‘Bigger than football’ – how Mjallby are gatecrashing Sweden’s elite

While most football fans across Europe patiently wait for the new season to begin, the story of the year in Sweden is already taking shape.

Champions League regulars and legendary players like Malmo, AIK, Hammarby, and Djurgarden can be found in Allsvenskan, the nation’s top tier.

However, Mjallby, based in a town of less than 1, 000 people, is playing with less than half of the season up for grabs and is on course to do so in Europe.

The merger of two local teams in 1939 led to the formation of Mjallby, who spent the majority of their 86 years atop the Swedish top flight.

The Solvesborg municipality’s residents are diligent and proud, living in a coastal region that is closely linked to agriculture and fishing.

They show up in numbers at their modest 6, 500 capacity Strandvallen home in the small town of Hallevik, with average attendances more than four times the size of the local population.

It’s by the sea, but Mjallby and Stockholm and Malmo’s vast arenas are a long way from making up for lost time.

They have won 13 of their 18 league games this season and have only experienced defeat once, finishing fifth overall in the 2024 Allsvenskan. Since July 2024, they have also gone 18 home league matches unbeaten.

Despite having one of the smallest turnovers and budgets in the division, Mjallby have already defeated title rivals Hammarby, who are currently in second place at home and away this year.

Midfielder Elliot Stroud told BBC Sport, “It’s difficult to take it all in because it’s happened so quickly.”

The 23-year-old, Mjallby’s top goal contributor in the league with four goals and five assists, is thriving in a high energy, high pressing attacking system, something only recently introduced at the club.

Karl Marius Aksum is that coach.

When he joined Mjallby in January 2024, he had never previously coached at a senior level, but manager Anders Torstensson was impressed by his academic accomplishments and ideas.

The Norwegian, who regularly shares tactical insights on social media, has a PhD in visual perception in elite football.

The active head movements that players make before receiving the ball in order to gather information from their surroundings are the subject of the particular emphasis.

Because the players move more quickly and the press is more accurate, Aksum said, adding that staying current with your surroundings is a necessary skill in modern football.

“It’s especially important for players in the middle of the pitch, because they could have important information 360 degrees around them”.

He was given the freedom to apply other rules to revolutionize their attacking play and worked on the players’ scanning to make them “better passers and better players both offensively and defensively.”

A team that once relied heavily on crosses and set pieces now plays from the back to maintain possession and advance up the pitch as a unit.

Aksum favours “game specific” training over drills like rondos, which focus on a specific skill without recreating real match conditions.

No Playstation training is provided for players, who are given principles but never precise solutions. They must make the choices, he added.

It’s impressive to have just three international players and an average player age 24 competing for the title, but it’s no accident.

Rewind to 2016 and Mjallby were struggling in the third tier and close to bankruptcy.

Although they were spared what would have been a fatal relegation to the fourth tier by virtue of victory on the final day, significant adjustments were required.

Due to the 50+1 rule, wealthy owners cannot finance successful teams in Sweden because they are fans’ favorites.

Mjallby’s transformation over the last decade has been organic, and driven by chairman Magnus Emeus.

“We took control of our costs, we have one of the lowest turnovers in the league, but we also have one of the lowest costs”, Mjallby chief executive Jacob Lennartsson told BBC Sport.

We ask “Is this making us better” for every Swedish Krona that leaves this club.

Football is all about love and passion, but having a good economy is ultimately so important.

Mjallby began to focus on developing young players and selling them as a way to survive.

Colin Rosler, the son of former Manchester City striker Uwe, was sold for £950,000 just 18 months after signing on a free transfer. Aksum has hailed Midfielder Nicklas Rojkjaer as the best player he has ever worked with. He signed for Danish side Nordsjaelland earlier this month for about £1.4 million.

The stars of this season like Gambian forward Abdoulie Manneh, centre-backs Axel Noren and Abdullah Iqbal, and Swedish midfielder Ludwig Malachowski Thorell seem destined for big moves in the future.

Former players like 30-year-old striker Jacob Bergstrom and captain Jesper Gustavsson, who both participated in that crucial final-day game nine years ago, have gained valuable experience.

Lennartsson believes there must be a balance between pursuing honors and such a strategy.

” The problem is when you start to win games, players attract bigger clubs. The goal is to convince them that what is best for the club is at play, he said.

I am aware of the players’ viewpoint. At Mjallby they will get a good education and play for one of the best teams in Sweden, but they will not get the best money.

No player ever requests to leave Mjallby and stays for a while. They may have a half or full season, but ultimately they get their desired result.

While continuing to grow, what has emerged from the near-ruins of 2016 is a club that remains rooted in a tight-knit community.

Where else would a title-challenging squad’s members reside together and frequently interact with fans while shopping?

“We will have a barbecue, cook out, and hang out if we don’t have anything to do,” remarked Stroud.

“Those bonds build off the pitch and follow on the pitch too. The secret is in that. At a relatively small club, we are all so close, which is unusual.

Mjallby’s official supporters ‘ association, Sillastrybarna, has grown from less than 30 hardcore fans to at least 500, all while cultivating a positive, anti-racist and anti-sexist culture in the stands.

The Mjallby Tifo group’s choreographies and displays become more elaborate with each new season, not to mention their Stockholm counterparts.

The emotions of this season are difficult to comprehend for those who have witnessed their journey.

“The greatest feeling is sharing this moment with my mates who have been standing by my side all along this journey”, said Sillastrybarna chairman Patrik Thorell.

After watching his team play at Mjallby, one opposition supporter wrote on social media: “It should be impossible to play football here – nobody lives here, there is one shop and only animals.

You turn right on Strandvallen, a road where the ocean meets the world. It’s amazing that they play world-class football there.

Those words have been adopted by the club as both a source of motivation and grounding.

Lennartsson continued, “We are not that big, we need to keep our feet on the ground.”

We use this to control our expectations.