Malmö FF

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Malmö FF
150px
Full name Malmö Fotbollförening
Nickname(s) Di blåe (The Blues)[1]
Himmelsblått (The Sky Blues)[1]
Short name MFF
Founded 24 February 1910; 114 years ago (1910-02-24)
Ground Swedbank Stadion, Malmö
Ground Capacity 24,000
Chairman Håkan Jeppsson
Head coach Allan Kuhn
League Allsvenskan
2015 Allsvenskan, 5th
Website Club home page
Current season

Malmö Fotbollförening, also known simply as Malmö FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö. The club is the most successful in Sweden in terms of trophies won,[2] and the only Nordic club to have reached the European Cup final.[3] Formed on 24 February 1910, Malmö FF is affiliated with Skånes Fotbollförbund and the team play their home games at the Swedbank Stadion.[4] The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are sky blue and white.

The club have won the most league titles of any Swedish club with twenty-one, a joint record eighteen Swedish championship titles and a record fourteen national cup titles.[5][upper-alpha 1] They were runners-up in the 1979 European Champions Cup final, which they lost 1–0 to English club Nottingham Forest.[3] This made them the only Swedish football club, as of 2015, to have reached the final of the competition, for which the team were awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.[7]

Malmö FF is an open member association and the annual general meeting is the highest policy-making body. The meeting approves the accounts and elects the chairman and board. Håkan Jeppsson is the current chairman, elected in 2010. Daily operations are run by a managing director who liaises with the chairman. With an equity of 226.3 million SEK (approximately €23.7 million) the club is the richest football club in Sweden as of 2015.[8]

The club are currently playing in Allsvenskan, where the season lasts from April to November. Malmö FF are the leaders of the overall Allsvenskan table maratontabellen as of the end of the 2015 season.[9] The club first won Allsvenskan in 1944.[6] Malmö FF were most successful during the 1970s, when they won five Swedish championships and four Svenska Cupen titles. The main rivals of the club are Helsingborgs IF, IFK Göteborg and historically IFK Malmö.[10] MFF Support is the official fan club of Malmö FF.[11] The club have also been featured in the media, including the football documentaries Blådårar 1 and Blådårar 2.

History

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Early years

Malmö IP, the first home stadium for the club between 1910 and 1957

The club arose from a municipal initiative in 1905 to encourage young people in Malmö to play organised football. One of the youth teams, Bollklubben Idrott, also known simply as BK Idrott, was a predecessor to Malmö FF. BK Idrott joined the newly created football department of IFK Malmö in 1909, but soon left because of issues between the two clubs. On 24 February 1910 the 19 members of BK Idrott founded Malmö FF; the first chairman was Werner Mårtensson.[12][13]

The club spent their first ten years in local and regional divisions as there was no official national league competition, playing the majority of their matches in the city division called Malmömästerskapen. They also competed in regional competitions in Scania, and played matches against Danish clubs. In 1916 Malmö FF reached the final of the Scanian regional competition (Distriktsmästerskapen) for the first time, playing against rival Helsingborgs IF but losing 3–4.[14] The club defeated local rival IFK Malmö three times during the season, and thus earned the unofficial but much desired title of Malmö's best football club.[15] In 1917 Malmö FF competed in Svenska Mästerskapet for the first time, a cup tournament for the title of Swedish champions, but lost their first match in the second qualifying round 4–1 against IFK Malmö. The club continued to play in the cup until 1922, reaching the quarter-finals in 1920 when they were knocked out by Landskrona BoIS. The cup was eventually discontinued and the title of Swedish champions was given to the winners of Allsvenskan which was first created for the 1924–25 season.[16][upper-alpha 1]

In 1920 the Swedish Football Association invited Swedish football clubs to compete in official national competitions. Malmö FF earned a place in Division 2 Sydsvenska Serien. They won this division in the first season, and were promoted to Svenska Serien Västra, the highest level of competition in Sweden at the time. However, they were relegated after a single season, and found themselves back in Sydsvenska Serien for nearly a decade until they again achieved promotion to Allsvenskan, in 1931.[17]

