Östersunds FK

Östersunds FK
Full name Östersunds Fotbollsklubb
Founded 31 October 1996 (31 October 1996)
Ground Jämtkraft Arena, Östersund
Capacity 8,644[1]
Chairman Daniel Kindberg
Manager Ian Burchnall
League Allsvenskan
2017 Allsvenskan, 5th

Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund (Swedish pronunciation: [œstɛˈʂɵnːd]) or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden. The club was formed in 1996 as a merger of several Östersund clubs. The club is affiliated to the Jämtland-Härjedalens Fotbollförbund[2] and play their home games at Jämtkraft Arena. The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are black and red. Since its creation, the club has played mostly in the third tier of Swedish football but in 2013 Östersund achieved promotion to the second tier, Superettan, for the first time ever, after achieving two consecutive promotions,[3] and since 2016 they play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan.

Background

Östersunds FK was created in 1996 when the three local clubs Ope IF, IFK Östersund and Östersund/Torvalla FF merged, aiming to create a club in that would be able to establish itself in the top two tiers of Swedish football. The next year Frösö IF also joined the project. The newly formed club started out their existence in the third tier in 1997 and Östersund/Torvalla FF ceased to exist as a consequence.[4] IFK Östersund, Ope IF och Östersund/Torvalla FF (ÖTFF). In 2000 a fifth club, Fältjägarnas IF, was also merged into the club.

During the 2000s the club started taking on an English flavour and in 2007 the director of football Daniel Kindberg used his friendship with coaches Roberto Martínez and Graeme Jones to start a cooperation with Swansea City where Östersund would loan young players from the club. Swansea also came over to Östersund to play the inauguration game at the newly built stadium.[5] After a poor 2010 season the club was relegated to the fourth tier for the first time ever.

In 2011 Daniel Kindberg returned to the role as director of football and increased financial backing from local companies which enabled the hiring of more full-time staff. Following Jones' recommendation the club also brought in young English manager Graham Potter[6] who was working at an English university at the time. Through several successful signings, some coming from Potter's connections at Nike Football Academy, the club was able to win both the fourth tier and then the third tier immediately the year after.[7] The club was promoted to Superettan for the 2013 season and finished 10th that season.

In January 2014 the club announced that they had signed a half-billion kronor deal with the government of Libya to develop and educate Libyan football players. Under the terms of the deal, Östersunds FK would train 250 young men from Libya every year, except the first year in which they will receive 60 students. Those players would be taught English and computer skills in addition to sports theory and football training. The deal was expected to raise Östersund FKs yearly profits by over 50%.[8] The deal with the Libyan state never came to life, thus meaning no students came to Östersund and no money was received by the club.[9]

On 27 October 2015, the club was promoted to Allsvenskan for the first time.[10] In 2017, they managed to win their first major trophy, Svenska Cupen, after defeating IFK Norrköping 4–1 in the final, also qualifying for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, marking their first appearance in a European competition tournament. In their Europa League debut in the second qualifying round on 13 July 2017, Östersunds earned a shock 2–0 victory against Turkish giants Galatasaray at the Jämtkraft Arena and eliminated them after a 1–1 draw in Istanbul. Two goals by Saman Ghoddos in a win against PAOK on 24 August saw them qualify for the Group Stage at the first time of asking, at the same time making them the only Swedish representative in the season's UEFA competition and making Graham Potter the only British manager in the Europa League Group Stage. After losing only one game in their campaign, they finished second in a group featuring Athletic Bilbao and Hertha Berlin, becoming the first Swedish club to progress beyond the Europa League group stage.[11]

On 17 April 2018, club chairman (also the director of football) Daniel Kindberg was taken into custody by the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, suspected on probable cause of serious fraud and for assisting in serious gross accounting violations.[12] Together with two other people, Kindberg is suspected of submitting false invoices in several companies, according to the prosecutor.[13] Several of these companies have strong ties to Östersunds FK and the club's sponsorship deals.[14][15] Several years before, in 2014, Kindberg was subject to criticism when Östersundshem, the municipal housing company where he was the CEO, became a big sponsor of Östersunds FK.[16][17]

On 11 June 2018, Graham Potter left Östersunds FK to take over as manager of Swansea City after eight seasons in charge.

