Helsingborgs IF - www.hif.se // Klubben/English

Helsingborgs IF were formed on June 4 1907 after Georg Bengtsson and Tage Johansson decided to merge their respective clubs Stattena IF and Svithiod. The newly formed club made an auspicious debut with a convincing 6-2 win over local rivals IFK Helsingborg. With the legendary Otto Malm, who would go on to score a career-total 735 goals in 500 matches, in their starting eleven, it did not take long for Helsingborgs IF to show that they were a force, with which to be reckoned. In 1909, the club won the Skåne Division (a very prestigious title in those days). In 1914, the club, although eventually losing in the final to AIK Stockholm, made the Swedish football fraternity sit up and take notice after claiming the scalp of Sweden's best team, Örgryte IS, at the quarterfinal stage of the Swedish Championship (cup format) with a 5-1 victory. In 1918, they reached the final again, only to lose this time to IFK Göteborg.

In August 1924, the twelve-team Allsvenskan, the Premier Division of the Swedish Football League, was unveiled. Naturally Helsingborgs IF were battling for honours and ended the season in a creditable fourth place. Over the next few seasons there were encouraging signs that it would not be long before the club would win the Allsvenskan. In 1926, they had to settle for fourth place again, and came third in 1927. The following year saw the club pipped at the post by Örgryte IS, which thanks to a 4-0 win on the last day of the season could claim a marginally better goal ratio. Helsingborgs IF were, however, not to be denied and, in 1929, they finally succeeded in bringing the club's championship drought to an end - an achievement that they went on to repeat in 1930, 1933 and 1934. 1935, however, saw Helsingborgs IF relegated for the first time, although they were able to reclaim their top-flight status after only a two-year spell in the Second Division. In 1941, the club rewrote the record books, when it became the first five-times winner of the Allsvenskan. As if that was not enough, they went on to clinch 'the double' with a 3-1 win over IK Sleipner in the first-ever Swedish Cup Final.

Unfortunately for Helsingborgs IF this proved to be the pinnacle of their achievements and they were never able to recapture the glory years of the 1930s and, in particular, 1941. In 1949, they came runners-up in the Allsvenskan and the following year saw them reach the final of the Swedish Cup, where they lost 3-2 to AIK Stockholm. In 1954, they came within a whisker of winning the Allsvenskan, but came second after an agonizing 3-2 defeat at the hands of the eventual winners, Gais, on the last day of the season. Despite having to settle for second spot, Helsingborgs IF, having won 21 medals since the start of the Allsvenskan back in 1924, could rightfully claim that it was Sweden's most successful club of all time. Thus, no one could have foreseen the fate that would befall this colossus of Swedish football.

The club's silverware drought continued well into the 1960s and, in 1968, Helsingborgs IF were relegated to Division 2. This was thought to be a minor blip in the club's fortunes and most people believed it would soon be challenging for top honours again. In the end, it would take 24 years before Helsingborgs IF would be able to taste top-flight football. Instead of rebounding straightaway as first thought, the club remained in Division 2 and, in 1972, it was relegated to Division 3, where it played for two seasons. In 1986, the club suffered the same fate again. 1990 saw the team back in Division 2 and narrowly missing out on promotion to the Allsvenskan. This was also the case in 1991. In the end, it proved to be third time lucky, when the club beat IFK Sundsvall 9-1 on aggregate in the 1992 Division One play-off final. This was thanks to some clinical finishing by Mats Magnusson, Jonas Dahlgren and a certain Henrik "Henke" Larsson, and with that Helsingborgs IF were back in the big time.

Once back in the Allsvenskan it did not take long for the club to be vying for honours again. In 1994, they narrowly lost 4-3 to IFK Norrköping in the Swedish Cup Final and in 1995 they were runners-up to IFK Göteborg in the Allsvenskan. Second place, nevertheless, meant that the club had qualified for the UEFA Cup. The club's European adventure was not as short-lived as many might had predicted. They claimed the scalps of the English Premier Division team, Aston Villa, and Swiss outfit, Neuchâtel Xamax FC, before losing 1-0 on aggregate to Anderlecht of Belgium in the third round. Back on the domestic scene, the club made sure that history did not repeat itself by soundly beating Örgryte IS 4-1 in the 1998 Swedish Cup Final replay. The same year saw the club come second behind AIK in the Allsvenskan. However, in 1999, they went one better and won the Allsvenskan for the first time since 1941. As league winners, they automatically entered the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, where in the third round they caused the upset of the competition by beating the Italian giants, FC Internazionale, with their galaxy of stars, 1-0 on aggregate. In the group stages, despite finishing bottom with 5 points, the club had put up a number of valiant displays. They won 2-0 at home against the Norwegian champions Rosenberg BK, drew 1-1 at home to Paris Saint-Germain FC of France and could boast a creditable 0-0 draw away to the eventual winners of the competition, FC Bayern München of Germany. Unfortunately, however, Helsingborgs IF have been unable since their championship victory in 1999 to repeat the club's achievements of the 1930s and, apart from finishing runners up behind Halmstads BK in 2000, have come in the last three seasons fifth, fourth and sixth in the Allsvenskan respectively.