On 24 February 1910 nineteen young men gathered at a ground in Malmö and founded a new team. On 24 February 2027 Malmö FF turns 117. It is Sweden's most successful club and the only Nordic side ever to play in a European Cup final.

Nineteen young men at Malmö IP

The roots lie in BK Idrott, a youth team born in 1905, when the city encouraged young people to play organised football. In 1909 its members joined the football section of IFK Malmö. Disagreements soon followed, however, and the arrangement did not last.

So 19 former BK Idrott members met at Malmö IP and founded Malmö Fotbollförening, meaning "Malmö Football Association". Werner Mårtensson became the first chairman.

How red turned to blue

At first the team wore BK Idrott's blue and white stripes with white shorts. Only six months later it switched to red and white stripes with black shorts, to show it was a new club, and kept them until 1920.

Then came the colour that made it famous: sky blue, "himmelsblått". That is where the nicknames "Di Blåe", "the Blues" in the Scanian dialect, and "Himmelsblått" come from.

The shield-shaped crest appeared on the shirt in the 1940s. Today it carries two stars for more than 20 league titles, but only on match shirts.

From punishment to 49 unbeaten

In the 1932-33 season the club gave its players watches as Christmas presents. The FA saw this as a breach of the strict amateur rules and Malmö were relegated. The club believed that local rivals IFK had reported it, and the feud lasted for years.

The answer came on the pitch. In 1944 the club won its first title, and from May 1949 to June 1951 it went unbeaten in 49 matches, including 23 straight wins.

Later came Bo Larsson, with 546 appearances and 289 goals, the top scorer in the club's history.

The night in Munich

In the 1970s the bench belonged to Englishman Bob Houghton, who built a team using only players born within 60 kilometres of the city. In 1978-79 Malmö knocked out Monaco, Dynamo Kyiv, Wisła Kraków and Austria Wien.

On 30 May 1979, in the final in Munich, they lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest to a Trevor Francis goal. It was the first and only time a Nordic team had gone that far, and 31-year-old Houghton became the youngest coach in a major European final.

Because Forest did not play in the 1979 Intercontinental Cup, Malmö took their place and lost to Olimpia of Paraguay. The same year the team was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.

Three grounds and one Zlatan

Malmö played at Malmö IP, which it shared with IFK, until 1958, then at Malmö Stadion, built for the 1958 World Cup, and since 2009 at its current home, Eleda Stadion.

Its academy produced Zlatan Ibrahimović, who was sold to Ajax in 2001 for a club record fee. In 2014 and 2015 the team also played in the Champions League group stage.

Celebrate with us

From the red stripes of 1910 to the sky blue that all of Scandinavia recognises, Malmö have written a story full of titles, rivalries and one unforgettable night in Munich.

Happy 117th birthday, Di Blåe! The sky over Skåne will always be blue.

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Malmö FF v Hammarby IF at Malmö's stadium – Bajenmonen, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.