Damallsvenskan Newsblog

Umeå IK has announced that they won't submit their final bid to Marta's agent Fabiano Farah until next week. They are working with a couple of promising sponsors, who will make their decisions in a few days. According to the local newspaper Västerbottenskuriren the new offer has a 50 % increase of Marta's current salary, making it somewhere around SEK 1,5 millions a year after taxes.
The proposed contract will be for three years. Umeå's general manager Britta Åkerlund repeats her earlier position that you can't go on like this every year. The deals they make with their main sponsors are also set for three years. "You can't let everything else at a stand still every fall, just because you have to save Marta for the club", Åkerlund comments.
But Umeå aren't exclusively focusing on Marta. Their back-up solution is still Australia's Lisa de Vanna and they are in contact with her. "She knows what we have to offer" says Åkerlund, who also says that it seems like de Vanna is very interested in Umeå.
Finally, asked about Linköping's recently announced interest in Umeå defender Johanna Frisk, Åkerlund just comments with a "Good luck" to Linköping.
They will probably need it.
Västerbottenskuriren: UIK:s slutbud dröjer - men höjs rejält
Västerbottens Folkblad: Finansiärer förlänger tidsfris

Linköping has renewed the contract with their young midfielder Petra Larsson. The 20 years old was getting more and more playing time the last half of the 2008 season and hopes to continue that way. But with the recent signings of Danish midfielders Paaske Sørensen and Rydahl Bukh, the competition doesn't seem to be any easier next season. But Larsson says that she prefers to take the challenge and opportunity to grow as a player than opt for the easy way out.
Linköping: Petra förlänger med LFC

Kopparbergs/Göteborg's Maria Karlsson, with more than 50 caps for Sweden's youth teams, has also joined Linköping. The 23 years old full back/midfielder has been with Göteborg for 7 years and hopes to take the next step in Linköping.
Linköping will now have two Maria Karlsson, as their winger with the same name extended her contract a few days ago. We really ought to rename one of them.
Linköping: Karlsson byter Göteborg mot LFC

Linköping FC is looking for a defender who, if it becomes necessary, can replace Sara Larsson. Larsson is according to Umeå newspaper Västerbottenskuriren close to a contract with St. Louis Athletica in the American WPS league. Umeå's Johanna Frisk is one of the top names on their list, says Linköping manager Anders Mäki. No comments from Frisk, who is vacationing in Chile. And yes, Marta is there too, promoting the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
Västerbottenskuriren: Linköping vill värva Frisk

Marta's agent Fabiano Farah says that a part of the deal LDB FC Malmö is offering Marta is available to her even if she signs with Umeå. LDB FC's major sponsor, Kent Widding Persson, doesn't confirm this, but says that even if he prefers Marta to play for the Malmö team, he is willing to be a part of another solution as long as that keeps Marta in Sweden.
He also confirms that LDB FC earlier this fall offered to help Umeå in financing a Marta contract by essentially paying a hugely inflated loan fee, SEK 300,000 a year, for one of Umeå's young promising players. No player mentioned, but maybe Bachmann?.
Västerbottenskuriren: Malmöpengar kan rädda kvar Marta i Umeå

And King Pelé abdicates to Queen Marta.
The regional assembly of the Brazilian state of Alagoas, Marta's home state, has decided to change the name of the main stadium in the capital Maceió from 'Rei Pelé' to 'Rainha Marta'.
ESPN: Reina por Rey

You can't really say that newcomers Piteå and Stattena has chocked us with some kind of AIK 2007 signing spree, but they have their plans and they are slowly trying to sign and resign.

Piteå's biggest catch so far seems to be one of their own: they managed to keep their talented high-schooler Emelie Lövgren, in spite of Djurgården offering her a contract. The sensible girl wants to complete her high school studies in an orderly fashion and it sound from Djurgården, like they might repeat their offer next year.
Piteå are also close to re-sign their midfielders Janina Marklund and Mari Lundqvist and has managed to entice a couple of Damallsvenskan players to come and have a look. June Pedersen, who is leaving Umeå and looking for a new club and Johanna Lindahl from Sunnanå are training with the team this week. Piteå are also in contact with Bälinge's Nina Engström, but might run into problems finding a suitable day-job for her.
The club is also looking at the American market, where they are focusing on players just outside the national team.
Norrbottenskuriren: Emelie Lövgren stannar kvar i allsvenska Piteå IF

Stattena has still not managed to solve their coach problems, which usually makes prospective players a bit hesitant. But they are in touch with AIK's 30 years old veteran midfielder Jessica Julin, who wants to leave the Stockholm side. The Finnish international has spent a lot of time on the bench this season, in the shadow of her compatriot Anne Mäkinen.
Stattena are also in contact with some of the players that are leaving Örebro, probably Caroline Näfver and/or Hanna Pettersson.
They will also use their former coach Ann Helen Grahm, now assistant coach for Scotland, to help finding international players.
Helsingborgs Dagblad: Stattena hoppas på finsk landslagsspelare

Two Danish national team midfielders, Cathrine Paaske Sørensen and Julie Rydahl Bukh, has signed six month contracts with Linköping FC, starting in February 2009. They have both been playing for Danish champions Brøndby, winning six league championships. Paaske Sørensen is arguably Denmark's leading player at the moment while Rydahl Bukh comes from an injury ridden season, but hopes to take back her national team position in time for the European Championships late next summer.
Linköping's manager Anders Mäki says that they would have liked to find a solution for the entire 2009 season, "but this is the way it turned out". The signings are still a new proof, that Linköping will be a serious contender next year.
This is just my own reflection, but I guess this means that Linköping has given up trying to re-sign Daniela, as Paaske Sørensen pretty much plays in the same position.
Corren: Danska stjärnor till LFC
Linköping: Dansk landslagsduo till LFC

Britta Åkerlund, Umeå's general manager, says that Umeå will leave their final offer to Marta's agent Fabiano Farah on Friday and it will be a multi year contract, according to other sources a two year deal with an option for a third.
"I simply refuse to have an autumn like this again, it takes an incredibly lot of time and energy".
Åkerlund also confirms that LDB FC Malmö, who recently also submitted a contract offer to Marta, earlier this fall offered to help Umeå finance a Marta deal, just to keep her in Sweden. But, she says, they demanded too many things in return.
Västerbottens Folkblad: Marta erbjuds flerårskontrakt

The decision from the local media concern Västerbottenskuriren AB to sponsor a contract with Marta helps a lot, but is not enough. But it seems to make it easier to talk to other potential contributors and Umeå are talking to several local companies.
Västerbottenskuriren: Åkerlund: "Jag lämnar ett nytt slutbud innan helgen"