First years in Allsvenskan and early achievements

The Malmö FF team of 1943–44

The club achieved mid-table league positions for two seasons, but they were relegated in 1934 as a penalty for breaking amateur regulations. The club had paid their players a small sum of money for each game. Although against the rules, this was common at the time; Malmö FF were the only club to show it in their accounting records. In addition to relegation to Division 2, the club suffered bans for the entire board of directors and twenty-six players. The version of events told by Malmö FF and local press suggests that local rival IFK Malmö reported the violation to the Swedish Football Association. This belief has contributed to the longstanding competitive tensions between the clubs.[18][19][20]

The club made their way back to Allsvenskan in 1937 after two seasons in Division 2. In the same year Eric Persson was elected as chairman after being secretary since 1929, and held the position until 1974. Persson is regarded by club leaders and fans as the most important person in the club's history, as he turned the club professional in the 1970s. Under his leadership the club went from being titleless in 1937 to holding ten Swedish championships by the end of the 1974 season.[21] In 1939 the club reached their highest position yet, third place in Allsvenskan, nine points behind champions IF Elfsborg. Malmö FF's first Swedish championship came in 1944, when the club won the penultimate game of the season against AIK before 36,000 spectators at Råsunda. The last game of the season was won 7–0 against Halmstad BK.[22]

For the next nine seasons, Malmö FF finished in the top three in the league. The club won the Swedish Championship in 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1953, and were runners-up in 1946, 1948 and 1952. The club also won Svenska Cupen in 1944, 1946, 1947, 1951 and 1953, and finished as runners-up in 1945. Between 6 May 1949 and 1 June 1951, the team were unbeaten in 49 matches, of which 23 were an unbroken streak of victories.[23]

Young players in the 1960s

The club finished as runners-up in Allsvenskan twice more, in 1956 and 1957. The following year the club left Malmö IP for Malmö Stadion, which had been built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, and was to host the club for the next 50 years. In 1964 Malmö FF contracted Spanish manager Antonio Durán; this was the first of a series of changes that led to the most successful era in the club's history. Young talents such as Lars Granström and Bo Larsson emerged during the early 1960s and would prove to be crucial ingredients in the success that would come in the 1970s. The club finished second in 1964 but went on to win their sixth Swedish Championship in 1965, when Bo Larsson scored 28 goals to finish as the league's top goal scorer. Malmö FF once again won Allsvenskan in 1967, after a less successful year in 1966. The club's young players, as well as talents bought in from neighbouring clubs in Scania in 1967, became a team that consistently finished in the top three in Allsvenskan.[24]

Successful 1970s, European Cup 1979, 1980s and 1990s

After finishing as runners-up in Allsvenskan for the final two years of the 1960s, Malmö FF started the most successful decade of their history with a Swedish Championship in 1970. The club won Allsvenskan in 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975 and 1977 as well as Svenska Cupen in 1976 and 1978. The 1977 Allsvenskan victory qualified the club for the 1978–79 European Cup, and after victories against AS Monaco, Dynamo Kyiv, Wisła Kraków and Austria Wien, they reached the final of the competition, which they played at Olympiastadion in Munich against Nottingham Forest. Trevor Francis, who scored the only goal of the match, won it 1–0 for Forest. Nevertheless, the 1979 European Cup run is the biggest success in the history of Malmö FF.[25] The team were given the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal the same year, awarded for the most significant Swedish sporting achievement of the year, for their achievement in the European Cup.[7]

File:Malmö stadion.jpg
Malmö Stadion, the home stadium for the club between 1958 and 2008

Much of the success during the 1970s was due to new tactics and training methods brought to the club by Englishman Bob Houghton, who managed the club between 1974 and 1980. Eric Persson was succeeded as chairman in 1974 by Hans Cavalli-Björkman. After the team performed respectably under managers Keith Blunt and Tord Grip in the early 1980s, Roy Hodgson took over in 1985. He led the club to two Swedish Championships in 1986 and 1988, and the club won Allsvenskan five years in a row between 1985 and 1989. At the time, the championship was decided by play-offs between the best teams after the end of the regular season; this arrangement was in place from 1982 until 1992. The club reached the play-off final four times between 1986 and 1989 but only managed to win the final twice. Apart from Allsvenskan and Swedish Championships, the club won Svenska Cupen in 1984, 1986 and 1989.[26]

