Facts: IFK Norrköping’s path to the women’s league
+ In the fall of 2021, Tor-Arne Fredheim came in as coach, but he made demands to continue. One was a clear target image for the business and a conscious investment in the women’s team.
+ A year later, the club moved up to the women’s league.
+ Today, the women’s team shares facilities with the men’s team and collaborates in a number of areas, such as physiotherapy, finance, media and sales. The ladies and gentlemen share a “players lounge” and train in the same arena.
+ One of the club’s biggest sponsors has greatly increased its support for the women’s team.
+ The audience average has increased from around a hundred per match in 2021 to over 1,500 per match in the women’s league.
+ After six rounds played, the club is in sixth place with ten points.
The European Championship finals in England last summer attracted more television viewers than ever before. Last week, Arsenal drew 60,000 spectators in the semi-final second leg against Wolfsburg in the Champions League. Never before have so many Swedish players had foreign employers.
The turnover increases every season, as do the transfer fees. More and more money is pumped into the sport as interest grows.
At the same time, some traditionally successful Swedish men’s clubs have decided to join the trend. IFK Norrköping, with 13 SM golds, is one. For the first time, the club has a team in the women’s league.
— I think that the women’s and men’s Allsvenskan will look more and more alike in the future, says Sofia Hjern, 20, goalkeeper at the club.
It is, she and manager Tor-Arne Fredheim believe, an inevitable consequence of the big clubs’ desire to build elite teams on the women’s side as well. Hjern also sees it as a necessity for Swedish women’s football to assert itself.
Not the same financial muscle
— If you look at the ranking, the women’s league is a much better league than the men’s league. We have been very good in Sweden on the women’s side, but if you look at the development internationally, we will not have the same financial muscle. IFK Norrköping has a strong brand. It is a stable foundation to stand on, she says.
Tor-Arne Fredheim, manager of IFK Norrköping’s women’s Swedish team, emphasizes the importance of investment in girls’ football.
In step with the rapid international development, Swedish clubs have fallen behind. The Women’s Allsvenskan has been drained of profiles, most of the top Swedish players are foreign professionals. The way forward is fully professional players and clubs who methodically invest in girls’ football.
Build academies
— We have to bring in more Swedish players at a good level. We have to take our responsibility and build academies on the girls’ side like the men do, says Tor-Arne Fredheim.
Sofia Hjern agrees.
— It is important to have trained coaches at a young age, that there are academies for girls as well. We must put resources into what we are good at, training players. If we develop good players, we can also sell them in Europe and thus earn money and reinvest them in the business. This is how IFK Norrköping has worked on the men’s side and it goes a long way, says Sofia Hjern.
— The Women’s Allsvenskan will probably also have another role, a league that develops players and prepares them for professional life abroad.
“A hell of a lot happened”
Hjern is pleased that acceptance and interest in women’s football is steadily growing, but also points out that much remains to be done.
– Around our conditions, a lot has happened in the last three or four years, but there are still many people who think that girls cannot play football.
IFK Norrköping has the financial resources to build a successful women’s team. The goal is to have a fully professional squad within two years and to reach the Champions League within five.
— I absolutely see in front of me that we will become completely equal with the men in terms of sporting conditions. Salary-wise, we will probably never reach the same level. The differences are enormous. You should probably not compare too much, but rather look at the development on the women’s side. The hope is that everyone in IFK Norrköping’s squad will be able to live on football in the near future, says Sofia Hjern.
TT: How far away from getting there do you think you are?
— A year or two, I hope. The club could already pay those salaries, but I understand that you want to build long-term and somewhere you have to be realistic and take it step by step.