In the midst of all this, it is reported that Umeå's result for the 2008 season probably will end in a loss at about SEK 500,000 - mostly because of a decrease in ticket sales. This will however not have any effect on the negotiations with Marta, since a contract with her will be financed independantly.
Västerbottens Folkblad: UIK riskerar ekonomisk smäll

Sara Larsson, the Sweden and Linköping centre back, tells her home town newspaper that she is tempted by the offer from St. Louis in the American WPS league and will decide between that and an offer from her Swedish club Linköping "soon". She is already doing well in Sweden, making a living playing football, but it's the adventure playing in USA that draws.
She says that it is a problem that the summer transfer window next year hasn't been set yet. If it will be in August, it would be possible to move clubs after the USA season and join Linköping for the last months of the Swedish season, including the first UEFA Women's Cup matches for the club.
Nya Wermlandstidningen: Sara Larssons svåra val

Sweden's veteran goal keeper Caroline Jönsson, formerly LDB FC Malmö but now unattached, seems to be in fairly advanced negotiations with the Chicago club. At least if you should judge by the way her name has been mentioned lately, in passing but still, in a couple of articles about other players.

Los Angeles Sol has named Umeå's Johanna Frisk as a post-draft discovery player, which sort of supports the impression that they still are serious about signing Frisk's good friend Marta.
WPS: Transactions

USA head coach Pia Sundhage eliminates all doubts about about the start of the WPS next spring in an interview with Damfotboll.com. Her planning for the US national team is built around the April to August WPS season. She also comments on Marta's negotiations with Los Angeles and Umeå. "It's obvious that a player like Marta is attractive for every team", she says. She adds that Marta's compensation will not count toward the salary cap, that all WPS clubs must keep. Player representatives as well as the league has agreed to this. "It's probable that they will find a solution, but the league doesn't stand or fall with Marta", Sundhage finishes.
Damfotboll.com: Pia Sundhage planerar för proffsliga

Bälinge's management are actually working hard to save the women's team - they recently founded Uppsala DFF and moved all the Bälinge girls and women's teams to the new club. Next step should be to arrange a cooperation deal for their senior team with the big Uppsala club Sirius and move the youth sides back to Bälinge, where they belong. Not quite certain this plan will work out, but there is some hope for an Uppsala team in the 1st division next year.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Bälinge ett steg närmare Sirius

This, however, doesn't convince all Bälinge players. The young talents, several of them Swedish U19 players, are of course the first to leave. Sarah Storck has already left for Malmö and now U19 midfielder Emma Appelqvist joins AIK while forward Ida Brännström seems close to sign for Linköping.
AIK: Mittfältare från Bälinge klar för AIK

Linköping are looking at several talented youngsters. 20 years old defender Linda Bengtsson from 1st division side Öster and the U18 player Elin Olofsson (IFK Kalmar, 2nd divison) are today's names. If signed, these players will mostly find themselves playing with Linköping's farm team Kenty.
Corren: Ny mittback på väg till Linköping

Sweden U18 forward Emelie Lövgren from just promoted Piteå has been offered a contract by Djurgården. She comments that the contract was "so-so" and is leaning towards staying with Piteå. She is still in high-school and moving schools doesn't appear to be entirely straight forward and she thinks Djurgården offered a little bit too little money to make the move to Stockholm.
Norrländska Socialdemokraten: Lövgren: Det lutar åt Piteå

Not quite as crazy as yesterday, but still an eventful Marta day:

LDB FC Malmö has renewed the contract offer they presented to Marta in September. The club's strong man and major financier, cosmetics mogul Kent Widding Persson, says that the bid was received with much more interest now than it was last time. This strengthened his opinion that the American offer isn't as strong as has been expected. He doesn't want to mention any figures for his own bid, but Malmö's last offer was estimated to be in the region of SEK 1,5 million a year. He has has also added plans for a charity project in Marta's north east Brazil, similar to the project LDC FC is involved in in South Africa, to the offer. Widding Persson finally says that he is not interested in a short time contract.
Sydsvenskan: LDB FC Malmö lägger nytt bud på Marta
Damfotboll.som: Elden är lös!

Umeå's general manager Britta Åkerlund spent quite some time yesterday to try to figure out the lay of the land and was in  touch with both Marta's agent Fabiano Farah and Los Angeles Sol manager Charlie Naimo. The conclusion is that the American WPS club has presented their final offer. Umeå has until the end of the week to counter that. Umeå is now working hard to find additional sponsors and will file a renewed offer.
Västerbottenskuriren: Slutbud från Los Angeles - UIK jobbar vidare

The Umeå media concern Västerbottenskuriren AB, that owns newspapers and a radio station, has revealed that the company has decided to make a major effort to help keeping Marta in Umeå. No sum is revealed, but it is rumoured to be close to SEK 1 million.
Västerbottenskuriren: VK-koncernen vill rädda kvar Marta i Umeå
There are right now 133 comments to this story at Västerbottenskuriren's website, mostly from outraged ice-hockey fans, who thinks the money could be used better elsewhere.

Stina Segerström and Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC today confirmed the expected move from Kif Örebro by the national team defender.  The 26 year old has played in Örebro since the team was called Karlslund and resided in the second level of the Swedish league system. Segerström, capped 40 times, says that if she ever was going to try something else, this was the time.
Göteborgsposten: Göteborg värvar landslagsback
Nerikes Allehanda: Stina Segerström lämnar Kif Örebro

Another Swedish national team defender, Charlotte Rohlin, announced that she has renewed her contract with Linköping FC. Rohlin, who is one of very few local players, has signed a one year contract and hopes 2009 will be the year when the club takes the next step and wins the Swedish championship.
Linköping: Lotta spelar i LFC 2009

Four Kif Örebro players has extended their contracts: midfielder Marie Hammarström, forward Emilia Erixon and the young twins Emma and Sara Fogelqvist.
Kif Örebro: Tre "nya" klara!, En till…

LDB FC Malmö has brought up 16 years old Michaela Johnsson from the youth team. Michaela played her first Damallsvenskan match in October against Bälinge, but will now be a regular member of the seniors.
LDB FC: Ytterligare en lärling klar för LdB FC

Emma Sjödahl from 1st division side Vittsjö has decided that she will leave her club. The 21 years old successful goalscorer is talking to nearby Kristianstad, but has also recieved interest from Swedish Cup winners Linköping FC. No contract has been offered yet. Linköping's Anders Nilsson says that she is an interesting player but that Linköping has contacted several players for preliminary talks, as they usually do this time of the season.
Norra Skåne: Emma Sjödahl på väg till Linköping
Corren: LFC i kontakt med Sjödahl

Just to add to our Marta of the Day:

Umeå IK's general manager Britta Åkerlund tells broadcaster SVT that she has been in contact with both Marta's agent Fabiano Farah and the management of the WPS club Los Angeles Sol today. The conclusion is that LA Sol is still offering Marta a contract.
Åkerlund tells Dagens Nyheter, Sweden's leading daily, that there is a 50/50 chance that Marta will stay in Umeå. "It's up to us now. We will return with a new offer by the end of the week".
Åkerlund also says that she really would like to be able to sign a multi year deal this time. And, as fun as this is watching, I do understand her.

