Malmö FF
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the
Scania Football Association Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne C ...
, Malmö FF is based at Eleda Stadion in
Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...
,
Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...
. The club has won a record 22 Swedish championship titles and the most national cup titles with 15. Malmö FF won its first Championship in 1944. The powerhouse of Swedish football in recent years, Malmö FF also saw glory in the 1970s, winning five Swedish championships and four
Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...
titles. Malmö FF remains the only club from the Nordic countries to have reached the final of the European Cup, the predecessor of the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
. Malmö FF was runner-up in the 1979 European Champions Cup final, which they lost 1–0 to English club Nottingham Forest. For this feat, Malmö FF was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal. Malmö FF is also the only Nordic club to have been represented at the Intercontinental Cup (succeeded by FIFA Club World Cup) in which they competed for the
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
title. Malmö FF is the leader of the overall Allsvenskan table maratontabellen, where they are the club that holds both the record of scoring the most goals as well as the record of winning the most matches. In recent years, the team have regularly qualified to the European stage 7 times; including 3 Champions League group stages ( 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2021-22) and 4 Europa League group stages ( 2011-12, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2022-23). In 2019 and 2020, Malmö FF played in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League. Moreover, Malmö FF have managed to knock out European heavyweights: RB Salzburg x2, Celtic, Rangers x2, Sparta Prague during the Champions League Qualifiers, while picking up key wins against Olympiakos, Shakhtar Donetsk & drawing to Zenit St Petersburg during the main tournament. In recent Europa League campaigns, Malmö FF notably managed to win against Dynamo Kyiv, Besiktas x2, Sivasspor, FC Copenhagen & FC Midtjylland. The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are sky blue and white, with sky blue shirts, white shorts and sky blue socks being the club's traditional kit colours. The main rivals of the club are fellow regional rivals
Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...
, historical domestic rival
IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
and historically local Division 2 Södra Götaland side
IFK Malmö Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Malmö, more commonly known as IFK Malmö, is a Swedish sports club with several departments, located in Malmö. The club was founded on 23 April 1899. The football department of IFK Malmö is one of the oldest footb ...
. The MFF Support are their official fan club. The club name is literally translated into English as the "Malmö Football Association".


History


Early years

The club arose from a municipal initiative in 1905 to encourage young people in Malmö to play organised football. One of the youth teams, the Bollklubben Idrott, also known simply as BK Idrott, was a predecessor to the Malmö FF. BK Idrott joined the newly created football department of the
IFK Malmö Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Malmö, more commonly known as IFK Malmö, is a Swedish sports club with several departments, located in Malmö. The club was founded on 23 April 1899. The football department of IFK Malmö is one of the oldest footb ...
in 1909, but soon left because of issues between the two clubs. On 24 February 1910 the 19 members of the BK Idrott founded the Malmö FF; the first chairman was Werner Mårtensson. The club spent its first ten years in local and regional divisions as there was no official national league competition, playing the majority of their matches in the city division called the Malmömästerskapen. They also competed in regional competitions in
Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...
, and played matches against Danish clubs. In 1916 the Malmö FF reached the final of the Scanian regional competition (''Distriktsmästerskapen'') for the first time, playing against rival the
Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superett ...
but losing 3–4. The club defeated local rival the IFK Malmö three times during the season, and thus earned the unofficial but much desired title of Malmö's best football club. In 1917 the Malmö FF competed in the Svenska Mästerskapet for the first time, a cup tournament for the title of Swedish champions, but lost their first match in the second qualifying round 4–1 against the IFK Malmö. The club continued to play in the cup until 1922, reaching the quarter-finals in 1920 when they were knocked out by the
Landskrona BoIS Landskrona Boll och Idrottsällskap ( en, Landskrona Ball and Sports Society, locally referred to as BoIS) is a Sweden, Swedish professional Football club (association football), football club located in Landskrona, Scania, which currently pla ...
. The cup was eventually discontinued and the title of Swedish champions was given to the winners of the Allsvenskan which was first created for the 1924–25 season. In 1920 the
Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association ( sv, Svenska Fotbollförbundet, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women – and the men's and women's nat ...
invited Swedish football clubs to compete in official national competitions. Malmö FF earned a place in the Division 2 Sydsvenska Serien. They won this division in the first season, and were promoted to the Svenska Serien Västra, the highest level of competition in Sweden at the time. However, they were
relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
after a single season, and found themselves back in the Sydsvenska Serien for nearly a decade until they again achieved promotion to the Allsvenskan, in 1931.


First years in the Allsvenskan and early achievements

The club achieved mid-table league positions for two seasons, but was relegated in 1934 as a penalty for breaking amateur regulations. The club had paid their players a small sum of money for each game. Although against the rules, this was common at the time; Malmö FF was the only club to show it in the accounting records. In addition to relegation to Division 2, the club suffered bans for the entire board of directors and twenty-six players. The version of events told by Malmö FF and local press suggests that local rival, IFK Malmö, had reported the violation to the Swedish Football Association. This belief has contributed to the longstanding competitive tensions between the clubs.Smitt, 2009, pp. 25–26. The club made their way back to the Allsvenskan in 1937 after two seasons in the Division 2. In the same year Eric Persson was elected as chairman after being secretary since 1929, and held the position until 1974. Persson is regarded by club leaders and fans as the most important person in the club's history, as he turned the club professional in the 1970s. Under his leadership the club went from being titleless in 1937 to holding ten Swedish championships by the end of the 1974 season. In 1939 the club reached its highest position yet, third place in the Allsvenskan, nine points behind champions the IF Elfsborg. Malmö FF's first Swedish championship came in 1944, when the club won the penultimate game of the season against
AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...
before 36,000 spectators at the Råsunda. The last game of the season was won 7–0 against
Halmstad BK Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish Association football, football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and approved members ...
. The following nine seasons, Malmö FF finished in the top three in the league. The club won the Swedish Championship in 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1953, and were runners-up in 1946, 1948 and 1952. The club also won the
Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...
in 1944, 1946, 1947, 1951 and 1953, and finished as runners-up in 1945. Between 6 May 1949 and 1 June 1951, the team were unbeaten in 49 matches, of which 23 were an unbroken streak of victories. The club finished as runners-up in the Allsvenskan twice more, in 1956 and 1957. The following year the club left the Malmö IP for the Malmö Stadion, which had been built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, and was to host the club for 50 years. In 1964 Malmö FF contracted Spanish manager Antonio Durán; this was the first of a series of changes that led to the most successful era in the club's history. Young talents such as Lars Granström and
Bo Larsson Bo-Göran "Bosse" Larsson (born 5 May 1944) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Best remembered for his time with Malmö FF, he also represented VfB Stuttgart and Trelleborgs FF during his caree ...
emerged during the early 1960s and would prove to be crucial ingredients in the success that would come in the 1970s. The club finished second in 1964 but went on to win their sixth Swedish Championship in 1965, when Bo Larsson scored 28 goals to finish as the league's top goal scorer. The Malmö FF once again won the Allsvenskan in 1967, after a less successful year in 1966. The club's young players, as well as talents bought in from neighbouring clubs in Scania in 1967, became a team that consistently finished in the top three in the Allsvenskan.


Successful 1970s, European Cup 1979, 1980s and 1990s

After finishing as runners-up in Allsvenskan for the final two years of the 1960s, Malmö FF started the most successful decade of their history with a Swedish Championship in 1970. The club won Allsvenskan in 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975 and 1977 as well as Svenska Cupen in 1976 and 1978. The 1977 Allsvenskan victory qualified the club for the
1978–79 European Cup The 1978–79 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by English champions Nottingham Forest in the final against Swedish side Malmö FF. Forest, enjoying a great run of success under Brian Clough, had defeated defending two-t ...
, and after victories against
AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...
, Dynamo Kyiv, Wisła Kraków and Austria Wien, Malmö FF reached the final of the competition, which was played at the Olympiastadion in Munich against Nottingham Forest. Trevor Francis, who scored the only goal of the match, won it 1–0 for Nottingham Forest. Nevertheless, the 1979 European Cup run is the biggest success in the history of Malmö FF. The team were given the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal the same year, awarded for the most significant Swedish sporting achievement of the year, for their achievement in the European Cup. Much of the success during the 1970s was due to new tactics and training methods brought to the club by Englishman
Bob Houghton Robert Douglas Houghton (born 30 October 1947) is an English football manager and former player. His career has spanned over 30 years and 10 countries. He is most famous for taking Swedish club Malmö FF to the 1979 European Cup Final, where th ...
, who managed the club between 1974 and 1980. Eric Persson was succeeded as chairman in 1974 by Hans Cavalli-Björkman. After the team performed respectably under managers Keith Blunt and
Tord Grip Tord Erland Grip (born 13 January 1938) is a Swedish former football coach and player. He has worked with several national teams, including England, Sweden, Indonesia, Mexico, the Ivory Coast and Kosovo. Playing career Grip began his football ca ...
in the early 1980s, Roy Hodgson took over in 1985. Roy Hodgson led Malmö FF to two Swedish Championships in 1986 and 1988, and the club won Allsvenskan five years in a row between 1985 and 1989. At the time, the championship was decided by play-offs between the best teams after the end of the regular season; this arrangement was in place from 1982 until 1992. The club reached the play-off final four times between 1986 and 1989 but only managed to win the final twice. Apart from Allsvenskan and Swedish Championships, Malmö FF won Svenska Cupen in 1984, 1986 and 1989. Other than finishing as runners-up in Allsvenskan in 1996, the team did not excel in the 1990s, as the club failed to win Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen throughout the entire decade. The 1990s ended with relegation from Allsvenskan in 1999. Hans Cavalli-Björkman was succeeded as chairman by Bengt Madsen in 1999, and former player Hasse Borg was contracted as Director of Sport. These operational changes, as well as the emergence of young talent Zlatan Ibrahimović, led to the return to Allsvenskan in 2001. Ibrahimović rose to fame and became an important player in Malmö FF's campaign to return to the top league. He was later sold to
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
in 2001, before playing for several European clubs in Italy's Serie A,
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...
in Spain's
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...
,
Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
in France's Ligue 1, Manchester United F.C. in England's
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
, LA Galaxy in the
MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
, and AC Milan again where he currently plays.


Start of the 2000s to the present

The return to Allsvenskan was the start of the successful early 2000s, under the management of Tom Prahl, when the club finished in the top three times in a row. In 2004, it won Allsvenskan, the club's fifteenth Swedish Championship. In 2005, the club reached the last qualifying round for the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
but were defeated by FC Thun. Successful sponsor work and player sales also made Malmö FF the richest club in Sweden, a position still held since 2013. This position was further cemented by the successive Champions League group stage appearances the two following years. Malmö FF moved from Malmö Stadion to Eleda Stadion in 2009, a stadium built entirely for football and located next to the old one. In 2009, Madsen announced that he would step down as chairman, and was replaced by Håkan Jeppsson early the following year. In 2010, the club marked their 100th anniversary with many celebratory events at the beginning of the season. On the day of the club's 100th anniversary in 2010, the Swedish football magazine '' Offside'' declared Malmö FF to be the greatest football club in Swedish history. The season became a great success as the club won Allsvenskan for the nineteenth time and became Swedish champions for the sixteenth time. Unlike in 2004, these successes were achieved without any major transfers before the season, and with a squad consisting mostly of younger players. In October 2013, Malmö FF won their seventeenth Swedish championship and 20th Allsvenskan title in the penultimate round of the league away from home. Similar to 2010, the title was the result of a young squad. The average age of the squad, 23.8 years, was the youngest team to become champions since the beginning of the 21st century. The following year Malmö FF qualified for the group stage of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League by beating
Ventspils Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...
,
Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...
and Red Bull Salzburg in the qualifying rounds. This was the first time the club qualified for the competition proper since the re-branding from the European Cup in the
1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
season and the first time since the 2000–01 season that a Swedish club qualified. In the following months Malmö FF defended their league title, winning their eighteenth Swedish championship and 21st Allsvenskan title. This was the first time a club defended the Allsvenskan title since the 2003 season. The 2015 season saw Malmö FF failing to retaining the title and missing out on the top-four for the first time since 2009. However, the club managed to qualify once again to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in the
2015–16 UEFA Champions League The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League was the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona wer ...
edition, beating Žalgiris Vilnius, Red Bull Salzburg and Celtic FC in qualifiers. In October 2016, Malmö FF won their nineteenth Swedish championship and 22nd Allsvenskan title. The title was Malmö FF's third in the span of four years. This resulted in the club surpassing
IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
in terms of Swedish championship titles, indisputably becoming the most successful Swedish football club of all time. Malmö FF is a dominant force in Sweden. As of the end of the 2021 Allsvenskan season, the club are the leaders of the overall Allsvenskan table maratontabellen. Malmö FF are also the record holders for the total number of Swedish championships, Allsvenskan titles and Svenska Cupen titles.


Colours and crest

Because of the club colours, sky blue and white, the club is often known by the nicknames ''Di blåe'' ( Scanian: The Blues) and ''Himmelsblått'' (The Sky Blues). The home kit is sky-blue shirts, white shorts, and sky-blue socks. The away strip is black. Various alternative kits have been used for European play such as an all-white kit introduced in the 1950s, and re-used for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and all-black kits with sky-blue and golden trimmings were used for the European campaigns in 2005 and 2013.Törner, 2005, p. 40.


Kit evolution

The club colours have not always been sky blue. The predecessor club BK Idrott wore blue and white striped shirts and white shorts, and this kit was still used for the first six months of 1910 after Malmö FF was founded. This was later changed to red and white striped shirts and black shorts to show that Malmö FF was a new, independent club. This colour combination has on occasion been used in modern times as the away kit. The present sky-blue kit was introduced in 1920. Since 2010 a small Scanian flag is featured on the back of the shirt just below the neck.


Crest evolution

File:Malmo FF Original Crest from 1910.gif, File:Malmö FF Crest from 1920.gif, File:Malmö FF's 3rd Crest.gif, File:Malmo FF logo.svg, The crest of Malmö FF consists of a shield with two vertical sky-blue fields on the sides, and one vertical white field in the middle. Underneath the shield is "Malmö FF" spelled out in sky-blue letters with a sky-blue star under the text. In the top area of the shield is a white horizontal field over the three vertical fields. The abbreviation of the club name "MFF" is spelled out with sky-blue letters in this field. On top of the shield are five tower-like extensions of the white field. The present shield crest made its debut on the shirt in the 1940s. There were other crests before this but they were never featured on the shirt. While the first crest was black and white, the second crest was red and white in accordance with the club's main colours between 1910 and 1920. In the original shield logo the full club name and sky-blue star beneath the shield were not featured, they were later added when club chairman Eric Persson discovered while abroad that people had trouble identifying what city the club came from just by looking at the club crest. The six-pointed star has its origins from the oldest seal of the City of Malmö. For the 100th anniversary of the club in 2010, the years 1910 and 2010 were featured on each side of the shield on a sky-blue ribbon behind the shield.


Stars above the crest

Malmö FF is the only club in Sweden to have the honor of wearing two stars above its crest, representing 20-29 domestic championship titles. The stars are only featured on match shirts and are not a part of the official crest.


Kit manufacturer and shirt sponsors

Malmö's kit is manufactured by Puma, who also sponsor the club. Consequently, various Puma products are sold in the club's souvenir shop at Eleda Stadion. The first sponsor to appear on Malmö FF's jerseys was local shipyard company
Kockums Saab Kockums AB is a shipyard headquartered in Malmö, Sweden, owned by the Swedish defence company Saab Group. Saab Kockums AB is further operational in Muskö, Docksta, and Karlskrona. While having a history of civil vessel construction, Koc ...
in 1976, and since 1981 at least one sponsor logo has appeared on the club's kits. In the mid-1990s it became commonplace for Swedish clubs to have several shirt sponsors. Malmö FF was no exception, and this was the case until 2010 when the club returned to having only one sponsor logo on their kit. As of 2018, the kits typically feature logos of three partners, the main sponsor (front), the sleeve partner (sleeve) and the secondary sponsor (back).


Supporters

Fans of Malmö FF are called ''MFF:are'' (the word is the same in singular and plural). Malmö FF has several fan clubs, of which the largest is the official fan club MFF Support, founded in 1992. MFF Support describes itself as "a non-profit and non-political organization working against violence and racism". The chairman of MFF Support is Thelma Ernst. There are also several smaller independent supporter groups. The most prominent of these is Supras Malmö, which was founded in 2003 by a coalition of smaller ultras groups and devoted fans. The name "Supras" is derived from the words ''supporters'' and '' ultras'' – the latter indicating that the group is inspired by a fan culture with roots in southern Europe. Supras Malmö is the most visible group in the main supporter stand at Eleda Stadion, marking its presence with banners, flags and choreography. Another group with similar goals is Rex Scania. MFF Tifosi 96 (MT96) is a network of supporters creating tifos for special occasions and important games. Malmösystrar (Sisters of Malmö) is the largest female supporter faction in Europe with over 200 members. The Malmö FF supporters are notorious for their ability to create a lively atmosphere and also hold the record of the highest sound level measured in Allsvenskan with 127 decibel in a game in 2016 versus
IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
.


Rivalries

Because of geographical proximity, minor rivalries exist with
Trelleborgs FF Trelleborgs Fotbollsförening, more commonly known as Trelleborgs FF or simply Trelleborg, is a Swedish football club located in Trelleborg. Formed 6 December 1926, the club plays in Superettan, the second tier in the Swedish Football system. ...
and
Landskrona BoIS Landskrona Boll och Idrottsällskap ( en, Landskrona Ball and Sports Society, locally referred to as BoIS) is a Sweden, Swedish professional Football club (association football), football club located in Landskrona, Scania, which currently pla ...
, which are both also located in Scania.Törner, 2005, pp. 52–54. The main rivals of the club are
Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superett ...
,
IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
and
IFK Malmö Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Malmö, more commonly known as IFK Malmö, is a Swedish sports club with several departments, located in Malmö. The club was founded on 23 April 1899. The football department of IFK Malmö is one of the oldest footb ...
. The
rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
between Malmö FF and Helsingborgs IF has existed since Malmö FF were promoted up to Allsvenskan in the 1930s, and is primarily geographic, since both teams are from
Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...
in southern Sweden. The
rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
with IFK Göteborg relates more to title clashes; the two are the most successful clubs in Swedish football history and the only two to have appeared in European cup finals, IFK Göteborg in the UEFA Cup in 1982 and
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
and Malmö FF in the European Cup in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
.Törner, 2005, pp. 52–54. The
rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
with IFK Malmö is both geographical and historical. The two clubs come from the same city and used to play at the same stadium in the early 20th century. The supposed actions of board members of IFK Malmö in 1933, revealing Malmö FF's breaches of amateur football rules to the
Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association ( sv, Svenska Fotbollförbundet, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women – and the men's and women's nat ...
, further contribute to the competitive tensions between the two clubs. IFK Malmö have not played in Allsvenskan since 1962; thus matches between the two sides are rare.


Average attendances

Malmö FF are well known for their large average attendance. Average attendances at Malmö FF's home matches in Allsvenskan and European competitions for the last ten seasons running.


Stadia

Malmö FF's first stadium was Malmö IP, which was shared with arch-rivals
IFK Malmö Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Malmö, more commonly known as IFK Malmö, is a Swedish sports club with several departments, located in Malmö. The club was founded on 23 April 1899. The football department of IFK Malmö is one of the oldest footb ...
. The team played here from the founding of the club in 1910, until 1958. The stadium still exists today, albeit with lower capacity, and is now used by women's team
FC Rosengård FC Rosengård, formerly Malmö FF Dam (1970–2007) and LdB FC Malmö (2007–2013), is a professional football club based in Malmö, Scania, Sweden. The team was established as Malmö FF Dam in 1970. It started out with playing 7 seasons in th ...
, who were previously the women's section of Malmö FF. Capacity in 2012 is 7,600, but attendances were usually much higher when Malmö FF played there. For the last season in 1957, the average attendance was 15,500. The club's record attendance at Malmö IP is 22,436 against
Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superett ...
on 1 June 1956. The stadium is still considered a key part of the club's history, as it was here that the club were founded, played their first 47 seasons, and won five Swedish championships. A new stadium was constructed in
Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...
after Sweden was awarded the 1958 FIFA World Cup – this saw the birth of Malmö Stadion. Malmö FF played their first season at the stadium in 1958. The first time the club won the Swedish championship at the stadium was in 1965. An upper tier was added to the stadium in 1992. The club enjoyed the most successful era of their history at this stadium, winning ten out of twenty Swedish championships while based there. The stadium originally had a capacity of 30,000 but this was lowered to 27,500 due to changes in safety regulations. The club's record attendance at the stadium was 29,328 against Helsingborgs IF on 24 September 1967. Following the 2004 victory in Allsvenskan, plans were made to construct a new stadium. In July 2005, Malmö FF announced that work was to begin on Eleda Stadion, designed for 18,000 seated spectators and 6,000 standing. The stadium can also accommodate 21,000 as an all-seater for international and European games in which terracing is not allowed. Construction started in 2007 and was finished in 2009. The new stadium is located next to Malmö Stadion. Although there was still small-scale construction going on around the stadium at the time, the stadium was inaugurated on 13 April 2009 with the first home game of the 2009 season against
Örgryte IS Örgryte Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as Örgryte IS, Örgryte () or (especially locally) ÖIS or Öis, is a Swedish sports club based in Gothenburg. It consists of four departments, namely bowling, football, athletics and wrestling. H ...
; Malmö FF's Labinot Harbuzi scored the inaugural goal in the 61st minute. The first Swedish championship won at the stadium occurred in 2010, when the club beat Mjällby AIF on 7 November in the final game of the season 2–0. Attendance at this game set the stadium record of 24,148. Stadion is a UEFA category 4 rated stadium.


European record

Malmö FF has a rich European legacy with participation in UEFA competitions since 1964. The club's best European performance was in the 1978–79 season, when they reached the final of the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
(then European Champion Clubs' Cup), where they were beaten 0–1 by English Champions Nottingham Forest. This makes Malmö FF the only Nordic club to have reached this far in the European Cup or Champions League. Malmö FF is also the only Nordic club to have been represented at the Intercontinental Cup (succeeded by FIFA Club World Cup) in which they competed for the
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
title. Malmö FF is one of the four Swedish clubs to have participated in the UEFA Champions League group stages, along with
IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
,
AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...
, and
Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...
.


Overall record by competition


UEFA Coefficient

''Correct as of 19 Jun 2022. The table shows the position of Malmö FF (highlighted), based on their UEFA coefficient club ranking for 2021, and the four clubs which are closest to Malmö FF's position (the two clubs with the higher coefficient and the two with the lower coefficient).''


Ownership and finances

Malmö FF made the transition from an amateur club to fully professional in the late 1970s under the leadership of club chairman Eric Persson. The club is an open member association, and the annual general meeting is the highest policy-making body where each member has one vote, therefore no shares are issued. The meeting approves the accounts, votes to elect the chairman and the board, and decides on incoming motions. During the successful 2010's era Håkan Jeppsson was the chairman after taking over after Bengt Madsen in 2010, prior to his sudden death in 2018. The club's legal status means that any interest claims are made to the club and not to the board of directors or club members. Daily operations are run by a managing director who liaises with the chairman. With an equity of 497 million SEK the club is the richest football club in Sweden as of 2019. The turnover for 2018 was 343 million SEK. The highest transfer fee received by Malmö FF for a player was 86.2 million SEK ( 8.7 million at that time) for Zlatan Ibrahimović who was sold to
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
in 2001. At the time, this was the highest transfer fee ever paid to a Swedish football club. The main sponsors of Malmö FF are Volkswagen, Elitfönster AB, Intersport, Imtech, JMS Mediasystem,
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
, SOVA and
Svenska Spel Svenska Spel ("Swedish Bets") is a state-owned company operating in the regulated gambling market in Sweden. For many years, state-owned Svenska Spel was the only company permitted to offer online gambling to people in Sweden, whether it be casino ...
. The club also had a naming rights deal with Swedbank regarding the name of Eleda Stadion between 2007 and 2017 when it was called Swedbank Stadion.


Media coverage

Malmö FF have been the subject of several films. Some examples are Swedish football documentaries ''Blådårar 1'' and ''Blådårar 2'', which portray the club from both supporter and player perspectives during the 1997 and
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
seasons. ''Blådårar 1'' is set in 1997, when the club finished third in Allsvenskan. The film focuses on devoted fan Lasse, player Anders Andersson, former chairman Hans Cavalli-Björkman and other individuals. ''Blådårar 2'' is set in 2000, the year after the club had been relegated to Superettan, and follows the team as they fight for Malmö FF's return to Allsvenskan. The second film continues to follow Lasse, but also has a significant focus on Zlatan Ibrahimović, his progress and how he was eventually sold to AFC Ajax during the 2001 season. The club have also been featured in ''Mitt Hjärtas Malmö'', a series of documentaries covering the history of Malmö. Clips used included match footage from the 1940s (Volume 7), and match footage from the 1979 European Cup Final in Munich from a fan's perspective (Volume 8). Volume 9 of the series is devoted entirely to coverage of the club's 100th anniversary in 2010. In the 2005 Swedish drama movie ''Om Sara'', actor
Alexander Skarsgård Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (; born August 25, 1976) is a Swedish actor. Born in Stockholm, he began acting at age seven but quit at 13. After serving in the Swedish military, Skarsgård returned to acting and gained his first role in th ...
plays the fictional football star Kalle Öberg, who plays for Malmö FF. Finally, a recurring sketch in the second season of the comedy sketch show '' Hipphipp!'' involved a group of Malmö FF fans singing and chanting while performing everyday tasks, such as shopping or operating an ATM.


