Rural Dictionary

aik

The history of AIK

AIK are one of the most successful clubs in the history of Swedish sports. It´s also the biggest club with approximately 17 000 members. Here is a short recapture of what has happened since the club was founded in 1891.

The foundation of AIK took place on 15th February 1891 in Stockholm. The name is an abbreviation for "Allmänna Idrottsklubben", which in direct translation means "The general sports club". The name was choosen to indicate that the club was open for everyone and also that one of the main events was to be athletics, at that time called "allmän idrott" in Swedish.

Indeed AIK were successful in athletics winning no less than 26 Swedish championship titles before the section was defunct in 1916. In 1908 the club set an official world record at 4x200 metres.
AIK also competed in a number of other sports, among them fencing, skating, cycling, wrestling, gymnastics etc. In 1896 the first attempts in football took place and as early as in 1900 AIK became champions.

The present club badge was created in 1898. Later on it was considered "The most beautiful badge in the world" after a contest in London that included badges from England, Spain, Italy and France.

Between 1900 and 1923 AIK became Swedish champions in football six times. During the 20's the club recieved its nickname "Gnaget" (translated: the gnaw). The reason is believed to be the colours of the black shirts, that after too many washes turned rat-alike (grey). Supporters of AIK are called "Gnagare" (translated: rodents).
That same decade the first edition of the Swedish premier league in football "Allsvenskan" was introduced and AIK were of course one of the founder members. Since then the team has played in Allsvenskan all seasons but three. Also the first attempts in icehockey took place.

The 30's was the most successful decade (so far) in the history of AIK. In bandy AIK were crowned champions for the third time, the football side twice won the title and in icehockey the three first championship titles were captured.
For the next three decades it was the "smaller" sections in AIK that contributed to the glory. AIK won championships in handball, skating, bowling, badminton and tennis.

During the 70's AIK started women's team in football, bandy and bowling. In 1974 the King of Sweden, His majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf, became AIK's patron and first member of honour.

In 1982 the icehockey team won the championship for the first time in 35 years and repeated the feat two years later.
In 1992 it was in football that AIK won an eagerly awaited title - champions for the first time in 55 years. Six years later that achievement was repeated. To that could be added three Cup-titles between 1996 and 1999. The most successful team in the last decades however, has been the women's team in bandy with nine championships between 1988 and 2004.

AIK have been represented in a number of sports throughout the years winning over 170 Swedish championship titles. In the late 80's AIK competed in only four sports: football, icehockey, bandy and bowling. Since then the club has grown and by 2003 also take part in floorball and handball.

Name: Allmänna Idrotts Klubben, AIK

Status: 2006 First level (Allsvenskan)

Arena: Råsunda Fotbollstadion

Started: 1896

Champions: 1900, 1901, 1911, 1914, 1916, 1923, 1932, 1937, 1992, 1998

Cup-winners: 1949, 1950, 1976, 1985, 1985, 1996, 1997, 1998

by JesusChr|st September 30, 2006

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