Other than finishing as runners-up in Allsvenskan in 1996, the team did not excel in the 1990s, as the club failed to win Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen throughout the entire decade. The 1990s ended with relegation from Allsvenskan in 1999. Hans Cavalli-Björkman was succeeded as chairman by Bengt Madsen in 1999, and former player Hasse Borg was contracted as Director of Sport. These operational changes, as well as the emergence of young talent Zlatan Ibrahimović, led to the return to Allsvenskan in 2001. Ibrahimović rose to fame and became an important player in the club's campaign to return to the top league. He was later sold to Ajax in 2001, before playing for several European clubs in Italy's Serie A, FC Barcelona in Spain's La Liga and his current club as of 2015, Paris Saint-Germain in France's Ligue 1.[27]

Start of the 2000s to the present

Opening game at Swedbank Stadion

The return to Allsvenskan was the start of the successful early 2000s, under the management of Tom Prahl, when the club finished in the top three three times in a row. In 2004, it won Allsvenskan, the club's fifteenth Swedish Championship. In 2005, the club reached the last qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League but were defeated by FC Thun. Successful sponsor work and player sales also made Malmö FF the richest club in Sweden, a position they still hold as of 2013.[28][29] The club moved from Malmö Stadion to Swedbank Stadion in 2009, a stadium built entirely for football and located next to the old one.[30]

In 2009, Madsen announced that he would step down as chairman, and was replaced by Håkan Jeppsson early the following year.[31] In 2010, the club marked their 100th anniversary with many celebratory events at the beginning of the season. On the day of the club's 100th anniversary in 2010, the Swedish football magazine Offside declared Malmö FF to be the greatest football club in Swedish history.[32] The season became a great success as the club won Allsvenskan for the nineteenth time and became Swedish champions for the sixteenth time.[33] Unlike in 2004, these successes were achieved without any major transfers before the season, and with a squad consisting mostly of younger players.[34]

In October 2013, Malmö FF won their seventeenth Swedish championship and 20th Allsvenskan title in the penultimate round of the league away from home. Similar to 2010, the title was the result of a young squad. The average age of the squad, 23.8 years, was the youngest team to become champions since the beginning of the 21st century.[35] The following year Malmö FF qualified for the group stage of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League by beating Ventspils, Sparta Prague and Red Bull Salzburg in the qualifying rounds.[36] This was the first time the club qualified for the competition proper since the re-branding from the European Cup in the 1992–93 season and the first time since the 2000–01 season that a Swedish club qualified. In the following months Malmö FF defended their league title, winning their eighteenth Swedish championship and 21st Allsvenskan title.[37] This was the first time a club defended the Allsvenskan title since the 2003 season. The 2015 season saw Malmö FF failing to retaining the title and missing out on the top-four for the first time since 2009. However, the club managed to qualify once again to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League edition.

The club remains one of the dominant football clubs in Sweden. As of the end of the 2015 Allsvenskan season, the club are the leaders of the overall Allsvenskan table maratontabellen.[9] Malmö FF are also the record holders for total number of Allsvenskan championships and Svenska Cupen championships, and share the record of most Swedish championships with IFK Göteborg.[6][38]

Colours and crest

The club is often known by the nicknames Di blåe (The Blues) and Himmelsblått (The Sky Blues). This is because of the club colours, sky blue and white. The players wear sky-blue shirts, white shorts, and sky-blue socks. The away colours are red and white striped shirts, black shorts, and red socks. Various alternative kits have been used for European play such as all-white kits introduced in the 1950s, a kit which was re-used for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and all-black kits with sky-blue and golden edges and text used for European play in 2005 as well as in 2013.[39]

Kit evolution

The club colours have not always been sky blue. The predecessor club BK Idrott wore blue and white striped shirts and white shorts, and this kit was still used for the first six months of 1910 after Malmö FF was founded. This was later changed to red and white striped shirts and black shorts to symbolise that Malmö FF were a new club, and a very similar kit has been used in modern times as the away kit for historical reasons. The present sky-blue kit was introduced in 1920.[40] Since 2010 a small Scanian flag is featured on the back of the shirt just below the neck.[41]

Crest evolution

The crest of Malmö FF consists of a shield with two vertical sky-blue fields on the sides, and one vertical white field in the middle. Underneath the shield is "Malmö FF" spelled out in sky-blue letters with a sky-blue star under the text. In the top area of the shield is a white horizontal field over the three vertical fields. The abbreviation of the club name "MFF" is spelled out with sky-blue letters in this field. On top of the shield are five tower-like extensions of the white field. The present shield crest made its debut on the shirt in the 1940s.[42] There were other crests before this but they were never featured on the shirt. While the first crest was black and white, the second crest was red and white in accordance with the club's main colours between 1910 and 1920.[39]

