A chart showing the progress of IFK Norrköping through the swedish football league system. The different shades of gray represent league divisions.Nya ParkenIFK Norrköping supporter group Peking Fanz.
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Östgötaporten.[1] The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are white and blue. Formed on 29 May 1897, the club have won thirteen national championship titles and six national cup titles.
The club plays in the highest Swedish tier, Allsvenskan, which they first won in 1943.[2] IFK Norrköping were most successful during the 1940s, when they won five Swedish championships and two Svenska Cupen titles under the Hungarian coach Lajos Czeizler and with players like Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm.
IFK Norrköping dominated Swedish football in the post war era and won the first division 11 times in 20 years, culminating in the league triumph of 1963. It took the club another 26 years before adding championship title number 12 to the trophy cabinet.
On 31 October 2015, IFK Norrköping won their 13th championship title after defeating the defending champions Malmö FF with 2–0 away in Swedbank Stadion in Malmö in the last round of 2015 Allsvenskan. This was the second time in a row they had to wait 26 years between titles.[3] On 8 November IFK Norrköping won supercupen against Swedish cup winners IFK Göteborg. The result was 3–0 after a dominating performance from the reigning Swedish champions.
Rivalries
The club used to have a fierce rivalry with IK Sleipner, also from Norrköping, before Sleipner's fall from the higher divisions. Another historic rivalry is that against Åtvidabergs FF, also from the province of Östergötland, which was especially tense in the 1970s and early 2010s. This rivalry has lost importance since Åtvidaberg were relegated from Allsvenskan. IFK Norrköping also maintains a rivalry with Malmö FF; the fixtures between the clubs is sometimes known as "The Working Class Derby"[citation needed]
IFK Norrköping also maintains departments for women's football, set up in 2009, orienteering, bowling and bandy. The bandy team played in Sweden's highest division in 1937.
Part of the club was also an ice hockey team which played in the seasons 1950/51 and 1955/56 in the highest Swedish division. The ice hockey teams of IFK and local rivals IK Sleipner were joined in 1967 to form IF IFK/IKS, known from 1973 forward as IK Vita Hästen ("Ice Hockey Club White Horse") which evolved into today's HC Vita Hästen.
Footnotes
^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 club 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.[7]
^"Svenska mästare 1896–1925, 1931–" [Swedish champions 1896–1925, 1931–]. svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). The Swedish Football Association. Archived from the original on 2 December 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2012.