SVT: "Los Angeles står fast vid Marta-bud"
Dagens Nyheter: "50-50 att Marta stannar"

And did you remember to read papyrus comment? So on the spot!

The American WPS club St. Louis has retracted from their earlier interest in Swedish star Lotta Schelin, presently at Lyon, as well as Kopparbergs/Göteborg's Norwegian midfielder Ingvild Stensland. In Schelin's case it makes sense, as she is tied to Lyon until summer 2010, but Stensland has publicly shown interest in going to USA. No explanation is given by St. Louis.
Instead, the Mid Western club has claimed the WPS signing rights for Linköping's Sara Larsson. Larsson, Swedish national team defender with 82 caps and 7 goals, is one of the Linköping players that still hasn't renewed her contract.
No further details, but interesting.
WPS: Transactions

EDIT: Sara Larsson tells Damfotboll.com that she is talking to both St. Louis and Linköping. She is tempted by the adventure it will be playing abroad, but a bit worried how playing in USA will effect her position on the national team.
Damfotboll.com: Sara Larsson förhandlar med S:t Louis

LDB FC Malmö and Umeå IK has picked up a couple of promising teenagers, both capped for Sweden's U17 team.
Malmö's decision to give a contract to goalkeeper Hilda Carlén has received more media attention than the signing of a high schooler usually does. But the name Carlén is a well known name in Swedish handball. Her father Per is a legendary World Cup winner and her brother Oscar plays professionally in Germany, so it makes sense that she has chosen the only position where she is allowed to use her hands. She will train with Malmö's seniors, but likely play with another team, possibly her present Hammenhög.
SVT: Hilda - familjen Carléns tredje landslagsspelare

Umeå has signed 16 years old defender Sara Eliasson from Alvik. She will, like Carlén, play her matches with a lower division team, probably Umeå Södra or Mariehem in the 1st division.
Norrbottenskuriren: Eliasson till svenska mästarna

Most of Djurgården's foreign stars have decided to leave the Stockholm club and are slowly finding their new addresses.
Germany's Ariane Hingst, who left after completing her two year contract, has, somewhat surprising to me, agreed on a two and a half year contract with FFC Frankfurt.
FFNews: Transfer-Coup: Frankfurt verpflichtet Hingst

Belgian Femke Maes leaves after only half a season, home-sick according to Djurgården. She was spotted in the crowd attending the UEFA Women's Cup quarter final between Duisburg and Frankfurt and immediately surrounded by rumors about a shift to Duisburg, a town that actually is within commuting distance from Maes' Belgian home. Maes herself ducked all questions: "I have time until the end of [the transfer window in] January to make up my mind about a new club".
RevierSport: Maes lächelte und lächelte

Nadine Angerer has declared her interest in playing a year in the new American league. Her agent Siegfried Dietrich is trying to get the best possible offer for her, but has no doubts where it would be best for Angerer to play. Financially, she would be better off in Germany. The salary cap placed on the American clubs, according to Dietrich € 420,000 a year for the entire roster, makes it hard for the WPS league to offer really competetive wages. He is also wary about the durability of the new league, in particular with the recent economic recession, and the short season doesn't make for good conditions for a top player. Still, Angerer is keen on living in USA for a period and seems prepared to take a pay cut. But she has to have landed a deal before the end of January, when the transfer window for the German and most European leagues close.
FFNews: Angerer-Wechsel: Dietrich zweifelt an US-Profiliga

After negotiations with Umeå and some deliberations, Linköping's Josefine Öqvist has decided to remain with her club. She signed a two year contract today.
Corren: Öqvist kvar i Linköping

Linköping had Iceland's prolific goalscorer Margret Lara Vidarsdottir visiting the club last week. Club manager Anders Mäki calls her a rare to find player with great scoring stats, but she might be too expensive for the club. She is also drafted by the American WPS club Los Angeles Sol.
Still, from what I, with my limited understanding of Icelandic, can figure out from an interview with Vidarsdottir on the news site Visir, she seems to prefer to go to Linköping.
Damfotboll.com: Islands bästa för dyr för Linköping
Visir: Reikna með því að geyma Los Angeles í bili

Hanna Ågren, one of the leading goalscorers in the 1st division, has signed for Kif Örebro. The former Gideonsberg forward scored 11 goals this season.
VLT: GIF:s Hanna Ågren till allsvenskan

Örebro's winger Caroline Näfver, who didn't agree on a renewed contract with her club, seems close to signing for 1st divisioon side Eskilstuna United.
Eskilstunakuriren: Landslagstjej aktuell för Eskilstuna United

Sunnanå SK has signed a new coach, Janne Hallberg, to replace Rainer Eskelinen who recently left the club. Hallberg was the club's head coach 2000-2003. Sunnanå has also managed to resign defender Sanna Frostevall and forward Lisa Renberg.
Västerbottens Folkblad: Han tränar Sunnanå nästa år
Norra Västerbotten: Sanna och Lisa stannar i Sunnanå

Kristianstads DFF lost their keeper Maria Edman to Stattena, but managed, after some negotiating, to keep their other keeper Sandra Wahldén. They also got Göteborg winger Sofie Andersson, who has 5 seasons and 81 matches for Göteborg, and Sweden U19 defender Mia Carlsson from nearby 1st division club Vittsjö. A third player, Vittsjö's forward Emma Sjödahl has been in talks with Kristianstad but also has offers from other, unnamed, Damallsvenskan sides and will think it over during her vacation.
And, as far as I can tell with my really limited understanding of Icelandic, Iceland's national team winger Hólmfríður Magnúsdóttir has returned from her Kristianstad visit with a contract offer.
Kristianstadsbladet: Wahldén fortsätter – och fler namn är på väg, KDFF förstärker – ny anfallare klar
Norra Skåne: Vittsjö tappar spelare
Visir: Hólmfríður með samning í höndunum

It took some time for Linköping, but now they seems to have geared up in their efforts to sign a competetive team for 2009.
Their important winger Maria Karlsson, capped 11 times for Sweden and with 160 matches for Linköping, has decided to extend her stay with the Swedish Cup winners.
Linköping has also reopened the talks with their Brazilian midfielder Daniela Alves, one of their most important players 2008. Daniela has been drafted by the American club St. Louis and Linköping at one point deemed it impossible to offer a competitive contract. They have now, in the light of the financial unrest in USA, decided to have another go at it and will get in touch with her agent.
Linköping also made an effort to lure away the promising full back Sara Fröjdefelt from Kif Örebro, but after some deliberation Fröjdefelt decided to stay in Örebro. And Linköping's own 19 year old defender Pernilla Ekroth has drawn interest from Djurgården and might accept their offer.
Corren: Karlsson kvar i LFC, LFC tar ny kontakt med Daniela, Fröjdfeldt säger nej till LFC, Ekroth till Djurgården?

