Allmänna Idrottsklubben
Encyclopedia
Allmänna Idrottsklubben (usually referred to as just AIK or Gnaget), currently located in Solna
, north of Stockholm
, is one of the largest and one of the oldest sports club
s in Scandinavia
. AIK was founded in 1891 in central Stockholm, at the downtown address of Biblioteksgatan 8. The club's achievements include Swedish championship titles in a slew of sports: football
, ice hockey
, bandy
, handball
, floorball
, bowling
, badminton
, athletics
and many other sports as well as Wimbledon championships and French Open in tennis
(through Sven Davidson
, Lennart Bergelin
and Ulf Schmidt
).
and Paul Behrens were taking a walk through Hantverkargatan, in central Stockholm
. They were walking pretty fast; and noticed that there were two other youngsters behind them who also walked quickly. The strangers tried to walk pass the Behrens’, so they had to speed up to keep the lead; but the strangers did the same. Finally all of them started to run in what now looked like an improvised competition. When Isidor and Paul were far away from the unknown youngsters, Isidor said that they should start an athletic association and compete with others.
So the brothers gathered their friends, who were strongly athletic interested, and held a meeting at Behrens' on February 15, 1891 on Biblioteksgatan 8, in central Stockholm
. Isidor introduced his idea to everyone, and they liked it. Since the boys agreed that every thinkable sport should be practiced, they decided that “Allmänna Idrottsklubben” (The General Sports Club) would be a suitable name. The name also had other meanings: AIK allowed anybody to become member; and at this time many athletic clubs were limited for e.g. the military.
sports club to promote an Internet website. And as the first sports club among the Nordic countries
AIK in 2004 began broadcasting radio
with daily cast.
and 1990s
AIK's official supporter group Black Army
raged havoc around the country, making headlines in national newspapers. As a result of Black Army's bad behaviour another supporter group was created in 2000, Allmänna Supporterklubben (the General Supporters Club), as an option to Black Army. In 2002 Allmänna Supporterklubben was renamed to the much more AIK related name "Smokinglirarna" (roughly, "The Players", literally "the Black Tie Players"). In 2002 an ultras
group was formed, Ultras Nord (Ultras North), and two years later, 2004, Sol Invictus was formed. Black Army, Smokinglirarna, Ultras Nord and Sol Invictus together with AIK-Tifo forms the so called AIK-Alliansen (the AIK Alliance).
Crown princess Victoria's
spouse Daniel Westling
and princess Madeleine's
former boyfriend Jonas Bergström both are ardent AIK fans. From time to time the royal family
visits the clubs home matches. His Swedish Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf
is an honorary member of the club (in line with family tradition). An interview with the regional daily newspaper Kalmarposten allegedly denies the king Carl XVI Gustaf
actually being an AIK supporter, and implies that the rivals Djurgårdens IF
is his favourite team instead.
Among Swedish politicians the former party chairman of the Swedish Social Democratic Party
Mona Sahlin
is an AIK supporter as well as former Minister for Justice
Thomas Bodström
.
The Wallenberg family
are also closely attached with AIK as a club, being one of the major share holders.
The chant used by AIK is Å vi é AIK ("And we are AIK" pronounced with a Stockholm dialect).
Solna Municipality
Solna Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, located just north of the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the 'city' of Solna....
, north of Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, is one of the largest and one of the oldest sports club
Sports club
A sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports association is a club for the purpose of playing one or more sports...
s in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
. AIK was founded in 1891 in central Stockholm, at the downtown address of Biblioteksgatan 8. The club's achievements include Swedish championship titles in a slew of sports: football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, bandy
Bandy
Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.The rules of the game have many similarities to those of association football: the game is played on a rectangle of ice the same size as a football field. Each team has 11 players,...
, handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
, floorball
Floorball
Floorball, a type of floor hockey, is an indoor team sport which was developed in the 1970s in Sweden. Floorball is most popular in areas where the sport has developed the longest, such as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The game is played...
, bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
, badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
and many other sports as well as Wimbledon championships and French Open in tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
(through Sven Davidson
Sven Davidson
Sven Davidson was a Swedish tennis player who became the first Swede to win a Grand Slam title when he won the French Championships in 1957...
