IK Sirius Fotboll

IK Sirius

Full name	Idrottsklubben Sirius
Nickname(s)	Blåsvart (blue-black)
Founded	1907; 117 years ago (1907)
Ground	Studenternas IP, Uppsala
Capacity	10,000 (2020)
Chairman	Ulrika Moström Ågren
Head coach	Christer Mattiasson
League	Allsvenskan
2023	Allsvenskan, 8th of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

IK Sirius, more commonly known simply as Sirius, is a Swedish professional football club located in Uppsala. The club is affiliated to the Upplands Fotbollförbund.^[1]

History[edit]

Early success[edit]

The sports club that became IK Sirius was founded on 9 August 1907, and got its current name on 5 April 1908 after having been discussing Svartbäckens IK and IK Spurt.^[2] At the time, several sports club existed in the city of Uppsala: IFK Uppsala, IF Thor, IF Heimdal, and Upsala IF.^[2] The sports club was founded for athletics, and took up football in 1908.^[3]

The first success came in 1924 when they reached the Svenska Mästerskapet final (not to be confused with Svenska Serien, which never acquired an official status of deciding the Swedish Champions). In the final, they were trounced 5–0 by Fässbergs IF.

The Allsvenskan years[edit]

The club spent the next forty years in lower division anonymity, before favourable economic circumstances enabled them to gain promotion to Allsvenskan in 1968, although they were relegated after just one season. The high point was arguably in the years 1973–1974, when the club again gained promotion to the highest league and its squad contained a number of high-profile players, such as Roland Grip, then a member of the Swedish national team.

Obscurity and comeback[edit]

After the club's relegation from Allsvenskan in 1974, the club played in the second division until they plummeted to fourth division level following a couple of hard years in the beginning of the 1980s. The 1990s were mostly spent at a second tier level, i.e. the old Division 1, corresponding to the modern Superettan. The club then played the first five years of the 21st century in Division 2, before returning to Division 1 in 2006 (although still playing at a third tier level).

With new manager Magnus Pehrsson and prodigal son and goal-getter Olle Kullinger (starting his career with IF VP and later also having played with Enköpings SK, Halmstads BK and IF Brommapojkarna in Superettan and Allsvenskan) bearing the captaincy, the club finished the season in second place, which meant they had to qualify to gain promotion to Superettan. IK Sirius played the first leg at home against Väsby United on 25 October. Due to some seriously poor defending, Väsby were able to go 1–0 up just before the half-time break. Sirius recovered slightly in the second period, and were able to equalise in the 83rd minute. In the second leg, in front of about 1000 travelling fans, Sirius were completely dominant but also rather wasteful with their chances. They managed, however to break the deadlock in the 73rd minute, Olle Kullinger managing to knock a rebound past the Väsby keeper. With the aggregate score of 2–1, Sirius celebrated their 100th anniversary in the Superettan, which their fans thought was reprehensible and awful.

The first spell in Superettan[edit]

Magnus Pehrsson resigned as manager and Pär Millqvist was appointed and brought in Gary Sundgren as his assistant manager. After a strong first half of the season the club finished 7th in Superettan 2007. The team struggled through most of the 2008-season but finally finished 12th and avoided relegation. Millqvist and Sundgren was sacked after the first six games and youth-team coaches Johan Mattsson and Andreas Brännström led the team for the rest of the season.

In preparation for the 2009 season they appointed Jens T Andersson from Väsby and AIK as new manager. Like the season before they struggled in the bottom of the league and with just five games left to play of the season Jens T Andersson resigned as manager due to the lack of good results. Assistant coach Andreas Brännström was once again hired as new head manager but this time he could not save the team from degradation.

In 2010 IK Sirius played in the third tier Division 1 Norra and finished 2nd in the table 5 points behind rivals Västerås SK and as a result they went through to the Superettan play-offs, where they went head-to-head with Jönköpings Södra. After a 0–1 defeat at home they lost the away game with 3–0 and faced another season in Division 1 Norra.

2011 the team was voted by all the managers of the league as favourites to win but failed to live up to the expectations. They finished 3rd in Division 1 Norra, just 2 points from finishing first and goal-difference kept them from the second spot which leads to Superettan play-offs. As a result, coach Andreas Brännström and his assistant Antonio Andric was forced to leave the club after the season.

The Kim Bergstrand era[edit]

On 17 November 2012 the club announced that the ex-Brommapojkarna manager Kim Bergstrand had been appointed as the new head coach. Soon thereafter Thomas Lagerlöf (ex-Väsby) was appointed as assistant manager.

