Exactly how many Australians will be competing in top-level domestic Nordic competitions in 2021 is unknown (four are in the frame, with more surely to be announced), but with teams now playing pre-season games, Beyond 90 will be keeping readers up to date with player movements and progress.
In Norway, LSK Kvinner‘s Karly Roestbakken is the only certainty right now as far as Aussie participation is concerned, having signed a two-year contract extension at the end of last season.
Roestbakken missed the end of the 2020 season with a heel injury but is back in full training (video credit: May Gulbrandsen, LSK Kvinner).
LSK have played two practice games recently. They first defeated newly promoted Stabaek 1-2 away with captain Emilie Haavi and new recruit Camilla Linberg (from Lyn Lightning) scoring. They followed that up with a 5-0 victory over Kolbotn this weekend in the LSK Hall.
LSK open their 2021 campaign at home against Lyn on March 20th.
Roestbakken is no doubt excited by the prospect of being part of the final 16 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. The draw for this round will be held on February 16th, and LSK is listed in the unseeded group of eight. The two-legged matches are scheduled for 3/4 and 10/11 March.
The 2020 Toppserien season also saw the talents of Teagan Micah (Arna-Bjornar and the Toppserien team of the year) and Nikola Orgill (Kolbotn), plus the Avaldsnes pair of Katrina Gorry and Clare Polkinghorne. Gorry’s pregnancy means she won’t be headed back this year and there is no word yet of the others returning, although Polkinghorne spoke fondly of her season at Avaldsnes recently.
The plan for the 2021 Toppserien competition is to implement the league structure that was decided upon in 2019 but unable to be realised in 2020 due to Covid. In a nutshell, there are 18 regular season rounds followed by a six-round playoff series played in two tiers, and two teams will be relegated. Details will be supplied in a future Beyond 90 Nordic Wrap.
The 2020 Swedish Damallsvenskan season was memorable in very different ways for the two Aussies participating in it.
It’s fantastic to see Elise Kellond-Knight with boots in hand and excited about her prospects of playing for Kristianstads in 2021, having suffered an ACL injury in the early rounds of 2020.
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Round 1 of the season commences April 18th, with Kristianstads away to Eskilstuna United. Prior to that however, the Svenska Cup continues and Kristianstads are away to lower-tier club Alingsas FC United on March 14th, followed by Vittsjö GIK seven days later at home.
Fellow Matilda Emily Gielnik may not have been there at the start of Vittsjö GIK’s 2020 campaign, but her presence was instrumental in their climb up the ladder into 5th place. There has been no indication yet of Gielnik backing up for the club in 2021.
Two Aussies participated in the 2020 edition of the Úrvalsdeild Kvenna – Canberra United’s Laura Hughes and Melbourne Victory’s Angie Beard.
It is too early to tell if either player is contemplating returning or if other players are looking to come to Iceland this year.
The official site has the season commencing May 4th, with the final round to be concluded September 12th.
Denmark is the home of the third and fourth known Australian based players in Nordic football in 2021, both of whom also played in Denmark last year.
The first is New Zealand born Indiah-Paige Riley of Fortuna Hjørring.
As stated on the official Fortuna Hjørring site, the league’s last two rounds of 2020 will be held at the beginning of Spring 2021, and Fortuna sits third in the league. The first of these two games are scheduled for March 7th against KoldingQ away, with the final fixture at home against HB Køge.
Indi also has Round of 16 Champions League games to look forward to. Fortuna is in the unseeded group of eight for the draw to be held Tuesday, February 16th. The two-legged matches are scheduled for 3/4 and 10/11 March.
Hannah Bacon played for AGF Aarhus in 2020, and as of October 2020 is still listed as an official squad member (including on the AGF website).
The club posted recently that they are in Vejen for a training camp.
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AGF’s remaining season 2020 games are on March 6th away to Brøndby IF, and at home a week later against KoldingQ.
There are no confirmed dates for the commencement of the 2021 season.
Ladder (Season 2020, to be concluded)
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | HB Køge | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 14 | 18 | 26 |
| 2 | Brøndby IF | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 26 |
| 3 | Fortuna Hjørring | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 12 | 19 | 25 |
| 4 | Kolding BK | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 28 | 17 | 11 | 19 |
| 5 | Nordsjælland | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 20 | -1 | 18 |
| 6 | Thy – Thistedq | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 20 | -6 | 13 |
| 7 | AGF Aarhus | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 30 | -18 | 9 |
| 8 | AaB | 12 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 36 | -31 | 1 |
Follow all our coverage of Aussies and Ferns Abroad here, and Aussies in Nordic football here.
