The team has qualified for four group stages of the UEFA Champions League, and reached the semi-finals of the 1985–86 European Cup.

IFK Göteborg's most successful period was from 1982 to 1996, when the team prospered in European football and won 10 out of 15 Swedish championships.

IFK Göteborg was founded on 4 October 1904, at Café Olivedal in the Annedal district of Linnéstaden in downtown Gothenburg.

[6] That year IFK played teams from outside Sweden for the first time, meeting the Danish clubs Østerbro BK and Boldklubben af 1893.

The early IFK Göteborg team had no trainer; the club gained its first such official in 1921, when Hungarian manager Sándor Bródy was hired.

The first Swedish official national league, Allsvenskan, started in late 1924, the year the legendary Filip Johansson made his debut for IFK Göteborg.

[11] IFK won their first Allsvenskan title in 1934–35, the ten previous seasons of the league saw the club finish in the top four.

Back in the highest division, IFK finished second, with the league continuing despite the outbreak of World War II.

As happened the last time IFK played in a lower league, they were promoted directly back to Allsvenskan after one season in Division 2.

[16] After an unglamorous decade, IFK were led by manager and retired footballer Bertil Johansson to a surprising championship title in 1969.

But after hard work from board member Anders Bernmar and others to get the club on the right track, IFK were promoted to Allsvenskan in 1976.

After reinforcing the team with several expensive players,[21] including Thomas Wernerson and Stig Fredriksson, IFK had finished second in the league and reached the quarter-finals in the UEFA Cup as 1981 came to an end.

1982 then became a turbulent season as the whole board was replaced and the club almost went bankrupt, even needing to borrow money from the official supporter's association to travel to Valencia to play the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup.

IFK managed to field a strong team for a couple of years and won gold in the league in both 1983 and 1984, and the cup in 1983.

IFK advanced to the group stage of the Champions League, where they faced FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Galatasaray.

IFK Göteborg are still considered to be one of the "Big Three" in Swedish football, along with Malmö FF and AIK, despite only having won the Allsvenskan title once during the last 20 years.

The small amount of sponsor logos, together with the longtime use of blue and white stripes, has made the kit a classic in Swedish football.

[39] These main elements have not been modified since then, but during the years several different designs of the crest have been used, occasionally having the lion facing the sinister side.

[50] Karlsrofältet was mainly used as a training pitch in the early years of the club, until IFK stopped using the field completely in 1910.

[53] A number of additions were made over the years, and by 2004 the floor area of Kamratgården had grown to 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft), a nearby indoor hall and two full-size grass pitches.

[53] The buildings were demolished in February 2011, and a new modern facility was opened on 18 March 2012, housing an administrative and sports area on two floors and 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft).

[55] The indoor full-size football pitch at Prioritet Serneke Arena is also, on occasion, used for first-team friendly matches.

Historically, IFK Göteborg's main home stadium has been Gamla Ullevi, where the majority of the competitive games have been played.

[58] On 11 April 2009 IFK Göteborg played their first game on the new Gamla Ullevi stadium and won against Djurgården with 6–0 in front of 18,276 spectators.

During the 1909 season IFK Göteborg also used Örgryte's then home ground, Balders Hage, due to a conflict with the owners of Idrottsplatsen.

[61] Idrottsplatsen fell into decline due to poor leadership and a troubled economy in the 1910s,[51] and a decision was made to completely renovate the arena with the help of outside sponsorship and funding.

It was the home ground of IFK Göteborg until 1958, when Nya Ullevi, built for the 1958 World Cup held in Sweden, was opened.

Due to a number of seasons with low attendance in Swedish football in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a move back to Gamla Ullevi was made in 1992.

After a 2–3 loss, the fans fought with the Borås police, before returning home to Gothenburg and disturbing a wartime blackout exercise.

IFK Göteborg is part of Göteborgsalliansen, an alliance including two other major teams from Gothenburg: GAIS and Örgryte IS.