In modern times two golden stars has been added over the shield. This is a feature used only on the crests on player shirts. The stars are used to symbolize that the club have won more than twenty domestic titles. In the original shield logo the full club name and sky-blue star beneath the shield were not featured, they were later added when club chairman Eric Persson discovered while abroad that people had trouble identifying what city the club came from just by looking at the club crest. For the 100th anniversary of the club in 2010, the years 1910 and 2010 were featured on each side of the shield on a sky-blue ribbon behind the shield.[41]

Kit manufacturer and shirt sponsors

The current kit manufacturers are Puma, they also sponsor the club and many of Puma's products are sold in the official Malmö FF souvenir shop at Swedbank Stadion.[43] Puma has supplied kits for the club since at least 1976, and has been the kit manufacturer for the majority of the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Other partners include Tretorn (late 1970s), Admiral (late 1970s), Adidas (early 1980s) and Nike (1998–2001).

The current kit sponsor is Rörläggaren, the company holds the sponsorship rights for the kit until 2015.[44] The first sponsor to appear on Malmö FF's jerseys was local shipyard company Kockums in 1976, and since 1981 at least one sponsor logo has appeared on the club's kits. In the mid-1990s it became commonplace for Swedish clubs to have several shirt sponsors. Malmö FF was no exception, and this was the case until 2010 when the club returned to working with only one partner.

Period Kit manufacturer Main sponsor Secondary sponsor(s)
1976 Puma None Kockums
1977–78 Tretorn None
1979–80 Admiral Sportswear
1981 Adidas ABV (NCC)
1982–85 Skånelaget
1986–88 Puma
1989–92 ICA
1993 1X2 Stryktipset
1994–97 None Several[45]
1998–99 Nike Wihlborgs
2000–01 Nätverket[46]
2002–04 Puma
2005
2006–08
2009 Star for Life Stadium
2010 Sydtotal None
2011 ICA[47] Hilding Anders
2012 None
2013–15 Rörläggaren[48] None

Supporters and rivalries

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Fans at a home game. The red and yellow flags are the Scanian flag

Malmö FF are well known for their large local following.[49] The club has several fan clubs, of which the largest is the official fan club MFF Support. It was founded in 1992. MFF Support describes itself as "a non-profit and non-political organization working against violence and racism".[11] The current chairman of MFF Support is Magnus Ericsson.[50]

There are also several smaller independent supporter groups. The most prominent of these is Supras Malmö, which was founded in 2003 by a coalition of smaller ultras groups and devoted fans.[51] The name "Supras" is derived from the words supporters and ultras – the latter indicating that the group is inspired by a fan culture with roots in the Mediterranean. Supras Malmö is the most visible group in the main supporter stand at Swedbank Stadion, marking its presence with banners, flags and choreography. Another group with similar goals is Rex Scania. MFF Tifosi 96 (MT96) is a network of supporters creating tifos for special occasions and important games.[52] The average attendance for the club's games in the 2015 season was 17,332, the third best attendance in 2015 Allsvenskan after Hammarby and AIK.[53]

Because of geographical proximity, minor rivalries exist with Trelleborgs FF and Landskrona BoIS, which are both also located in Scania.[10] The main rivals of the club are Helsingborgs IF, IFK Göteborg and IFK Malmö. The rivalry between Malmö FF and Helsingborgs IF has existed since Malmö FF were promoted up to Allsvenskan in the 1930s, and is primarily geographic, since both teams are from Scania in southern Sweden. The rivalry with IFK Göteborg relates more to title clashes; the two are the most successful clubs in Swedish football history and the only two to have appeared in European cup finals, IFK Göteborg in the UEFA Cup in 1982 and 1987 and Malmö FF in the European Cup in 1979.[10]

The rivalry with IFK Malmö is both geographical and historical. The two clubs come from the same city and used to play at the same stadium in the early 20th century. The supposed actions of board members of IFK Malmö in 1933, revealing Malmö FF's breaches of amateur football rules to the Swedish Football Association, further contribute to the competitive tensions between the two clubs.[18][19][20] IFK Malmö have not played in Allsvenskan since 1962; thus matches between the two sides are rare.[54]

