Martin Sjögren Joins Chicago Stars as New Coach
The Chicago Stars have secured the services of Martin Sjögren, former coach of the Norwegian women’s national team, to lead the team. Sources close to the team confirmed this information to Alofoke Deportes.
Sjögren is expected to join Chicago before the start of the 2026 NWSL season, in January. Currently, Sjögren manages Hammarby in the Damallsvenskan, the top tier of women’s football in Sweden.
The Swedish season concludes in November, a few days before the NWSL Championship. Hammarby will compete in the play-in rounds of the UEFA Women’s Champions League later this month.
Currently, Chicago is in 13th place out of 14 teams in the NWSL, with 11 games remaining in the season. Ella Masar is in charge of the team as interim coach, being the team’s third coach so far this season.
Lorne Donaldson was fired as coach at the end of April after leading Chicago to the playoffs last year. At that time, assistant coach Masaki Hemmi took over as interim coach. However, Hemmi left the club at the beginning of July to become coach of Lexington SC in the USL Super League, another first-division women’s league in the United States.
Sjögren has extensive experience in club football in his native Sweden and is recognized for his time as coach of the Norwegian women’s national team. He was in charge of Norway for almost six years, from 2016 to 2022, including a participation in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup.
Norway failed to advance past the group stage in the 2017 and 2022 European Championships under Sjögren, who resigned after the 2022 tournament.
Sjögren became Hammarby’s coach in January 2024, and the team finished third in the league last year, qualifying for the play-in rounds of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
The Stars have only won one game in 15 this season. They are currently 2 points behind the Utah Royals at the bottom of the NWSL table.
