AFC Eskilstuna

Athletic Football Club Eskilstuna, also known as AFC Eskilstuna or simply AFC, is a Swedish professional football club based in Eskilstuna.^[1] The club has previously been known under the names FC Café Opera and Väsby United before switching ownership and their identity again in 2012 to AFC United. During the 2016 season it was once again decided that they would switch their name, identity, as well as locality. Choosing to move to Eskilstuna, about 110 kilometers west of Stockholm, they are since known as AFC Eskilstuna. They compete in Ettan, the third highest tier of Swedish football, and play their home matches at Tunavallen. AFC Eskilstuna are affiliated to Södermanlands Fotbollförbund.^{[citation needed]}

AFC Eskilstuna

Full name	Athletic Football Club Eskilstuna
Founded	1 January 1991; 33 years ago (1991-01-01) (as "FC Café Opera")
Ground	Tunavallen, Eskilstuna
Capacity	7,800
Chairman	Alex Ryssholm
Manager	Melke Alan
League	Ettan
2023	Superettan, 16th of 16 (relegated)
Website	www.afc-eskilstuna.se
Home colours Away colours

Background

FC Café Opera

FC Café Opera was created in 1991 by Italian born restaurateur Alessandro Catenacci who named the club after Café Opera which he owned. They started out in division 8 of the Swedish football league system but only nine years later they had made it to the second tier Superettan.^[2]

Väsby United

Football Club Väsby United was formed in 2005 when the two Stockholm clubs FC Café Opera United and Väsby IK FK merged. The new club replaced FC Café Opera United in the Superettan making it the youngest club competing at this level. Väsby United was a feeder club to AIK who participated in the second and third divisions of the Swedish football league system. The club played in Division 1 Norra which is the third tier of Swedish football when they became AFC United.^[3]

AFC United

AFC United was founded when FC Väsby United increased their cooperation Division 3 club Athletic FC in late 2012.^[4] They played their home matches at Skytteholms IP in Solna until the end of the 2016 season. Athletic FC was founded in 2007 and became part of AFC United in 2012. In 2012, Athletic FC played in Swedish football Division 3 Norra Svealand which is the fifth tier of Swedish football.^[5] Athletic FC was affiliated to Stockholms Fotbollförbund.^[6]

AFC Eskilstuna

During the 2016 season the club management decided to uproot and leave Solna and move to Eskilstuna and Tunavallen before the 2017 season. They also changed their name to AFC Eskilstuna.^{[citation needed]}

The team were winless, having only acquired 4 points from the opening 12 matches and were firmly rooted to the bottom of the league table.^[7] Michael Jolley was announced as new manager on 13 June 2017.^[8] Under Jolley's coaching they took 15 points from the next 16 games.^[9] A 3–1 victory over Malmö FF on 19 August 2017 in particular provided the biggest shock of the season in Allsvenskan.^[10] However, they were eventually relegated to Superettan on 23 October 2017 following a spirited fight when Jönköpings Södra IF defeated Kalmar FF 2–0, meaning AFC Eskilstuna could no longer reach the qualifying position.^[11] Jolley departed ways with AFC Eskilstuna on 9 January 2018 by mutual consent, after being unable to agree on the future direction of the club.^[12]

On 15 January 2018, Nemanja Miljanović became the manager, after their relegation to the Superettan.^[13]

Season-to-season

Season	Level	League	Pos
FC Väsby United
2005	Tier 2	Superettan	9th
2006[lower-alpha 1]	Tier 2	Superettan	14th (R)
2007	Tier 3	Division 1 Norra	2nd (P)
2008	Tier 2	Superettan	9th
2009	Tier 2	Superettan	12th
2010	Tier 2	Superettan	16th (R)
2011	Tier 3	Division 1 Norra	2nd
2012	Tier 3	Division 1 Norra	11th
AFC United
2013	Tier 3	Division 1 Norra	10th
2014	Tier 3	Division 1 Norra	1st (P)
2015	Tier 2	Superettan	8th
2016	Tier 2	Superettan	2nd (P)
AFC Eskilstuna
2017	Tier 1	Allsvenskan	16th (R)
2018	Tier 2	Superettan	3rd (P)
2019	Tier 1	Allsvenskan	16th (R)
2020	Tier 2	Superettan	9th
2021	Tier 2	Superettan	9th
2022	Tier 2	Superettan	8th
2023	Tier 2	Superettan	16th (R)

1. League restructuring in 2006 resulted in a new division being created at Tier 3 and subsequent divisions dropping a level.^[14][15][16]