Stadiums

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Malmö FF's first stadium was Malmö IP, which was shared with arch-rivals IFK Malmö. The team played here from the founding of the club in 1910, until 1958. The stadium still exists today, albeit with lower capacity, and is now used by women's team FC Rosengård, who were previously the women's section of Malmö FF. Capacity in 2012 is 7,600, but attendances were usually much higher when Malmö FF played there. For the last season in 1957, the average attendance was 15,500. The club's record attendance at Malmö IP is 22,436 against Helsingborgs IF on 1 June 1956.[55] The stadium is still considered a key part of the club's history, as it was here that the club were founded, played their first 47 seasons, and won five Swedish championships.[56]

A new stadium was constructed in Malmö after Sweden was awarded the 1958 FIFA World Cup – this saw the birth of Malmö Stadion. Malmö FF played their first season at the stadium in 1958. The first time the club won the Swedish championship at the stadium was in 1965.[55] An upper tier was added to the stadium in 1992.[57] The club enjoyed the most successful era of their history at this stadium, winning ten out of eighteen Swedish championships while based there. The stadium originally had a capacity of 30,000 but this was lowered to 27,500 due to changes in safety regulations. The club's record attendance at the stadium was 29,328 against Helsingborgs IF on 24 September 1967.[58]

Following the 2004 victory in Allsvenskan,[59] plans were made to construct a new stadium. In July 2005, Malmö FF announced that work was to begin on Swedbank Stadion, designed for 18,000 seated spectators and 6,000 standing. The stadium can also accommodate 21,000 as an all-seater for international and European games in which terracing is not allowed. Construction started in 2007 and was finished in 2009. The new stadium is located next to Malmö Stadion. Although there was still small-scale construction going on around the stadium at the time, the stadium was inaugurated on 13 April 2009 with the first home game of the 2009 season against Örgryte IS; Malmö FF's Labinot Harbuzi scored the inaugural goal in the 61st minute.[60] The first Swedish championship won at the stadium occurred in 2010, when the club beat Mjällby AIF on 7 November in the final game of the season 2–0. Attendance at this game set the stadium record of 24,148.[33][61] Swedbank Stadion is a UEFA category 4 rated stadium.[62]

A panorama of Swedbank Stadion from the Northern Stand, showing from left to right the Eastern Stand, the Southern Stand and the Western Stand

Club ranking

UEFA coefficient

Lua error in Module:Details at line 30: attempt to call field '_formatLink' (a nil value). Correct as of 20 September 2015.[63][64] The table shows the position of Malmö FF (highlighted), based on their UEFA coefficient club ranking, and four clubs, which are closest to Malmö FF's position (the two clubs with the higher coefficient and the two with the lower coefficient).

2016 2015 Mvmt. Club 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016 Coeff.
99 115 Green-Up-Arrow.svg +16 Switzerland FC Zürich 5.2000 1.6750 2.4400 6.3800 1.4200 17.115
100 86 RedDownArrow.svg −14 Romania CFR Cluj 0.8666 12.3600 1.3750 2.0250 0.4500 17.076
101 142 Green-Up-Arrow.svg +41 Sweden Malmö FF 2.5800 1.0250 1.6400 6.7800 4.8500 16.875
102 106 Green-Up-Arrow.svg +4 Ukraine Odesa 1.5500 1.9000 9.5666 3.0000 0.6400 16.656
103 102 RedDownArrow.svg −1 Portugal Estoril Praia 2.3666 2.3500 4.9832 5.8166 0.6000 16.116

Euro Club Index

Lua error in Module:Details at line 30: attempt to call field '_formatLink' (a nil value). Correct as of 20 September 2015.[65] The table shows the position of Malmö FF (highlighted), based on their Euro Club Index ranking, and the four clubs which are closest to Malmö FF's position (the two clubs with the higher ranking and the two with the lower ranking).

