FC Linköping City

FC Linköping City is a Swedish professional football club based in Linköping, affiliated with the Östergötlands Fotbollförbund.^[1] They currently play in Swedish Football Division 1 after winning Swedish Football Division 3 with 22 points ahead of second placed team their first season in 2013,^[2] and finishing in ninth place in 2014 Swedish Football Division 2.

FC Linköping City

Full name	Football Club Linköping City
Nickname(s)	City, LC
Founded	2013; 10 years ago (2013)
Ground	Linköping Arena, Linköping, Sweden
Capacity	8,500
Chairman	Tuncay Yuksel
Head Coach	Marcelo Gallo
League	Division 1 Södra
2019	Division 1 Norra, 3rd
Home colours Away colours

The club was founded around New Years Day of 2013, replacing FK Linköping in the Swedish football league system for the 2013 season.^[3]

Background

The club was founded in a merger between FK Linköping and FC Syrianska, with the goal to get football in Linköping to a higher level.^[4] When FC Linköping City was created, it took the place of FK Linköping in the Swedish football league system. The club started playing in Division 3 Nordöstra Götaland, which is the fifth tier of Swedish football.^[2] They started playing their home matches at Folkungavallen in Linköping, before moving to the new Linköping Arena in autumn 2013.^[5] FC Linköping City are affiliated with the Östergötlands Fotbollförbund.^[1]

Rivalries

Several clubs play in Linköping, however, the biggest rivalry to FC Linköping City is AFK Linköping, a club that was founded in the winter between the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The difference in team make-up is that FC Linköping City built their team with players from higher leagues while AFK Linköping used more local talent.^[6] The first game played between these rivals was played away on 19 June 2013; a game where FC Linköping City won 2–0.^[7] The return game in the league was played at home on 4 August 2013 in the new arena Linköping Arena and FC Linköping City won 2–0.^[8]

Seasons

2013

In 2013, FC Linköping City immediately put up the goal to win Division 3 and get promoted to Division 2. The start of the season started out promising, and the club had seven consecutive wins before drawing 3–3 away against Linghems SK.^[9][10] This seven game winning streak is even more remarkable because only two out of seven games were at home. When Division 3 reached its summer break, the club had a five-point lead with a 9 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss record, and nine games left at home and only two games left away.^[10] The second part of the season was even more impressing when they won all remaining eleven matches and saw the lead grow to the final 22 points ahead of second placed team, IF Haga.^[2] This meant promotion to Division 2 (tier 4 of Swedish football) and a good start for the newly built club.

2014

Before the season started, FC Linköping City announced a change of head coach. The new coach, Andreas Thomsson, comes from Öster IF in Allsvenskan (tier 1 in Swedish football), and has merits from football on the highest level in Sweden.^[11][12]

Season summary

Season Level Division Section Position Movements 2013^[2] Tier 5 Division 3 Nordöstra Götaland 1st Promoted 2014^[13] Tier 4 Division 2 Södra Svealand 9th 2015^[14] Tier 4 Division 2 Södra Svealand 2nd 2016^[15] Tier 4 Division 2 Södra Svealand 2nd 2017^[16] Tier 4 Division 2 Södra Svealand 1st Promoted 2018^[17] Tier 3 Division 1 Norra 9th

Current squad

As of 30 December 2021

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 MF   SWE Ali Riyadh Majeed Saedi 3 DF   SWE Melsik Hassan 4 DF   SWE Hampus Myske 5 MF   SWE Laith Etawi 6 MF   NGA Sabir Isah Musa 8 MF   GHA Mohammed Sadat Abubakari 9 FW   NGA Womene Miekam 10 MF   CRO Dejan Polić 11 FW   NGA Uba Charles 13 MF   NGA Victor Okeji 16 MF   SWE Junior Kivumbi

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW   SWE Dieu Le Veut Ntumbudi 18 MF   ENG Michael Lawrence Taavon 20 MF   SWE Tiger Cornell 21 MF   SWE Youssef Khaled 23 DF   SWE Jonathan Larsson 24 MF   SWE Balen Nouri 25 GK   SWE Bilel Ben Salah 31 GK   SWE Albin Gustafsson 77 DF   SWE Isak Arvidsson Najhi 80 MF   SWE Theo Forsman 99 MF   SWE Mohamad Suleiman

References

1. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – FC Linköping City- Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2013-08-02.
2. "Tabell och resultat – Div 3 Nordöstra Götaland, herrar – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 2013-08-02.
3. "FC Linköping City". Retrieved 2013-08-02.
4. . Archived from the original on 2018-03-17. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
5. . Archived from the original on 2014-01-12. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
6. "corren.se—AFK: "Vi Satsar på Linköpingsungdomar"". Retrieved 2013-08-02.
7. "svenskfotboll.se — Matchinformation: AFK Linköping – FC Linköping City". Retrieved 2013-08-03.
8. "svenskfotboll.se — Matchinformation: FC Linköping City – AFK Linköping". Retrieved 2013-08-05.
9. "corren.se – Sjunde raka för Linköping City". Retrieved 2013-08-03.
10. "svenskalag.se – Matcher". Retrieved 2013-08-03.
11. "Thomsson tar över Linköping". Retrieved 2014-01-12.
12. "Linköping City Fortsätter Satsa". Retrieved 2014-01-12.
13. "Tabell och resultat – Div 2 Södra Svealand, herrar – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 28 February 2014.
14. "Tabell och resultat – Div 2 Södra Svealand, herrar – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 14 May 2014.
15. "Tabell och resultat – Div 2 Södra Svealand, herrar – Soccer24.com". Retrieved 26 Jan 2017.
16. "Tabell och resultat – Div 2 Södra Svealand, herrar – Soccer24.com". Retrieved 18 Feb 2018.
17. "Tabell och resultat - Div 1 Norra, herrar". SvFF. Retrieved 26 Nov 2018.

External links

• Official website (in Swedish)
• FC Linköping City – FC Linköping City at the official site for Swedish Football Association (in Swedish)
• FC Linköping City – FC Linköping City on Facebook (in Swedish)
• FC Linköping City – FC Linköping City on svenska fans (in Swedish)