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Oscar Melander

October 24, 2015 Email

Oscar Melander



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@OscarAMelander

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The Swedish Damallsvenskan (First Division) was won by Rosengård in 2015, which was their 3rd title in a row and 5th title the last 6 years. This kind of domination is generally not common in Swedish soccer, but for some reason it is actually common in Sweden’s women’s soccer. We had Malmö FF in the early 90s, Älvsjö AIK in the late 90s, Umeå IK during the 2000’s and since 2010 FC Rosengård (previously named LdB FC Malmö). It was positive to see that there were so many diverse teams fighting for the title for such a long time period. The teams that impressed me most were Eskilstuna, which was established 2002 and started their 2nd season in Damallsvenskan, unfortunately without the Canadian defender Allysha Chapman, who decided to join the NWSL side Houston Dash. But the progress for Eskilstuna continued from earlier years and they ended up in 2nd place which probably still is a bit disappointment for them after being at the top of the table just a couple of weeks ago. I was also impressed by Piteå who ended up in 3rd place (9th place last year) which makes them the best team from the northern parts of Sweden. The team that I’m a bit disappointed in is KIF Örebro, who went from 2nd place last year to a 5th place this season. As I see it, Örebro is a mid-table team so perhaps my expectations for this season was a bit unfair. Especially when reports says that they have some financial problems, however they are certainly not the only club that have that problem. One of the differences from last year is that Stephanie Labbé is not playing for Örebro anymore. Labbé conceded only 14 goals and was one of the best player in Damallsvenskan last year. To see (and hear) Labbé guide her teammates in defense is something one could make an instructional training video off. With that said on the review of the 2015 season, below is a list of Canucks competing in Sweden and how their season's played out. Marie-Eve Nault, KIF Örebro



Nault joined KIF Örebro after the World Cup, it is her 3rd season in Örebro. She made her comeback for Örebro in their 1-0 win at home against AIK. She played 13 games in the league, three national/regional cup games and two games in the Champions League. Personally, I think it was great to see Nault back in the KIF Örebro jersey. The main reason for that is so she could “harvest the fruit” from the successful last year and play in the Champions league. Örebro defeated PAOK from Greece with 8-0 (Away: 3-0 & Home: 5-0). I can really appreciate Nault, as she is not the player that gets all the attention or the headlines (smart people rarely gets that right?). Nault is for me the kind of player that knows her role in the game, and perhaps she is the kind of player that we see less of both in the men’s and women’s soccer. She also has a good eye over for the game and a good game intelligence (one yellow card in the last two seasons in 33 games says everything doesn’t it?). Perhaps a career as a coach in the future? I hope to see her back in Sweden next year as well that is for sure. Shelina Zadorsky, Vittsjö GIK



Several experts expected to see Vittsjö ending up in a better place than the 9th place that they ended up in at the end of the season. Some may say that the sporting results have been a bit disappointing for Vittsjö, but their financial status is definitely impressive. If the club can maintain and perhaps even increase their financial power, then they will definitely have a good chance to be a stable mid-table team in the future. This would likely be great for the small village of Vittsjö. Let us focus on our Canadian defender Shelina Zadorsky. For some reason, Zadorsky decided to leave the sun and heat in Australia to join Vittsjö GIK. Zadorsky became an important player for the club immediately and participated in 18 of 22 games during the season (17 of them from start). She had a minor injury in the middle of the season, but as soon as she could, she was back in the starting lineup for Vittsjö which perhaps is another sign of her status at the club. Vittsjö might not progress as quick as Eskilstuna does, but the financial status does make the club interesting to follow in the future. I hope the horrible Swedish summer didn´t scare Zadorsky off too much and that she will be a part of Vittsjö in the future as well. Josée Bélanger, FC Rosengård



As mentioned earlier, FC Rosengård is the powerhouse of Swedish women's soccer at the moment. But as basically all teams in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan, Rosengård is experiencing economic problems, which perhaps was one of the main reasons why they had to release key players like Anja Mittag and Ramona Bachmann during the season. For the second year in a row, FCR also had to go and ask the municipality for cash just so they could afford to travel to the away games in Champions League. As I mentioned earlier, FCR dropped two of their key players during the summer. Their replacement? One Canadian in Josée Bélanger but even more surprisingly (at least for me) the Macedonian striker Nataša Andonova. The latter scored 12 goals in 13 league games. But let's once again focus on the Canadians.



Bélanger signed for FC Rosengård and played 9 games in the league (7 from start), scored 2 goals and made 3 assists. She also played from start in both Champions League games against the Finnish side PK-35 and scored 3 goals in the rematch at home field. 5 points in 9 league games is not bad at all for a player that arrived to a new country and a new team so late in the season. It might be really unfair to say that I was hoping to see more points from her, but Rosengård is after all the most dominant team in Sweden with several international team players (Marta for example). Her contract ends in the end of November and it will be very interesting to see what she can achieve if she got the chance to come back next season as well. But who knows... with players like Marta in the squad you might think that FCR have deep pockets, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Justine Bernier, AIK



As an AIK fan, I have to be honest, I really enjoy to go and watch the women’s team even though the results too often is a disappointment. What is disturbing to me is the way that the women’s team is handled off the pitch. AIK is, after all, one of the biggest clubs not just in Sweden but in Scandinavia. They seem to have difficulties to get enough revenue to have a squad that can at least fight in the middle of the table, but what the club is good at (both the men’s and women’s team) is to give young players a chance in the senior squad. As I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of things in AIK that isn’t as good as it could and SHOULD be.



One of those is the defending, so I was both happy and a bit worried when AIK signed Justine Bernier. Great to see a Canadian keeper on both the men’s and women’s team, which must be the first time that has happened for a European club? But I was also worried that it’s almost impossible to perform under the prevailing circumstances in AIK. Bernier played 12 games (11 L 1 D 0 W). Unfortunately, she was injured during the season and she had difficulties to get back in the starting lineup after that. AIK announced on the 3rd of September that Bernier would leave the club in sad but not surprising news.