Elfsborg

Make The Case

Elfsborg are not a spare club. They are Sweden Allsvenskan, Borås Arena, Borås, and 122 years of people deciding this was theirs, pick them and the season has a second spine.

• The calendar you inherit

  Sweden Allsvenskan is cold-weather football: mud in February, breath visible under the lights, and a fixture list that rewards anyone who sticks it out. Sweden does not do easy neutrals.

• Old enough to matter

  1904 is the founding date, old enough that the club has survived a war, a rebuild and at least one financial scare, young enough that the good years are still in living memory.

• Nothing won, everything to play for

  The trophy cabinet is a shelf and a rumour. Supporting Elfsborg is a bet on a first, not a return to former glories.

• Close to the pitch

  Borås Arena, Borås holds about 14,500. You can hear the defenders shouting at each other, which is the single best argument for lower-capacity football.