, Lennart Bergelin
Lennart Bergelin
Lennart Bergelin was a Swedish tennis player and coach. As a player, for AIK, Bergelin won nine Swedish championship singles titles between 1945 and 1955, and the French Open doubles title in 1948. Bergelin is best known for his work with Björn Borg, whom he trained between 1971 and 1983, helping...
and Ulf Schmidt
Ulf Schmidt
Ulf "Uffe" Christian Johan Schmidt is a former Swedish tennis player. He competed for AIK from Stockholm.He won 14 singles' tournaments, among them the International Swedish Championships in Båstad in 1957 and 1961. In 1958 he and Sven Davidson won the doubles in Wimbledon...
).
Founding
The idea to start an athletic association began when the brothers IsidorIsidor Behrens
Isidor Behrens was the founder of the Swedish sports club Allmänna Idrottsklubben and its first chairholder. AIK was founded on February 15, 1891, at the home of Behrens and his family in Stockholm, at the downtown address of Biblioteksgatan 8.-References:...
and Paul Behrens were taking a walk through Hantverkargatan, in central Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. They were walking pretty fast; and noticed that there were two other youngsters behind them who also walked quickly. The strangers tried to walk pass the Behrens’, so they had to speed up to keep the lead; but the strangers did the same. Finally all of them started to run in what now looked like an improvised competition. When Isidor and Paul were far away from the unknown youngsters, Isidor said that they should start an athletic association and compete with others.
So the brothers gathered their friends, who were strongly athletic interested, and held a meeting at Behrens' on February 15, 1891 on Biblioteksgatan 8, in central Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. Isidor introduced his idea to everyone, and they liked it. Since the boys agreed that every thinkable sport should be practiced, they decided that “Allmänna Idrottsklubben” (The General Sports Club) would be a suitable name. The name also had other meanings: AIK allowed anybody to become member; and at this time many athletic clubs were limited for e.g. the military.
Media
On 5 February 1995, AIK became the first non-AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sports club to promote an Internet website. And as the first sports club among the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
AIK in 2004 began broadcasting radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
with daily cast.
Supporters
During the 1980s1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
and 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
AIK's official supporter group Black Army
Black Army
Black Army can refer to several different groups and affiliations:* Several anarchist factions of the Russian Civil War, also known as the Black Guards* Black Army of Hungary was the name of the royal army of Matthias Corvinus, a 15th century king of Hungary...
raged havoc around the country, making headlines in national newspapers. As a result of Black Army's bad behaviour another supporter group was created in 2000, Allmänna Supporterklubben (the General Supporters Club), as an option to Black Army. In 2002 Allmänna Supporterklubben was renamed to the much more AIK related name "Smokinglirarna" (roughly, "The Players", literally "the Black Tie Players"). In 2002 an ultras
Ultras
Ultras are a type of sports fans renowned for their fanatical support and elaborate displays. They are predominantly European followers of football teams...
group was formed, Ultras Nord (Ultras North), and two years later, 2004, Sol Invictus was formed. Black Army, Smokinglirarna, Ultras Nord and Sol Invictus together with AIK-Tifo forms the so called AIK-Alliansen (the AIK Alliance).
Crown princess Victoria's
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland is the heiress-apparent to the Swedish throne. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Sweden's fourth queen regnant .-Early life:...
spouse Daniel Westling
Daniel Westling
Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland is the husband of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. Prior to his marriage to the heiress apparent, Daniel was a personal trainer and gym owner and ran a company called Balance Training with three gyms in central Stockholm.-Early life:Daniel was born in Örebro ...
and princess Madeleine's
Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland
Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland is the youngest child and second daughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden...
former boyfriend Jonas Bergström both are ardent AIK fans. From time to time the royal family
Swedish Royal Family
The Swedish Royal Family since 1818 consists of a number of persons in the Swedish Royal House of Bernadotte, closely related to the King of Sweden. They are entitled to royal titles and style , and some perform official engagements and ceremonial duties of state...
visits the clubs home matches. His Swedish Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him...
is an honorary member of the club (in line with family tradition). An interview with the regional daily newspaper Kalmarposten allegedly denies the king Carl XVI Gustaf
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him...
actually being an AIK supporter, and implies that the rivals Djurgårdens IF
Djurgårdens IF
Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, more commonly known as Djurgårdens IF, is a Swedish sports club with several departments, located in Stockholm.-History:...
is his favourite team instead.
