965–1968 1969–1980	312 (49)	02 0(0)	12 (0)	00 (0)	326 (49)
3	Berggren, TommyTommy Berggren	1968–1984	289 (54)	00 0(0)	08 (0)	02 (1)	299 (55)
5	Alkeby, BjornBjörn Alkeby	1971–1982 1993	265 0(0)	00 0(0)	09 (0)	02 (0)	276 0(0)
4	Arvidson, ArneArne Arvidson	1952–1965	263 0(0)	00 0(0)	06 (0)	00 (0)	269 0(0)
6	Sjolund, DanielDaniel Sjölund	2003–2012	205 (27)	20 (11)	10 (0)	10 (1)	245 (39)
7	Knezevic, VitoVito Knežević	1977–1988	236 (17)	00 0(0)	00 (0)	06 (1)	242 (18)
8	Touray, Pa DemboPa Dembo Touray	2000–2011	195 0(1)	16 0(0)	14 (0)	12 (0)	237 0(1)
9	Johansson, AndreasAndreas Johansson	2000–2005 2013–2014	172 (50)	30 (16)	14 (4)	03 (0)	219 (70)
10	Kuivasto, ToniToni Kuivasto	2003–2009	165 0(6)	19 0(2)	15 (0)	17 (1)	216 0(9)

Footnotes

References

• Gänger, Hasse (2007). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll 1899–2006 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. ISBN 978-91-633-0992-2. 
• Hagström, Magnus; Johansson, Peter; Jurell, Carl (2010). Vad för jävla pack e ni? (in Swedish). Imperial Publishing. ISBN 978-91-978734-0-6. 
• Rehnberg, Bo (ed.); Wickman, Mats (ed.) (1991). Djurgårdens IF 100 år: 1891–1991 (in Swedish). Sellin & Partner förlag. ISBN 91-7055-029-8. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Djurgårdens IF Fotboll.

Official websites

• Djurgårdens IF Fotboll – official site
• Djurgårdens IF Fotboll – at the UEFA official site
• Djurgårdens IF Fotboll – at the Allsvenskan official site

Supporter websites

• Järnkaminerna Stockholm – official supporter club site
• Djurgårdens Supporters Club – supporter site