Nybro Vikings IF
Wikipedia - Nybro Vikings
The Nybro Vikings are an ice-hockey club based in Nybro, Sweden. The team played in the highest league in Sweden for two seasons 1968–69 and 1969–70 and the second highest league during the 70s and 80s and again for seven years from 2002 to 2009 in HockeyAllsvenskan. The team was relegated to the third division, Division 1, during the 2008-2009 season after finishing 15th in the regular season and third in the following qualification series. On 22 April 2023, the Nybro Vikings qualified for HockeyAllsvenskan again after defeating Piteå HC, 6–1, in a home game during the final round of the HockeyAllsvenskan qualification series.
History
Nybro IF was founded in 1906 as a general sports club. In 1939, the bandy club IK Ymer was established in Nybro and later transitioned to ice hockey. Ymer played its first official ice hockey season in 1946, which is considered the founding year of the current club by Nybro Vikings.
In 1955, IK Ymer became the ice hockey section of Nybro IF, following the appointment of Ymer’s chairman Evald Carlsson as chairman of Nybro IF. The ice hockey section operated under the name Nybro IF until 1998, when it became independent as Nybro IF Hockey. In 2002, the club adopted its current name, Nybro Vikings IF. Evald Carlsson, who chaired both IK Ymer and later Nybro IF, played a central role in the club's development and was instrumental in the construction of Victoriahallen in 1963.
Among many seasons in Sweden’s second division, the club also played two seasons in the top-tier league during 1968–69 and 1969–70.