IK Sirius Fotboll

This article is about IK Sirius' football section. For other sections of the club, see IK Sirius.

IK Sirius

Full name	Idrottsklubben Sirius
Nickname(s)	Blåsvart (blue-black)
Founded	1907 (1907)
Ground	Studenternas IP, Uppsala
Capacity	10,000 (2020)
Chairman	Ulrika Moström Ågren
Head coach	Christer Mattiasson
League	Allsvenskan
2024	Allsvenskan, 9th of 16
Website	www.siriusfotboll.se
Home colours Away colours Third colours

IK Sirius, more commonly known simply as Sirius, is a Swedish professional football club located in Uppsala. The club is affiliated to the Upplands Fotbollförbund.

History

A chart showing the progress of IK Sirius through the Swedish football league system. The different shades of grey represent league divisions.

Early success

The sports club that became IK Sirius was founded on 9 August 1907, and got its current name on 5 April 1908 after having been discussing Svartbäckens IK and IK Spurt. At the time, several sports club existed in the city of Uppsala: IFK Uppsala, IF Thor, IF Heimdal, and Upsala IF. The sports club was founded for athletics, and took up football in 1908.

The first success came in 1924 when they reached the Svenska Mästerskapet final (not to be confused with Svenska Serien, which never acquired an official status of deciding the Swedish Champions). In the final, they were trounced 5–0 by Fässbergs IF.

The Allsvenskan years

This Year they are going to win the league].

Obscurity and comeback

After the club's relegation from Allsvenskan in 1974, the club played in the second division until they plummeted to fourth division level following a couple of hard years in the beginning of the 1980s. The 1990s were mostly spent at a second tier level, i.e. the old Division 1, corresponding to the modern Superettan. The club then played the first five years of the 21st century in Division 2, before returning to Division 1 in 2006 (although still playing at a third tier level).

With new manager Magnus Pehrsson and prodigal son and goal-getter Olle Kullinger (starting his career with IF VP and later also having played with Enköpings SK, Halmstads BK and IF Brommapojkarna in Superettan and Allsvenskan) bearing the captaincy, the club finished the season in second place, which meant they had to qualify to gain promotion to Superettan. IK Sirius played the first leg at home against Väsby United on 25 October. Due to some seriously poor defending, Väsby were able to go 1–0 up just before the half-time break. Sirius recovered slightly in the second period, and were able to equalise in the 83rd minute. In the second leg, in front of about 1000 travelling fans, Sirius were completely dominant but also rather wasteful with their chances. They managed, however to break the deadlock in the 73rd minute, Olle Kullinger managing to knock a rebound past the Väsby keeper. With the aggregate score of 2–1, Sirius celebrated their 100th anniversary in the Superettan, which their fans thought was reprehensible and awful.

The first spell in Superettan

Magnus Pehrsson resigned as manager and Pär Millqvist was appointed and brought in Gary Sundgren as his assistant manager. After a strong first half of the season the club finished 7th in Superettan 2007. The team struggled through most of the 2008-season but finally finished 12th and avoided relegation. Millqvist and Sundgren was sacked after the first six games and youth-team coaches Johan Mattsson and Andreas Brännström led the team for the rest of the season.

In preparation for the 2009 season they appointed Jens T Andersson from Väsby and AIK as new manager. Like the season before they struggled in the bottom of the league and with just five games left to play of the season Jens T Andersson resigned as manager due to the lack of good results. Assistant coach Andreas Brännström was once again hired as new head manager but this time he could not save the team from degradation.

In 2010 IK Sirius played in the third tier Division 1 Norra and finished 2nd in the table 5 points behind rivals Västerås SK and as a result they went through to the Superettan play-offs, where they went head-to-head with Jönköpings Södra. After a 0–1 defeat at home they lost the away game with 3–0 and faced another season in Division 1 Norra.

2011 the team was voted by all the managers of the league as favourites to win but failed to live up to the expectations. They finished 3rd in Division 1 Norra, just 2 points from finishing first and goal-difference kept them from the second spot which leads to Superettan play-offs. As a result, coach Andreas Brännström and his assistant Antonio Andric was forced to leave the club after the season.

