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 around eleven players choosing the Nordic countries as their playground.
Read on for how our Aussies fared in the Nordic leagues this past week.
Toppserien Round 3 saw victory for two of the three teams containing Aussies, and all three are in the top half of the ladder. None of the top four have dropped points, and it is those four teams that look like being contenders for the 2021 season.
Karly Roestbakken wasn’t in attendance to see her LSK Kvinner side win 2-3 away against Avaldsnes but there was a perfectly good reason: she is currently quarantining in Brisbane, as part of a short stay in Australia to catch up with loved ones and friends for the first time in over a year.
LSK were comfortably up 2-0 with 15 minutes to go before three goals in the run home added spice to the game. Striker Sophie Román Haug scored two of the Toppserien’s “goals of the week” and is currently in imperious form for the Lillestrøm based team.
Sophie Román Haug leverte to elleville scoringer i helgens borteseier mot Avaldsnes🔥 Stem frem din favoritt til rundens mål her ➡️ https://t.co/4n5X9jxaub pic.twitter.com/2yFwHpPquo
— LSK Kvinner (@LSKKvinner) June 7, 2021
LSK Kvinner faces Nikola Orgill‘s Klepp after the international break.
Klepp’s winning start to the season hit a pothole in the form of Lyn, who picked up their first points for the season, winning 2-0 at home. Orgill played the full game and continues to look assured at right back.
The result sees Klepp slip to fifth.
Teagan Micah played the full game for IL Sandviken in their game against promoted Stabæk, winning 1-2 away. The final score was also the half-time score and Sandviken had to withstand a determined home side searching for the equaliser, but also had an excellent chance of their own to extend the lead.
Micah and Sandviken come up against Lyn after the international break and will need to be careful given Lyn’s performance against Klepp.
Round 3 results
Round 4 games (after the international break)
Ladder
Round 8 of the Swedish Damallsvenskan was played on the weekend, and limited numbers of spectators were again allowed to watch some of the games.
Charli Grant‘s all-conquering FC Rosengård dropped their first points of the season (but still top the ladder) in an away scoreless draw with Kristianstads. It was a hard-fought affair with little between the teams.
Should Rosengård and Sweden captain Caroline Seger play both games for her country in the international break, including the game against the Matildas, she will become Sweden’s all-time highest capped player.
Grant was again absent from the teamsheet but those eager for more Charli Grant news should read Ben Gilby’s interview with her for Beyond 90.
Rosengård plays against Emily Gielnik and Clare Polkinghorne‘s Vittsjö GIK following the international break.
Gielnik and Polkinghorne played 90 minutes in their 1-0 home win against Växjö DFF. The visitors’ defence was organised and clear cut chances were hard to come by for the home side despite their ascendancy in the game. It took a penalty in the last ten minutes of the game to decide the contest.
Dylan Holmes was on the bench for BK Häcken in their 0-0 home draw with Piteå IF. The home side would have been disappointed with the result given their position of second and their opponent’s position in the bottom three. It was one of those games where the chances were there but the ball just couldn’t find the net.
Coach Mats Gren told his club website (translated) that “…We wanted to threaten them more behind their backline than we did, especially in the first half I think there were good opportunities for that. Then we also wanted to involve our outside backs higher up the pitch … I also think we should be able to get better play down from our centre-backs when the opponent is not putting too much pressure [on]. So there are a lot of factors that need to be better today and that we need to improve.”
BK Häcken plays AIK in Round 9.
Elise Kellond-Knight‘s Hammarby IF continued their run of form with a 3-3 away draw against Linköpings FC, keeping them fifth on the ladder. Highlights of the game can be found here.
Kellond-Knight’s thoughts this week were of football with a whole different kind of team …
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Hammarby play Piteå IF after the international break.
Round 8 results
Round 9 games
Ladder
Round 6 of the Úrvalsdeild Kvenna was played on the weekend.
Emma Checker‘s UMF Selfoss may have started the season with four wins, but their last two games haven’t quite been to the standards they set in those opening rounds. Last weekend Selfoss suffered their first loss in the 2021 league, 2-1 away to ÍBV (follow the link, the scenery on the home page is worth it!).
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The caption says words to the effect that Selfoss began the game with great energy and scored first, however the home side equalised just before halftime. In the second half, the game was largely contested in midfield but ÍBV struck their winner in the 62nd minute.
The caption ends with “FORWARD SELFOSS!” 🙂
Selfoss remain top of the ladder despite this week’s loss and play third-placed Breidablik after the international break.
Round 6 results, and Round 7 games
Ladder
The Gjensidige Kvindeligaen decided in late 2020 to commence 2021 football by completing the 2020 Champions and Promotion/Relegation series, before kicking off the 2021 season proper. At the end of the Champions series, the top two teams are eligible for Champions League action later in the year, and at the end of the Promotion/Relegation series, the top two teams are eligible to compete in the 2021 Elitedivisionen.
The final round of each ten-game series was played on the weekend.
In the Champions series, Fortuna Hjørring couldn’t rise from or drop below their third position on the ladder, and so fielded quite a few players who have otherwise seen little match time in this series. Indiah-Paige Riley was not included on the team sheet for Fortuna’s 0-5 home defeat against FC Nordsjælland, a result which would not have been enjoyable despite being a dead rubber.
There are interesting moves afoot at the club in readiness for the commencement of the 2021 season, some of them ironically with a Nordsjælland connection. Two highly experienced Fortuna players from the past – Florentine Olar, 35, and Camille Kur, 32 – are rejoining the club. Their presence will give the team a real boost and a steadying influence, as the Fortuna squad is mainly a young one.
Kur has played 102 matches for Fortuna, and in recent years she has been a regular at FC Nordsjælland. Olar last played for Fortuna in 2019, and has made 135 appearances for the Romanian national team, where she is captain.
The Nordsjælland connections don’t stop with Kur: Fortuna’s former head coach Brian Sørensen returns to Fortuna Hjørring after working with FC Nordsjælland for the past three years. He brings with him Australian Stephen Neligan as an assistant. Neligan has a strong background in individual training and ran the First Phase Factory in Sydney from 2017-2020 until the corona pandemic struck. Since August 2020 he has been associated with FC Nordsjælland as Head of Individual Development for the Women’s Football Department. Neligan has also coached many Australian and American national team players, both men and women.
In the Promotion/Relegation series, Hannah Bacon was again not listed on the AGF Aarhus team sheet for their 1-1 away draw against Odense.
AGF Aarhus had already cemented their place in the 2021 Elitedivisionen prior to this game.
There is now a break for a few weeks until the 2021 Elitedivisionen season proper kicks off on August 7th.
Round 10 Championship series results
Round 10 Promotion/Relegation series results
Champions Round-robin table
Promotion/relegation Round-robin table
Follow all our coverage of Aussies and Ferns Abroad here, and Aussies in Nordic football here.