Season to season

Season Level Division Section Position Movements
1997 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 7th
1998 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 2nd Promotion Playoffs
1999 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 1st Promotion Playoffs
2000 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 5th
2001 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 3rd
2002 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 5th
2003 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 2nd
2004 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 4th
2005 Tier 3 Division 2 Norrland 2nd Promoted
2006[lower-alpha 1] Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 11th
2007 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 11th
2008 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 10th
2009 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 11th
2010 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 13th Relegated
2011 Tier 4 Division 2 Norrland 1st Promoted
2012 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 1st Promoted
2013 Tier 2 Superettan 10th
2014 Tier 2 Superettan 5th
2015 Tier 2 Superettan 2nd Promoted
2016 Tier 1 Allsvenskan 8th
2017 Tier 1 Allsvenskan 5th
  1. ↑ League restructuring in 2006 resulted in a new division being created at Tier 3 and subsequent divisions dropping a level. [18]

European record

Overall record

Accurate as of 23 February 2018
Competition Played Won Drew Lost GF GA GD Win%
UEFA Europa League 14 8 3 3 19 13 +6 057.14
Total 14 8 3 3 19 13 +6 057.14

Matches

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 2Q Turkey Galatasaray 2–0 1–1 3–1
3Q Luxembourg Fola Esch 1–0 2–1 3–1
PO Greece PAOK 2–0 1–3 3–3 (a)
Group J Spain Athletic Bilbao 2–2 0–1 2nd
Germany Hertha BSC 1–0 1–1
Ukraine Zorya Luhansk 2–0 2–0
R32 England Arsenal 0–3 2–1 2–4
Notes
  • 2Q: Second qualifying round
  • 3Q: Third qualifying round
  • PO: Play-off round
  • GS: Group Stage
  • R32: Round of 32

Players

First-team squad

As of 23 August 2018[19]

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

No. Position Player
1 Guinea GK Aly Keita
2 Sweden DF Tom Pettersson
3 Sweden MF Tesfaldet Tekie (on loan from Gent)
4 Netherlands MF Rewan Amin
6 Sweden DF Doug Bergqvist
7 Ghana MF Frank Arhin
8 England FW Jamie Hopcutt
10 Sweden FW Hosam Aiesh
11 Sweden MF Henrik Bellman
12 England MF Jordan Flores (on loan from Wigan Athletic)
13 Sweden MF Ludvig Fritzson
No. Position Player
17 England MF Curtis Edwards
18 Sweden GK Andreas Andersson
19 Sweden DF Dennis Widgren
21 Sweden MF Simon Kroon
23 Ghana DF Samuel Mensiro
24 Sweden DF Ronald Mukiibi
30 England GK Andrew Mills
32 Ghana DF Patrick Kpozo
77 Sweden DF Noah Sonko Sundberg
88 England FW Jerell Sellars
99 Sweden FW Dino Islamović

Out on loan

As of 11 August 2018

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

No. Position Player
5 Sweden MF Smajl Suljević (at Dalkurd FF until the end of the 2018 season)

Notable players

This list of notable players includes those who have either been named player of the year at the club,[20] or has become league top goalscorer, or went on to play in Allsvenskan (or for larger clubs abroad).

Management

Technical staff

As of 25 July 2018[22]

Name Role
Sweden Daniel Kindberg Director of Football
England Ian Burchnall Head Coach
England Shaun Constable Assistant Coach
England Brian Wake Assistant Coach
Sweden Linus Eriksson Goalkeeper Coach
Spain Rafael Bermudez Video Analyst
Sweden Moubarak Abdallah Equipment Manager
Sweden Bengt-Uno Nilsson Equipment Manager
Sweden Bobo Sollander Social Coach
Sweden Jenny Larsson Physiotherapist
Sweden Jan Hansson Doctor
Sweden Michael Lagercrantz Physiotherapist
Sweden Lisa Brandén Physiotherapist
Sweden Alexander Kindberg Team Manager
Sweden Patrick Sjöö Press Officer
Sweden Joakim Jansson Security Manager
Sweden Fredrik Jansson Supporter Liaison Officer
Sweden Per Staffansson Supporter Liaison Officer