The Kim Bergstrand era

On 17 November 2012 the club announced that the ex-Brommapojkarna manager Kim Bergstrand had been appointed as the new head coach. Soon thereafter Thomas Lagerlöf (ex-Väsby) was appointed as assistant manager.

In 2012 the team were once again the favourites to win the Division 1 Norra, and led the league by five points with three games left. A 0–1 home defeat to Vasalund and a 1–0 away win at Enköping set the team up for an all-decisive match against second-placed Östersunds FK. Sirius needed a draw to win the league, but lost at home 0–1 and ended up third, also behind BK Forward.

The 2013 season began with an unexpected success in the Swedish Cup, as Sirius defeated reigning Swedish champions IF Elfsborg to win their group and advance to the quarterfinals, where they were knocked out away to Öster, 1–2. The team had been bolstered by the signing of several experienced players, including former Djurgården, Molde and Sweden midfielder Johan Arneng. This time all the pieces fell into place as the team won the Division 1 Norra handily, securing promotion to Superettan with five games still in hand, and ending the season undefeated.

The 2014 season again began with Cup success, as Allsvenskan teams Djurgården and Halmstad were dispatched in the group stages, setting up a quarterfinal with IFK Göteborg. At Ullevi, Moses Ogbu's 29th-minute header gave Sirius the win. In front of a sold-out Studenternas, Sirius faced Elfsborg in the semi-final. This time, Elfsborg got their revenge for last year's defeat, winning 4–1.

The 2014 Superettan season began well for Sirius, with a 5–1 win away to former Allsvenskan outfit Syrianska. Two somewhat surprising home defeats to Huskvarna and Varberg followed, and the team settled into a habit of playing well away but struggling at home. In the end, however, Sirius enjoyed a successful return to Superettan, finishing in sixth place, after a season that included wins against both the two directly promoted teams, Hammarby and GIF Sundsvall.

Promotion to Allsvenskan

On 24 October 2016, Sirius defeated Halmstads BK 1–0 to gain promotion to the Allsvenskan for the first time in 42 years (since the 1973–74 season).

Season-to-season

Season	Level	League	Pos
1993	Tier 2	Division 1 Norra	11th
1994	Tier 2	Division 1 Norra	9th
1995	Tier 2	Division 1 Norra	11th
1996	Tier 2	Division 1 Norra	12th (R)
1997	Tier 3	Division 2 Östra Svealand	1st (P)
1998	Tier 2	Division 1 Norra	7th
1999	Tier 2	Division 1 Norra	13th (R)
2000	Tier 3	Division 2 Östra Svealand	3rd
2001	Tier 3	Division 2 Östra Svealand	2nd
2002	Tier 3	Division 2 Östra Svealand	7th
2003	Tier 3	Division 2 Norrland	6th
2004	Tier 3	Division 2 Östra Svealand	10th (R)
2005	Tier 3	Division 2 Norra Svealand	2nd (P)
2006	Tier 3	Division 1 Norra	2nd (P)
2007	Tier 2	Superettan	7th
2008	Tier 2	Superettan	12th
2009	Tier 2	Superettan	15th (R)
2010	Tier 3	Division 1 Norra	2nd
2011	Tier 3	Division 1 Norra	3rd
2012	Tier 3	Division 1 Norra	3rd
2013	Tier 3	Division 1 Norra	1st (P)
2014	Tier 2	Superettan	6th
2015	Tier 2	Superettan	3rd
2016	Tier 2	Superettan	1st (P)
2017	Tier 1	Allsvenskan	7th
2018	Tier 1	Allsvenskan	13th
2019	Tier 1	Allsvenskan	11th
2020	Tier 1	Allsvenskan	10th
2021	Tier 1	Allsvenskan	11th
2022	Tier 1	Allsvenskan	11th
2023	Tier 1	Allsvenskan	8th
2024	Tier 1	Allsvenskan	9th

