Mjällby, the Swedish “Leicester”: Humble town conquers the Allsvenskan

Mjällby: The Miracle of Swedish Football Conquers the Allsvenskan

In one of the most surprising stories in European football, Mjällby, a modest team from a small fishing village by the Baltic Sea, has been crowned champion of the Swedish league, the Allsvenskan. The 2-0 victory against IFK Gothenburg on Monday secured Mjällby an insurmountable 11-point lead, with three matchdays remaining until the end of the championship. This unexpected triumph has drawn comparisons to Leicester, when they won the English Premier League in 2016.

This is the first major trophy for Mjällby, a club from the south coast of Sweden, whose team is mainly composed of local players. They play their home matches in a stadium with a capacity of 6,000 spectators in the village of Hällevik, which has a population of around 800 inhabitants, and whose budget is significantly smaller than that of the larger teams in the country.

This is something I never thought would happen in my life. I am incredibly grateful to be part of this group. We showed that the collective can take you incredibly far.

Jacob Bergström, Mjällby forward

Just nine years ago, Mjällby was one match away from being relegated to the fourth Swedish division. The team managed to stay up, achieved consecutive promotions in 2018 and 2019, and has been revitalized thanks to the decisions and strategies implemented by Magnus Emeus, a local entrepreneur who became president in 2015. In the current season, Mjällby, led by coach Anders Torstensson, who is a school principal, has only lost one match and has 66 points, just one short of Malmö’s historical record in the 101 years of the Allsvenskan. Next season, Mjällby will compete in the Champions League qualifying rounds, marking the first time the team has participated in a European competition. The match in Gothenburg was briefly interrupted in stoppage time because some Mjällby supporters jumped from the stands, apparently ready to invade the field in celebration. After a call from the Mjällby players, they returned to the stands.

When the referee blew the final whistle, the substitutes, coaches, and members of the technical staff ran onto the field to congratulate the team. Then, they headed towards the fans dressed in yellow and black behind one of the goals to celebrate. Founded in 1939, Mjällby has traditionally played outside the top category, alternating between regional leagues. They play their home matches at the picturesque Strandvallen, with a capacity of 6,000 spectators, located in Hällevik, a remote rural village by the Baltic Sea, where fishing has long been the predominant industry. Torstensson is in his third period as a coach and his assistant is Karl Marius Aksum, who has a PhD in Visual Perception in Elite Football and had never coached at a senior level before joining Mjällby. Mjällby achieved a club record of 50 points by finishing in fifth place last season. This season, Mjällby has only conceded 17 goals in 27 matches. Among its best players are Axel Noren, who recently received his first call-up to the Swedish national team, and defender Abdullah Iqbal, who is the captain of Pakistan.