Gefle IF

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Swedish football club

title: "Gefle IF" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["gefle-if", "football-clubs-in-gävleborg-county", "allsvenskan-clubs", "association-football-clubs-established-in-1882", "1882-establishments-in-sweden", "sport-in-gävle", "19th-century-establishments-in-gävleborg-county"] description: "Swedish football club" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gefle_IF" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Swedish football club ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox football club"]

FieldValue
groundGavlevallen, Gävle
capacity6,500
clubnameGefle IF
imageGefle IF logo.svg
upright0.8
fullnameGefle Idrottsförening
foundedas Gefle SK
chairmanRobert Strid
mgrtitleHead coach
managerRawez Lawan
leagueEttan
season2025
positionEttan, 13th
website
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pattern_ra2_adidastirol23n
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pattern_sh2_adidastirol23n
leftarm183c3f1
leftarm2006
body12696D9
body2006
rightarm183c3f1
rightarm2006
shorts1ffffff
shorts2006
socks1ffffff
socks2006
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pattern_b3_adidasfortore23cblb
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::

| nickname = | ground = Gavlevallen, Gävle | capacity = 6,500 | clubname = Gefle IF | image = Gefle IF logo.svg | upright = 0.8 | fullname = Gefle Idrottsförening | founded = as Gefle SK | chairman = Robert Strid | mgrtitle = Head coach | manager = Rawez Lawan | league = Ettan | season = 2025 | position = Ettan, 13th | website = | pattern_la1 = _adidassquadra25lbw | pattern_la2 = _adidastirol23n | pattern_b1 = _adidassquadra25lbw | pattern_b2 = _adidastirol23n | pattern_ra1 = _adidassquadra25lbw | pattern_ra2 = _adidastirol23n | pattern_sh1 = _gefle24h | pattern_sh2 = _adidastirol23n | leftarm1 = 83c3f1 | leftarm2 = 006 | body1 = 2696D9 | body2 = 006 | rightarm1 = 83c3f1 | rightarm2 = 006 | shorts1 = ffffff | shorts2 = 006 | socks1 = ffffff | socks2 = 006 | pattern_la3 = _adidasfortore23cblb | pattern_b3 = _adidasfortore23cblb | pattern_ra3 = | pattern_sh3 = _adidasfortore23cblb | leftarm3 = A90000 | body3 = A90000 | rightarm3 = A90000 | shorts3 = A90000 | socks3 = A90000 Gefle Idrottsförening, also known simply as Gefle IF, Gefle (, as if spelled Gävle), or locally Gif (), also known as Gefle IF FF by the Swedish Football Association, are a Swedish professional football club based in Gävle. The club is affiliated with Gestriklands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Gavlevallen since the 2015 season. The club colours are blue and white. Formed on 5 December 1882 as Gefle SK, the club have played fifteen seasons in Sweden's highest football league Allsvenskan, with the first season being 1933–34. The club is currently playing in Ettan Norra, the third tier of Swedish football.

History

Gefle IF was originally formed as Gefle SK in December 1882 but changed the name to its current form only months after. The name "Gefle" is one of the old variations of spelling for the town Gävle which was used from the 1500s to the early 1900s. The multisports club mainly focused on winter sports during its early years, with rowing being their only summertime activity. In 1896 the club started having regular football training sessions under the guidance of an English accountant by the name of Robert Carrick. Born in England, he had grown up in Gävle but returned to his homeland for a few years as a student. There he had picked up the new sport which he brought back with him to Sweden and introduced at Gefle IF.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Gefle_IF_1902.jpg" caption="The Gefle IF team of 1902 with Robert Carrick holding the Rosenska Pokalen-trophy."] ::

The club found early success at the turn of the century by winning one of the biggest swedish cups at the time, Rosenska Pokalen, three times. Due to high travel costs Gefle declined to participate in the other major swedish football tournament, Svenska Mästerskapet, during those years. Therefore, the clubs golden generation never got the chance to play against the nations other dominant team at the time, Örgryte IS from Gothenburg.

