IFK Göteborg (sports club)

Athletics has been present within IFK Göteborg since the start, and the first footballers also were successful athletes.[4] The section won its first Olympic medal through Charles Luther at the 1912 Summer Olympics. Long distance runner Eric Backman, with four Olympic medals at the 1920 Summer Olympics, also competed for IFK Göteborg.[4] IFK was the best club overall at the 1957 Swedish Championships in athletics, and the period from 1985 to 1995 was one of the most successful in terms of medals won, including hurdler Robert Kronberg who competed for IFK Göteborg in his youth years.[4] The main focus of the section since 2000 has been youth development, with the section operating mainly at Slottsskogsvallen and Friidrottens Hus in western Gothenburg.[5][6]

The bowling section traces its origins back to the 29 August 1917, when Kägelklubben IFK was founded. This club was incorporated as a section of IFK Göteborg in 1931.[7] The IFK bowler Gösta Algeskog won two gold medals (individual and 8-man team) at the first World Tenpin Bowling Championships in 1954, silver the following year, and another gold in the 8-man discipline in 1958.[7] The most successful female Swedish bowler of all time, Åsa Larsson, represented IFK from 1987 to 2002, winning the World Tenpin Bowling Championships in 1983 (5-man team) and the World Cup in 1991, in addition to a number of gold medals at the European Championships.[8]

The cross-country skiing section was created in 1967, and has mainly seen local success, with the best position in a Swedish championship competition being a 14th place in ski-orienteering. On district level, IFK skiers won 34 championships in the first 20 years of the section, almost half of the titles in ski-orienteering.[9] A major goal for many of the section members is Vasaloppet, and in recent times between 10–15 skiers usually have competed for IFK Göteborg in the races each year. Skiing on the west coast of Sweden can be a challenge due to lack of snow, Prioritet Serneke Arena with its newly built all-season indoor skiing trail may mend the situation somewhat.[10]

The football section has won 18 Swedish championship titles, seven national cup titles, and is the only club in the Nordic countries that has won a pan-European competition, as the club won the UEFA Cup in 1982 and 1987. IFK is the most popular football club in Sweden, with diverse country-wide support. IFK Göteborg play in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan, where they have played for the majority of their history. They have played in the Swedish first tier continuously since 1977. The club won its first Swedish championship in 1908, and has won at least one championship title in all decades since, except the 1920s, 1970s and 2010s. IFK Göteborg's most successful period was from 1982 to 1996, when the team prospered in European football and won 10 out of 15 Swedish championships. The current home ground is Gamla Ullevi.

IFK Göteborg first competed in orienteering in 1921, and is one of Sweden's oldest orienteering clubs,[11] but a separate section was not created until 1945.[12] Many successful orienteers have competed for the section, including world champions (at the time they ran for IFK) Torben Skovlyst, Chris Terkelsen, Jamie Stevenson,[13] and François Gonon,[14] as well as individual Swedish champions Thomas Asp, Arto Rautiainen,[15] Erik Engstrand, and Jenny Johansson.[16] IFK Göteborg also has won the Swedish relay championships, in 2000 and 2002.[15] IFK Göteborg has won the two most prestigious club relay competitions in the world in recent years. Tiomila in Sweden was won in 2015, 2017 and 2018 (finishing second in 2016),[17][18] and the Jukola relay in Finland was won in 2017 (which was the first victory by a Swedish club in 25 years).[19]

Even though the first club competition in speed skating was arranged already in January 1905, it was not until 1956 that speed skating got its own section within IFK Göteborg. Three years later the section had over 100 members and arranged the 1959 European Speed Skating Championships for Men together with IK Wega.[20] Manne Lavås became the first olympian of the section, competing both at the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics. Two other well-known IFK speed skaters are Ann-Sofie Järnström and Jasmin Krohn, the later winning 38 Swedish championships for IFK Göteborg.[21] The section has its home at Ruddalens IP's skating rink, which was rebuilt to an indoor hall in 2002.[22]

The club has also competed in korgboll (a predecessor to korfball),[23] handball,[24], wrestling, weightlifting, bandy and tennis.[2]

In October 2015, futsal club Göteborg Futsal Club (founded in 2007) initiated a cooperation with IFK Göteborg, changing its name to IFK Göteborg Futsal. The club has a men's team playing in the Swedish Futsal League, claiming three championship titles as of 2016. The women's team IFK Göteborg Futsal Dam is playing in a regional league. Both teams play their home matches in Prioritet Serneke Arena.[25]

IFK Göteborg cooperated with the ice hockey club BK Bäcken from 1975 on, as part of the umbrella organisation Föreningen Göteborgsidrott (handball club IK Heim was another member).[26] BK Bäcken changed their colours to blue and white and also changed the name to IFK Bäcken in line with the agreement, but were never part of IFK Göteborg. Bäcken changed its name to Gothia HC in 1990 before changing name once again in 1994 to Bäcken HC.[26]