GIF Sundsvall

GIF Sundsvall
Full nameGymnastik- och
Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall
Nickname(s)Giffarna
Norrlandslaget (Northland team)
Short nameGIF
Founded25 August 1903; 121 years ago (1903-08-25)
GroundNP3 Arena, Sundsvall
Capacity8,000
Head coachErol Ates
LeagueSuperettan
2023Superettan, 10th
Websitehttp://www.gifsundsvall.se/
Current season

Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɡɪfː ˈsɵ̂nː(d)sval]),[1] Giffarna 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 NP3 Arena with a capacity of roughly 8,000 spectators.[2] Formed on 25 August 1903, the club has played 19 seasons in Sweden's highest football league Allsvenskan, the club's first season in the league was in 1965.

GIF Sundsvall is placed twenty-second in the overall Allsvenskan table maratontabellen. The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are blue, yellow and white. Nevertheless, white is not articulately present in today's kit it has a strong history within the club.

History

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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 Malmö FF.

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.

Stadium

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The stadium Idrottsparken, earlier known as Norrporten Arena.
Exterior of Idrottsparken, earlier known as Norrporten Arena.
Further information: NP3 Arena (Sundsvall)

GIF Sundsvall's home stadium is NP3 Arena, formerly known as Idrottsparken and 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 8,000, with 5,000 under roof.[4]

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.

The record attendance was 16,507 against Högadals IS on October 15, 1961.

A panorama of NP3 Arena in Sundsvall.

Supporters

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The official supporter's club of GIF Sundsvall is called Patronerna. Formed in 1999, mostly as a joke by some friends supporting[further explanation needed] their friend, the club has in a short period of time amassed a strong reputation[citation needed]. 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

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Players

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First-team squad

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As of 27 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 Sweden SWE Jonas Olsson
2 DF Ghana GHA Kojo Peprah Oppong (on loan from IFK Norrköping)
3 DF Sweden SWE Monir Jelassi
4 DF Sweden SWE Ludvig Svanberg
5 DF Sweden SWE Dennis Olsson
6 MF Ghana GHA Abdul Halik Hudu
7 MF Sweden SWE Marcus Burman
8 MF Spain ESP Marc Manchón
11 MF Sweden SWE Jesper Carström
12 DF Sweden SWE Pontus Lindgren
13 GK Sweden SWE Daniel Henareh
14 FW Sweden SWE Johan Bengtsson
15 MF United States USA Marcelo Palomino
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF Sweden SWE Elvis Hansson
17 FW Sweden SWE Gustav Nordh
18 DF Sweden SWE Lucas Forsberg
19 MF Sweden SWE Yaqub Finey
20 FW Sweden SWE Oliver Grenholm
21 FW Sweden SWE Pontus Engblom
22 FW Sweden SWE Ahmed Gibrill During
23 MF Sweden SWE Hugo Aviander
26 DF Sweden SWE Edvard Carrick
27 MF Sweden SWE Amaro Bahtijar
30 MF Sweden SWE Dušan Jajić
32 DF Sweden SWE Anton Mossnelid
44 MF Sweden SWE Oliver Stojanović Fredin

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Sweden SWE Edwin Dellkrans (at Gottne until 30 November 2024)
— MF Sweden SWE Yonis Shino (at IFK Östersund until 30 November 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW Haiti HAI Ronaldo Damus (at Colorado Springs Switchbacks until 30 November 2024)

Retired numbers

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

Managers

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Footnotes

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References

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  1. ^ Jöran Sahlgren; Gösta Bergman (1979). Svenska ortnamn med uttalsuppgifter (in Swedish). p. 23. Archived from the original on 2020-03-29. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  2. ^ "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Medelpads Fotbollförbund – Svenskfotboll.se". Archived from the original on 2011-12-07. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  3. ^ Eric Sköld (ed.): Boken om bandy, Uppsala: Bygd och Folk Förlag (1948), p. 469 (in Swedish)
  4. ^ "NP3 Arena" (in Swedish). GIF Sundsvall. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Truppen" (in Swedish). GIF Sundsvall. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
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