AIK recently lost their goalkeeper, Swedish international Sofia Lundgren, who after a very successful season was picked up by Linköping. Since then they've been looking for replacement. A few days ago they signed Johanna Baecklund from Jitex. The 23 year old served as back-up keeper in Umeå IK 2005 and 2006 before she transfered to Jitex.
But this probably isn't enough. They have also had talks with former Djurgården and Bälinge Maja Åström. Åström left Bälinge after the 2007 season and has taken a year off football. She says that if she makes a come-back, she wants to do it with a top level team. I think AIK qualifies as that.
AIK: Målvakten Johanna Baecklund till AIK
Upsala Nya Tidning: Förra Bälingemålvakten på väg till AIK

Newcomers Stattena's coach since four years Thomas Persson has resigned. He agreed with the Helsingborg based club on a two year contract before the 2008 season, but now when the club against all odds promoted to Damallsvenskan, he wanted to renegotiate: "The conditions are much different in Damallsvenskan compared to the first division. It is much more time consuming." Persson argued that he can't continue with a full-time day-job when coaching a Damallsvenskan team.
But Stattena refused to renegotiate: "We have to turn every penny. We can't afford to sign a more expensive contract" said Stattena's chairman Michael Freitag. The club had an annual turn-over at about SEK 700,000 in 2008. Next year they will have to raise at least SEK 2,5 millions. "We decided to keep the expenses for the coach position and use the money on players instead".
Freitag stressed that the management and the players have the utmost confidence in Persson as a coach. Persson took over when Stattena was relegated from Damallsvenskan in 2004 and has built the team that surprisingly defeated favorites Jitex to win promotion.
Helsingborgs Dagblad: Succétränaren säger upp sig, Stattena har inte råd just nu

Umeå won in all the categories where they had nominees at the Swedish annual Football Award Gala last Monday and retiring Frida Östberg got the Diamond Ball, the Player of the Year prize. Contrary to what we are used to, Umeå staff and newspapers were pleased and thought it was the best award show ever, while others found it the most boring in a long time and there were of course the usual outraged cries about "how did she get that award?!". The choice of Frida Östberg recieved more critizism than any Diamond Ball winner in recent times, usually with the argument that she simply isn't the best player we've got, followed by pointing out her technical limitations.
Personally, I value a lot of other qualities in a player than ball skills and I have a soft spot for the hard-working, never-give-up defensive player and Frida has been immensly valuable to her club this season. I still think that maybe a life-time achievement award would have been more proper.
And I surprised myself with a happy little chuckle when Ulla-Karin Rönnlund was announced for the goalkeeper award. Not the expected winner, but fun.
And if you're wondering about the Coach of the Year award, Pia Sundhage couldn't win it since only club coaches are eligible.

The Awards:

Goalkeeper of the year: Ulla-Karin Rönnlund, Umeå IK
Other nominees: Nadine Angerer (Djurgården), Kristin Hammarström (Kif Örebro), Hedvig Lindahl (Linköpings FC)

Defender of the year: Sara Thunebro, Djurgården
Other nominees: Sara Larsson (Linköpings FC), Charlotte Rohlin (Linköpings FC), Stina Segerström (Kif Örebro)

Midfielder of the year: Therese Sjögran, LDB FC Malmö
Other nominees: Anne Mäkinen (AIK), Ingvild Stensland (Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC), Victoria Svensson (Djurgården)

Forward of the year: Marta, Umeå IK
Other nominees: Lisa De Vanna (AIK), Jessica Landström (Linköpings FC), Manon Melis (LDB FC Malmö)

Breakthrough of the year: Jessica Landström, Linköpings FC
Other nominees: Kosovare Asllani (Linköpings FC), Louise Fors (AIK), Nazanin Vaseghpanah (Hammarby)

Coach of the year: Andrée Jeglertz, Umeå IK
Other nominees: Thomas Mårtensson & Ulf Palmqvist (Kristianstads DFF), Jörgen Petersson (LDB FC Malmö), Daniel Pettersson (Linköpings FC)

The Diamond Ball: Frida Östberg, Umeå IK

Svensk Fotboll: Fotbollsgalan

Pictures of girls and boys in their bestest outfits, for those of you who are so inclined:
Finest.se, Fotbollskanalen, 2, 3

Want to watch the entire two hours? Fotbollskanalen again.

"I don't think I've played my last match for Umeå", said Marta when interviewed after her brilliant performance in Umeå's 6-0 defeat of Arsenal in the second leg of the UEFA Women's Cup quarter finals. But the 22 years old continued "I'm planning to play for at least eight more years", which I interpreted as that she might return to Umeå before retiring from football, and when pressed on an answer about her present negotiations with Umeå and Los Angeles Sol, she decided it was wiser not to comment at all.
Still, this prompted a new wave of speculations about the chance that she will stay in Umeå for the 2009 season. There was even a rumor that Umeå had secured funding for an offer to Marta that would match the money from the American Los Angeles Sol club. Umeå's general manager Britta Åkerlund swiftly denied this, claiming that she is still a seven figure amount from that.
But comments from the Umeå camp are sounding a bit more optimistic than before. Åkerlund says that she is still talking to Marta's agent Fabiano Farah and his interest seems to have grown the last few days. Her picture is that things are fairly quiet on the American side and that there is an amount of uncertainty and cautiousness that could be in Umeå's favour. A local paper also published a long analysis of the emerging American league, focusing on the problems financing it during what seems to be the biggest recession since the great depression in the 1930's.
In spite of this, Marta has been very much treated as a player retiring from the Swedish league. She was interviewed in a big prime time talk show where people like IKEA's founder Ingvar Kamprad and former prime minister Göran Persson also have been guests and the local newspaper Västerbottenskuriren published a 16 page insert about her career in Umeå.
The one that actually did play her last match got much less attention. 31 years old Frida Östberg explained her decision to leave football after 14 seasons at the highest level with a simple "sooner or later you have to move on" and she would like to be able to spend more time with her boyfriend Andreas, who lives and works in Holland.
Expressen: Nu kan Marta stanna i Umeå
Aftonbladet: Umeås hopp – finanskris
Expressen: Frida Östberg slutar - flyttar till Holland

