Östers IF

Östers Idrottsförening, commonly known as Östers IF or simply Öster, is a Swedish sports club located in Växjö, specializing in football, and playing in the second tier of Swedish football, Superettan.

For the club's former ice hockey department, see Östers IF (ice hockey).

Öster
Full nameÖsters Idrottsförening
Founded20 April 1930 (20 April 1930)
GroundVisma Arena,
Växjö
Capacity12,000
ChairmanSven Johannesson
Head coachMartin Foyston
LeagueSuperettan
20223rd
WebsiteClub website

The club has previously also competed in ice hockey (see separate article), bandy, and bowling. Öster was formed on 20 April 1930 as Östers Fotbollförening, before adopting the name "Östers IF" in 1932. The club is affiliated to the Smålands Fotbollförbund.[1]

In 1968, their first season in Allsvenskan, Öster became the first team ever to win the national title at their first attempt (newly promoted IF Elfsborg won the league in 1961 but had played in, and been winners of, the championship in the past).[2] This win ignited the team's 'golden age' which lasted until the early 1980s and saw them win a total of four Swedish championships.

On 31 March 2011, Öster broke ground on their new arena, Myresjöhus Arena,[3] which was inaugurated in August 2012. The arena hosted four games of the UEFA Women's Euro 2013 tournament.[4]

History

Öster (English: "East") was named after a district in the city of Växjö. They were not part of the upper divisions in the early days of swedish football and only made their first appearance in the third tier in 1947. During the 1950s and early-1960s the club made a push to raise the level of football by inviting and playing against foreign teams such as Flamengo, Juventus and Fluminense. This coupled with an increase in the amount of training helped the team establish themselves in the second tier.

In 1961 Öster had their first chance ever to qualify for Allsvenskan but ended up in last place in the four team promotion playoffs. Success in the promotion playoffs would instead come six years later in 1967 when they beat IK Brage in the deciding game in front of a home crowd of 26,404 people. Öster defied the odds during their first season in the top division and won the league on goal difference after a total of four teams had ended the season on exactly the same number of points. Following their championship title the club had ten years of solid Allsvenskan finishes before becoming dominant in the late-1970s and early-1980s where they won the league three times in four years.

After that successful era followed a slow decline over the next couple of decades which culminated in their relegation to the second tier in 1998. After that the club has found it hard to reestablish itself in Allsvenskan and has only made short one year appearances.

Current squad
As of 5 March 2024[5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF  ISL Þórri Mar Þórisson
4 DF  SWE Sebastian Starke Hedlund
5 DF  SWE Mattis Adolfsson
7 MF  SWE David Seger
8 MF  SWE Manasse Kusu
9 FW  SWE Niklas Söderberg
10 MF  SWE Albin Mörfelt
11 MF  SWE Hannes Bladh Pijaca
13 GK  SWE Robin Wallinder
15 DF  SRB Ivan Kričak
16 DF  SWE Raymond Adjei
17 MF  SWE Adam Herdonsson
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF  SWE Daniel Ljung
19 FW  SWE Adam Bergmark Wiberg
20 FW  SWE Alibek Aliev
21 DF  SWE Lukas Bergquist
22 MF  SWE Oskar Gabrielsson
23 MF  MNE Vladimir Rodić
24 DF  SWE Theodor Johansson
25 FW  SWE Gustav Fälth
31 DF  SWE Nikola Radojcic
32 GK  SWE Carl Lundahl Persson
33 DF  FIN Tatu Varmanen

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK  BIH Mirsad Basic (at Hässleholm until 30 November 2024)
— MF  SWE Philipp Berndt (at Hässleholm until 30 November 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  SWE Alen Zahirovic (at Hässleholm until 30 November 2024)

Personnel

Current technical staff
Head coach: Martin Foyston
Assistant coach: -
Goalkeeper coach: Rasmus Ryden
Physical Coach: Rikard Engström
Head of youth department: Peter Wibrån

Coaches

[6]

Achievements
  • Swedish Champions[B]
    • Winners (4): 1968, 1978, 1980, 1981

League
  • Allsvenskan:
    • Winners (4): 1968, 1978, 1980, 1981
    • Runners-up (3): 1973, 1975, 1992
  • Superettan:
    • Winners (2): 2002, 2012
    • Runners-up (1): 2005
  • Division 1 Södra:
    • Winners (3): 1989, 2009, 2016
    • Runners-up (1): 2008

Cups

Attendances

In recent seasons Östers IF have had the following average attendances:

Season Average Attendance Division / Section Level
2004 2,670 Superettan Tier 2
2005 3,517 Superettan Tier 2
2006 5,364 Allsvenskan Tier 1
2007 2,791 Superettan Tier 2
2008 1,817 Div 1 Södra Tier 3
2009 1,919 Div 1 Södra Tier 3
2010 2,145 Superettan Tier 2
2011 2,637 Superettan Tier 2
2012 4,733 Superettan Tier 2
2013 5,751 Allsvenskan Tier 1
2014 3,289 Superettan Tier 2

* Attendances are provided in the Publikliga sections of the Svenska Fotbollförbundet website.[7]

Footnotes
A ^ Current youth players who at least have sat on the bench in a competitive match.
B. ^ The title of "Swedish Champions" has been awarded to the winner of four different competitions over the years. Between 1896 and 1925 the title was awarded to the winner of Svenska Mästerskapet, a stand-alone cup tournament. No clubs were given the title between 1926 and 1930 even though the first-tier league Allsvenskan was played. In 1931 the title was reinstated and awarded to the winner of Allsvenskan. Between 1982 and 1990 a play-off in cup format was held at the end of the league season to decide the champions. After the play-off format in 1991 and 1992 the title was decided by the winner of Mästerskapsserien, an additional league after the end of Allsvenskan. Since the 1993 season the title has once again been awarded to the winner of Allsvenskan.[8]

References
  1. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Smålands Fotbollförbund – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  2. sv:IF Elfsborg
  3. "Första spadtaget på Myresjöhus Arena". Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  4. "Sweden awarded UEFA Women's EURO 2013". 4 October 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  5. "Östers IF squad". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  6. http://www.osterfotboll.com/uploads/publiktrycket_april_2007.pdf
  7. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Svenska Fotbollförbundet – svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  8. "Svenska mästare 1896–1925, 1931–". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  • Östers IF – official site
  •  – supporter site
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