Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (), Giffarna or simply Sundsvall, is a Swedish professional

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

based in

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. History Th ...

. The club is affiliated with

Medelpads Fotbollförbund The Medelpads Fotbollförbund ''(Medelpad Football Association)'' is one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association. It administers lower tier football in the historical province of Medelpad in Norrland. It was establi ...

and plays its home games at NP3 Arena with a capacity of roughly 8 000 spectators. Formed on 25 August 1903, the club has played 19 seasons in Sweden's highest football league

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

, the club's first season in the league was in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

. 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

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 Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

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. 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

Norrporten Arena sett från Norrmalmsgatan

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. 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 Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

since 2004. The record attendance was 16,507 against Högadals IS on October 15, 1961.

Supporters

The official supporter's club of GIF Sundsvall is called Patronerna. Formed in 1999, mostly as a joke by some friends supporting their friend, the club has in a short period of time amassed a strong reputation. The name is mainly a historical reference to the

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

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+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

Achievements

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...

: ** Runners-up (3): 2011, 2014, 2021 *

Division 1 Norra Ettan Fotboll, or simply Ettan ( en, the one), which also is its common name in everyday speech, is the third level in the Swedish football league system and consists of 32 Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden ...

: ** Winners (2): 1990, 1999 *

Norrländska Mästerskapet Norrländska Mästerskapet was a Swedish football cup held to decide the Champions of Norrland. As teams from a large part of northern Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Nam ...

: ** Winners (1): 1942 ** Runners-up (2): 1928, 1951

Players

First-team squad

Out on loan

Retired numbers

10 – Leif Forsberg,

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

(1980–1988, 1990–2001)

Managers

Stig Sundqvist Stig "Vittjärv" Sundqvist (19 July 1922 – 3 August 2011) was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a forward or midfielder. Career Sundqvist played 11 games for the Swedish national team and scored 3 goals at the 1950 FIFA Worl ...

(1955–58) *

Jimmy Meadows James Meadows (21 July 1931 – 3 January 1994) was an English footballer and manager. He started his playing career in 1949 at Third Division Southport, before being transferred to Manchester City in March 1951 for £5,000. He made his only a ...

(1976) * Anders Grönhagen (1986–89) * Jan Mattsson (1990–92) * Anders Grönhagen (1999–01) *

Per Joar Hansen Per Joar Hansen (born 17 August 1965) is a Norwegian football coach. He grew up in the small community of Trofors in Nordland. He played for and managed Rosenborg BK, and he has managed GIF Sundsvall, Aalesunds FK, Ranheim and the Norwegian u ...

(2002–03) * Patrick Walker (2002–04) *

Rikard Norling Rikard Olof Norling (; born 4 June 1971) is a Swedish football manager. Forced to retire early from his professional playing career due to an injury, Rikard Norling started a coaching career at the age of 22. In his early managerial career, Nor ...

(Jan 2004 – Dec 2004) *

Jan Halvor Halvorsen Jan Halvor Halvorsen (born 8 March 1963, in Bamble) is a former Norwegian football player and the current manager of Lyn. Club career Halvorsen started his youth career in Pors, debuting at the age of fifteen and a half. He has also played ...

(Jan 2005 – Aug 2005) * Anders Högman (2005) * David Wilson (July 2005 – July 2006) * Mika Sankala (2006–07), (2008–Ass.) *

(Jan 2008 – Oct 2008) *

Sören Åkeby Sören Åkeby (born 23 February 1952) is a Swedish football manager and former player. Career Along with Zoran Lukić, Åkeby managed Djurgårdens IF from 1999 to 2003. The two were very successful during the first years of the 21st century winn ...

(Oct 2008 – Nov 2012) * Joel Cedergren (Nov 2012 – Aug 2019) & Roger Franzén (Nov 2012 – Sep 2016) *

Tony Gustavsson Tony Gustavsson (born 14 August 1973) is a Swedish professional football manager and former player who works as head coach of the Australia women's national team. He is best known for his managerial success in women's football, leading Tyres� ...

(Aug 2019 – Dec 2019) * Henrik Åhnstrand (Dec 2019–Present)