IFK Goteborg

IFK Göteborg was founded on 4 October 1904, at Café Olivedal in the Annedal district of Linnéstaden in downtown Gothenburg. It was the third, but the only remaining, IFK association founded in Gothenburg, becoming the 39th overall. A committee for football was created at the historic first meeting; the association's first football match ended in a 4–1 victory against another club from the area, IK Viking. The foundation of IFK Göteborg was important for the development of football in the city, as until that point, Örgryte IS, the largest of Gothenburg clubs, were dominant, with IFK Göteborg offering some needed competition.

In 1907, IFK Göteborg became the first Swedish team in four years to beat Örgryte IS. They then went on to win their first Swedish Championship in 1908 by winning the cup tournament Svenska Mästerskapet, and three players from the club were selected to play for Sweden in the national team's first match. That year IFK played teams from outside Sweden for the first time, meeting the Danish clubs Østerbro BK and Boldklubben af 1893.

In 1910, the team played in blue and white striped jerseys for the first time. Two years later the team drew 1–1 in a game against the 1912 Swedish Olympic team, and the newspapers in Stockholm nominated IFK Göteborg as "the best Swedish football club ever". IFK Göteborg won Svenska Serien, the highest Swedish league at the time, but not the Swedish Championship deciding competition, for the fifth time in a row in 1917. The early IFK Göteborg team had no trainer; the club gained its first such official in 1921, when Hungarian manager Sándor Bródy was hired. Bródy was appointed manager for IFK two years later. The first Swedish official national league, Allsvenskan, started in late 1924, the year the legendary Filip Johansson made his debut for IFK Göteborg. The club finished second, but Johansson scored 39 goals in 22 games and was the league's top goalscorer.

IFK won their first Allsvenskan title in 1934–35, the ten previous seasons of the league saw the club finish in the top four. Swedish football was dominated by teams from Gothenburg during these years, but IFK Göteborg were surprisingly relegated in 1937–38, although the team was promoted back to Allsvenskan the next season. Back in the highest division, IFK finished second, with the league continuing despite the outbreak of World War II. IFK won another title in 1941–42 with a strong team, but the rest of the decade saw mixed results. The 1940s team included the talented Gunnar Gren, who became the top scorer in 1946–47. He was also awarded Guldbollen as the best player in Sweden, and won an Olympic gold medal with the Swedish team at the 1948 Olympics. When Gren left in 1949, IFK were relegated from Allsvenskan the following season. As happened the last time IFK played in a lower league, they were promoted directly back to Allsvenskan after one season in Division 2. IFK went on to compete in a European Cup, the European Champion Clubs' Cup, for the first time in 1958, but were eliminated in the second round by SC Wismut. In 1959, the all-time Allsvenskan record attendance of 52,194 was set when IFK played Örgryte IS at Nya Ullevi.

After an unglamorous decade, IFK were led by manager and retired footballer Bertil Johansson to a surprising championship title in 1969. The following season was one of the darkest in their history. IFK were relegated, and unlike previous relegations they did not make an immediate return. After three seasons in the second league IFK had lost all signs of being a team from Allsvenskan, and had still not managed to gain promotion. But after hard work from board member Anders Bernmar and others to get the club on the right track, IFK were promoted to Allsvenskan in 1976. In 1979, IFK hired Sven-Göran Eriksson as manager. He introduced the 4–4–2 system with "pressure and support", called the Swenglish model, which would give IFK great success later on, and his first season at the club ended with a second place in Allsvenskan and the club's first gold medal in Svenska Cupen.

After reinforcing the team with several expensive players, including Thomas Wernerson and Stig Fredriksson, IFK had finished second in the league and reached the quarter-finals in the UEFA Cup as 1981 came to an end. 1982 then became a turbulent season as the whole board was replaced and the club almost went bankrupt, even needing to borrow money from the official supporter's association to travel to Valencia to play the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup. After the troubled start IFK won every competition they entered, including Allsvenskan, the Allsvenskan play-off, Svenska Cupen, and the UEFA Cup, defeating Hamburger SV 4–0 on aggregate in the finals. During the following 15 years the club was the leading club in Swedish football, winning the Swedish championship ten times, the domestic cup three times and the UEFA Cup twice.

IFK managed to field a strong team for a couple of years and won gold in the league in both 1983 and 1984, and the cup in 1983. In 1986, the team reached the semi-finals of the European Cup but were defeated on penalties against FC Barcelona. A new team of talents won both the UEFA Cup and Allsvenskan once again in 1987, after beating Dundee United in the UEFA Cup final. The youth manager Roger Gustafsson took over the team from Gunder Bengtsson in 1990, and his time with IFK was to become very successful, winning Allsvenskan five times between 1990 and 1995.

As IFK won the 1993 Allsvenskan, they qualified for European competition. IFK advanced to the group stage of the Champions League, where they faced FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Galatasaray. Elimination at the group stage was widely anticipated, but IFK Göteborg confounded expectations by winning the group and advancing to the knockout stage. However, IFK Göteborg was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Bayern Munich on away goals.

The last years before the new millennium were disappointing for IFK, providing a stark contrast to the earlier success. The team only managed a silver in 1997 and an eighth place in 1998, after buying several expensive players who failed to produce. In both 1998 and 1999 IFK changed managers mid-season, something which had previously never happened in the club's history. The last year of the decade ended with a sixth-place finish. The new millennium offered varied results, with the club playing a relegation play-off in 2002, but challenging for the championship in 2001, 2004, and 2005. In 2007, the first title in eleven years was secured in the last round of Allsvenskan. The club then won the national cup Svenska Cupen the next season. IFK Göteborg are still considered to be one of the "Big Three" in Swedish football, along with Malmö FF and AIK, despite only having won the Allsvenskan title once during the last 20 years.