With up to ten Australians competing in top-level domestic Nordic competitions in 2020, Beyond 90 will be keeping readers up to date with how our players and the teams they are playing in are faring.
The action was all in Norway this week, with Cup semi-finals featuring two teams with Aussies, and the first leg of a relegation battle featuring another.
With the remainder of the final Toppserien round to be played on December 6th, attention turned this week to the NM Cup semi-finals.
Karly Roestbakken was an unused substitute – still recovering from her foot injury – as LSK Kvinner won their way into the NM Cup final by defeating Sandviken 2-1 at home on Saturday night.
The locals were comfortably up 2-0 at half time but had to withstand a more determined opponent in the second half, managing to claim the semi-final win despite Sandviken pulling a goal back.
CUPFINALEN HER KOMMER VI‼️‼️‼️ Vi ses på Ullevaal stadion den 13. desember😎 #forzabirdsa #viosssammen #cupen2020 @Kvinnefotball1 pic.twitter.com/vyo2eqsrJZ
— LSK Kvinner FK (@LSKKvinner) November 21, 2020
It was quite the week for LSK Kvinner as they also discovered their opponent in the UEFA Women’s Champion League Round of 32: Belarusian team FC Minsk. Games are played on the 9/10 and 15/16 December 2020.
In the other semi-final, Dutch international Sherida Spitse got Vålerenga off to a flying start in their home game against Avaldsnes, with two goals in the first half-hour. They were four goals up just after half time and cruised to a 4-0 victory. Clare Polkinghorne played the full 90 minutes for Avaldsnes.
The NM Cup Final on December 13th should be one to watch. Spitse will want to make her last game for Toppserien ladder leaders Vålerenga count – she is returning to Holland to play for Ajax next season – and opponents LSK Kvinner will be looking for some silverware to mark 2020 after a Toppserien campaign that was below the standards they have come to expect (as Toppserien champions for the last six seasons).
The first leg of the Toppserien relegation playoffs was also contested on the weekend.
Nikola Orgill was not on the teamsheet for Kolbotn (but is still in Norway) as they dealt comfortably with First Division second placegetter Medkila at home 5-0. Kolbotn were 4-0 up at half-time before scoring their fifth in the 52nd minute and closing the game out.
The second leg of the relegation playoff is played on Thursday.
Round 18 results (no Toppserien games this week)
(teams with Australian players in the squad are shown in bold)
| RØA | 2 – 0 | Kolbotn |
| Klepp | Postponed | Rosenborg |
| LSK Kvinner | Postponed | Lyn |
| Sandviken | Postponed | Avaldsnes |
| Vålerenga | Postponed | Arna-Bjørnar |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Vålerenga | 17 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 35 | 14 | 21 | 35 |
| 2 | Rosenborg | 17 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 32 | 15 | 17 | 35 |
| 3 | Avaldsnes | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 17 | 14 | 34 |
| 4 | LSK Kvinner | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 29 | 22 | 7 | 29 |
| 5 | Sandviken | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 23 | 2 | 27 |
| 6 | Lyn | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 23 | 30 | -7 | 18 |
| 7 | Klepp | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 31 | -13 | 18 |
| 8 | Arna-Bjørnar | 17 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 25 | -12 | 17 |
| 9 | Kolbotn | 18 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 29 | -11 | 13 |
| 10 | RØA | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 33 | -18 | 12 |
The 2020 Swedish Damallsvenskan season has been completed.
Emily Gielnik‘s Vittsjö GIK finished the season in fifth place. It was a season to remember for Gielnik, scoring 8 goals in 16 games.
Elise Kellond-Knight may have succumbed early in the season to an ACL injury, but her Kristianstad team finished the league in third place.
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Göteborg | 22 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 55 | 10 | 45 | 54 |
| 2 | Rosengard | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 57 | 14 | 43 | 47 |
| 3 | Kristianstad | 22 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 48 | 29 | 19 | 45 |
| 4 | Linköping | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 32 | 34 | -2 | 39 |
| 5 | Vittsjö | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 33 | 35 | -2 | 31 |
| 6 | Växjö DFF | 22 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 32 | -14 | 27 |
| 7 | Örebro | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 26 | 36 | -10 | 26 |
| 8 | Pitea | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 21 | 33 | -12 | 25 |
| 9 | Djurgarden | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 31 | -11 | 24 |
| 10 | Eskilstuna United | 22 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 31 | 35 | -4 | 23 |
| 11 | Umeå IK | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 21 | 40 | -19 | 23 |
| 12 | Uppsala | 22 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 21 | 54 | -33 | 10 |
The Úrvalsdeild Kvenna 2020 season was abandoned due to COVID-19 concerns with two rounds to play. Final standings as at the final played round have been used to determine premiers, Champions League places, and teams relegated.
Laura Hughes‘ newly-promoted Thróttur Reykjavik finished in fifth place and retain their place in the league.
Angie Beard‘s KR Reykjavik finished bottom of the league and are one of two teams relegated. Even though they had played two games less than some other teams, they would not have been able to lift themselves out of the bottom two, no matter the results in the two games not played.
Ladder
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | For | Against | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Breiðablik | 15 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 66 | 3 | 63 | 42 |
| 2 | Valur R | 16 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 43 | 11 | 32 | 40 |
| 3 | UMF Selfoss | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 24 | 20 | 4 | 22 |
| 4 | Fylkir | 16 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 22 | 29 | -7 | 21 |
| 5 | Thróttur | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 28 | 34 | -6 | 18 |
| 6 | Stjarnan | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 25 | 34 | -9 | 18 |
| 7 | Þór/KA | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 20 | 37 | -17 | 18 |
| 8 | ÍBV | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 39 | -23 | 17 |
| 9 | FH Hafnarfjörður | 16 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 19 | 35 | -16 | 16 |
| 10 | KR Reykjavik | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 15 | 36 | -21 | 10 |
Similarly to Iceland, all remaining games in the Danish Elitedivisionen are marked as cancelled for now due to coronavirus concerns.
The official site reads (translated) :
Women’s football on a break.
We play again for the Spring of 2021.
As stated on the official Fortuna Hjørring site, the league’s last two rounds will be held at the beginning of spring 2021.
Indiah-Paige Riley‘s Fortuna sits third in the league, and have the UEFA Women’s Champions League to look forward to in December 2020, having drawn Slovenian club WFC Pomurje in the Round of 32.
Hannah Bacon‘s AGF Aarhus are currently second last in their Elitedivisionen campaign.
Ladder
| 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.