In the Euro Club Index Malmö FF's highest ranking historically is 107 which was achieved on 3 October 2014, the lowest was 283 which was achieved on 24 August 2009.[65]

Current Rank Club Index
143 Belarus BATE Borisov 2127
144 Cyprus APOEL FC 2127
145 Sweden Malmö FF 2123
146 France SC Bastia 2118
147 England Sunderland 2115

Ownership and finances

Malmö FF made the transition from an amateur club to fully professional in the late 1970s under the leadership of club chairman Eric Persson.[66] The club is an open member association, and the annual general meeting is the highest policy-making body where each member has one vote, therefore no shares are issued. The meeting approves the accounts, votes to elect the chairman and the board, and decides on incoming motions. The current chairman is Håkan Jeppsson who has been chairman since 2010 after taking over after Bengt Madsen. The club's legal status means that any interest claims are made to the club and not to the board of directors or club members. Daily operations are run by a managing director who liaises with the chairman.[67]

With an equity of 226.3 million SEK the club is the richest football club in Sweden as of 2015. The turnover for 2014, excluding player transactions, was 358.8 million SEK.[8] The highest transfer fee received by Malmö FF for a player was 86.2 million SEK (8.7 million at that time) for Zlatan Ibrahimović who was sold to Ajax in 2001. As of 2015, this is the highest transfer fee ever paid to a Swedish football club.[68]

The main sponsors of Malmö FF are Elitfönster AB, Intersport, Imtech, JMS Mediasystem, Mercedes-Benz, SOVA and Svenska Spel.[69] The club also have a naming rights deal with Swedbank regarding the name of Swedbank Stadion.

Media coverage

Malmö FF have been the subject of several films. Some examples are Swedish football documentaries Blådårar 1 and Blådårar 2, which portray the club from both supporter and player perspectives during the 1997 and 2000 seasons. Blådårar 1 is set in 1997, when the club finished third in Allsvenskan. The film focuses on devoted fan Lasse, player Anders Andersson, former chairman Hans Cavalli-Björkman and other individuals.[70][71] Blådårar 2 is set in 2000, the year after the club had been relegated to Superettan, and follows the team as they fight for Malmö FF's return to Allsvenskan.[72][73] The second film continues to follow Lasse, but also has a significant focus on Zlatan Ibrahimović, his progress and how he was eventually sold to AFC Ajax during the 2001 season.[74][75]

The club have also been featured in Mitt Hjärtas Malmö, a series of documentaries covering the history of Malmö. Clips used included match footage from the 1940s (Volume 7), and match footage from the 1979 European Cup Final in Munich from a fan's perspective (Volume 8).[76] Volume 9 of the series is devoted entirely to coverage of the club's 100th anniversary in 2010.[77]

In the 2005 Swedish drama movie Om Sara, actor Alexander Skarsgård plays the fictional football star Kalle Öberg, who plays for Malmö FF.[78][79] Finally, a recurring sketch in the second season of the comedy sketch show Hipphipp! involved a group of Malmö FF fans singing and chanting while performing everyday tasks, such as shopping or operating an ATM.[80]

Players

First-team squad

Malmö FF line up before a 2011–12 UEFA Europa League group stage match against FC Metalist Kharkiv
As of 8 January 2016 [81]

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

No. Position Player
1 Sweden GK Johan Wiland
2 Sweden DF Pa Konate
3 Sweden DF Anton Tinnerholm
5 Sweden MF Erdal Rakip
6 Sweden MF Oscar Lewicki
8 Ghana MF Enoch Kofi Adu
9 Sweden FW Markus Rosenberg (captain)
10 Sweden MF Guillermo Molins
11 Albania FW Agon Mehmeti
13 Peru DF Yoshimar Yotún
14 Sweden MF Erik Andersson
15 Poland MF Paweł Cibicki
17 Sweden DF Rasmus Bengtsson
18 Sweden MF Petar Petrović
19 Norway MF Magnus Wolff Eikrem
No. Position Player
20 Montenegro MF Vladimir Rodić
21 Iceland DF Kári Árnason (vice captain)
22 Sweden MF Tobias Sana
23 Norway MF Jo Inge Berget
25 Uruguay DF Felipe Carvalho
26 Norway DF Andreas Vindheim
27 Sweden GK Zlatan Azinović
29 Sweden GK Fredrik Andersson
30 Sweden GK Marko Johansson
31 Sweden DF Franz Brorsson
32 Sweden MF Mattias Svanberg
33 Sweden FW Teddy Bergqvist
35 Sweden MF Piotr Johansson
Sweden DF Johan Hammar
Ghana FW Benjamin Fadi

Current youth players with first-team experience

As of 8 January 2016[upper-alpha 2]

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

No. Position Player
36 Sweden MF Granit Stagova

Out on loan

As of 8 January 2016[81]

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

No. Position Player
16 Sweden GK Sixten Mohlin (at Kristianstads FF until 8 January 2017)[82]

For season transfers, see transfers winter 2015–16.

