QBIK on BBC

A little piece from BBC Sport on QBIK's three Nigerian players.

BBC Sport:
Breaking new barriers

TV4 acquires Damallsvenskan broadcasting rights

TV4, one of the two major networks in Sweden, has aquired the broadcasting rights for the Damallsvenskan and the Swedish women's national team matches for the next 5 years. TV4 has profiled themselves towards women's football the last years and has aired both national team and Damallsvenskan matches. The network, that also recieved rights for some of the men's premier league matches, has not yet announced how they are going to program the Damallsvenskan matches.

Dagens Nyheter:
Tröga förhandlingar - TV4 skrev på natten till fredagen

Malmö FF and Sunnanå facing possible relegation

Malmö FF and Sunnanå SK has for the second consecutive year failed to comply with the Swedish Football Association's financial requirements and are at risk getting relegated after the 2006 season.

Both Malmö and Sunnanå showed negative net assets already last year and had to present a financial plan to the Swedish FA's licensing board. Both clubs managed to show a positive result for 2005, but the surplus has not been big enough to get their figures in the black. Malmö's debts are SEK 500,000 compared to 700,000 a year ago while Sunnanå has managed to halve their depts to SEK 800,000.

The two clubs now have 5 months to show a positive equity. "The situation for Malmö and Sunnanå is worrying", says the board's charirman Kenneth Tallinger. "They must present a financial statement by August 31. If they are still in debt by then, they will lose their Damallsvenskan license ."

Sunnanå's chairman Catrine Lundström is still hopefull: "We own a company that owns our training facilities, but since the company's main activity is not football related, we cannot use it in the club's balance sheet." She says she's confident the club will be able to work this out.

Malmö FF has cut down a lot on expenses - you can notice it e.g. in their player transfers - and also got substantial support from the Malmö FF men's side last year. This has proved to be insufficient, but club treasurer Lars Lanker is still hopefull: "We are facing a couple of tough months, but I am confident we will work this out."

Expressen:
Sunnanå och MFF riskerar kastas ut

Training camp week

It's less than three weeks left to the kick-off for Damallsvenskan's 2006 season. A lot of the clubs take off for a training camp somewhere where they can find grass to play on. The tough pre-season training is now usually finished and it's time to focus on the finer details of the game.

Djurgården/Älvsjö will go to Italy and get to play an interesting match against the Italian number 2, Senini Bardolino from Verona. Hammarby and QBIK will both go to Agia Napa on Cyprus and meet each other in a training match. Umeå  will travel to Antalya in Turkey and play a local team and against Kopparbergs/Göteborg, who also has chosen this destination.

Jitex has already been to camp, in Denmark, and so has Malmö, who first planned to spend time in Germany and play the German top side Hamburg SV. They had to cancel, since the playing conditions in northern Germany this long and cold winter wasn't any better than in Sweden. They finally managed to find playable grass just outside Copenhagen and also have found a substitute for HSV - they will play Scotland's national team in a friendly next week.


Hanna Ljungberg might miss Damallsvenskan opener

Umeå's star striker Hanna Ljungberg might miss the Damallsvenskan season opener against Malmö FF on Easter Monday, due to the injuries she recieved in a national team game two weeks ago.

The collision with France's goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi in the last Algarve Cup match left her with a serious concussion and she has only just recently been allowed by her doctors to get up from bed and to leave her apartment. She will travel with her Umeå team to their Turkey training camp this week, but she will not be allowed to participate in any training. "I still get very, very tired from doing very little", she says.
Svt:
Allsvensk premiär i fara för Hanna, video clip

Training matches March 23-26

Alvik - Sunnanå 0-2
Goals: 0-1 Madeleine Edlund, 0-2 Maria Nordbrandt
Good goalkeeping saved the 1st division side Alvik from a bigger defeat.
Damfotboll.com:
200 personer såg Alvik mot Sunnanå

Gideonsberg - Bälinge 0-1 (0-1)
Bälinge: Maja Åström - Malin Ericsson, Lina Andersson (Linn Fors), Karolina Mats, Nera Smajic - Heidi Matinlassi, Maria Thuré, Mona Najib - Minna Mustonen, Emma Lindqvist, Madelene Hagberg (Anna Bergendal)
Goals: 0-1 Minna Mustonen (15)
Bälinge played an offensive 4-3-3 formation and managed to put pressure on the 1st division Gideonsberg. We should have scored more goals, looking at the opportunities we created, commented an otherwise pleased coach Magnus Wikman.
Uppsala Nya Tidning: Bälinge slog Gideonsberg i träningsmatch

