Until as recently as a few months ago, nobody had heard of a little club in southwest Sweden called Alingsås IF. But that all changed as manager Freja Holm was quickly becoming the talk of Swedish football, having led the club to a 2nd-place finish on the final day of the 2027 season and won the Damallsvenskan Manager of the Year.
That meant Alingsås, who play at a 1,500-capacity stadium with 150 seats and were in the Swedish fourth tier as recently as 2014, qualified for the Champions League for the 2028 season! The board immediately fast-tracked the opportunity to turn the club professional and, after questionable taxable profits of £500k, they came into the 2028 campaign with an unprecedented £700k in the bank.
The off-season began with 10 players leaving at the end of their contracts, and Holm struggled to find players capable of boosting her best 11. She loaned out a few youngsters for first-team experience and loaned in a few players, one of which amusingly got cancelled after five league games, to boost the Swedish contingent. However, she did bring in exciting defender Nathalie Kolseth Skeide from Brann and diminutive winger Emilia Brunner from Basel and loaned 21-year-old English striker Madison Perry from Crystal Palace. She also added a bit of experience in Scotland international Chloe Arthur, who comes in as a player/coach. Then in July, they added promising Portuguese midfielder Rita Almeida and Colombian right back Sofía García.
Holm stuck with the 4-3-3 approach that worked so well last season. She now had wider options in attacking positions, with the biggest question mark being over the starting striker, given goal machine Carol Baiana’s ability had fallen off a cliff during the off-season.
Second Season in Damallsvenskan
The bookies still weren’t giving Alingsås much hope this season, predicting them to be in a relegation battle. Champions Häcken remained Evens favourites to defend their Damallsvenskan, followed by Hammarby (9/4), Malmö (15/2), Djurgårdens (20/1), Norrköping (25/1) and Rosengård (50/1). And Holm’s board still only expected her to battle against relegation.
Alingsås opened up with a trip to Brommapojkarna and struggled a little in a 2-1 defeat. They improved slightly at home to Växjö, with Brunner laying on late goals for loanees Emilia Migas and Ilona Walta, and built on that with a comfortable 2-0 win at Linköping with goals by wingers Lexi Lloyd-Smith and Ina Österlind, before getting dominated 3-1 at home to champions Häcken. Brunner impressed again with two more assists in a 2-0 win at Djurgårdens.
Perry finally got up and running with a hat trick to down Kristianstad 4-0 before midfielder Anaís Álvarez nicked the only goal at surprise leaders Piteå and Walta nicked a late draw at home to Rosengård. Brunner created two Perry goals either side of an absolute battering from AIK and held on to win 2-1. A defeat at Trelleborgs teed up a huge game against early pacesetters Malmö, in which they missed a mass of chances and were frustrated in a 0-0 that highlighted Baiana’s decline, and Holm reluctantly agreed to allow the striker to move back home to Brazil.
First Taste of Women’s Champions League
Little Alingsås’ unexpected rise into Europe’s elite competition began at the Women’s Champions League League Path 2, the second qualifying stage of the competition. It began with a series of qualifying games described as a “group” held at Koteng Arena in Norway. Alingsås began against Rosenborg and got a flyer as Brunner’s fierce strike was turned in by Perry, but the Norwegians came flying back and equalised with a header. They took the lead again as Álvarez’s strike deflected past the keeper and Perry killed the game off with a devastating late counter.
That teed up a second group game against Braga, who won their first game 7-1 against Metalist Kharkiv. Brunner crashed an early half volley against the bar and Perry followed suit half an hour later. The Portuguese side grew into it and headed the opener, before Brunner again hit the bar and they were unlucky to lose 1-0. And, despite receiving no messages about the match or the competition… good one again Sports Interactive!… the Champions League dream was over.
However, Alingsås instead dropped into the Euro Cup, which, pleasingly is a straight knockout competition of two-legged ties. They took on PSV in the second qualifying round, with the home leg first and dominating the early stages with 10 shots inside 20 minutes. Perry eventually put them in front in first half injury time and repaid the compliment for Brunner after an hour. Österlind made it comfortable before midfielder Sara Frigren curled home a beauty to seal probably the most dominant win of Holm’s career. Brunner starred again with a goal and assist for Perry in a 3-1 away success to cruise into the last 16.
Next up was Servette, again dominating the first half but missing chances before conceding because full backs can’t tackle in this game. But Brunner’s superb 20-yarder levelled up to head to Switzerland all square. The hosts dominated early in the second leg and eventually moved in front and were unlucky to only be 1-0 up at the break. Lloyd-Smith missed an absolute sitter before Brunner led a counter, swing a looping cross into the box and Perry sent a superb header into the far corner. However, they immediately conceded again and, after a Perry goal was disallowed, fell to a deserved 2-1 defeat.
Surprise Final Day Excitement
A tricky spell continued with a 1-0 defeat at home to Norrköping, before a six-week midseason break oddly littered with injuries. They returned to action with Lloyd-Smith earning a solid 1-0 at Växjö then scoring both in a 2-0 win at home to Brommapojkarna. A loss at Häcken followed but they responded with consecutive Perry braces earning a 4-0 domination of Djurgårdens and 3-1 win over Piteå, before she went one better with a hat trick inspiring a 3-2 win at Rosengård.
With three games remaining, Alingsås were six points behind leaders Malmö and two behind Häcken. They moved a point closer to both with a 1-1 against Trelleborgs before a huge trip to Malmö. Alingsås started superbly as right back Josefin Baudou crossed for Perry to tap in. Malmö edged the game and drew level with a great run that was criminally unpressured. But, completely against the run of play, Brunner cut inside and her shot was deflected past a stranded keeper.
That win saw the top three separated by 2 points going into the final day. Alingsås faced a trip to Norrköping, Malmö hosted Brommapojkarna and Häcken hosted relegation-battling AIK.
The final day clash fell between the two Servette European clashes and they struggled to get going. More nonexistent defending against wingers led to a deserved opener and they fell to a tame 1-0 defeat. Malmö drew 1-1 but Häcken won 5-0 to claim a fourth straight Damallsvenskan title. Alingsås massively overachieved to finish 3rd, only 4 points off the top of the league, which this time around was enough to make it into the Champions League qualifiers. They got 50 points, one more than last season, after 15 wins, 5 draws and 6 defeats, scoring 41 and conceding a league-low 22. Perry was the 4th top scorer with 15 in 25 and Brunner was the joint-top assister with 11 and created the most chances (20).
Progression Tinged With Disappointment
Holm was delighted with the progress her unfancied Alingsås side continued to make. That said, she was slightly disappointed by their fairly tame European exits and final-day league disappointment.
Off the field, Holm passed her Continental A licence and began studying towards the elite qualification, the Continental Pro, in November. She was beginning to question whether it might be time to seek new surroundings at a bigger club but, until now, hadn’t even been interviewed by clubs in other countries. So maybe securing the best qualification available may help her career prospects.
Could Holm continue strengthening Alingsås for another unfancied tilt at the Swedish title in 2029? Join us on Wednesday to find out!
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