Retired numbers

12 – MFF Support[83]

Notable players

A blonde man raises his right hand to the camera with three fingers up; he is dressed in a light-coloured football kit.
Bo Larsson is Malmö FF's all-time leading goalscorer in Allsvenskan with 119 goals in 302 matches.[84]
File:Zlatan Ibrahimović Euro 2012 vs England.JPG
Zlatan Ibrahimović started his professional career at Malmö FF. He made 40 league appearances and scored 18 goals for the club between 1999 and 2001.[84]

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List criteria:

  • player has made more than 500 appearances overall for the club, or
  • player has won Guldbollen,[85] an official UEFA or FIFA award,[86][87] or
  • player has been picked as one of the 11 best players in the official hall of fame Sydsvenskan team that was selected by the newspapers readers for the club's 100th anniversary in 2010.[88]
Name Nationality Malmö FF
career
Total
appearances
Total
goals
Guldbollen UEFA/FIFA Award Sydsvenskan team
Erik Nilsson Sweden 1934–1953 600 4 1950
Helge Bengtsson Sweden 1934–1951 501 3
Prawitz Öberg Sweden 1952–1965 515 103 1962
Ingvar Svahn Sweden 1957–1968
1970
414 161 1967
Bo Larsson Sweden 1962–1966
1969–1979
546 289 1965
1973
Yes
Krister Kristensson Sweden 1963–1979 626 16 Yes
Roy Andersson Sweden 1968–1983 624 49 1977 Yes
Roland Andersson Sweden 1968–1974
1977–1983
564 13
Jan Möller Sweden 1971–1980
1984–1988
591 1 1979 Yes
Ingemar Erlandsson Sweden 1976–1987 473 46 Yes
Magnus Andersson Sweden 1975–1988 568 28
Robert Prytz Sweden 1977–1982
1993–1995
262 57 1986 Yes
Torbjörn Persson Sweden 1980–1995 574 39
Jonnie Fedel Sweden 1984–2001 588 1
Jonas Thern Sweden 1985–1987
1988–1989
160 30 1989 Yes
Martin Dahlin Sweden 1987–1991 176 83 1993 Yes
Stefan Schwarz Sweden 1987–1991 103 7 1999 Yes
Patrik Andersson Sweden 1989–1992
2004–2005
184 24 1995
2001
UEFA Team of the Year
2001
Yes
Zlatan Ibrahimović Sweden 1999–2001 69 16 2005
2007–2015
UEFA Team of the Year
2007
2009
2013
2014
FIFPro World XI
2013
FIFA Puskás Award
2013
Yes
Jari Litmanen Finland 2005–2007 18 6 UEFA Jubilee Awards

Management

Organisation

As of 11 April 2014[89][90]

Name Role
Sweden Håkan Jeppsson Chairman
Sweden Niclas Carlnén Managing director
Sweden Pontus Hansson Secretary
Sweden Daniel Andersson Director of sports

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Technical staff

As of 8 January 2016[81]

Name Role
Denmark Allan Kuhn Head coach
Sweden Olof Persson Assistant coach
England Ben Rosen Fitness coach
Sweden Jonnie Fedel Goalkeeping coach
Sweden Wilner Registre Physiotherapist
Sweden Pär Herbertsson Club doctor
Sweden Greger Andrijevski Club masseur
Sweden Sverker Fryklund Mental coach
Sweden Swidde Nilsson Equipment manager
Sweden Yksel Osmanovski U21 coach
Sweden Mats Engqvist Head coach youth academy
Sweden Staffan Tapper Youth talent coach
Sweden Vito Stavljanin Head scout

Notable managers

File:Roy Hodgson Euro 2012 vs Italy (cropped).jpg
Roy Hodgson won five consecutive Allsvenskan titles and two Svenska Cupen titles during his five years at the club. He is pictured in 2012 as head coach of England.