Players

Current squad

As of 2 September 2024

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
2	DF	SWE	Patrick Nwadike
4	DF	SWE	Henrik Castegren
5	DF	SWE	Tobias Carlsson
7	FW	SWE	Joakim Persson
8	MF	DEN	Andreas Pyndt
9	FW	DEN	Yousef Salech
10	MF	SWE	Melker Heier
11	MF	SWE	Filip Olsson
13	DF	SWE	Jakob Voelkerling Persson
14	MF	FIN	Leo Walta
15	DF	SWE	Andreas Murbeck
16	FW	SWE	Herman Sjögrell

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	MF	DEN	Marcus Lindberg
18	MF	SWE	Adam Wikman
19	FW	SWE	Noel Milleskog
20	DF	SWE	Victor Ekström
21	DF	SWE	Dennis Widgren
26	MF	SWE	Hugo Mella
27	MF	SWE	Emil Özkan
30	GK	SWE	Jakob Tånnander
31	DF	SWE	Malcolm Jeng
33	DF	GEO	Saba Mamatsashvili
34	GK	SWE	David Celic
36	MF	SWE	August Ljungberg

Out on loan

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	SWE	Hannes Sveijer (at AFC Eskilstuna until 30 November 2024)
—	DF	CPV	Kristopher Da Graca (at KuPS until 31 December 2024)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	GER	Michael Martin (at Emmen until 30 June 2025)
—	DF	ISL	Óli Ómarsson (at Stjarnan until 31 December 2024)

Notable players

The following players are either listed on the official IK Sirius website or have represented their national team.

Sigge Parling on the right side of Brazilian footballer Pelé during the 1958 FIFA World Cup Final.

• Hans Mild
• Hans Selander
• Hasse Nilsson
• Henrik Östlin
• Klebér Saarenpää
• Leif Eriksson
• Morgan Hedlund
• Ola Andersson
• Roland Grip
• Freddie Hill
• Sigge Parling
• Kjell Johansson
• Per Hansson
• Darren Foreman
• Golli Hashempour
• Jano Alicata
• Vadym Yevtushenko

Management

Technical staff

As of 11 November 2023

Name	Role
Christer Mattiasson	Head coach
Petter Hansson	Assistant coaches
Henrik Åhnstrand
Jonathan Ederström	Sporting director
John Swärd	Head of scouting
Olle Ekman	Fitness coach
Karim Fegrouch	Goalkeeping coach

Managerial history

• Sid Huntley (1972)
• Alan Ball Sr. (1974–1976)
• Kjell Jonevret (1998–1999)
• Magnus Pehrsson (2006)
• Pär Millqvist (2007–2008)
• Andreas Brännström (2009–2011)
• Kim Bergstrand & Thomas Lagerlöf (2012–2018)
• Henrik Rydström & Mirza Jelečak (2019)
• Henrik Rydström (2020)
• Daniel Bäckström (2021–2022)
• Christer Mattiasson (2023–)

Attendances

In recent seasons IK Sirius FK have had the following average attendances:

IK Sirius home stadium Studenternas IP.

Season Average Attendance Division / Section Level 2005 626 Div 2 Norra Svealand Tier 3 2006 964 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2007 3,332 Superettan Tier 2 2008 1,851 Superettan Tier 2 2009 1,498 Superettan Tier 2 2010 1,166 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2011 1,164 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2012 1,721 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2013 1,773 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2014 1,779 Superettan Tier 2 2015 1,786 Superettan Tier 2 2016 2,916 Superettan Tier 2 2017 5,174 Allsvenskan Tier 1 2018 3,998 Allsvenskan Tier 1 2019 4,288 Allsvenskan Tier 1 2020 No attendance (COVID-19) Allsvenskan Tier 1 2021 4,580 Allsvenskan Tier 1 2022 5,614 Allsvenskan Tier 1 2023 6,329 Allsvenskan Tier 1 2024 7,033 Allsvenskan Tier 1 * Attendances are provided in the Publikliga sections of the Svenska Fotbollförbundet website.

Honours

Cup

• Svenska Mästerskapet:
  • Runners-up (1): 1924

League

• Superettan:
  • Winners (1): 2016
• Division 1 Norra:
  • Winners (1): 2013
  • Runners-up (2): 2006, 2010
• Division 2 Östra Svealand:
  • Winners (1): 1997

External links

• IK Sirius – official site (archived 17 April 2017)
• Västra Sidan – supporter site