KIF Örebro - Linköping 0-1 (0-1)
Linköping: Hedvig Lindahl - Maria Lindström, Charlotte Rohlin, Eva Skärby, Marie-Louise Skålberg - Anna-Kaisa Rantanen, Frida Östberg, Caroline Seger, Ann Westermark - Josefine Öqvist, Maria Aronsson
Goals: 0-1 Maria Aronsson (20)
KIF Örebro conceded their first pre-season goal to see their first pre-season defeat. Frida Östberg was an influental playmaker for Linköping in an otherwise rather uneventful match, where defense played the biggest part for both sides.
Nerikes Allehanda: Första insläppta gav KIF-förlust
Linköping FC: KIF Örebro-LFC 0-1

Kopparbergs/Göteborg - Falköping 5-5 (1-1)
Kopparbergs/Göteborg: Bodil Sjans - Camilla Schelin (48 Marlene Sjöberg), Maria Karlsson, Sofia Dammström, Maria Nilsson (48 Frida Höglund) - Lotta Schelin, Jessica Julin, Frida Thydén, Rebecca Ljungdahl - Sofie Andersson, Sofia Palmquist
Goalscorers: 1-0 Rebecca Ljungdahl (25), 2-4 Rebecca Ljungdahl (65), 3-4 Sofie Andersson (70), 4-4 Frida Thydén (75), 5-4 Rebecca Ljungdahl (80) 
An unfocused and disorganised Göteborg performance had them trailing 1-4 against 1st division Falköping some time into the second half. Eventually they managed to shape up and save a draw, but this does not look good with the league kick-off only three weeks away. Something to work on at the training camp in Turkey next week.
Damfotboll.com: Knallresultat av Falköping i Göteborg

Fart - Mallbacken 2-3 (0-2)
Goals: 0-1 Jenny Monsén, 0-2 Jenny Monsén, 0-3 Erla Arnardottir
Mallbacken went to Norway to play Fart from the Norwegian 2nd tier. A good first half got exchanged for tired legs in the second. Still a promising performance.
Mallbacken: Vinst mot Fart i Norge

Sunnanå - Morön U18 (boys) 2-0 (0-0)
Sunnanå: Åsa Berglund - Sara Hällberg, Rebecca Smith, Hanna Marklund, Linnea Gjersvold (Emma Jonsson)  - Sanna Frostevall (Anna Bodén), Kicki Wiklund, Carina Holmberg (Amanda Stenerkrans), Alexandra Nilsson - Maria Nordbrandt, Lina Johansson (Johanna Lindahl)
Goals: 1-0 Maria Nordbrandt, 2-0 Lina Johansson
Sunnanå dominated the game against the boy's side and got the opportunity to practice their attack.
Sunnanå: Damerna vann mot Morön U18 pojkar

Bälinge - Sundsvall 0-2 (0-0)
Bälinge rested a handfull of starters from the match against Gideonsberg. Despite having the majority of the possession, they came to very few finishes and were punished in the second half by the 1st division side Sundsvall, that is now on a 5 game winning streak.
Damfotboll.com: Sundsvalls DFF skrällde mot allsvenska Bälinge
Uppsala Nya Tidning: Målskyttet måste bli bättre Bälinge

Hammarby -  Djurgården/Älvsjö 2-5 (1-2)
Djurgården/Älvsjö: Pernilla Ebberyd - Kristin Bengtsson, Malin Engdahl, Therese Brogårde, Linda Lekander - Jenny Dannberg (46 Sara Thunebro), Elin Ekblom, Ann-Marie Norlin - Laura Kalmari, Victoria Svensson, Sofia Simonsson
Goals: 1-0 Victoria Svensson (10), 1-1 Sara Johansson (38), 2-1 Katrin Bengtsson (40), 3-1 Elin Ekblom (53), 3-2 Sara Johansson (67), 4-2 Elin Ekblom (75 PK), 5-2 Laura Kalmari (88)
With Katrine Pedersen and Bente Nordby away playing for their national teams and Dorte Dalum Jensen and Jane Törnquist on the injury list, Djurgården/Älvsjö had the opportunity to try out severeal of their youngsters, which pleased coach Benny Persson. Three of Djurgården's goals came from set pieces. Hammarby's En Perlskog was pleased with the play his team showed and praised newly signed Sara Johansson, who scored both Hammarby's goals.
Damfotboll.com: Tre fasta situationer avgjorde för Djurgården/Älvsjö
Djurgården/Älvsjö: Vinst mot Hammarby

