IFK Mariehamn
IFK Mariehamn is a Finnish football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (Veikkausliiga), winning their first title in 2016.[1] The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wiklöf Holding Arena.
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| Full name | Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Mariehamn | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Grönvitt (Green White) Saarelaiset (The Islanders). | ||
| Founded | 1919 | ||
| Ground | Wiklöf Holding Arena, Mariehamn. | ||
| Capacity | 1,650 | ||
| Chairman | Dan Mikkola | ||
| Manager | Daniel Norrmén | ||
| League | Veikkausliiga | ||
| 2023 | Veikkausliiga, 11th of 12 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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History
While IFK Mariehamn was formed in 1919, the sports club did not have a football department until the mid-1930s. Initially the team participated primarily in local tournaments on Åland, only sporadically playing other Finnish or Swedish teams. The team has participated in the Finnish football leagues since 1945.
Until the 1970s, IFK Mariehamn played primarily in the Finnish football divisions 3 and 4. The club reached a peak in 1975 and 1976, when the club first advanced to division 2 and then reached division 1 (Ykkönen) the following year. After two seasons in division 1, IFK Mariehamn was relegated to division 2, where it would remain up until the 2000s, except for a few seasons in division 3 during the early 1990s.
In 2003, IFK Mariehamn returned to division 1. After only one season in division 1, the club advanced, for the first time in its history to the premier division of Finnish football, the Veikkausliiga, for the 2005 season following qualifying the October 2004 games against FC Jazz.[2] In its first season in the Veikkausliiga, IFK Mariehamn finished 12th out of 14 teams. In 2006, the club finished in 5th place and the year after 6th after an impressive run of unbeaten matches during the autumn of 2007.
In addition to playing in the Veikkausliiga, IFK Mariehamn participates in local Åland tournaments, having won the Åland cup 40 times and the Åland football championships 42 times. In recent years, the club has been the most dominant football team on Åland, having in 2008 won its 11th and 15th straight titles in these two events, respectively.
In 2009, IFK Mariehamn started its first season as a fully professional football club. In 2015, the team won the Finnish Cup for the first time.
On 23 October 2016, IFK Mariehamn defeated FC Ilves 2–1 to secure the first ever Veikkausliiga Championship for the island club.[3] In the 2017–18 season, IFK played its first-ever two-match UEFA Champions League qualification, where it was knocked out by Poland's champion Legia Warsaw.[4]
Domestic history
- 1945–1971: Divisions 3 and 4 (two seasons)
- 1972: Division 2
- 1973–1975: Division 3
- 1976: Division 2
- 1977–1978: Division 1
- 1979–1990: Division 2
- 1991–1992: Division 3
- 1993–2003: Division 2
- 2004: Division 1
- 2005–present: Veikkausliiga (Premier Division)
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European history
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR |  Inter Baku |
0–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| 2016–17 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR |  Odds BK |
1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 |
| 2017–18 | UEFA Champions League | 2QR |  Legia Warsaw |
0–3 | 0–6 | 0–9 |
- Notes
- 1QR: First qualifying round
- 2QR: Second qualifying round
Current squad
- As of 9 August 2023[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Youth players
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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International players
This is a list of former and current players who have played at full international level while with the club. They are ordered by nationality.
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Estonia
- 2017 Andreas Vaikla
Finland
- 2010 Petteri Forsell
- 2011 Kristian Kojola
- 2013 Albin Granlund
- 2023 Elmo Henriksson
Jamaica
- 2013 Dever Orgill
Kenya
- 2007 Willis Ochieng
- 2007 Amos Ekhalie
New Zealand
- 2013 Kris Bright[7]
Philippines
- 2018 Amin Nazari
Sierra Leone
- 2006 Samuel Barlay
Zambia
- 2007 Clive Hachilensa
Saudi Arabia
- 2023 Abdulfattah Asiri
Management and boardroom
Management
As of 20 January 2021[8]
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Honours
- Veikkausliiga
- Champions: 2016
- Finnish Cup
- Winners: 2015
MIFK Ishockey
| IFK Mariehamn Ishockey | |
|---|---|
| City | Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland |
| League | HockeyFyran |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Home arena | Islandia (capacity: 800) |
| Colours | |
| General manager | André Portin |
| Head coach | Kenneth Westerback |
| Asst. coaches | Kim Schauman Robert Andersson |
| Captain | Pontus Nylén |
| Website | https://mifk.ax/ |
MIFK Ishockey is the ice hockey section of IFK Mariehamn. MIFK men's team plays in the Swedish "HockeyFyran", the fifth division of Swedish hockey. MIFK Ishockey has also played in the Finnish III-divisioona.
IFK Mariehamn plays its home games in the Islandia ice rink in Mariehamn. Islandia's capacity is 800. The hockey team was founded in 1993.
MIFK won their division in HockeyFyran with 33 points and advanced to the HockeyTrean qualifiers for the 2023/24 season. MIFK's head coach is Kenneth Westerback, assistant coaches are Kim Schauman and Robert Andersson, the GM is André Portin and the team captain is Pontus Nylén.
IFK Mariehamn U17 plays in the Finnish U17 II-divisioona.
MIFK Ishockey Dam is the women's ice hockey team founded in 2017. The team plays in the Swedish Division 2, but has played in the Finnish Suomi-sarja.
References
- Willis, Craig; Hughes, Will; Bober, Sergiusz. "ECMI Minorities Blog. National and Linguistic Minorities in the Context of Professional Football across Europe: Five Examples from Kin-State Situations". ECMI. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- Ann-Lis Fredriksson (16 October 2004). "IFK Mariehamn avancerar till ligan". Svenska Yle. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- "IFK vann årets ligaguld". ifkfotboll.ax (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- "Legia Warsaw 6-0 IFK Mariehamn (Jul 19, 2017) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- http://www.finlandfootball.net/
- Truppen
- Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "NFT player — National team & Club appearances: Bright, Kris". national-football-teams.com. National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- "Truppen" (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- "IFK Mariehamn Ab" (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- "Kontakt" (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. Retrieved 11 April 2017.