GIF Sundsvall

Football club infobox
clubname = GIF Sundsvall


fullname = Gymnastik- och
Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall
nickname =
founded = 1903
ground = Norrporten Arena,
Sundsvall
capacity = 8,500
chairman = Carl-Göran Andersson
manager = Sören Åkeby
league = Allsvenskan
season = 2007
position = Superettan, 3rd (promoted)
pattern_la1=_whitelines |pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=_whitelines
leftarm1=205090|body1=205090|rightarm1=205090|shorts1=205090|socks1=205090
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF

GIF Sundsvall is a Swedish football club located in the city of Sundsvall. The club, formed on 25 August 1903, is currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan. They were promoted to Allsvenskan on October 27, 2007, after a turnaround win (4-2) away to Ljungskile in the last game of the season.

History

The club was formed on August 25 in 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 and 2000-2006.

GIF Sundsvall earlier had women's football and ice hockey on the program. The hockey team folded in the late 60's, 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

Idrottsparken is located in the heart of Sundsvall and was inaugurated on August 6, 1903. It was renovated in 2001-2002 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 The name is mainly a historical reference to the sawmill owners who were very powerful in Sundsvall during post industrial revolution-era.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

* Allsvenskan:
** Best placement (5th): 1988

* Norrländska Mästerskapet:
** Winners (1): 1942
** Runners-up (2): 1928, 1951

Current squad

"As of August 2008:"

Former players

* Tomas Brolin
* Lennart "Foppa" Forsberg
* Leif "Lill-Foppa" Forsberg
* Fredrik Sundfors
* Anders Grönhagen
* Per Nilsson
* Mikael Dahlberg
* Göran "Pisa" Nicklasson
* Gunnar Samuelsson
* Conny Klack
* Håkan Sandberg

Managers

* Jan Mattsson (1990)
* Anders Grönhagen (1986-1990, ?-?)
* Per Joar Hansen (2002-2003)
* Patrick Walker (2002-2004)
* Rikard Norling (2004)
* Jan Halvor Halvorsen (2005)
* Anders Högman (2005)
* David Wilson (2006)
* Mika Sankala (2006-2007 2008-Ass.)
* Per Joar Hansen (2007-2008)
* Sören Åkeby (2008-)

External links

* [http://www.gifsundsvall.se/ GIF Sundsvall] - official site
* [http://www.patronerna.se Patronerna] - official supporter club site