Öster - Jitex 0-0 (0-0)
Öster, one of Jitex main competitors for promotion fromthe 1st division last season, managed to hold the newly promoted Jitex to a goalless draw. Neither of the teams created much in the attack and it seems like Jitex still has some work to do if they are going to extablish themselves in Damallsvenskan.
Damfotboll.com: Öster spelade oavgjort mot allsvenska Jitex

Djurgården/Älvsjö star player injured

Djurgården/Älvsjö's Danish national team defender Dorte Dalum Jensen suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during a training session last Tuesday. She'll be on the operating table Thursday and, if everything goes well, might be playing again in mid June. She will miss not only the first two months of the  Damallsvenskan season, but also at least three of Denmark's World Cup qualifying matches.
Djurgården/Älvsjö:
Dorte Dalum oturligt skadad

Linköping FC not satisfied with TV deal

Unlike most Damallsvenskan club officcials, Linköping's Anders Mäki is not entirely happy with the new TV deal the Swedish Football Association has signed. The clubs in Superettan, the men's 2nd division, gets three times as much as the Damallsvenskan clubs. "From a TV point of view, Damallsvenskan matches should be at least as valuable as the men's second tier", he says.

He also opposes the view from Umeå's Roland Arnquist, that the most successfull clubs should get most of the money from the TV deal. "That would only make the difference between Umeå and a club like QBIK even bigger. The money should be used to level the playfield."

It has not yet been decided how the new resources should be distributed, but Linköping most probably have some support for their opinion.
Corren:
Fördelning av tv-pengar väcker LFC:s irritation

Hanna Ljungberg: I was incredibly lucky

- "I was a bit surprised she went in head first", Hanna Ljungberg commented her run-in with French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi in the 3rd place Algarve Cup match last Wednesday.

Hanna, who avoided all press contact after the match, talked to the leading daily Dagens Nyheter on Friday. "I felt I had the upper hand as we both ran towards the ball - I would reach the ball first, head it over the keeper and score. I really didn't feel I was doing anything dangerous. I don't understand what Bouhaddi was thinking the way she went in head first." Hanna Ljungberg also says France usually plays a physical game, but that she can't imagine this was Bouhaddi's intention; "She probably just timed it wrong".

Hanna says she's very happy that she came out of the incident with only a concussion and that she'll be resting for about a week before resuming her preseason training.

Dagens Nyheter:
"Jag har haft en otrolig tur"

Mallbacken pleased with new TV deal

"Usually we have to work hard for our money", commented Mallbacken's reelected chairman Sven Eriksson the new TV deal, that will guarantee every Damallsvenskan club at least SEK 500,000 a year. It is a lot of money for the small club. Their total turnover for 2005 was SEK 2,5 million, a SEK 425,000 increase from 2004. Eriksson says they will probably use the new resources to employ an office manager with marketing responsibilities and for talent development.

Värmlands Folkblad:
500 000 kronor - så mycket får Mallbacken och Qbik för tv-avtalet

SEK 50 Millions in TV revenues to Damallsvenskan

The Swedish Football Association has reached a new contract regarding TV-rights for matches. For the first time the contract includes compensation for the Damallsvenskan matches, SEK 10 millions a year for 5 years.

It is not yet decided how the money will be distributed among the clubs, but one suggestion is to put some of the money aside as price money in the Swedish Cup. Umeå IK's general manager Roland Arnquist argues that the clubs that have big attendance and perform well in the league should get the most of the money. A decision will be made by the end of March.

SVT:
TV-avtal ger damklubbar 50 miljoner
Umeå IK: Umeå IK inte nöjd - vill ha mer reklampengar

Umeå's home field not FIFA approved

After an inspection of Umeå's home field, Gammliavallen, UEFA officials announced that the arfificial turf does not fullfill FIFA regulations. When tested, the turf proved to be to fast. This means that Umeå IK will not be able to play their UEFA Women's Cup matches in Umeå.

Umeå had a controversy around the field before the UEFA Cup final against FFC Frankfurt in 2004, which ended by the final home leg being moved to Stockholm. The UEFA decision might cost Umeå considerable incomes from gate reciepts and advertisments. It also means that the field doesn't meet the requirements for Damallsvenskan matches, but Umeå can most likely rely on a dispensation from the Swedish FA in that case.