Managers

Attendances

In recent seasons Östersunds FK have had the following average attendances:

Jämtkraft Arena opened up in 2007 with a friendly game between Östersunds FK and Swansea City.[25]
Season Average Attendance Division / Section Level
2005 573 Div 2 Norrland Tier 3
2006 535 Div 1 Norra Tier 3
2007 1,060 Div 1 Norra Tier 3
2008 1,104 Div 1 Norra Tier 3
2009 1,134 Div 1 Norra Tier 3
2010 992 Div 1 Norra Tier 3
2011 783 Div 2 Norrland Tier 4
2012 1,695 Div 1 Norra Tier 3
2013 3,320 Superettan Tier 2
2014 3,022 Superettan Tier 2
2015 3,857 Superettan Tier 2
2016 5,914 Allsvenskan Tier 1
2017 5,265 Allsvenskan Tier 1

* Attendances are provided in the Publikliga sections of the Svenska Fotbollförbundet website. [26]

Honours

League

Cups

* League restructuring in 2006 resulted in a new division being created at Tier 3 and subsequent divisions dropping a level. [27]

Footnotes

    References

    1. ↑ "Evenemangsarena: Jämtkraft Arena". www.ostersund.se. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
    2. ↑ "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Jämtland-Härjedalens Fotbollförbund – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2011-01-12.
    3. ↑ "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar 2013 – Östersunds FK". Retrieved 20 January 2013.
    4. ↑ "Östersunds FF Historia" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2013-09-17. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
    5. ↑ "Östersunds satsar brittiskt" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 13 August 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
    6. ↑ "Graham Potter: ‘I’ve shown there’s another path for English managers’" The Guardian 12 Feb 2018
    7. ↑ "ÖFK Tillbakablick" (in Swedish). Retrieved 20 January 2013.
    8. ↑ "Superettan klubb får en halvmiljard" (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 January 2014.
    9. ↑ "Libyen-samarbete skjuts upp ytterligare" (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 December 2017.
    10. ↑ Calle Lindberg (27 October 2015). "Östersunds FK allsvenskt för första gången" (in Swedish). SVT Sport. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
    11. ↑ "Playing Arsenal is like Christmas': How Graham Potter transformed Ostersund and inspired Sweden's north". The Independent. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
    12. ↑ "Låt spelarna fokusera på matchen". Östersunds FK. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
    13. ↑ "Uppgifter: Daniel Kindberg anhållen efter ekobrottsrazzian i morse". Östersunds-Posten. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
    14. ↑ "Miljonsponsring till ÖFK från Kindbergs affärspartner utreds". Fotbollskanalen. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
    15. ↑ "Sollefteåföretagare betalade miljoner till ÖFK". SVT. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
    16. ↑ "Östersunds FK: Underbar och älskad av alla?". Offside. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
    17. ↑ "ÖFK-basen sitter på flera stolar - medger: "Min makt är enorm"". Fotbollskanalen. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
    18. ↑ "GAIS – Lagfacta – Östersunds FK". Retrieved 2010-03-09.
    19. ↑ "Truppen" (in Swedish). Östersunds FK. Archived from the original on 2016-04-26. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
    20. ↑ "Östersunds FF Klubben". Archived from the original on 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
    21. ↑ "Brian Wake – målkung i förbundsserierna". Archived from the original on 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
    22. ↑ "Truppen 2015". Retrieved 2015-01-16.
    23. ↑ "Östersunds FF Klubben". Archived from the original on 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
    24. ↑ "Heta möten mot Vasalund". Retrieved 2013-01-20.
    25. ↑ "Swansea till Östersund!!!". Retrieved 2013-01-20.
    26. ↑ "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Svenska Fotbollförbundet – svenskfotboll.se". Archived from the original on 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2010-11-19.
    27. ↑ "GAIS – Lagfacta – Östersunds FK". Retrieved 2010-03-09.

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