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Gothenburg won the Swedish Championship gold last fall and played the Champions League in December. Now the elite business is closed. – We are shocked and saddened, says national team midfielder Elin Rubensson to TT.
Göteborg FC, Swedish champions, shut down elite operations. Stock Photography.
Gothenburg FC finally achieved one of the club’s great goals, a gold in the Swedish Championship.
But just a couple of weeks later, after the team’s Champions League defeat to Manchester City on December 17, the board made the decision to shut down the elite business.
– In 2003, Göran Johansson and Frank Andersson commissioned us, or you can say politics in Gothenburg, to start an investment in women’s football in Gothenburg, and that it would be run like the big men’s clubs in the city, says Peter Bronsman, club president and CEO of the brewery that sponsors the team, GP.
– 17 years later, all teams have started women’s teams in Gothenburg. We have done what we promised.
The players were briefed on a conference call Tuesday morning.
– We are shocked and sad, of course. Confused. The moment feels very strange. We just won the Swedish Championship gold, says maternity midfielder Elin Rubensson.
– We probably now receive help in one form or another. It is clear that one begins to think about the future, but it is a shock that must first settle.
Midfield colleague Julia Zigiotti Olme is on the same track.
– It feels very strange that we just won the gold of the Swedish Championship and next year there is no team, he tells GP.
However, according to Peter Bronsman, it is time for the big men’s clubs in the city, namely IFK Gothenburg, Häcken, Gais and Örgryte, to take over on the women’s side as well. As great European clubs such as Lyon, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have already done.
Among other things, a greater economy is required in the rear to be able to face international competition from the female side. It was evident, among other things, in the knockout stages of the Champions League in mid-December, where the GFC fell hard to Manchester City with a total of 1-5.
– When you see the conditions that Manchester City and Bayern Munich open for the ladies, then we will no longer be able to compete on the same terms. We can’t defend that, Peter Bronsman tells TT.
– We do not have the finances to build our own training center, that money does not exist. Today we have no financial problems at all. But we will never be able to provide the conditions that our players deserve for enkom as a women’s team.
TT: But none of the other clubs in Gothenburg have a women’s team at this level yet. Shouldn’t he have waited a bit with his decision?
– If we continue at this level, we will slow down development in Gothenburg. Now we really give them a chance to show that they are serious, rather than delay it by fighting for the same player, says Bronsman.
– It’s boring in the short term, but in the long term it’s a great decision for Gothenburg women’s football. Now the other clubs have the opportunity without anyone getting in the way.
As the Swedish champion, Gothenburg qualified directly for the knockout stages of the Champions League next season. What will happen to the Swedish top spot is still unclear.
The second Rosengård and the third Kristianstad are qualified for the round of 16 and round of 16 respectively in the CL 2021-2022 season. Linköping finished fourth, out of the European places.
Göteborg FC
Göteborgs FC have a long football history.
The club was formed in 1970, later as Landvetter IF. In 1996, the team made its first season at the top tier, finishing eighth.
Five years later, in 2001, 17-year-old Lotta Schelin joined the club. He remained with the club until 2008 and won the Damallsvenska shooting league in 2006 and 2007.
In 2004, the team moved to Gothenburg and changed its name to Kopparbergs / Göteborg FC. That same year, American star goalkeeper Hope Solo was recruited. Two years later, the team moved permanently to Valhalla IP in Gothenburg.
In 2011, the team obtained its first title when it won the Swedish Cup. The following year, he won the cup again and reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, where he lost to Arsenal.
In 2019, Rosengård was seriously challenged for Allsvenskan gold, but fell at the finish line.
This year they took their first gold in the Swedish Championship with Mats Gren, who trained with Jörgen Ericson. Gold was secured in the penultimate round.
