AFC Eskilstuna

Athletic Football Club Eskilstuna, also known as AFC Eskilstuna or simply AFC, is a Swedish football club located in Eskilstuna.[1] The club has previously been known under the names FC Café Opera and Väsby United before switching ownership and their identity again in 2012 to AFC United. During the 2016 season it was once again decided that they would switch their name, identity, as well as locality. Choosing to move to Eskilstuna, about 110 kilometers west of Stockholm, they are since known as AFC Eskilstuna. They compete in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football, and play their home matches at Tunavallen. AFC Eskilstuna are affiliated to Södermanlands Fotbollförbund.

AFC Eskilstuna
Full nameAthletic Football Club Eskilstuna
Founded10 December 2004 (2004-12-10) as FC Väsby United
GroundTunavallen, Eskilstuna
Capacity7,800
ChairmanAlex Ryssholm
ManagerÖzcan Melkemichel
LeagueSuperettan
2019Allsvenskan, 16th
WebsiteClub website

Background

FC Café Opera

FC Café Opera was created in 1991 by Italian born restauranteer Alessandro Catenacci who named the club after Café Opera which he owned. They started out in division 8 of the Swedish football league system but only nine years later they had made it to the second tier Superettan.[2]

Väsby United

Football Club Väsby United was formed in 2005 when the two Stockholm clubs FC Café Opera United and Väsby IK FK merged. The new club replaced FC Café Opera United in the Superettan making it the youngest club competing at this level. Väsby United was a feeder club to AIK who participated in the second and third divisions of the Swedish football league system. The club played in Division 1 Norra which is the third tier of Swedish football when they became AFC United.[3]

AFC United

AFC United was founded when FC Väsby United increased their cooperation Division 3 club Athletic FC in late 2012.[4] They played their home matches at Skytteholms IP in Solna until the end of the 2016 season.

AFC Eskilstuna

During the 2016 season the club management decided to uproot and leave Solna and move to Eskilstuna and Tunavallen before the 2017 season. They also changed their name to AFC Eskilstuna.

The team were winless, having only acquired 4 points from the opening 12 matches and were firmly rooted to the bottom of the league table.[5] Michael Jolley was announced as new manager on 13 June 2017.[6] Under Jolley's coaching they took 15 points from the next 16 games.[7] A 3–1 victory over Malmö FF on 19 August 2017 in particular provided the biggest shock of the season in Allsvenskan.[8] However, they were eventually relegated to Superettan on 23 October 2017 following a spirited fight when Jönköpings Södra IF defeated Kalmar FF 2–0, meaning AFC Eskilstuna could no longer reach the qualifying position.[9] Jolley departed ways with AFC Eskilstuna on 9 January 2018 by mutual consent, after being unable to agree on the future direction of the club.[10]

On 15 January 2018, Nemanja Miljanović became the manager, after their relegation to the Superettan.[11]

Season-to-season
Season Level League Pos
FC Väsby United
2005 Tier 2 Superettan 9th
2006[lower-alpha 1] Tier 2 Superettan 14th (R)
2007 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 2nd (P)
2008 Tier 2 Superettan 9th
2009 Tier 2 Superettan 12th
2010 Tier 2 Superettan 16th (R)
2011 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 2nd
2012 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 11th
AFC United
2013 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 10th
2014 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 1st (P)
2015 Tier 2 Superettan 8th
2016 Tier 2 Superettan 2nd (P)
AFC Eskilstuna
2017 Tier 1 Allsvenskan 16th (R)
2018 Tier 2 Superettan 3rd (P)
2019 Tier 1 Allsvenskan 16th (R)
  1. League restructuring in 2006 resulted in a new division being created at Tier 3 and subsequent divisions dropping a level.[12][13][14]

Players

Current squad
As of 26 May 2020[15]

