Ground Capacity 9,500 2016 Allsvenskan, 8th League Allsvenskan Founded 31 October 1996 | Chairman Daniel Kindberg Manager Graham Potter Location Östersund, Sweden | |
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Full name Östersunds Fotbollsklubb Grounds Jämtkraft Arena, Östersund Profiles | ||
stersunds fk syrianska fc 4 1 highlights 2015
Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden. The club was formed on 31 October 1996 as a cooperation between three Östersund clubs. They are affiliated to the Jämtland-Härjedalens Fotbollförbund 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. On 27 October 2015, the club qualified for Allsvenskan for the first time.
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Background
Östersunds FK was created in 1996 when the three local clubs Ope IF, IFK Östersund and Östersund/Torvalla FF came together with the ambition to create a club in the city 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.
During the 2000s the club started taking on a British 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.
After a poor 2010 season the club was relegated to the fourth tier for the first time ever. The next year 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. The club also brought in young English manager Graham Potter who was working at an English university at the time. Through several successful signings, some coming from Potters connections at Nike Football Academy, the club was able to win both the fourth tier and then the third tier immediately the year after. 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 will train 250 young men from Libya every year, excepting the first year in which they will receive 60 students. Those players will be taught English and computer skills in addition to sports theory and football training. The deal is expected to raise Östersund FKs yearly profits by over 50%.
First-team squad
As of 12 January 2017Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Current youth players with first-team experience
As of 12 January 2017Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Notable players
This list of notable players includes those who have either been named player of the year at the club, or has become league top goalscorer, or went on to play in Allsvenskan (or for larger clubs abroad).
Technical staff
As of 16 January 2015
Attendances
In recent seasons Östersunds FK have had the following average attendances: