Idrottsföreningen Saab was a Swedish sports club from

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

Östergötland County Östergötland County () is a county or '' län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the northeast. It also has a ...

founded in 1941 by people working at

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab AB, a Swedish aircraft, aerospace and defence company, still known as SAAB, and together with subsidiaries as Saab Group ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab ...

and most known for its

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

teams. They took part in the 1973 Allsvenskan. In 1981, IF Saab merged with

BK Derby BK Derby is a Sweden, Swedish sports club located in Linköping, Sweden. It now only active in association football, football club but was previously involved in bandy and other sports. The club was formed on 15 April 1912. The bandy department ...

to form

Linköpings FF Linköpings FF (locally known as ''LFF'') was the premier men's football team in Linköping, Sweden, playing in the Swedish second division. The club is a 1984 merger of BK Derby and IF Saab. And as both these clubs had a one-season spell each i ...

. Besides football, the club also had active sections for the sports

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

bicycle racing Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

, company sports,

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, and

varpa Varpa is an outdoor game of physical skill that allegedly dates back to the Viking Age and survived in Gotland. It is similar to boules and horseshoes but is played with a flat and heavy object called a "varpa" instead of balls. Varpas used to ...

. The handball team won the Swedish Championship three times; in 1967-68, 1972-73 and 1973-74. In 1965 they won the Swedish championship in

Field handball Field handball (also known as outdoor handball or grass handball) is a soccer-like outdoor predecessor of what is now (indoor) handball. It was played at the Olympics once, at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. It was dominated by Germany, winn ...

. On 17 August 1995 the club was refounded as HF Linköpings Lejon, which ultimately was dissolved on 27 June 2016.

References

Defunct football clubs in Sweden Defunct handball clubs in Sweden 1941 establishments in Sweden 2016 disestablishments in Sweden Sports clubs and teams in Linköping Association football clubs established in 1941 Bandy clubs established in 1941 Handball clubs established in 1941 Handball clubs disestablished in 2016 Multi-sport clubs in Sweden Allsvenskan clubs 20th-century establishments in Östergötland County {{Sweden-sport-team-stub