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

No. Position Player
6 DF Jesper Björkman
7 MF Kevin van Kippersluis
8 MF Christian Ljungberg
9 FW Karim Rossi
10 MF Ferid Ali
11 MF Daniel Miljanović
12 DF Pontus Rödin
13 MF Wilhelm Loeper
16 FW Samuel Nnamani
17 MF Ismet Lushaku
19 DF Adnan Catic
No. Position Player
21 DF Jesper Manns
22 MF Tarik Resic
24 FW Viktor Götesson
25 MF Jacob Lackéll
26 MF Robert Åstedt
31 GK Josh Wicks
66 GK Wille Jakobsson
77 MF Lesly de Sa
91 DF Gabriel Somi
99 FW Omar Jemal

Current youth players with first-team experience
As of 19 February 2020[upper-alpha 1]

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

No. Position Player
No. Position Player

Attendances

Väsby United had the following average attendances:

AFC Eskilstuna play their home games at Tunavallen
AFC United previously played their home games at Skytteholms IP
Season Average Attendance Division / Section Level
2005 1,124 Superettan Tier 2
2006 487 Superettan Tier 2
2007 446 Div 1 Norra Tier 3
2008 450 Superettan Tier 2
2009 405 Superettan Tier 2
2010 723 Superettan Tier 2
2011 290 Div 1 Norra Tier 3
2012 206 Div 1 Norra Tier 3

In recent seasons AFC United have had the following average attendances:

Season Average Attendance Division / Section Level
2013 179 Div 1 Norra Tier 3
2014 176 Div 1 Norra Tier 3
2015 346 Superettan Tier 2
2016 698 Superettan Tier 2

* Attendances are provided in the Publikliga sections of the Svenska Fotbollförbundet website. [16]

The highest attendance for FC Väsby United at Råsunda was 8,672 spectators who attended the match with AIK on 15 August 2005.[17]

Achievements

League
  • Superettan:
    • Runners-up (1): 2016
  • Division 1 Norra:
    • Winners (1): 2014
    • Runners-up (2): 2007, 2011

Cup

Notes and references

Notes
  1. Current youth players who at least have sat on the bench in a competitive match.

References
  1. "FC Väsby United – Fotboll Klubb". Retrieved 2010-12-02.
  2. "Projekten vi aldrig glömmer – färgade svensk fotboll". FotbollDirekt. Archived from the original on 2015-01-23. Retrieved 2015-01-23.
  3. "Tabell och resultat – Div 1 Norra, herrar – Svenskfotboll.se". Archived from the original on 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
  4. "Väsby United byter namn till AFC United: "Ett naturligt steg"". fotbolltransfers.com (in Swedish). 7 December 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  5. "AFC Eskilstuna 2017: Table: Round 12". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017.
  6. Dale, James (13 June 2017). "Michael Jolley leaves Burnley to become AFC Eskilstuna boss". Sky Sports. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  7. "AFC Eskilstuna 2017: Table: Round 28". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018.
  8. Tynander, Rasmus (19 August 2017). "AFC Eskilstuna 3–1 Malmö FF". SVT Sport. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  9. Kjellmer, Jakob Runevad (23 October 2017). "Jönköpings Södra IF 2–0 Kalmar FF". SVT Sport. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  10. Mattsson, Sebastian (9 January 2018). "The coach leaves: "Big disappointment"". Expressen. Stockholm, Sweden. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  11. Malmkvist, Alexander (15 January 2018). "Sportchefen blir huvudtränare i AFC: "En fantastisk person"". Fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  12. "GAIS – Lagfacta – FC Väsby United". Retrieved 2010-12-02.
  13. "Norra — Division 1 – Fotbollsserier 2011 – Fotboll – everysport.com". Retrieved 2010-12-02.
  14. "Sweden Final Tables – Clas Glenning". Archived from the original on 2010-07-31. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
  15. "AFC Eskilstuna 2019 squad". afc-eskilstuna.se.
  16. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Svenska Fotbollförbundet – svenskfotboll.se". Archived from the original on 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
  17. "Väsby United  – svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2010-12-02.
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