When Silkeborg IF, playing in red shirts, was promoted to the top tier in Denmark back in 1987 a national daily noted, that:
it would be a surprise, should Silkeborg be awarded a corner kick.
However, the club went on to be one of the most successful Danish football clubs the rest of the millennium, only to fade away from the top for almost 10 years ago.
What has happened since then? How have the club and its fans coped with it? And where does that leave the club today? But before we take a look at the recent history and present state of Silkeborg IF, let us look at how it all started.
A small club becoming big
Silkeborg IF, or in short SIF, was founded on 26th of April 1917, and there’s not much to tell from the first 80 years of its existence, where SIF mostly was playing outside the divisions. A couple of visits to 3rd and 2nd division can be recorded, with the best period from 1966 and approximately 10 years on, reaching the semi-final of the Danish Cup once.
1982 should be the defining moment, where things start to change. Up till then, football in Silkeborg had been amateur. But now the professional public company SIF Football Support was created and professional football was introduced in Silkeborg. In fact, professional football in Denmark was only introduced 4 years earlier.
Now things moved fast. Promotion in 1983 to 3rd division and the following year to 2nd division, where the team established itself before finally completing the rise by being promoted to the top tier, 1st division, in 1987.
And it did not stop here. Silkeborg established itself in the Danish top tier, which from 1991 was called Superliga, and even won it for the first and so far only time in 1994. SIF also played in Europe some times during these years, playing among others AS Roma, Dynamo Kiev and Zaragoza.
In 1994 Silkeborg established the first Football College in Denmark, and several players who made it to better clubs and played on the national team had their breakthrough at Silkeborg. Most notably Jakob Kjeldberg, Martin Laursen, Jacob Laursen, Morten Bruun, Peter Kjaer and Henrik Pedersen. Silkeborg also had high profile managers in people as Viggo Jensen, Bo Johansson, Preben Elkjaer and Sepp Piontek.
Silkeborg was known as a technical side and a well organized team, capable of controlling the match but who also managed to play excellent counter attacking football when needed. And Silkeborg has always been extremely dangerous on free kicks and corners.
Trick corner against Herfoelge
In other words, Things were going well and looking bright, as the new millennium took its beginning. But dark clouds were ahead…
A good start…
The season 2000/01 was one of the absolute best in Silkeborg’s history. The team finished 3rd in the league and won at the same time the Danish Cup – for the first and so far only time.
…but a terrible continuation
But that season should be the last great one for Silkeborg. The following 10 years it won no trophies or medals, and spends three years in the 1st division – the second tier in Denmark. The position of the team since the 2000/01 season is shown on this graph (there are 12 teams in the Danish SuperLiga – 2 teams get relegated each season):
The statistic for number of goals scored is interesting. Normally one would expect a team to score most goals at home. And Silkeborg did so until the season 2006/07, where the team for the first time scored more goals away than at home. This coincided with the relegation of Silkeborg to 1st division where it spends two seasons. When it returned to the Superliga in 2009/10, it produced a season with more goals at home than away – and stayed clear of relegation.
Not surprisingly the average home attendance fluctuates according to the performance and to the excitement. As witnessed by the graph just below, the average attendance is highest the seasons the club is represented in the Superliga and it has something to play for. The graph also shows that the supporters of Silkeborg really aren’t that loyal. When the team delivers bad results or isn’t represented in the Superliga – they stay away. Especially witnessed by the low attendance in the 2001/02 season where the team finished 9th after finishing 3rd the year before.
What next?
There are more questions surrounding today’s Silkeborg IF than answers.
Concerning performance on the pitch it is right now probably as good as Silkeborg can hope. They are currently on 6th place in the Danish Superliga, and are heading towards another season in the Danish top tier. And why can’t Silkeborg expect more? This is linked to the financial situation of the club. Silkeborg is geographical placed in the middle of Jutland, with 8 other football and handball teams within 50 km. radius all competing for more or less the same sponsor money and supporters. And as a company registered at the stock exchange Silkeborg needs to earn money.
The Silkeborg management had hoped, that their investment in local property development project at “Papirfabrikken” would prove a major source of revenue for the club, but bank crises have made its impact in Silkeborg as well, and the net-revenue in 2009 originating from property investment was only DKK 1,4 mio. (approx 0,2 mio. euro). Leaving the club with a deficit of DKK 7,1 mio. (approx 0,95 mio. euro). The expectation for 2010 is a positive result around 0-1 mio. DKK. Without the property the expected result would have been negative with approximately 4-6 mio. DKK. (0,5 – 0,8 mio. euro). In other words: The football business of Silkeborg is loosing money.
The transfer situation for Silkeborg has been quite bad for some time. Danish clubs in general, apart from FC Copenhagen, need to sell players from time to time. And with the transfer market virtually dead, it has been hard. Therefore it was good news when the club on March 13th 2011 sold central defender Jim Larsen for around DKK 8 mio. (approx 1,1 mio. euro) to the Norwegian club Rosenborg. A transfer like this means, that the club probably will earn money on its football business in 2011.
But income from transfers is disposable income. And speculation is, that the top sponsor of Silkeborg, the local bank Jyske Finans, will end its sponsorship at the end of this season. Silkeborg CEO Kent Madsen have aired the possibility of a fusion, should the supporters, local business and Silkeborg Municipality not increase its support of the club. A point of view which is not popular among the supporters.
In other words: There are plenty of challenges for the Reds from Silkeborg.
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