Assyriska FF

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Assyriska FF
logo
Full name Assyriska Fotbollsföreningen
Nickname(s) AFF
Founded 1974; 50 years ago (1974)
Ground Södertälje Fotbollsarena, Södertälje
Ground Capacity 6,700
Chairman Aziz Jacob
Head coach Tor-Arne Fredheim
League Superettan
2015 Superettan, 4th

Assyriska Fotbollsföreningen, also known simply as Assyriska FF, is a Swedish football club based in Södertälje, Stockholm County. The club, formed in 1974 by Assyrian immigrants, has advanced through the league system and is currently playing in the second highest Swedish league, Superettan. They played in the highest Swedish football league Allsvenskan in 2005 where their games were broadcast in over 80 countries.[1] The club has also played a final in Svenska Cupen, which was lost against IF Elfsborg in 2003.

Assyriska is often viewed as a substitute national team by the Assyrian people.[1][2]

The club has a fan base from all over the world[2][3] and has also their own pop song which is called "My Assyrian team – the team of my dream". A documentary film about Assyriska called "Assyriska: A National Team Without A Nation" was also made in 2006 by Nuri Kino and Erik Sandberg. The success of the documentary film made it possible to win the Golden Palm Award at the Beverly Hills Film Festival.

History

File:Assyriska FF League Performance.png
A chart showing the progress of Assyriska through the swedish football league system. The different shades of gray represent league divisions.

Assyriska Föreningen in Södertälje was founded in 1971 by ethnic Assyrian refugees from Turkey who belonged to the Syriac Orthodox Church and Assyrian Church of the East. Three years later, a football team was started and played its first season in the lowest league in 1975. They advanced through the divisions and reached the second highest league, Division 1 (today replaced by Superettan), in 1992, as the first immigrant team ever. The team was however relegated in 1993, and the next few years, the club played every second year in Division 1 before managing to stay there for more than one season in 1997.

In 2003 Assyriska made it to the final in Svenska Cupen, where they lost with 0–2 against IF Elfsborg. On the way to the final, they won against IFK Göteborg with 4–1 and Djurgårdens IF with 0–4.[4]

They lost a promotion play-off against Örebro SK in 1999, but five years later, in 2004, Assyriska was promoted to Allsvenskan, the highest league, for the first time as Örebro SK was relegated due to economical problems.[5] Assyriska's debut in Allsvenskan went well in the beginning and they had a couple of notable wins against big clubs as IFK Göteborg with 0–3 and against IF Elfsborg with 1–3. However Assyriska were relegated after only one season in the Allsvenskan, where they finished last. Since then Assyriska had fallen into Division 1 North, but enjoyed a strong season in 2007 to finish champions and were promoted back into the Superettan.

At the close of the 2009 season Assyriska, having held off the challenge of rivals Syrianska FC to finish third in the Superettan table,[6] faced Djurgårdens IF in a play-off for a place in the Allsvenskan in 2010. Assyriska won the first match at home 2–0 but were overcome 3–0 after extra time in the repeat.[7][8] In season 2010, Assyriska finished 4th in the Superettan.[9] But 2010 was a season in which football became irrelevant for Assyriska after the murder of player Eddie Moussa.[10]

Since then, the team has made a series of mid-table finishes and remains in the Superettan for the 2013 season.[11][12]

  • 26 May 2012; Assyriska FF has appointed two ambassadors in USA in order to establish "Assyriska FF USA" in the US: Rev. Ashur D. Elkhoury and Mr Albert Davidoo are the ambassadors. The project is running: upcoming information will be updated.[13]

Stadium

Assyriska Föreningen's primary stadium since 2006 is Södertälje Fotbollsarena. Until 2006, the team played at the old stadium Bårsta IP.

Supporters

Assyriska Föreningen's official fan club is called Zelge Fans. They were first started 1993 by a group of Assyriska supporters in Södertälje. They were known as Neshre, which means eagle (or eagles) in Syriac. Three months after they launched, the club changed its name to Zelge Fans, Zelge meaning "sun rays" in Syriac. The sun rays are a symbol of the Assyrian flag, which is where the idea to name the fan club Zelge Fans came from. Most of the members are Assyrians, but the Zelge fan club also has many Swedish members.

