IFK Mariehamn

For the ice hockey club, see IFK Mariehamn (ice hockey).
Mariehamn
Full nameIdrottsföreningen Kamraterna
Mariehamn
NicknamesGrönvitt (Green White)
Saarelaiset (The Islanders).
Founded1919 (1919)
GroundWiklöf Holding Arena,
Mariehamn.
Capacity1,650
ChairmanDan Mikkola
ManagerGary Williams
LeagueVeikkausliiga
2025Veikkausliiga, 8th of 12
Websitewww.ifkfotboll.ax

IFK Mariehamn is a Finnish professional 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 plays its home matches at Wiklöf Holding Arena.

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]

The title in 2016 was seen as something "impossible" and well beyond what the club ever could have dreamt of, as their economic resources were well below the bigger clubs on the mainland, and the fact that Åland has 30,000 inhabitants as well as the fact that the squad uses the ferries to travel to away games.

Stadium

IFK Mariehamn plays its home matches at the Wiklöf Holding Arena.

Domestic history

  • 1945–1971: Kolmonen and Nelonen (two seasons)
  • 1972: Kakkonen
  • 1973–1975: Kolmonen
  • 1976: Kakkonen
  • 1977–1978: Ykkönen
  • 1979–1990: Kakkonen
  • 1991–1992: Kolmonen
  • 1993–2003: Kakkonen
  • 2004: Ykkönen
  • 2005–present: Veikkausliiga (Premier League)

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 31 August 2025[6]

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
1 GK  SWE Kevin Lund
2 MF  FIN Noah Nurmi
4 DF  SWE Pontus Lindgren
6 MF  FIN Niilo Kujasalo
7 MF  NGA Cody David
8 MF  FIN Sebastian Dahlström
9 FW  AXL Wille Nuñez
10 FW  CPV Hugo Cardoso
11 FW  ENG Jayden Reid
14 MF  AXL Michael Fonsell
16 MF  FIN Anttoni Huttunen
17 DF  SWE Emir El-Khatemi (on loan from Brommapojkarna)
18 FW  CIV Muhamed Olawale
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF  FIN Emmanuel Patut
21 FW  AXL Arvid Lundberg
22 DF  FIN Matias Kivikko Arraño (on loan from Ilves)
23 MF  NED Jelle van der Heyden
26 MF  AXL Milton Jansson
28 DF  FIN Jiri Nissinen
29 DF  FIN Patrik Raitanen
30 MF  NGA Emmanuel Okereke
32 GK  FIN Matias Riikonen
33 DF  FIN Daniel Enqvist
35 DF  FIN Eemil Toivonen (on loan from HJK Helsinki)
43 MF  AXL Leo Andersson

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
5 DF  BEL Ardy Mfundu (at KPV until 31 December 2025)

Youth players

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
— DF  AXL Jimmi Bruhn
— MF  AXL Elia Hagström
— MF  AXL Ola Melander
— FW  AXL Rasmus Holmberg
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF  USA Max Peterson
— MF  AXL Hampus Dahlgren
— GK  AXL Gabriel Tallblom
— MF  AXL Otto Pajunen

Former players

All following players who have represented IFK Mariehamn have been capped at least once by their respective national team's first squad.

Fans' Player of the Year

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 20 January 2021[8]

Name Role
Gary Williams Head coach
Daniel Sjölund Assistant coach
Johan Sundman Goalkeeping coach
Philip Garvö Fitness Coach
Anton Koli Fitness Coach
Malin Ringbom Doctor
Daniel Norrmén Reserve coach

Managerial history

Boardroom

As of 11 April 2017[9][10]

Name Role
Dan Mikkola Chairman
Jimmy Wargh CEO & Club director

Honours

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Ann-Lis Fredriksson (16 October 2004). "IFK Mariehamn avancerar till ligan". Svenska Yle. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  3. ^ "IFK vann årets ligaguld". ifkfotboll.ax (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. 24 October 2016. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Legia Warsaw 6-0 IFK Mariehamn (Jul 19, 2017) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  5. ^ "Football Archive - Index of SPL Finnish League Suomen Cup Seasons". www.finlandfootball.net.
  6. ^ Truppen
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "Truppen" (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  9. ^ "IFK Mariehamn Ab" (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  10. ^ "Kontakt" (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
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