Umeå IK - Arsenal  6 - 0 (2-0)
Umeå: Ulla-Karin Rönnlund – Frida Östberg, Karolina Westberg, Johanna Frisk, Anna Paulson – Mami Yamaguchi, Hanna Ljungberg (69 Emma Åberg Zingmark), Lisa Dahlkvist – Marta, Johanna Rasmusssen, Ramona Bachmann (85 Sofia Jakobsson)
Goals: 1-0 Marta (1), 2-0 Marta (44), 3-0 Marta (46), 4-0 Hanna Ljungberg (48), 5-0 Marta (59), 6-0 Ulla-Karin Rönnlund (74 PK)
Attendance: 2,493
A very open first half, lots of shots from both sides. Marta took Arsenal sleeping, scoring directly from the kick-off, but a lot of the rest of the first half was waiting for Arsenal to equalise, having the more dangerous finishes. Umeå's lead was preserved several times by goalkeeper Ulla-Karin Rönnlund, who made a couple of great saves.
But Marta scored at the end of the first half and as Arsenal reentered after half-time, set on scoring two goals to catch up, she scored again, beating Arsenal's defense to a deep ball. When Hanna Ljungberg made it 4-0 minutes later, set up with a great chip by Mami Yamaguchi, Arsenal imploded. The rest was Umeå showing off and even letting a couple of their youngsters getting a feel of the big games the last minutes.
Only hours before the match, Umeå's veteran och team captain Frida Östberg revealed that this would be her last match for Umeå and her last in top football. Frida came to Umeå IK 1995 and is together with Hanna Ljungberg and Ulla-Karin Rönnlund the last players that has been with Umeå since before they were promoted to Damallsvenskan.
SVT: match clip
Sydsvenskan: Målfyrverkeri av Marta
Västerbottens Folkblad: Tack för showen, Marta
Västerbottenskuriren: Marta: "Det var en fantastisk seger"

More hard-to-decipher Icelandic news. As far as I can understand, Iceland's stand-out goalscorer Margret Lara Vidarsdottir has been to Linköping for talks and a look at things. Nothing set, as far as I can understand, but Margret Lara seems excited and has her mind set on joining a strong team in order to be in best possible form when Iceland plays the European Championships next fall.
From a Linköping perspective, this seems like a great deal if they have to replace Josefine Öqvist, who is still mulling over her offers from Linköping and Umeå.
Visir: Margrét Lára vonast til að semja við Linköpings

Damfotboll.com reveals that Iceland keeper Gudbjörg Gunnarsdottir never showed up in Kristianstad as expected, but went to see Djurgården directly after she landed in Sweden. Kristianstad's sport director Ulf Berglund is less than pleased with this and says he is very disappointed with Djurgården's behavior, but refuses to go into any kind of bidding war for players.
Damfotboll.com: Djurgården tog Islands landslagsmålvakt

LATE EDIT: Djurgården confirms that they have reached an agreement with Gudbjörg Gunnarsdottir. Gunnarsdottir will visit Djurgården again next week to finalize the agreement, including taking a medical test.
Djurgården: Ny målvakt till Djurgården

Linköping's sought-after young forward Kosovare Asllani has decided to extend her contract with Linköping one year. She has been courted by both Umeå and Malmö, but "in the end it wasn't a very hard decision", she said. Playing in Europe with Linköping weighed heavy when she made up her mind to stay. "And I'm getting much better paid than I did before". She adds that Linköping wanted to sign a longer contract, but she felt that a one year deal was the right thing for her right now.
Linjköping also finalized extensions of the contracts with back-up keeper Mia Cederholm, full back Marie-Louise Skålberg, and the young up-and-coming Maja Krantz, Lisa Nilsson and Tilda Heimersson.
Corren: Asllani stannar i LFC

Another young woman with many suitors, Umeå Södra's 20 years old midfielder Hanna Folkesson, finally decided for AIK. The Sweden U21 player said that she knows it will be hard work to get in to the starting eleven, but she is prepared for that.
AIK: 20-årig landslagsspelare till AIK

According to Icelandic media, Iceland's national team goalkeeper Gudbjörg Gunnarsdottir is close to signing with Djurgården. The experienced keeper has told her club Valur, that she will be playing abroad next year and visited Kristianstad last weekend. According to the unconfirmed news, Gunnarsdottir continued to Stockholm and Djurgården. According to an Icelandic news site, she has agreed to replace Nadine Angerer in Djurgården's goal. Gunnarsdottir has however refused to comment on the news.
mbl.is: Guðbjörg að semja við Djurgården
visir: Guðbjörg á leið í atvinnumennsku


By the way, my Icelandic is really, really bad. If I have misunderstood anything, please let me know.

LDB FC Malmö has signed Bälinge's U18 forward Sara Storck, "a speedy winger/attacker who without doubt will reinforce the team", according to Malmö coach Jörgen Petersson. Storck is still in school and will not move south until she graduates in June. She will however participate in Malmö's training camp (probably in South Africa again) and in the winter indoor tournament LDB Sport Cup.
Skånska Dagbladet: LDB FC förstärker från Bälinge

At the same time the club announced that the talented young defender Emelie Ölander leaves the club as she moves to Stockholm. Ölander has 22 caps for Sweden at youth level and started 6 matches in Damallsvenskan the 2008 season. No mention of a new club, but if she wants to continue playing, there ought to be lots of interested teams in Stockholm.
LDB FC: Emelie Ölander till Stockholm

Kristianstad's hiring of multiple Icelandic championship winner Elisabet Gunnarsdottir as their new head coach might pay off in player signings too. Two players, Iceland's national team goalkeeper Gudbjörg Gunnarsdottír and national team winger Holmfrídur Magnusdottír, visits Kristianstad this weekend to get to know the club and the town. Sport director Ulf Berglund tells that the visit is for the benefit of the players, not a try-out: "We already knows their qualities".
Kristianstadsbladet: Isländskor till KDFF?

