The Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland) have long been a viable destination for Aussie footballers, and 2021 looks to be no different with over a dozen players choosing the Nordic countries as their playground.
All three of the remaining Nordic leagues featuring Aussies are now in the run home to the end of their seasons. Read on to see how our Aussies fared, and head to our Aussies Abroad page for information on how to view games in the Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish leagues!
While LSK Kvinner didn’t have the big seven days they wanted as a narrow Toppserien loss to Vålerenga last week was followed by a NM Cup semi-final loss to Sandviken, there were plenty of good signs coming out of both performances.
The hoped-for return of several injured players didn’t eventuate in the semi final, with Camilla Linberg, Cathrine Dahlström and Karly Roestbakken not quite ready for playing time. Nevertheless, while the Toppserien leaders can quite rightly claim the first half of the semi-final as theirs, with two headed goals and a better possession game, just like last week LSK Kvinner turned the game around in the second half and took the game to their opponents, but weren’t rewarded with any goals on this occasion.
The 2-0 win to Sandviken means they go on to play Vålerenga in the NM Cup final on November 1st, with the other semi-final resulting in a comprehensive 4-0 Vålerenga win over Rosenborg.
There were no Toppserien games this past week apart from a Round 13 catchup game between the bottom two teams. Stabæk defeated Nikola Orgill‘s Klepp 1-0 at home, and Orgill was not on the match card for the away side.
Klepp comes up against Kolbotn in Round 15, while LSK Kvinner takes on Avaldsnes.
Round 15 games
Ladder
Round 18 (of 22) in the Swedish Damallsvenskan was fought out on the weekend, and just as in Norway, with four rounds left we are fast approaching the pointy end of the season and ‘do or die’ time.
There was no better way to showcase the round than a big 1st vs 2nd match-up between home team BK Häcken (second place) and leaders FC Rosengård (highlights below).
Although played on an artificial surface, the ground was sodden and – unusually for synthetic – the ball held up at times in the water. The home side adapted best and the highlights show that the momentum was largely theirs as they seized an important 2-0 victory. This brings Häcken to within a win of Rosengard, with both teams way out in front of third place.
Teagan Micah played a full game in goals for Rosengard but Charli Grant was an unused substitute, as was Häcken’s Dylan Holmes.
Some might say the win was perfect preparation for Holmes and crew as they looked towards their midweek Champions League game against Olympique Lyonnais. The game turned out to be a great experience for Holmes personally as she came on for the final 27 minutes and shared some time on the park with Ellie Carpenter, however Häcken lost 0-3 to the French giants.
Following the Champions League game, Häcken will be up against Clare Polkinghorne‘s Vittsjö GIK on the weekend, while Rosengard face Linköpings FC.
Elise Kellond-Knight wasn’t on Hammarby IF‘s team sheet for their 1-1 home draw against tenth-placed Piteå IF, and despite the smiles in this photo, may struggle to get onto the pitch before the season is out by the look of those crutches:
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The result was a disappointing one for Hammarby, robbing them of the chance to regain fourth place on the ladder. Perhaps this weekend’s game against eleventh-placed AIK will do the trick?
Clare Polkinghorne once again played 90 minutes in an impressive 3-0 home win by Vittsjö over Linköpings FC, with whom they were equal on points. Vittsjö is now level with Hammarby on 25 points and have the same goal difference, so they look to be back on track after surprisingly being knocked out of the Svenska Cup in their last outing.
Vittsjö comes up against BK Häcken on the weekend but perhaps this isn’t a bad time to play them, right after Häcken’s midweek Champions League exertions.
Finally, after a run of nearly-there results punctuated by the occasional draw, bottom-placed Växjö DFF had a chance for three points away to AIK, but fluffed their lines in a 1-0 loss. Winonah Heatley again saw no game time this week after playing several full games in earlier rounds. Her team gets another chance at three points this weekend when they host Piteå IF, who are level with AIK in tenth place.
Round 18 results
Round 19 games
Ladder
With the commencement of the second full round of games, last weekend marked the start of the run home for all Danish Elitedivisionen teams. Due to the reverse order of opponents, Round 8 games had the same match-ups as Round 7, with just the venue changing in each case.
Jenna McCormick once again played 90 minutes for AGF on the weekend as they went down 1-0 at home against Nordsjælland. The two successive losses against their rivals have meant that AGF falls into seventh place on the ladder and the relegation playoff zone. Nordsjælland lies one place and two points above them.
Things got a little funky for Fortuna Hjørring in their reverse away match-up against ladder leaders HB Køge. Nordic Wrap readers will know that Fortuna has been sticking quite carefully to a lineup this season which includes Angie Beard starting at left back, Clare Wheeler starting in central midfield, and Indiah-Paige Riley coming on at the hour mark.
The script was thrown away for this game as leading goal-scorer Emma Snerle and Wheeler both began the game on the bench (Snerle only played the last five minutes while Wheeler didn’t take the field at all), Riley started, Beard moved to left half, and Alex Huynh made her Fortuna debut, starting in defence.
Perhaps understandably the team didn’t gel and this was reflected in the home side’s 4-0 victory. The article headlines on the Fortuna website state “Fortuna collapse and HB Køge wins big”, praising the ladder leaders for their strength and consistency, while perhaps little else needs to be said on the club’s assessment of their own team’s performance.
Regardless, it’s back to the drawing board for Fortuna, who maintain their second spot on the ladder but are now five points away from HB Køge.
In Round 9 next weekend, both teams containing Aussies play each other at Fortuna’s home ground, with the possibility of all five Aussies being on the field at once.
Round 8 results
Round 9 games
Ladder
The Úrvalsdeild Kvenna 2021 season is over!
Urvalsdeild Ladder
1.deild Ladder
Follow all our coverage of Aussies and Ferns Abroad here, and Aussies in Nordic football here.
