GIF Sundsvall Veteranspelare lämnar laget
Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɡɪfː ˈsɵ̂nː(d)sval]),[1] Giffarna or simply Sundsvall, is a Swedish professional football club based in Sundsvall. The club is affiliated with Medelpads Fotbollförbund and plays its home games at NP3 Arena with a capacity of roughly 8,000 spectators.[2] Formed on 25 August 1903, the club has played 19 seasons in Sweden’s highest football league Allsvenskan, the club’s first season in the league was in 1965.
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.
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 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.[3] 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.