Kristianstad's current goalkeeper, Maria Edman, has already decided to leave the club and return to her old club, newly promoted Stattena. She played for Stattena during their 2003-2004 stint in Damallsvenskan and then played for Göteborg before coming to Kristianstad a year ago.
Stattena's coach Thomas Persson is very pleased with Edman joining the team, but says he needs an additional three or four established players to be able to hold on to their place in Damallsvenskan. 
Helsingborgs Dagblad: Maria säger ja till Stattena

Linköping finally seems to be able to round up some key players for 2009. Yesterday they could announce that Caroline Seger signed for another year. Today their star forward Jessica Landström also signed a new one year contract.
Linköping has also announced that 37 years old Magnus Wikman will be the new head coach, having agreed to a 1+1 year contract. Wikman coached Bälinge 2005-2006. Linköping's Josefine Öqvist, who had Wikman as her coach in high-school, showed enthusiasm for the signing and it seems like this maybe could influence her decision on which club to play for 2009.
Corren: Anfallsstjärna kvar i LFC
Upsala Nya Tidning: Magnus Wikman till Linköping - hyllas av Josefine Öqvist

Anna-Kaisa Rantanen, Linköping's Finnish defender/midfielder, has agreed on a 1 + 1 year contract with Djurgården. She has played for Linköping in five seasons, but had problems keeping her first team position this year.
Dagens Nyheter: Rantanen till Djurgården

Djurgården's sport director Mikael Söderman reveals that the main reason behind Nadine Angerer's decision to leave the club was that Angerer's partner, who moved to Sweden with her, had problems settling and finding a job in Stockholm. This wasn't unknown to the club, and they are already looking for a replacement, mainly outside Sweden: "There are not many [goalkeepers] at this level in Sweden".
Aftonbladet: Angerer lämnar Djurgården

Newly promoted Piteå IF estimates that they will have to sign five or six quality player to the team for their Damallsvenskan season next year. They are looking at the American player market - two American players, Kim Bonilla and Marisa Brown played a big part in their successful 2008 season - but also closer to home. New Zealand centre back Rebecca Smith, who didn't get a renewed contract with Sunnanå, is one of them. They are also interested in Sunnanå midfielder Johanna Lindahl, where they might offer a double deal, signing Johanna's boy friend to their men's side. Other Sunnanå players, that still haven't resigned with the club, might also be interesting for Piteå.
Norra Västerbotten: Satsande Piteå letar spelare i Sunnanå

Even if disappointment was the word of the day in Umeå - team captain Frida Östberg called her own performance against Arsenal "my worst this year" and coach Jeglertz was very critical to how the team managed to lose their lead in the last 15 minutes - they are looking forward to the home leg. The two away goals gives confidence. Jeglertz said after the match that "if anyone had asked me before the match, I would have been satisfied with 3-2, but the way the game turned out I can't be. We should have closed the match at 2-1". And Frida Östberg was confident: "We will sort this out at home".
Marta, who came in from the bench in the last minutes of playing time, will probably be able to play the full 90 minutes next week.
Västerbottenskuriren: Allt rasade samman sista kvarten
Dagens Nyheter: Umeå förlorade mot Arsenal

Madeleine Edlund's injury turned out to be much less serious than feared, "just" a concussion. She was hit in the temple by Arsenal goalkeeper Emma Byrne's elbow in a duel for a high ball. She lost consciousness and Umeå's physioterapeut Gunilla Stenmark called for a doctor. Since there was no one at the arena, they had to wait 15 minutes for the ambulance before Edlund could be stretchered off. The day after the match, she is suffering the usual concussion symptons, head-ache and feeling nauseous. It is not clear if she will be able to play in the return match.
Umeå's coach Andrée Jeglertz was very upset about the lack of medical personell at the match, which he said risked his players health. He also said Umeå will file a protest to UEFA, since this was "a clear infringement of the rules".
Aftonbladet: – Jag är yr och mår illa
Västerbottenskuriren: Arsenal saknade läkare - Jeglertz kräver bestraffning
Dagens Nyheter: Umeå anmäler Arsenal - saknade läkare

EDIT: Late Friday news says that Madeleine Edlund will not be able to play in next week's return leg of the UEFA Women's Cup quarterfinal against Arsenal.
Sydsvenskan: Säsongen över för Edlund

Arsenal - Umeå IK  3 - 2  (1-1)
Umeå: Ulla-Karin Rönnlund - Anna Paulson, Karolina Westberg, Johanna Frisk, Frida Östberg - Lisa Dahlqvist, Mami Yamaguchi, Hanna Ljungberg - Madelaine Edlund (28 Sofia Jakobsson), Ramona Bachmann, Johanna Rasmussen (85 Marta)
Goals: 1-0 Jayne Ludlow (2), 1-1 Mami Yamaguchi (13), 1-2 Frida Östberg (70), 2-2 Julie Fleeting (77), 3-2 Kim Little (80)
Attendance: 454
Umeå was unlucky already in the first third of the match, when striker Madeleine Edlund went down after a duel for a high corner ball, landing on her neck. She became unconscious and was stretchered off the field with a neck stabiliser and oxygen mask. Reports from the hospital suggests that it looked worse than it turned out to be. Probably better reports tomorrow.
From Västerbottenskuriren's play-by-play, it looks like Umeå had a lot more finishes before the 12 minute break for Edlund's injury. After that Arsenal had a fairly good grip over the match, or at least a lot more scoring opportunities than Umeå.
More details tomorrow, I hope.
Arsenal: Match report

Umeå IK has offered Linköping's 25 year old forward Josefine Öqvist a one year contract. "Good coaches, good players, good organisation" speaks in Umeå's favour, says Öqvist. When asked what could keep her in Linköping, she first and foremost wants a coach and the team needs to keep a lot of the current players. She will take the weekend, at least, to think things over.
SR:  Öqvist har fått kontraktsförslag  (audio)

Djurgården's goalkeeper Nadine Angerer has decided not to use her option to extend her contract with Djurgården. She moves back to Germany, but it doesn't seem set which club she will join. Djurgården's head coach Anders Johansson says Angerer cites personal reasons for leaving.
Djurgården's other German, Ariane Hingst, has fullfilled her two year contract and returned to Germany. She is currently doing rehab training after her knee surgery earlier this fall at her old club Turbine Potsdam.
I don't know if this has influenced Angerer and Hingst, but Germany's head coach Silvia Neid has in no uncertain terms stated that she expects all her national team players to play in the German Bundesliga until the World Cup is played in Germany 2011.
Damfotboll.com: Angerer lämnar Djurgården

National team midfielder CAroline Seger has signed a new one year contract with Linköping FC. Seger is captain and one of the key players in the team and Linköping's sport director Anders Mäki comments that it is very satisfying to be able to keep her.
Corren: Seger stannar i LFC

AIK's goalkeeper Sofia Lundgren has signed with Damallsvenskan runners-up Linköping FC. The deal is for the 2009 and 2010 seasons and Lundgren says she is looking forward playing in Linköping, "where I will get the chance to fight for the league title and to play in Europe". Lundgren played for Umeå IK before she joined AIK two years ago and has already won several Swedish and European titles.
SR: Lundgren klar för LFC

This must mean that Linköping has given up on Hedvig Lindahl, who yesterday returned from a short visit in Göteborg. She commented positively on her reception in Göteborg and on the club and sounded a lot like she had made up her mind for Göteborg. Expect an announcement within short.
Corren: Lindahl: "Göteborg ligger bra till"

