History of AIK Fotboll
[citation needed] Two years after the start of the "tävlingsserie", 1904, twelve teams participated in the championship, one of them being AIK for the first time since winning it.
Another couple of years passed by without any success for AIK, until 1923, when they won their sixth title after beating IFK Eskilstuna in the final.
This however meant that Malmö FF advanced to the first place of the All-time Allsvenskan table, a position previously held by AIK.
Even though – or maybe due to the fact that – AIK was the only Stockholm side in the top flight that year, the team had their largest average attendance since the mid-1980s.
In 1994, AIK aimed to regain the league title with a new manager, Hasse Backe, and a big signing, Jesper Jansson.
But after three straight losses the team parked mid-table and eventually ended sixth, fifteen points behind winners IFK Göteborg.
After seven games, AIK were at the top of the league, in the Swedish Cup final, and had three players (Dick Lidman, Ola Andersson, Jan Eriksson) capped for the national team.
The first leg, at Camp Nou, started in the best possible way for AIK with new signing Nebojsa Novakovic forcing the opposing team's full back to make a weak home pass which Pascal Simpson converted into a goal.
AIK were now considered the main contender to IFK Göteborg for the league title that year but finished a disappointing eighth.
The club was incorporated, and a slew of players were purchased, among them Andreas Andersson who was bought from Newcastle for circa 2 million euros, a record amount for Sweden at the time.
The name of the principal referee, Alain Sars, is forever emblazoned in the memory of all AIK fans present or watching the game on TV.
Richard Money, an Englishman whose only prior managerial experience was running a fourth-tier English side, Scunthorpe, ten years previously, replaced Uhrin for the 2003 season.
After a legendary Derby-of-the-twins performance where AIK were 3–0 down but managed to score three goals and get a draw, the club only won one of the following twelve games.
Their fate was sealed after losing 3–0 at home to Öis, surrounded by empty stands due to the pitch being invaded by disappointed fans in the previous game, a derby against Hammarby.
Some 6 000 AIK fans had traveled the mere 100 kilometres from Stockholm to witness the game, which finished in a celebratory and non-violent pitch invasion.
A highlight of the season was the 3–1 derby win over Djurgården in front of a crowd of some 34 000 at Råsunda, and featuring a dazzling performance by talismanic Ghanaian midfielder Derek Boateng.
Sorely missing the Brazilian striker, AIK drew four times in a row, falling out of the title race with half a dozen games left.
Though unrelated, the two connected immediately and posed a serious threat to any defense they encountered, Teteh for example firing a memorable four-goal salvo against Halmstads BK in a 4–2 win, and scoring 12 goals in 34 appearances.
Not satisfied with this, the board of AIK Fotboll made public a goal for the 2016 season that could also be interpreted as a requirement for the club: to win that year's championship, a decision manager Alm stated he was not invited to participate in, much to his chagrin.
Debuting in the aforementioned away game at Malmö, Obasi scored six goals in ten appearances, and was widely considered the league's most skillful striker.
Thanks to his young age and goal scoring abilities, Isak was on the want list for most of Europe's top clubs that year, and was extremely close to accepting an offer from Real Madrid.
Leading up to the 2017 season, AIK signed Kristoffer Olsson, captain of Sweden's U21 national team in the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
And after having scored 5 goals in 16 appearances in China's second tier, Chinedu Obasi was released prematurely by Shenzhen and became a free agent.
An immediate and arguably unexpected hit, Lindkvist posed just as strong a threat to the opponents as the ever-improving Daniel Sundgren did on the opposite wing.
The defense had been solid all year, but towards the end AIK also finally got their earlier weak spots, the central midfield and the strikers, to gel and flourish, giving fans hope for a successful 2018 season.
Another player who left the club after 11 seasons was the captain Nils-Eric Johansson, who had to retire from football in February 2018, due to a heart condition.
After suffering major injuries on several key defenders, Robin Jansson was recruited from third-tier Oddevold who had recently hosted AIK in a cup fixture.
Jansson quickly secured a spot in AIK's back three, showing off a left foot that delivered lethal crosses.
AIK came into the summer break in third place, however, with last year's signing Tarik Elyounoussi at the top of the league's Golden Boot on nine goals.
Leading up to the 2020 season, AIK lost Elyounoussi as well as first-choice goalkeeper Oscar Linnér, but welcomed back Ghanese midfielder Ebenezer Ofori after four years in the Bundesliga and MLS.