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This is a list of managers who have won one or more titles at the club[91]

Name Years Allsvenskan Svenska Cupen
Sweden Sven Nilsson 1944
1945–1946
1950
1943–44
1949–50
1944
1946
Hungary Kálmán Konrád 1947–1949 1948–49 1947
Wales Bert Turner 1951–1954 1950–51
1952–53
1951
1953
Spain Antonio Durán 1964–1971 1965
1967
1970
1971
1967
Sweden Karl-Erik Hult 1972–1973 1972–73
England Bob Houghton 1974–1980
1990–1992
1974
1975
1977
1973–74
1974–75
1977–78
1979–80
Sweden Tord Grip 1983–1984 1983–84
England Roy Hodgson 1985–1989 1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1985–86
1988–89
Sweden Tom Prahl 2002–2005 2004
Sweden Roland Nilsson 2008–2011 2010
Sweden Rikard Norling 2011–2013 2013
Norway Åge Hareide 2014–2015 2014

Statistics

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Malmö FF have played 80 seasons in Allsvenskan. The only clubs to have played more seasons are AIK with 87 and IFK Göteborg with 83. The club are also the leaders of the all-time Allsvenskan table since the end of the 2012 season. They are the only Swedish club to have played a European Cup final, present day UEFA Champions League, having reached the 1979 European Cup Final.[2][5]

Club honours

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Malmö FF have won domestic, European, and international honours. The club currently holds the records for most Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen titles, they also share the record of most Swedish championships with IFK Göteborg.[upper-alpha 1] The majority of Malmö FF's honours are from the 1970s. The club's last major honour was in 2014 when they won Allsvenskan.[2][5] The club first played in Europe for the 1964–65 European season in the European Cup, and most recently in the 2015–16 European season in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Including the qualification stages, they have participated in the European Cup and UEFA Champions League fifteen times and in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League fourteen times. The club have also played in other now defunct European competitions such as the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Intertoto Cup.[92][93]

Domestic

The Malmö FF team of 1948–49
  • Swedish Champions[2][upper-alpha 1]
    • Winners (18): 1943–44, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1986, 1988, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2014
League
Cups
Doubles

European

Worldwide

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 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.[6]
  2. Current youth players who at least have sat on the bench in a competitive match.

References

General
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Specific
  1. 1.0 1.1 Törner, 2005, pp. 42.
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  8. 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Törner, 2005, pp. 52–54.
  11. 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. Smitt, 2009, pp. 14–16.
  13. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. Smitt, 2009, p. 17.
  15. Smitt, 2009, pp. 16–17.
  16. Smitt, 2009, p. 258.
  17. Smitt, 2009, pp. 20–21.
  18. 18.0 18.1 Smitt, 2009, pp. 25–26.
  19. 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. Smitt, 2009, pp. 165.
  22. Smitt, 2009, pp. 27–35.
  23. Smitt, 2009, pp. 40–48.
  24. Smitt, 2009, pp. 49–58.
  25. Smitt, 2009, pp. 58–67.
  26. Smitt, 2009, pp. 76–80.
  27. Smitt, 2009, pp. 84–90.
  28. Smitt, 2009, pp. 89–90.
  29. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. Smitt, 2009, pp. 94–95.
  31. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  37. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. 39.0 39.1 Törner, 2005, p. 40.
  40. Smitt, 2009, pp. 16, 20.
  41. 41.0 41.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. Smitt, 2009, p. 20.
  43. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. Between 1998 and 2008, there were several (more than 10 during some seasons) sponsor logos on the kits, covering both the jerseys and the shorts.
  46. Nätverket is an umbrella organisation of different levels of sponsors and partners to Malmö FF. Pågens was the sole shirt sponsor during the 2005 UEFA campaign.
  47. ICA was the shirt sponsor during the second half of the season, both in Allsvenskan and the UEFA Champions League qualification and the UEFA Europa League group stage campaign.
  48. The deal with Rörläggaren expires at the end of the 2015 season.
  49. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  52. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. Törner, 2005, pp. 58–59.
  55. 55.0 55.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. Smitt, 2009, pp. 12–13.
  57. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. Smitt, 2009, p. 50.
  59. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. Smitt, 2009, p. 95.
  62. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  64. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  65. 65.0 65.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  66. Smitt, 2009, p. 168.
  67. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  68. Smitt, 2009, p. 197.
  69. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  70. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  81. 81.0 81.1 81.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  89. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  90. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  91. Smitt, 2009, p. 312.
  92. Smitt, 2009; pp. 282–308.
  93. Smitt, 2009; pp. 192–308.
  94. Smitt, 2009, pp. 258–259.
  95. Smitt, 2009, pp. 262–265.
  96. Smitt, 2009, p. 304.
  97. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Awards
Preceded by Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal
1979
Succeeded by
Thomas Wassberg