Nobody wants to confirm the rumour that Marta has agreed on a contract with the WPS club Los Angeles Sol. Marta herself, on her way to London with Umeå to play Arsenal, simply refused to talk to the press, Umeå's sport director Britta Åkerlund had no news and Los Angeles Sol denied that anything should have been finalized.
Åkerlund confirmed that Josefine Öqvist and Lisa De Vanna now are Umeå's main targets.
SVT: Umeå IK hoppas fortfarande på Marta (video)

Should Linköping's national team goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl sign with Göteborg FC, Linköping has already started talks with a possible replacement; AIK's Sofia Lundgren. Lundgren (20 caps for Sweden) has had a good season for AIK and the Stockholm club comments that "we hope and believe that she will stay".
Corren: LFC jagar ny landslagsmålvakt

Daniela, Linköping's Brazilian midfielder, is according to Brazilian media negotiating a renewal of her contract with the club. There is no mention about any talks with the American club St. Louis, that has the WPS league player rights to her.
Globoesporte.com: Daniela Alves é campeã em cima de Marta na Suécia

Ifeoma Dieke, who has just arrived in Cyprus with two Kristianstad team mates (Therese Björck and Vlora Bajraktaraj) to spend part of the winter playing with Salamina in the women's top league, will most likely chose to play for WPS side Chicago Red Stars next season. Kristianstad's other centre back Kia McNeill is in talks with the club and sport director Ulf Berglund hopes to be able to keep her.
Kristianstadsbladet: Elitlicensen är hemma för KDFF

16 years old Alvik (2nd division) player Sara Eliasson, who had a try-out with Umeå last week, has been called back for a second audition. She has also been invited to Sunnanå, and will travel there toward the end of the month.
Norrländska Socialdemokraten: Eliasson ska träna mer med Umeå IK

Örebro might run into some problems when they tries to renew the contracts with several key players. Midfielders Marie Hammarström and Elin Magnusson, both important players in Örebro's long-time plans, have both graduated from Örebro University recently and are looking for jobs.
Sweden U21 player Lena Andersson, who seems to be less of a priority for the club, might also be leaving. Örebro is looking for an established two-way midfielder, a player that could threaten Andersson's position in the team.
National team defender Stina Segerström is in close contact with Kopparbergs/Göteborg. The Göteborg club has, since selling Lotta Schelin to Lyon, much better financial resources than Örebro, but they still hope to be able to keep her. Boyfriend, job and studies complicates a move för Stina.
Finally Örebro is looking for an established goalscorer, 12 to 15 goals a year. They will most likely have to go abroad to find that, and Brazil is not an unlikely target.
Nerikes Allehanda: Lena Andersson nästa frågetecken i Kif, Stina Segerström funderar vidare

Katri Nokso-Koivisto, Bälinge and Finland midfielder, is on a try-out with the Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg. According to the local newspaper, the visit is more about finding out if Katri likes it in Wolfsburg than for the Wolfsburg club to find out if she is what they want. 35 caps for Finland seems to be convincing enough.
Waz-online: VfL will Finnin aus Schweden

Former Bälinge coach Magnus Wikman, presently assistant coach for Sirius in the men's Superettan (2nd level), has been contacted by Linköping FC about the job as head coach for the team. He is interested, "it is a big club on the women's side and they seem to have an interesting vision for the club", but wants to think it over for a while.
Corren: Han kan ta över i LFC

The Swedish FA's big Football Awards are of course not the only awards handed out after the season. Almost every local FA  branch have their regional awards. There are also two, fairly prestigious, national player awards.

EFD, the association of Damallsvenskan and 1st division clubs, hands out the Ebba every year to the player that has been most valuable to her team. This year Umeå's Frida Östberg recieved the award.
Svensk Fotboll: Årets Ebbor utsedda

SR, the Swedish public radio company, has a "Best on the field" award. After every match, coaches and captains of the teams have voted for the best player on their own team as well as on the other team. LDB FC Malmö's Therese Sjögran won the prize, just one point ahead of Göteborg's Ingvild Stensland.
SR: Therese Sjögran allsvenskans bäste 2008, Top ten list, Top five team for team

Relegated teams almost always lose several of their best players, who gets offers from Damallsvenskan sides that has managed to stay in the premier league. Umeå Södra is no exception:

Goalkeeper Minna Meriluoto, capped 14 times for Finland, has signed with Hammarby. Sport director Annelie Norén is happy to have been able to tie "such a high class goalkeeper" to the club. No mention of their current, also fairly high class, keeper Kathrin Lehmann, but let's assume she isn't staying with the club.
Hammarby: Hammarby värvar mer finländskt och från Jitex
EDIT: OK, I did some research and found that Kathrin, at her website, has confirmed that she is leaving Hammarby, even though she was offered an extension of her contract. She says she has offers from Swedish and German clubs, but will focus on her ice-hockey playing for the next five months.
kathrinlehmann.com: Abschied aus Hammarby

Hammarby were also proposing to Södra's young forward Linda Fransson, but she chose to sign with Sunnanå.
Västerbottenskuriren: Fransson till Sunnanå

Umeå Södra's maybe hottest name on the player market, 20 years old midfielder Hanna Folkesson, has recieved interest from all of Örebro, Hammarby, Umeå IK and Sunnanå, but seems to be most likely to sign for AIK.
Västerbottenskuriren: Folkesson och Andersson blir 08:or

Sunnanå S is still looking for a new head coach since Kaj Eskelinen resigned after a less than successful season. The club is working with three names, one of them Mats Stenlund from the towns best men's side Skellefteå FF. They are also working on a few new signings, among them Bälinge's Emma Lindqvist and New Zealand national team player Kirsty Yallop.
Norra Västerbotten: Stenlund - ett av tre spår för SSK

Linköping's team captain Caroline Seger reveals that she is chosing between contract offers from Linköping and LDB FC Malmö. "It's not the easiest decision", she says and points out that Malmö has the entire organization for 2009 set already, both players and coach. In Linköping nothing yet. She adds that she will try to make up her mind as soon as possible. Malmö's sport director Kenny Jönsson refused to comment.
Corren: Malmö vill värva LFC-kaptenen

In other news, the successful 1st division forward Johanna Andersson from Jitex, has accepted an offer from Hammarby.
Västerbottenskuriren: Johanna Andersson till Hammarby

Emma Lindqvist from Bälinge is training with AIK and seems close to make the move over. Emilie Appelqvist and Linda Blom from the same club are also in contact with Damallsvenskan clubs, but doesn't want to comment any further.
Upsala Nya Tidning: Bälingespelare jagas av allsvenska klubbar