The city of Umeå, that owns the arena, says they will get back to the company that supplied the artificial turf and demand that they attend to the faults.

SVT:
Umeås konstgräs håller inte måttet
Västerbottenskuriren: Glöm Gammlia, UIK

Late call-up to U21 team

Umeå's Anna Paulsson had to cancel her trip with the U21 and Djurgården/Ålvsjö's Malin Engdahl was somewhat surprisingly called up as replacement. The defender played with one of Djurgården 's cooperation clubs last season, 1st division side Bollstanäs, but has been training with the club since last fall.
Djurgården/Älvsjö:
Malin Engdahl med U21 till Paris

Positive annual reports from Örebro and Linköping

The financial reports from KIF Örebro and Linköping FC, presented at their annual meetings recently, shows growing turnover and a growing yearly surplus for both clubs.

KIF Örebro could look back at a successfull 2005. Their rapid financially growth, from an annual turnover 2004 at SEK 1,7 millions to SEK 2,9 millions and a SEK 285,000 profit 2005, corresponds to an increasing local support, both from fans and businesses. Re-elected chairman Karin Tellås is happy to be able to, for the first time, sign contracts with and give compensation to all players as well as hiring an office manager.

Linköping FC continues their ambition to develop to be a championship contender. Annual turnover grew from SEK 2,4 millions the year before to SEK 3,1 millions 2005, including a modest profit. "We invest all our resources in the development of the team", says general manager Anders Mäki. "We aim to be better both on and beside the football field".

Linköping FC:
Lugnt årsmöte i LFC
KIF Örebro: Ordförande har ordet..
Nerikes Allehanda: KIF Örebro fördubblade sin vinst

Bits and pieces

Umeå pleased with Klaveness signing
Even if the squad was already set, Umeå IK couldn't say no to Lise Klaveness. "She is an extraordinary accomplished player and we will benefit a lot from her", says Umeå head coach André Jeglertz. "She can play in almost any position on the field." The signing will also provide more depth to Umeå's rather small (but expensive) squad, much needed in view of the (hopefully) long season with UEFA Cup play.
Västerbottens Folkblad:
Jeglertz nöjd med nyförvärvet
Västerbottenskuriren: UIK kunde inte tacka nej

Umeå signs cooperation agreement with local competitors
Umeå IK has signed a cooperation agreement with the local 1st division side Umeå Södra. The agreement covers player development and organisational and financial questions. It also makes it possible for Umeå Ik to loan younger players to Umeå Södra outside of the transfer periods, which will give 1st team experience to some of Umeå's usually rather underused benchsitters.

Team Norway checks out Bente Nordby's new environment
Norway's goalkeeper coach Jerry Knutsson made a visit to Djurgården/Älvsjö to see how his principal protegé Bente Nordby has been settling in with her new club. He thinks the cooperation between Nordby and Djurgården/Älvsjö's goalkeeper coach Bernt Magnusson will be fruitfull and help Nordby to continue develop as a world class keeper.
Djurgården/Älvsjö: Trio med handskar

Hammarby IF - Glanshammar IF 3-2 (2-1)
Hammarby IF: Camilla Halonen - Anna Lindblom (70 Lisa Hoffman), Josefin Christensen, Karolina Rinnman, Annica Svensson - Josefin Weijner (60 Daniella Schamoun), Jennie Jonsson, Therese Sandström, Louise Fors - Marjike Callebaut, Lisa Björkvik. 
Goals: 1-0 Louise Fors, 2-0 Marjike Callebaut, 3-2 Karolina Rinnman
Hammarby IF played their first training match last Sunday, something I missed in my weekend update. I don't have any real match report, but from the line-up you can tell that they, like all other Damallsvenskan teams that have started their outdoor matches, were forced to use a lot of players that usually don't get to start. Glanshammars IF is a newly promoted 1st division side.

Bälinge and AIK agrees on player transfer
Bälinge IF and AIK, that dropped out from Damallsvenskan finishing 11th last season, has after lengthy negotiations agreed on the transfer of 24 year old winger Anna Bergendal. "AIK wanted more than they got and we had to pay more than we would have liked, so it was probably a fair deal", said Bälinge chairman Conny Sjöberg. Bergendal is Bälinge's 9th player acquisition this season and they are expecting one more before the squad is completed.
Uppsala Nya Tidning: AIK i kontraktsbråk med Bälinge
Uppsala Nya Tidning: Bälinge och AIK överens

KIF Örebro wins Swedish Futsal Championship

KIF Örebro crushed Kopparbergs/Göteborg with 11-2 in the final of the Swedish Futsal Championship, thus defending their indoor championship title from last year. The match was decided just before the 30 minutes mark, when Örebro scored 4 goals in 3 minutes. Caroline Näfver, just back from her stay with the national team at Cyprus, and Elin Magnusson got hat-tricks.

