Dalkurd FF

Dalkurd Fotbollsförening, commonly known as Dalkurd FF or simply Dalkurd (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈdɑ̂ːlkɵrd]) is a Swedish football club based in Uppsala. On 26 September 2004, the club was originally founded by members of the Kurdish diaspora in Borlänge, Dalarna.

In March 2025, Dalkurd paused all operations, due to a severe financial crisis.

Dalkurd FF holds the record for the lowest average attendances in the history of both Allsvenskan and Superettan, the two highest Swedish leagues. Dalkurd FF is affiliated with Upplands Fotbollförbund.

History

The club was formed in Borlänge in 2004 by a group of Kurds. It started as a social project to contribute to the youth of Borlänge by offering activities for them. IK Brage helped financing the project. In the first season the squad consisted of an average age of 17 years. Besides contributing to the youngsters, the chairman, Ramazan Kizil, had high expectations of the football players and an ultimate goal: he wanted to take Dalkurd to the professional levels of the Swedish league. Dalkurd won every division they participated in from their very first season in 2005 to 2009. Owing to this uncommon success they got a lot of media attention, both in Sweden and abroad.

The club narrowly avoided catastrophe when travelling home from Spain in March 2015. The club had initially intended to fly from Barcelona to Düsseldorf on Germanwings Flight 9525, but changed its booking at the last minute when they decided the layover in Germany would be too long. Flight 4U 9525 crashed into the French Alps on 24 March, killing everyone on board.

In October 2017, Dalkurd was promoted to the 2018 Allsvenskan On 24 November 2017, Dalkurd chose to move their senior team operations to Uppsala, some 140 kilometers southeast of Borlänge, to play at the new ground Nya Studenternas IP following its opening in 2020. In the 2018 season, however, Dalkurd played their home games at Gavlevallen in Gävle, some 110 kilometers north of Uppsala (and roughly 110 kilometers east of Borlänge).

The Dalkurd idrottsaktiebolag[sv] DK Elit was declared bankrupt in August 2024, which made the team being demoted one level at the end of the season; having already been relegated from Division 2 the team ended up in Division 4 for the 2025 season. Upplands Fotbollförbund later decided to exclude Dalkurd from Division 4. The club then decided to pause all of its activity in 2025.

Season to season

Supporters

In 2010, the official supporter club from Västerås for Dalkurd FF with the name "Roj Fans" was founded. They are an independent non-profit organisation.

In 2018, they set the record for the lowest average attendance ever – 1,058 – in the history of the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan. The record was previously held by Västerås IK, who had an average attendance of 1,125 in the inaugural season 1924–25. The game against BK Häcken with an attendance of 202 people also became the second lowest attendance in the history of the league.

In 2019, they set the record for the lowest average attendance in the history of Superettan – 168 people.

Affiliated clubs

In 2019, Dalkurd FF announced a cooperation with Uppsala Kurd FK as part of strengthening the presence of Dalkurd FF in the Uppsala region. One of the aims of the cooperation was to make a natural way for talents in Uppsala to become a part of Dalkurd.

Crest

The crest consist of a round circle with the flag of Kurdistan as well as two Dalecarlian horses. "Dal" and "Kurd FF" is spelled out in white letters on the top and bottom of the crest, as well as the year 2004.

Kit

The traditional home colors of Dalkurd are all green. The Away kit is traditionally white but have previously been black, yellow and pink in the 2019 season. The club's kit manufacturer is Adidas.

Players

Current squad

As of 7 August 2024

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

Notable former players

• David Abidor (born 1992)

Academy

• Deven Rashed
• Edvard Ståhlberg

Personnel

Honours

Attendances

In recent seasons Dalkurd FF have had the following average attendances:

* Attendances are provided in the Publikliga sections of the Svenska Fotbollförbundet website.

External links

• Official website