An ever-increasing number of football clubs were starting up in the early 1900s and Gefle were not able to maintain its dominant position among all the new competition. When the first swedish league Svenska Serien started in 1910 Gefle IF were not included and when they entered into the second tier of the league system in 1912–13 they finished last.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Gefle_IF_League_Performance.png" caption="A chart showing the progress of Gefle IF through the [[swedish football league system]]. The different shades of gray represent league divisions."] ::

During the rest of the 20th century the club mostly moved up and down between the second and third level of the Swedish football league system. They only managed two short lived stints at the top level Allsvenskan, one in the early 1930s and one in the early 1980s. Between the 1979 and 1981 season Gefle IF and Brynäs IF merged and played under the name Gefle IF/Brynäs, but the merger split up again in 1982. In 2004 manager Kenneth Rosén was finally able to bring the club back to the top division after finishing second in the 2004 Superettan. Rosén had missed part of the previous season due to illness and after the club was promoted he again had to be hospitalized and died soon after. Long-time club servant Per "Pelle" Olsson immediately stepped in and took over as manager during the off-season and managed to keep the club at the top level. Olsson would remain as the manager until 2014 when he was announced as Djurgårdens IF:s new manager.

Supporters

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Gefle_IF_Supporters,_7_October_2012.jpg" caption="AIK]]."] ::

Due to their status as a second or third division club the Gefle supporters were late starters in creating an organized supporters club. After some fledgeling attempts in the mid-1990s when the interest in traveling to away games increased, the "Sky Blues" was finally founded in 2001 as the official supporter group.

In 2009 Gefle IF caused controversy among its fans by changing the sky blue home shirt to white, the color which the club played in during its first 80 years. This caused groups of fans to boycott the singing sections of the home stadium. Eventually before the start of the 2011 season a compromise was reached where they kept the white shirt for their home kit but brought back the sky blue as their new away kit. Further compromise was then reached for the 2015 Allsvenskan season when a new sky blue and white striped kit was launched, inspired by the Argentina national football team. A decision that satisfied both the fans and the club.

Stadium

Gefle IF played at Strömvallen, built in 1923, for 92 years. On 30 May 2013 it was announced that the club had agreed with Gävle Municipality to build a new stadium in the Sätraåsen area of Gävle. The stadium, Gavlevallen, was ready for the 2015 season.

European Cups history

::data[format=table]

SeasonCompetitionRoundClubHomeAwayAggregate
2006–07UEFA CupFirst qualifying roundWAL Llanelli1–20–01–2
2010–11UEFA Europa LeagueFirst qualifying roundFaroe Islands NSÍ Runavík2–12–04–1
Second qualifying roundGEO FC Dinamo Tbilisi1–21–22–4
2013–14UEFA Europa LeagueFirst qualifying roundEST Narva Trans5–13–08–1
Second qualifying roundCYP Anorthosis4–00–34–3
Third qualifying roundAZE Qarabağ FK0–20–10–3
::

None of Gefle's appearances in European competition have been due to cup wins or their league positions (11th, 10th and 11th in the respective years). Instead they have qualified through the Fair Play initiative each time.

Players

First-team squad

Out on loan

Managers

Source: ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Per_Olsson_A_31_0161.jpg" caption="[[Pelle Olsson]] was in charge of Gefle IF for a large part of the past two decades."] ::

Achievements

League

Cups

Footnotes

References

References

  1. "Distrikten Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Gestriklands Fotbollförbund – Svenskfotboll.se".
  2. "Maratontabell".
  3. "När Gefle IF hade Sveriges bästa fotbollslag".
  4. "Gävle stads namn".
  5. "Historik".
  6. (2 April 2013). "När Gefle IF var bäst i Sverige".
  7. (28 December 2004). "Gefle IF:s tränare död".
  8. "Historik Supporterklubben Sky Blues".
  9. "Supportergrupp bojkottar GIF".
  10. "GEFLEBLOGGEN: En gång himmelsblå alltid himmelsblå".
  11. "GIF-fansen: "Tröjan känns helt rätt"".
  12. (30 May 2013). "Pressmeddelande: Förenat framtidsfokus för fotbollen!". Gefle IF.
  13. (9 May 2013). "Gefle till Europa League-kval".
  14. "Herrtruppen". Gefle IF.
  15. "4–4–2 Gefle IF Database". [[Gefle Dagblad]].
  16. (2 July 2018). "Kontraktet med Johan Mjällby avslutat och Marcus Bengtsson tar över som huvudtränare".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

gefle-iffootball-clubs-in-gävleborg-countyallsvenskan-clubsassociation-football-clubs-established-in-18821882-establishments-in-swedensport-in-gävle19th-century-establishments-in-gävleborg-county