Players


Current squad


Out on loan


Retired numbers

12 – MFF Support


Notable players

List criteria: * player has made more than 500 appearances overall for the club, or * player has won
Guldbollen Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish football award given by ''Aftonbladet'' and the Swedish Football Association to the best male Swedish footballer each year. History The award was created by Bengt Liljedahl and between 1946 to 1965 it was ...
, an official UEFA or FIFA award, or * player has been picked as one of the 11 best players in the official hall of fame Sydsvenskan team that was selected by the newspapers readers for the club's 100th anniversary in 2010.


Management


Organisation

''As of 16 March 2022''


Technical staff

''As of 16 March 2022''


Notable coaches

This is a list of coaches who have won one or more titles at the club


Statistics

Malmö FF have played 86 seasons in Allsvenskan. The only clubs to have played more seasons are
AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...
with 93 and
IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
with 89 (2021). The club are also the leaders of the
all-time Allsvenskan table Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...
since the end of the 2012 season. They are the only Nordic club to have played a European Cup final, present day UEFA Champions League, having reached the 1979 European Cup Final. Malmö FF is also the only Nordic club to have been represented at the Intercontinental Cup (succeeded by FIFA Club World Cup) in which they competed for the
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
title.


Club honours

Malmö FF have won domestic, European, and international honours. The club currently holds the records for most Swedish championships, Allsvenskan and
Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...
titles. The club's most recent honour was in 2021 when they won Allsvenskan. The club first played in Europe for the 1964–65 European season in the European Cup, and most recently in the 2021–22 European season in the group stage for the UEFA Champions League. Including the qualification stages, they have participated in the European Cup and UEFA Champions League eighteen times and in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League seventeen times. The club have also played in other now defunct European competitions such as the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Intertoto Cup.


Domestic

* Swedish Champions ** Winners (22): 1943–44, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1986, 1988, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021


=League

= * Allsvenskan (Tier 1) ** Winners (25): 1943–44, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1965,
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
,
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...
, 1971, 1974, 1975,
1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
,
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
, 1986,
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
,
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
,
1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...
, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2014,
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
,
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
,
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
,
2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
** Runners-up (15): 1945–46, 1947–48, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57,
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
, 1968, 1969,
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...
, 1978, 1980,
1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
, 1996, 2002,
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
* Division 2 Sydsvenska Serien (Tier 2) ** Winners (1): 1920–21 ** Runners-up (1): 1923–24 * Division 2 Södra (Tier 2) ** Winners (3):
1930–31 Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...
, 1934–35, 1935–36 ** Runners-up (1): 1929–30 * Superettan (Tier 2) ** Runners-up (1):
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...


=Cups

= *
Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...
** Winners (15): 1944, 1946, 1947,
1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...
, 1953,
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1988–89, 2021–22 ** Runners-up (6):
1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...
, 1970–71, 1995–96, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20 *
Allsvenskan play-offs The Allsvenskan play-offs was a Swedish football cup held to decide the Swedish football champions between 1982 and 1990. The cup was created to increase the average attendance for Allsvenskan since public interest had dropped remarkably in the p ...
** Winners (2): 1986,
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
** Runners-up (2):
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
,
1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...
*
Svenska Supercupen Svenska Supercupen, ''Swedish Super Cup'', was a one-off fixture in Swedish football played between the Allsvenskan champions and the winners of Svenska Cupen. The fixture was played in November, after the Allsvenskan season. In the event of a ...
** Winners (2): 2013, 2014 ** Runners-up (1): 2011


European

* European Cup (Champions League) ** Runners-up (1): 1978–79


Worldwide

* Intercontinental Cup ** Runners-up (1):
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...


=Doubles

= * Allsvenskan and
Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...
** Winners (8): 1943–44, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1967, 1974, 1975, 1986, 1989


Footnotes


References

General * * Specific


External links

*
MFF Support
 – official supporter club site
Himmelriket
 – supporter site
MFF-Familjen
 – supporter site {{DEFAULTSORT:Malmo Ff Allsvenskan clubs 1910s in Malmö 1910 establishments in Sweden Association football clubs established in 1910 Sports organizations in Malmö Football clubs in Skåne County Football clubs in Malmö Svenska Cupen winners 20th-century establishments in Skåne County