Players

Current squad

As of 10 August 2024^[17]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SWE Kevin Dyplin 2 DF  SWE Hampus Myske 4 DF  BIH Amel Mazalovic 5 DF  TUN Yassin Hawat 6 MF  NOR Gustav Severinsen 8 MF  SWE Hadi Noori (on loan from HJK Klubi 04) 9 FW  SWE Love Björnson 10 FW  SWE Aleksandar Azizovic 11 FW  SWE Oliver Markulic 14 MF  SWE Tristan Hedman 15 MF  SWE Sixten Sköldqvist 16 FW  SWE Lee Hanson 17 DF  SWE Adam Padovan (on loan from Västerås) 18 MF  SWE Naod Ghebrekristos

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  USA Reece Gaylor 20 FW  KEN Henry Atola (on loan from AIK) 22 DF  SWE Fredrik Sandell 24 DF  KEN Frank Odhiambo (on loan from Djurgårdens) 27 FW  IRQ Alai Ghasem (on loan from IFK Göteborg) 30 GK  SWE Famara Touray 32 GK  MLI Makan Keita 35 GK  SWE Hannes Sveijer 75 MF  SWE Leo Lif 92 DF  SWE Love Lindbäck 97 DF  FRA Louka Masset — FW  FIN Oiva Laaksonen (on loan from Haka) — DF  FIN Henri Malundama

Attendances

Väsby United had the following average attendances:

AFC Eskilstuna play their home games at Tunavallen

AFC United previously played their home games at Skytteholms IP

Season	Average Attendance	Division / Section	Level
2005	1,124	Superettan	Tier 2
2006	487	Superettan	Tier 2
2007	446	Div 1 Norra	Tier 3
2008	450	Superettan	Tier 2
2009	405	Superettan	Tier 2
2010	723	Superettan	Tier 2
2011	290	Div 1 Norra	Tier 3
2012	206	Div 1 Norra	Tier 3

In recent seasons AFC United have had the following average attendances:

Season Average Attendance Division / Section Level 2013 179 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2014 176 Div 1 Norra Tier 3 2015 346 Superettan Tier 2 2016 698 Superettan Tier 2 * Attendances are provided in the Publikliga sections of the Svenska Fotbollförbundet website. [18]

The highest attendance for FC Väsby United at Råsunda was 8,672 spectators who attended the match with AIK on 15 August 2005.^[19]

Achievements

League

• Superettan
  • Runners-up (1): 2016
• Division 1 Norra
  • Winners (1): 2014
  • Runners-up (2): 2007, 2011

Cup

• Svenska Cupen
  • Runners-up (1): 2019

Notes and references

Notes

References

1. "FC Väsby United – Fotboll Klubb". Archived from the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
2. "Projekten vi aldrig glömmer – färgade svensk fotboll". FotbollDirekt. Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
3. "Tabell och resultat – Div 1 Norra, herrar – Svenskfotboll.se". Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
4. "Väsby United byter namn till AFC United: "Ett naturligt steg"". fotbolltransfers.com (in Swedish). 7 December 2012. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
5. "norra Svealand - Division 3 – Fotbollsserier 2012 – Fotboll – everysport.com". Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
6. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Athletic FC – Svenskfotboll.se". Retrieved 12 September 2011.
7. "AFC Eskilstuna 2017: Table: Round 12". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017.
8. Dale, James (13 June 2017). "Michael Jolley leaves Burnley to become AFC Eskilstuna boss". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
9. "AFC Eskilstuna 2017: Table: Round 28". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018.
10. Tynander, Rasmus (19 August 2017). "AFC Eskilstuna 3–1 Malmö FF". SVT Sport. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
11. Kjellmer, Jakob Runevad (23 October 2017). "Jönköpings Södra IF 2–0 Kalmar FF". SVT Sport. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
12. Mattsson, Sebastian (9 January 2018). "The coach leaves: "Big disappointment"". Expressen. Stockholm, Sweden. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
13. Malmkvist, Alexander (15 January 2018). "Sportchefen blir huvudtränare i AFC: "En fantastisk person"". Fotbollskanalen. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
14. "GAIS – Lagfacta – FC Väsby United". Retrieved 2 December 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
15. "Norra — Division 1 – Fotbollsserier 2011 – Fotboll – everysport.com". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
16. "Sweden Final Tables – Clas Glenning". Archived from the original on 31 July 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
17. "A-Laget Squad". Retrieved 2 June 2023.
18. "Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar – Svenska Fotbollförbundet – svenskfotboll.se". Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
19. "Väsby United  – svenskfotboll.se". Archived from the original on 13 August 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.

External links

• Official website (in Swedish)
• AFC Eskilstuna on WorldFootball