In 2012 the team were once again the favourites to win the Division 1 Norra, and led the league by five points with three games left. A 0–1 home defeat to Vasalund and a 1–0 away win at Enköping set the team up for an all-decisive match against second-placed Östersunds FK. Sirius needed a draw to win the league, but lost at home 0–1 and ended up third, also behind BK Forward.

The 2013 season began with an unexpected success in the Swedish Cup, as Sirius defeated reigning Swedish champions IF Elfsborg to win their group and advance to the quarterfinals, where they were knocked out away to Öster, 1–2. The team had been bolstered by the signing of several experienced players, including former Djurgården, Molde and Sweden midfielder Johan Arneng. This time all the pieces fell into place as the team won the Division 1 Norra handily, securing promotion to Superettan with five games still in hand, and ending the season undefeated.

The 2014 season again began with Cup success, as Allsvenskan teams Djurgården and Halmstad were dispatched in the group stages, setting up a quarterfinal with IFK Göteborg. At Ullevi, Moses Ogbu's 29th-minute header gave Sirius the win. In front of a sold-out Studenternas, Sirius faced Elfsborg in the semi-final. This time, Elfsborg got their revenge for last year's defeat, winning 4–1.

The 2014 Superettan season began well for Sirius, with a 5–1 win away to former Allsvenskan outfit Syrianska. Two somewhat surprising home defeats to Huskvarna and Varberg followed, and the team settled into a habit of playing well away but struggling at home. In the end, however, Sirius enjoyed a successful return to Superettan, finishing in sixth place, after a season that included wins against both the two directly promoted teams, Hammarby and GIF Sundsvall.

Promotion to Allsvenskan[edit]

On 24 October 2016, Sirius defeated Halmstads BK 1–0 to gain promotion to the Allsvenskan for the first time in 42 years (since the 1973–74 season).

Season-to-season[edit]

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

As of 16 March, 2024^[5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  MKD David Mitov Nilsson 2 DF  SWE Patrick Nwadike 4 DF  SWE Henrik Castegren 5 DF  SWE Tobias Carlsson 6 MF  GER Michael Martin 7 FW  SWE Joakim Persson 8 MF  SWE Daniel Stensson 9 FW  DEN Yousef Salech 10 MF  SWE Melker Heier 11 MF  SWE Filip Olsson 12 DF  ISL Óli Ómarsson 13 DF  SWE Jakob Voelkerling Persson 14 MF  FIN Leo Walta 15 DF  SWE Andreas Murbeck

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 FW  SWE Herman Sjögrell 17 MF  DEN Marcus Lindberg 18 MF  SWE Adam Wikman 19 FW  SWE Noel Milleskog 21 DF  SWE Dennis Widgren 22 MF  IRQ André Alsanati 23 FW  KOS Edi Sylisufaj 26 MF  SWE Hugo Mella 27 MF  SWE Emil Özkan 30 GK  SWE Jakob Tånnander 31 DF  SWE Malcolm Jeng 34 GK  SWE David Celic 36 MF  SWE August Ljungberg

Out on loan[edit]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  CPV Kristopher Da Graca (at KuPS)

Notable players[edit]

The following players are either listed on the official IK Sirius website^[6] or have represented their national team.

Management[edit]

Technical staff[edit]

As of 11 November 2023

Name	Role
Christer Mattiasson	Head coach
Petter Hansson	Assistant coaches
Henrik Åhnstrand
Jonathan Ederström	Sporting director
John Swärd	Head of scouting
Olle Ekman	Fitness coach
Karim Fegrouch	Goalkeeping coach

Managerial history[edit]

• Sid Huntley (1972)
• Alan Ball Sr. (1974–1976)
• Kjell Jonevret (1998–1999)
• Magnus Pehrsson (2006)
• Pär Millqvist (2007–2008)
• Andreas Brännström (2009–2011)
• Kim Bergstrand & Thomas Lagerlöf (2012–2018)
• Henrik Rydström & Mirza Jelečak (2019)
• Henrik Rydström (2020)
• Daniel Bäckström (2021–2022)
• Christer Mattiasson (2023–)

Attendances[edit]

In recent seasons IK Sirius FK have had the following average attendances:

Honours[edit]

Cup[edit]

• Svenska Mästerskapet:
  • Runners-up (1): 1924

League[edit]

• Superettan:
  • Winners (1): 2016
• Division 1 Norra:
  • Winners (1): 2013
  • Runners-up (2): 2006, 2010
• Division 2 Östra Svealand:
  • Winners (1): 1997

Footnotes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IK Sirius FK.

• IK Sirius – official site (archived 17 April 2017)
• Västra Sidan – supporter site