Football Season Guide

Varnamo barely survived in their third season in the top flight. They ended up in the relegation play-off where they narrowly edged Landskrona 3:2 on aggregate. Problems with their own stadium and pitch led to Varnamo playing their opening 6 home games of 2024 80 km away. This took away the main strength of the team from previous years – their home form. Defeats in all these matches set the tone for the rest of the year. Despite improved displays and results in September and early October Varnamo still ended up in 14th place. A bit unlucky as only the 3 fewer goals they scored compared to Göteborg prevented them from saving themselves outright. Still, the improvement shown once the Spaniard Sibilla took charge in late August was enough to land him the job permanently. The 2023 top goalscorer Gustav Engvall was a disappointment last year. Only bottom-dwellers Vasteras scored fewer than Varnamo’s 30 goals in 2024. Engvall was sold. It seems Sabilla will rely a lot on the Nigerian forward (Johnbosco Kalu) he brought with him from Spain last autumn going into 2025. Solid defender Steinwender is the other main departure this off-season. Varnamo replaced him with Hugo Andersson. In general, defensively Varnamo remain with very good depth. Sabilla likes to use the flanks a lot. He also improved vastly the transition attack since his arrival, allowing Varnamo to do what they used to do best two years ago – soak up pressure and hurt teams on counterattack. More of all this is to be expected from the team in 2025.