IK Brage

Brage playing in the 1930 promotion playoff game against Djurgårdens IF which qualified them for their first ever Allsvenskan season.

In the early 1920s the two Borlänge clubs IK Blixt and Domnarvets GIF merged to form a new club by the name of Domnarvets GoIF. The motive for the merger was to combine their efforts in building the new stadium that would become Domnarvsvallen. The merger did not go smoothly however as the IK Blixt members felt that there needed to be more focus on the football part of the multisport club. This caused them to want to bring back the original IK Blixt but the newly formed Domnarvets GoIF would not allow this since they technically owned the name as IK Blixt was half of the new club. So in 1925 the old IK Blixt members started up a new football club instead and decided in a meeting that the new name would be IK Brage, named after the Norse god Bragi.

After its creation, the club quickly advanced through the divisions until it reached the second highest level after the 1929–1930 season. The club would then go on to have a very successful 1930s which included playing at the highest level for the first time ever in the 1937–38 Allsvenskan. This first golden age culminated in the fourth-place finish two years later but was quickly followed by a relegation followed by a long period of time spent in the second tier.

In early years, in the winter time Brage also fielded teams in bandy.[3]

A chart showing the progress of IK Brage through the swedish football league system. The different shades of gray represent league divisions.

During the mid-1970s the club had fallen down into the third tier for the first time in nearly 30 years. After spending four straight seasons at such a low level the club brought in Rolf Zetterlund from AIK as their new player manager. During his reign the club advanced quickly through the divisions and made their return to the highest level in the 1980 Allsvenskan where they finished in fourth place, again matching their best ever finish. That same year the club also came close to winning their first major title as they finished runners-up in Svenska Cupen. The success would continue throughout the 1980s as Brage established themselves as an Allsvenskan club. During this period, which is the most successful in club history, Brage finished in the top five three times. This qualified them to compete in the UEFA Cup on several occasions where they played against clubs like Werder Bremen and Inter Milan.

Brage home stadium Domnarvsvallen in 2010.

Brage was relegated to the second tier in 1990 and then again in their latest Allsvenskan season in 1993 after having spent the entire year in last place from the first to the last round of the league. After that they have not been able to come back to Allsvenskan.

Things got even worse at the start of the new millennium when the club was relegated first into the third tier but then also into the fourth, a level which the club hadn't played at since its creation in the 1920s. However, they have since bounced back and reestablished themselves in the second tier of swedish football which is from the year 2000 called Superettan.

IK Brage qualified against Qviding in 2009 and was promoted to Superettan for the first time since 2004. Much thanks to great team spirit influenced by the manager Lennart "Kral" Andersson", who was very popuplar among the supporters in Serik Fans. But in 2013 everything collapsed. The new chairman Tommy Andersson and the sports director contracted a lot of experienced but controversial players like Dulee Johnson, Jan Tauer and Njogu Demba Nyrén. Brage only won two games that season and half of the squad left the team before the season was over. The club was relegated to Division 1 once again and was almost in bankruptcy in 2014 and 2015 due to the failed investments in 2013. In 2019, Brage qualified for promotion playoff against Kalmar FF after a dramatic last game of the season.

As of 26 August 2020[4]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SWE Adrian Engdahl 2 DF  SWE Alexander Zetterström 3 DF  ENG Moses Makasi 4 DF  SWE Mattias Liljestrand 5 DF  NCA Carlos García Ambrosiani 6 MF  ISL Bjarni Mark Antonsson 7 MF  SWE Robbin Sellin (captain) 8 MF  LBR Seth Hellberg 9 FW  SWE Douglas Karlberg 10 MF  SWE Leonard Pllana 11 MF  SWE Anton Lundin 12 GK  SWE Victor Astor 13 DF  SWE Pontus Hindrikes

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 FW  SWE Jonathan Lundbäck 15 DF  SWE Alexander Ekblad 16 MF  SWE André Kamp 17 MF  SWE Karl Johansson 18 MF  RSA Bantu Mzwakali 19 FW  SWE Pontus Jonsson 20 MF  RUS Nikita Kashaev 21 DF  SWE Lukas Hiltunen 22 MF  DEN Kristian Andersen 23 MF  SWE Oscar Lundin 24 MF  SWE Noa Williams 88 GK  SWE Peter Rosendal

The following players have received the player of the year award that supporter group "Serik Fans" started giving out in 1996,[5] or are listed as either "club legends"[6][7] or foreign players with over 50 games at the club[8] on the official Brage website.

Algot Ström Erik Eriksson Hugo Zetterberg Ingvar "Slana" Österberg Tore Åhs Stig "Lill-Massa" Johansson Sture Lindvall Thomas Nilsson Rolf Zetterlund Nils-Erik "Serik" Johansson Bernt Ljung Plamen Nikolov Simon Hunt Göran Arnberg Fredrik Söderström Jon Persson Duško Radinović

Joel Cedergren Martin Ericsson Daniel Brandt Johan Norell Lasse Nilsson Mikael Eklund Jimmy Rajala Jonathan Lundevall Niclas Olausson Kebba Ceesay Jon Åslund Pontus Hindrikes Johan Eklund Gerhard Andersson Adam Gradén Niklas Sandberg

Defender Plamen Nikolov played 55 games for the Bulgaria national football team.

• Division 1 Norra:
  • Winners (1): 2017
  • Runners-up (1): 2009
• Division 1 Östra:
  • Winners (1): 1992
• Division 2 Norra:
  • Winners (6): 1933-34, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1979
  • Runners-up (4): 1930-31, 1932–33, 1935–36, 1978
• Division 2 Norra Svealand:
  • Winners (1): 2007
  • Runners-up (1):2006
• Division 2 Svealand:
  • Winners (3): 1955-56, 1965, 1967
• Division 2 Västra Svealand:
  • Winners (1): 2003
• Division 3 Norra:
  • Winners (1): 1948-49
• Division 3 Norra Svealand:
  • Winners (1): 1972
  • Runners-up (2):1974, 1975
• Division 3 Uppsvenska:
  • Winners (1): 1929-30
• Division 3 Västra Svealand:
  • Winners (1): 1977
  • Runners-up (1):1976

• Svenska Cupen:
  • Runners-up (1): 1979–80