Football Season Guide

Norrkoping flirted with danger all of last year. Troubled by financial difficulties and instability at the top of the club they never found solid footing. In the end, barely survived by finishing just 3 points above the bottom 3. Changed 3 managers last season. Made another managerial change this winter. The lack of money prevented them from landing an experienced head coach. Instead the 29-year-old Martin Falk was given his first-ever head coach job. He was assistant coach for Malmo and AIK in the past. The first priority for Falk will be to figure out how to improve the defending. In 2024 Norrkoping had the second-worst defence in Allsvenskan – 57 goals conceded in 30 games. The new manager is really pressed to do that, especially with no money for new signings made available. The only notable new player that could become a regular is winger Sebastian Jørgensen who is at the club only on loan and only until June. If anything Norrkoping’s squad looks weaker than last year. Parted ways with multiple players, among them at least 4-5 very useful ones. When fit Ssewankambo was a solid defender, Salihovic played very well for his part even when tasked to operate out of position, Hammershöy-Mistrati scored 3 crucial goals in October that practically secured the survival, captain Khazeni was the undisputed leader of the dressing room. All of them are now gone. Captain Nyman remains the main hope up front but he will need much better service from the wings to be effective. The squad looks incomplete. There is no typical right-back on the books and there are only 2 natural full-backs. On top of that Norrkoping’s financial situation is only deteriorating further. This could see the manager asked to use some promising youngsters in the spring much more than he would have liked, only so the club could sell them in the summer to generate some cash.