Assyriska's fans are also growing in numbers as a result of the internet. During its early years, Assyriska did not have the mass means of communication to be able to spread their team information consistently to other mass Assyrian areas (Chicago, New Jersey, California, Toronto, Sydney, etc.). With the tech age, Assyriska has been able to spread its fan base outside of Södertälje and become known in over 80 countries. Acting as their national team, Assyriska represents the entire population of Assyrians throughout the world.[2][3]

Assyriska has become a true symbol for Assyrians traveling to Sweden. Many make it their goal to watch an Assyriska match at least once when they travel to Sweden.

Players

First-team squad

As of 31 December 2015[14]

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 Robin Malmkvist
2 Sweden DF Filip Korkes
3 Sweden DF Christoffer Eriksson
4 Sweden FW Andreas Haddad
5 Sweden DF David Durmaz
6 Sweden DF Linus Malmborg (captain)
8 Sweden MF Jens Jacobsson
10 Sweden MF Christopher Brandeborn
12 Sweden MF Fredrik Holster
14 Sweden MF Rani Besara
15 Sweden MF George Makdessi
No. Position Player
17 Sweden MF Yousef Yousef
19 Argentina FW Gustavo Blanco Leschuk
20 Sweden MF Rani Haddad
21 Sweden GK Adrian Engdahl
22 Sweden DF Nemrut Awrohum
24 The Gambia MF Aziz Corr Nyang
87 Sweden MF Christer Youssef (vice captain)
91 Sweden FW Mattias Genc
— Sweden MF Adai Khoury
— England MF Kenny Pavey

Current youth players with first-team experience

As of 28 February 2015[upper-alpha 1]

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

No. Position Player
— Sweden DF Paul Youssef

Out on loan

As of 2 April 2015

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

No. Position Player

For season transfers, see transfers winter 2014–15.

Retired numbers

18 – Eddie Moussa, forward (2001–2010)

Staff

Management

  • Team Chef: Melek Bisso

Sports

Medical

  • Masseur: Fredrik Furman
  • Kitman: Naman Asmar

Achievements

League

Cups

Notable coaches

Season to season

Season Level Division Section Position Movements
1993 Tier 2 Division 1 Norra 14th Relegated
1994 Tier 3 Division 2 Västra Svealand 1st Promoted
1995 Tier 2 Division 1 Norra 12th Relegated
1996 Tier 3 Division 2 Västra Svealand 1st Promoted
1997 Tier 2 Division 1 Norra 9th
1998 Tier 2 Division 1 Norra 5th
1999 Tier 2 Division 1 Norra 2nd
2000 Tier 2 Superettan 11th
2001 Tier 2 Superettan 13th
2002 Tier 2 Superettan 5th
2003 Tier 2 Superettan 10th
2004 Tier 2 Superettan 3rd Promoted
2005 Tier 1 Allsvenskan 14th Relegated
2006* Tier 2 Superettan 13th Relegated
2007 Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 1st Promoted
2008 Tier 2 Superettan 4th
2009 Tier 2 Superettan 3rd Promotion Playoffs
2010 Tier 2 Superettan 4th
2011 Tier 2 Superettan 9th
2012 Tier 2 Superettan 8th
2013 Tier 2 Superettan 8th
2014 Tier 2 Superettan 14th Relegation Playoffs
2015 Tier 2 Superettan 4th

* League restructuring in 2006 resulted in a new division being created at Tier 3 and subsequent divisions dropping a level.[16]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Current youth players who at least have sat on the bench in a competitive match.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ http://us.soccerway.com/national/sweden/superettan/2011/regular-season/r13444
  12. ↑ http://us.soccerway.com/national/sweden/superettan/2012/regular-season/r16836/
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Tor-Arne Fredheim at Soccerway
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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