After five years in the position, Håkan Mild chooses to step down as club director of IFK Göteborg. The 54-year-old will stay for the rest of the season and will thereafter be available for handover and, if needed, support the club in the next step.
"It's mixed feelings, but above all, I feel a great pride over where we stand today", he says in a statement on the club's website and continues:
"IFK Göteborg means a lot to me. I feel the same for the people I have worked side by side with. That's what I will take with me moving forward".
"Grateful"
Furthermore, Mild directs praise to the people within the club.
"We have taken big steps together, not just this year, and I am most impressed by the people who have dared and been able to stand up for Blåvitt. Then I mean at Kamratgården, in the academy, in the board and among blue-white supporters who really put the association first".
The recruitment of a new club director has already begun, the club announces. The association's chairman Magnus Nilsson directs a big thank you to Mild:
"We are grateful and proud of the work Håkan has done for IFK Göteborg. He has had a central role in professionalizing the operations. He has always worked for Blåvitt's best and without personal prestige. Håkan has stood up for association democracy and our association is in a much better place today than when he took over as club director".
Threatened – received police protection
Discontent with Håkan Mild has long been simmering among parts of Blåvitt's supporters, where demands for his resignation have at times been loud. The situation has also escalated beyond criticism, where Mild has received threats, and in the summer, a person was convicted in court. At the end of September, the club director also received police protection, according to TV4.
Mild has a long history within the association. He has previously been sports manager for nine years and also represented IFK Göteborg as a player for twelve seasons.
He made a comeback in IFK Göteborg in January 2021, after seven years outside the club. During his return, the results have been mixed – two eighth places were followed by two 13th places, where the team barely avoided qualifying in the last round. This season, the wind has turned. Blåvitt is currently parked in fourth place in the football Allsvenskan.