Among Swedish politicians the former party chairman of the Swedish Social Democratic Party
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
Mona Sahlin
Mona Sahlin
Mona Ingeborg Sahlin is a Swedish politician and the former leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party.Sahlin has been a Member of Parliament, representing Stockholm County, from 1982 to 1996 and again since 2002. She has also held various ministerial posts in the Swedish government from 1990...
is an AIK supporter as well as former Minister for Justice
Minister for Justice (Sweden)
The Minister for Justice is the justice minister of Sweden and head of the Ministry of Justice. The current Minister for Justice is Beatrice Ask of the Moderate Party....
Thomas Bodström
Thomas Bodström
Thomas Lennart Bodström is a Swedish politician and member of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. He was the Swedish Minister for Justice in the two last succeeding governments of the Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson, from 2000 to 2006. Since October 2006 until October 2010 he was the chairman...
.
The Wallenberg family
Wallenberg family
The Wallenberg family is a prominent Swedish banking family, renowned as bankers, industrialists, politicians, diplomats and philanthropists. The most famous of the Wallenbergs, Raoul Wallenberg, a diplomat, worked in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust...
are also closely attached with AIK as a club, being one of the major share holders.
The chant used by AIK is Å vi é AIK ("And we are AIK" pronounced with a Stockholm dialect).
Active departments
- AIK FotbollAIK FotbollAIK, , an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben, , when needed internationally AIK Stockholm, is a Swedish football club based at Råsunda stadium in Solna, a municipality in Stockholm County bordering to Stockholm City Centre...
- footballFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
department - AIK Fotboll DamerAIK Fotboll DamerAIK is a women's football club from Stockholm, capital of Sweden. The women's team is a section of AIK. The club has played five seasons in the Women's premier division ....
- women's footballWomen's football (soccer)Women's association football has been played for many decades, but was associated with charity games and physical exercise in the past before the breakthrough of organized women's association football came in the 1970s. Before the 1970s, football was basically seen as a men's game...
department - AIK Hockey - ice hockeyIce hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
department - AIK InnebandyAIK InnebandyAIK Innebandy is a Swedish floorball club and a department of AIK. The club is currently playing in the highest Swedish floorball league, the Svenska Superligan . AIK won their first championship in 2006 when they defeated Pixbo Wallenstam IBK in the SSL final...
- floorballFloorballFloorball, a type of floor hockey, is an indoor team sport which was developed in the 1970s in Sweden. Floorball is most popular in areas where the sport has developed the longest, such as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The game is played...
department - AIK BandyAIK BandyAIK Bandy is the Bandy section of sports club Allmänna Idrottsklubben, currently located in Solna, which is just north of Stockholm. Former UEFA President and FIFA Vice President Lennart Johansson started as a leader here.-Mens Team:...
- bandyBandyBandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.The rules of the game have many similarities to those of association football: the game is played on a rectangle of ice the same size as a football field. Each team has 11 players,...
department
- AIK HandbollAIK HandbollAIK Handboll is the handball section in AIK. The handball section of AIK was founded in 1943....
- handballTeam handballHandball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
department - AIK Bowling - bowlingTen-pin bowlingTen-pin bowling is a competitive sport in which a player rolls a bowling ball down a wooden or synthetic lane with the objective of scoring points by knocking down as many pins as possible.-Summary:The lane is bordered along its length by semicylindrical channels Ten-pin bowling (commonly just...
department - AIK Golf - golfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
department - AIK Boule - boulesBoulesBoules is a collective name for games played with metal balls.Two of the most played boule games are pétanque and boule lyonnaise. The aim of the game is to get large, heavy balls as close to the 'jack' as you can. It is very popular especially in France, but also Italy, where it may often be seen...
department
External links
- AIK - official site
- Black Army - Stockholm - AIK's official fan club