AIK has announced that the new women's team coach will be 22 years old Patric Jildefalk, who has been assistant coach this season. Retiring coach Benny Persson will remain in the club organization as some kind of elder statesman, mentoring the new coaching team and working with player recruitment together with sport director Peter Johansson.
Jidefalk's age is of course an issue here - he is younger than two thirds of the players in his team. He comments that he has to be humble and has to value and respect the experience of the older players.
SVT: 22-åringen som tar över AIK (video)
AIK: AIK Damfotboll omstrukturerar ledar- och tränarstaben

Just promoted Piteå has signed a new coach for their Damallsvenskan season, Peter Grundström. Grundström comes from the men's game and has coached at the 2nd level in the Swedish league system. LÖately he has been working with player development in the regional branch of the Swedish Football Association.
Norrbottenskuriren: Grundström tar plats

Marta's agent Fabiano Farah did not answer the deadline Umeå IK set for their contract offer to Marta. Umeå IK tonight released a press statement, saying that the consequence is that Umeå now "will intensify our contacts with the players who are the most interesting alternatives for the 2009 season". On the top of Umeå's list of candidates are most probably AIK's Australian Lisa De Vanna, who visited Umeå last week, and Linköping's Josefine Öqvist. Öqvist tells just after landing at Umeå airport for a two day visit that she is "very interested" in playing for Umeå. "Otherwise I wouldn't have taken the trip".

Umeå's sport director Britta Åkerlund adds that this doesn't mean that the club is counting out Marta completely, but they now have to persue other alternatives. But an anonumous source, quoted by a local Umeå newspaper, says that Marta's deal with the WPS club Los Angeles Sol is now completed. "She just hasn't signed yet".
Västerbotenskuriren: Los Angeles nästa för världsstjärnan
SVT: Öqvist interview (video)

AIK's Lisa De Vanna and Linköping's Josefine Öqvist have both been mentioned by Umeå's manager Andrée Jeglertz as his top priorities, should Marta leave Umeå.
Umeå can't sit and wait for Marta and see other possible recruits sign with other clubs and their deadline for Marta expires this weekend. "If Marta leaves, we have to continue with plan B, and maybe even plan C", comments Umeå's Britta Åkerlund. Josefine Öqvist reveals that she will take the trip up north on Monday to take a closer look at the club and the town. "I want to develop as a footballer and I would definitely do it there", she says.

According to some information, Linköping still hasn't renewed contracts with a single player on the team, that won the Swedish Cup Saturday. The budding forward star Kosovare Asllani has offers from both Linköping and LDB FC Malmö, and "you could say it's 50/50", she comments. Linköping's national team goal-keeper Hedvig Lindahl will take the trip to Göteborg on Wednesday to talk over things with them.
Dagens Nyheter: Linköpingstjärnor kan lämna
Västerbottenskuriren: Marta ut och Josefine in?

Umeå's veteran Frida Östberg hasn't decided if she will continue to play. The 31 year old says she's been pushing the final decision in front of her and will probably not announce any decision until after the Women's Cup quarterfinals against Arsenal. "You need to be able to commit 110 %" she says and isn't sure she can to that.
The other unsigned players from the current roster, except Marta, is Johanna Frisk (who might go to Los Angeles with Marta) and Norwegian defender June Pedersen, who hasn't received any offer.
Västerbottens Folkblad: Östberg tvekar – men inte inför finalen

Emma Westholm, a forward from relegated 1st division side Gideonsberg, has received interest from Kif Örebro and Hammarby.
VLT: Klubbar jagar GIF:s Westholm

Former Örebro player and Finnish international Leena Puranen has signed with Hammarby.
Hammarby: Finsk landslagsspelare klar för Hammarby

Kif Örebro's promising defender Sara Fröjdfeldt earned attention from Linköping. She also has an offer from Örebro.
Nerikes Allehanda: Kif-Sara eftertraktad av flera klubbar

Djurgården has renewed the contracts with Therese Brogårde and Sara Thunebro, the latter with a two year deal.
Djurgården: Therese Brogårde fortsätter, Sara Thunebro klar för två nya år

Emma Stålhammar, 23 year old midfielder/forward with LDB FC Malmö, has signed a one year deal with 1st division side Tyresö FF. Stålhammar, who has played 180 matches for Malmö, makes the move to get more playing time.
LDB FC: Emma Stålhammar till Tyresö FF

Linköping FC - Umeå IK  1 - 0 (0-0, 0-0)
Linköping: Hedvig Lindahl - Maja Krantz, Sara Larsson, Charlotte Rohlin, Marie-Louise Skålberg - Maria Karlsson (96 Ann Westermark), Petra Larsson, Daniela, Caroline Seger, Josefine Öqvist (115 Anna-Kaisa Rantanen) - Kosovare Asllani (106 Tilda Heimersson)
Umeå: Ulla-Karin Rönnlund - Frida Östberg, Johanna Frisk, Karolina Westberg, Anna Paulson - Mami Yamaguchi (63 Emma Åberg Zingmark), Hanna Ljungberg, Lisa Dahlkvist - Johanna Rasmussen (74 Sofia Jakobsson), Madelaine Edlund, Marta (90 Ramona Bachmann)
Goals: 1-0 Josefine Öqvist (110)
Attendance: 375
Umeå was by far the better side in the first half, dominating midfield and pretty much roaming free on the wings, but didn't manage to craete more scoring chances than Linköping did. Linköping were sitting far back in the field and mostly trying long passes aimed at Kosovare Asllani. The half-time consensus, and Linköping's captain Caroline Seger agreed passionately, was that if Linköping couldnt find a way to change the picture, they would be killed by Umeå in the second half.
And Linköping did that. They showed more courage, held on to the ball better and started to win more one-on-ones. Linköping's national team defenders Larsson and Rohlin impressed and were almost faultless. Umeå's Marta, who were allowed much less space than in the last match between the teams, had a couple of dangerous attacks but were substituted after the 90 regulation minutes. She complained about a hip pain, but I also think Jeglertz wanted to save her for the two remaining UEFA Cup matches in November.
Linköping grew more and more confident the longe the match went. When Josefine Öqvist, ten minutes from a penalty shoot-out, headed in the winning goal from a corner kick by Petra Larsson, it was just as fair result as an Umeå win would have been. Huge celebrations ensued from a very happy Linköping team - the cup win was at least a bit of revenge for losing the league title struggle to Umeå.
SVT: Öqvist cuphjälte för Linköping, match clip 30 seconds in to the sports news
Expressen: Öqvist sköt guldet till Linköping
Corren: LFC vann svenska cupen
Västerbottenskuriren: Marta skadad när Umeå föll i cupfinalen