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IFK Mariehamn is a Finnish football club, based in Mariehamn, capital of the Åland Islands. It currently plays in the Finnish Premier Division (Veikkausliiga). The club's manager is Pekka Lyyski, and it plays its home matches at Wiklöf Holding Arena.
[edit] History
While IFK Mariehamn was formed in 1919, the sports club did not have a football section 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 then 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 league of Finnish football, the Veikkausliiga, for the 2005 season. In its first season in the Veikkausliiga, IFK Mariehamn finished 12th out 14 teams. In 2006, the club finished in 5th place.
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 2006 won its 9th and 13th straight title in these two events, respectively.
IFK is semi-professional if not fully-amateur club. Many of the players have full time jobs. Nevertheless IFK has succeeded quite well in Veikkausliiga, where most players are full time professionals.
[edit] Division 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 - : Veikkausliiga (Premier division)
[edit] Current Squad
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
| 1 |
 |
GK |
Willis Ochieng |
| 2 |
 |
DF |
Andreas Friman |
| 3 |
 |
DF |
Patrik Rikama |
| 4 |
|
MF |
Johan Carlsson |
| 5 |
|
DF |
Peter Blomberg |
| 6 |
|
MF |
Daniel Norrmén |
| 7 |
 |
MF |
Samuel Barlay |
| 8 |
|
DF |
Jani Lyyski |
| 9 |
|
FW |
David Carlsson |
| 11 |
|
MF |
Mika Niskala |
| 12 |
|
GK |
Anders Överström |
| 13 |
|
GK |
Simon Enqvist |
|
|
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
| 14 |
|
MF |
Mathias Wiklöf |
| 15 |
|
MF |
Amos Ekhalie |
| 16 |
 |
DF |
Travis Binnion |
| 17 |
|
DF |
Andre Hansell |
| 18 |
|
MF |
Tommy Wirtanen |
| 19 |
|
DF |
Fredrik Appel |
| 20 |
|
MF |
Andreas Björk |
| 21 |
 |
MF |
Jordan Eagers |
| 22 |
|
FW |
Peter Sjölund |
| 23 |
|
DF |
Paulus Arajuuri |
| 24 |
|
FW |
Andre Karring |
| 25 |
|
MF |
Petter Isaksson |
|
[edit] Notable players
[edit] External links
