After spending the entire 2000s decade outside the top flight, Kristianstad enjoyed a massive resurgence in the 2010s, culminating in four consecutive golds from 2015 to 2018.

[2] IFK Kristianstad was founded on 7 November 1899[3] as a multi-sport club by Adolf Johnsson, a secondary school pupil from Broby.

IFK Kristianstad competed against school and armed forces teams, as well as rival clubs.

[8] At the time the Swedish Championship (Svenska mästerskapet, SM) was decided as a knockout tournament independent of the league.

[9] In the league, Kristianstad reached the top division, at the time known as Allsvenskan, in 1936–37, but were immediately relegated.

[10] Meyer left as coach after that season and former SM winner Eskil Gustafsson was signed from Majornas IK as player-coach.

[10] They won their first SM gold in the same year, defeating second-tier IFK Uppsala in the final by 17–8.

[10] Behind this success was a core of players from the club's youth system, such as Carl-Erik Stockenberg, Åke Moberg, Bertil Rönndahl and Erik Nordström.

[18] In 1948–49 they finished second in the league again,[10] but their title defence in SM ended in the semi-finals against IFK Lidingö.

[20] After that season, Gustafsson was replaced by co-player-coaches Karl Fridlundh, Moberg and Evert Sjunnesson.

[8] In their first season in charge, the club finished third in the league[10] and reached the SM final, where they were beaten by second-tier team AIK.

[21] The following season they won the league[10] and set up a re-match against AIK in the SM final after eliminating cross-town rivals Näsby IF in the semi-finals.

[10] In 1954, three Kristianstad players (Moberg, Sjunnesson and Stockenberg) were members of the Swedish team that won the country's first World Championship.

[7] By this time, a playoff tournament featuring the top 4 in the league had been introduced to determine the champions.

The 1970s was the first time that the club featured a significant number of players from outside the Kristianstad area, including Thomas Persson, Einar Jakobsson and Lars-Göran Jönsson.

[26] In 1971–72, Sjunnesson coached the team to a fourth place in the league, earning them a spot in the playoffs,[8][10] but they were eliminated by SoIK Hellas in the semi-finals.

[27] In 1972, Kristianstad players Sten Olsson and Persson were included in Sweden's squad for the Olympics.

In 1994–95, coach Urban Harju led the team to sixth place in the spring league,[8][10] which earned them a spot in the playoffs.

[29] In 1996–97, now with Dragan Mihailovic as coach,[8] they finished fifth in the spring league,[10] but again lost the quarter-final series.

However, the tax evasion trial was cancelled due to one of the suspects, whom the prosecutor believed to hold key information, falling severely ill. By 2003, the club had stabilised its economy and paid its debts.

They reached the SM final by upsetting league winners Guif by three games to two in a close semi-final series.

[47] They improved to third in the league[48] and reached their second consecutive final, which they went on to lose against Drott in a very close match by 28–27.

[61] In the 2016–17 Champions League, Kristianstad were again placed in the top 16, but finished last in the group, a single point behind Zagreb for the knockout stage spots.

[66] Lindgren resigned in January 2019 due to disagreements with the club, after they had decided not to extend his contract after the 2018–19 season.

[70] In the 2010s, they had a lot of success in spite of frequently losing important players to foreign teams,[45] including six full internationals in 2016,[71] Tollbring and Nebojša Simić in 2017[72] and Albin Lagergren and Tim Sørensen in 2018.

[73] Vranjes was sacked in December 2020[74] and replaced by interim coach Ulf Larsson until the end of the season.

The logo features a four-pointed star, which is a symbol for IFK,[80] on a shield split diagonally in a white and a blue half, along with the club's name and year of establishment.

The separation between the spectators and the field was poor and it was possible for fans to trip opposing players.

[86] Between 1947 and 1964, Kristianstad played at Sporthallen, which was created from a rebuilt horse riding arena and only intended as a temporary solution.

The record attendance for Kristianstad at Idrottshallen was 2701, well above the allowed capacity of the arena, in the final series against HK Drott in 1975.