GIF Sundsvall

Swedish football club

Football club

GIF Sundsvall

Full name| Gymnastik- och
Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall
Nickname(s)| Giffarna
Norrlandslaget (Northland team)
Short name| GIF
Founded| 25 August 1903; 121 years ago (1903-08-25)
Ground| NP3 Arena, Sundsvall
Capacity| 8,000
Head coach| Erol Ates
League| Superettan
2024| Superettan, 13th of 16
Website| http://www.gifsundsvall.se/

Home colours

Away colours

|

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

[edit]

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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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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* Superettan
* Runners-up (3): 2011, 2014, 2021
* Division 1 Norra
* Winners (2): 1990, 1999
* Norrländska Mästerskapet
* Winners (1): 1942
* Runners-up (2): 1928, 1951

## Players

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### First-team squad

[edit]

As of 21 April 2025[5]

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

| No. | Pos. | Nation  | Player

|
|
|

1  | GK |  SWE | Jonas Olsson
2  | DF |  SWE | Alexandros Pantelidis
3  | DF |  TUN | Monir Jelassi
4  | DF |  SWE | Ludvig Svanberg
5  | DF |  SWE | Dennis Olsson
6  | MF |  ESP | Marc Manchón
7  | MF |  SWE | Ture Sandberg (on loan from IFK Norrköping)
8  | MF |  USA | Marcelo Palomino
9  | FW |  JPN | Taiki Kagayama
11  | FW |  FIN | Samuel Tammivuori
14  | FW |  SWE | Abdulahi Shino
15  | MF |  TPE | Miguel Sandberg
| No. | Pos. | Nation  | Player

|
|
|

17  | DF |  SWE | Nils Eriksson
18  | DF |  SWE | Lucas Forsberg
19  | MF |  SWE | Yaqub Finey
20  | MF |  SWE | Jeremiah Björnler
21  | FW |  SWE | Pontus Engblom
22  | FW |  SWE | Mille Eriksson
23  | MF |  SWE | Hugo Aviander
25  | DF |  GHA | Charles Baah
26  | DF |  SWE | Edvard Carrick
27  | MF |  SWE | Amaro Bahtijar
34  | GK |  SWE | Wilmer Bjuhr

### Out on loan

[edit]

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

| No. | Pos. | Nation  | Player

|
|
|

-- | MF |  SWE | Oliver Grenholm (at Kubikenborgs until 30 November 2025)
-- | FW |  HAI | Ronaldo Damus (at Legion until 30 November 2025)
-- | FW |  SWE | Henrik Bäckström (at Skellefteå until 30 November 2025)
-- | MF |  SWE | Elvis Hansson (at Team TG FF until 30 November 2025)
| No. | Pos. | Nation  | Player

|
|
|

-- | DF |  SWE | Anton Mossnelid (at Team TG FF until 30 November 2025)
-- | GK |  SWE | Daniel Henareh (at IFK Haninge until 30 November 2025)
-- | MF |  SWE | Edwin Dellkrans (at Kubikenborgs until 30 November 2025)

### Retired numbers

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

## Managers

[edit]

Name  | Year(s)

|

Stig Sundqvist | 1955–58
Jimmy Meadows | 1976
Anders Grönhagen | 1986–89
Jan Mattsson | 1990–92
Anders Grönhagen | 1999–01
Per Joar Hansen | 2002–03
Patrick Walker | 2003
Rikard Norling | 2004
Jan Halvor Halvorsen | 2005
Anders Högman  | 2005
David Wilson | 2005–06
Mika Sankala | 2006–07
Per Joar Hansen | 2008
Sören Åkeby | October 2008 – November 12
Roger Franzén | November 2012 – September 16
Joel Cedergren | November 2012 – August 19
Tony Gustavsson | August 2019 – December 2019
Henrik Åhnstrand | 2019 – July 2022
Brian Clarhaut | July 2022 – December 2022
Douglas Jakobsen  | January 2023 – June 2024
Ion Doros  | June 2024 – 12 July 2024
Erol Ates | 12 July 2024–present

## Footnotes

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## References

[edit]

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.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to GIF Sundsvall.

* Allsvenskan (Premier league) – Official site
* GIF Sundsvall – Official site
* Patronerna – Official supporter club site
* Superettan (Second tier league) – Official site

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* Västerås SK
* Västra Frölunda IF
* Åtvidabergs FF
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Players|

* Foreign players

Authority control databases |

* VIAF

|

*[No.]: Number
*[Pos.]: Position
*[GK]: Goalkeeper
*[DF]: Defender
*[MF]: Midfielder
*[FW]: Forward
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template