Only three Damallsvenskan clubs participated in the Futsal finals. The third team, Sunnanå, got knocked out by Göteborg in the group play, drawing Göteborg 1-1 in the deciding match. Göteborg reached the final on a better goal difference.

Most of the Damallsvenskan clubs decided not to participater in the Futsal Championships, since this would interfere with their preparations for the outdoor season.

Damfotboll.com:
KIF Örebro krossade Kopparbergs/Göteborg
Svensk Fotboll: SM i Futsal damer och herrar 2006

Dennerby warns against focus on fitness training

National team coach Thomas Dennerby warns against drawing the wrong conslusions from the fitness debate that has been in Sweden the last week. Together with his assistant coach Lilie Persson and the U-21 coach Marika Domanski Lyfors he writes a long article at Svensk Fotboll's website, warning against an excessive focus on fitness training.

Our game is football, he writes. The national team's growing success in the 2000's is the result of doubling the number of weekly training sessions since the mid 1990's. Almost all of this has been concentrated on football exercises - ball control, passing, finishing, heading etc. This has been the key to the success for the national team and the national league.

You also need to be in good shape. But fitness training should mostly be carried out in football exercises. He warns those coaching in smaller clubs and youth programmes from being too influenced by the debate on physical fitness: "If you only have 3-4 training sessions a week, you should spend all that time on the football field, not on the running tracks."

The article also warns against superficial comparisions of test results. More players and younger players were tested 2005 than 2003. The Swedish national team doesn't do the same tests as e.g. the US national team, so it's hard to make accurate comparisions.

Svensk Fotboll:
SOK jämför äpplen med päron
Dagens Nyheter: Dennerby slår tillbaka mot SOK-kritik


KIF Örebro wins indoor tournament

Last weekend the LBC Frakt Cup in Karlstad was played. The competition is Sweden's major indoor tournament with several Damallsvenskan and Norwegian cluibs participating, among them Norway's number 1 and 2, Kolbotn and Team Strømmen. KIF Örebro, Sweden's indoor champions 2005, won the tournament, defeating Hammarby 2-1 in the final. Hammarby's teenage talent Louise Fors was named best player while QBIK's Nigerian forward Maureen Mmadu scored 19 goals as best goal scorer.

Damfotboll.com: KIF Örebro vann i Karlstad
Värmlands Folkblad: Qbiks andralag bättre placerat än A-laget
Värmlands Folkblad: Jansson inte nöjd med femteplats för Team Strömmen: Vi borde slutat högre upp


Kudaisi: In Nigeria you have to be tough and strong

QBIK's latest signing, Nigerian defender Yinka Kudaisi, arrived in Karlstad on Friday, trained with the team and talked to the press. The tall 30 year old national team captain has participated in two Olympic competitions and three World Cups, but never played club football outside Nigeria. She says she thinks the standard of the Nigerian league is high, but it's hard to know when you haven't played in any other league. But you have to be tough and strong to make it in Nigeria, she continues and hopes that will benefit her in Sweden too. Kudaisi, who has signed a two year contract with QBIK looks forward to play with her compatriots Faith Ikidi and Maureen Mmadu.

QBIK has lost three defensive players since the end of the 2005 season; Kathlene Fernström to neighbouring Mallbacken, Therese Lückner across the border to Norwegian top side Team Strömmen and their Djurgpården/Älvsjö loanee Annica Svensson, who returned to Stockholm and signed for Hammarby. Kudaisi will together with Ikidi play an important role to secure QBIK's defense the coming season.

Värmlands Folkblad:
Qbiks nya tuffing

New assistant coach to Umeå IK

Umeå IK has signed former Allsvenskan player and local celebrity Steve Galloway as assistant coach with responsibilities including match analysis and coaching forwards. Galloway successfully coached the men's side Umeå FC last year, gaining promotion to the second highest level. In spite of that he was replaced by former Umeå IK head coach Richard Holmlund. With the addition of Galloway, Umeå IK now has a five person strong coaching staff.

Västerbottenskuriren:
Steve Galloway till Umeå IK

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