Great Football is Not Enough – What Football can Learn from FC Möllan – One of Sweden’s Worst Women’s Football Teams

Yesterday we visited one of Sweden’s worst football teams. They are called FC Möllan and compete in Division 4 of Swedish women’s football which is the 6th tier of Swedish football. The game before the one yesterday? They lost 21-0 so safe to say the expectations on the football were not super high. Yet, there was so many other games we could have went to yesterday, yet we chose theirs. And we were not the only ones. 563 people came out to their game versus Las Presidentas in Malmö, Sweden. Did we mention it was just a friendly?

Now, you might think that 563 people is not a super high number but it is outstanding for a friendly of two 6th tier women football teams. If you would compare it to a Svenska Cupen game between two top-tier teams Växjö DFF & Linköping FC, the attendance there was just 150 today, and the numbers looked even worse when Djurgårdens IF faced Vittsjö GIK in front of just 133.

But Swedish Cup games historically do not draw huge crowds on a group stage level neither on the men nor women’s side of things, so to put things into perspective, if the 2024 season crowd attendance determined relegation in the OBOS Damallsvenskan, the highest-tier of football in Sweden, FC Möllan would not get relegated with that result compared to the average attendances of Damallsenskan teams in the 2024 season.

And that brings a question of why people care about a game like this and not as much about teams that are significantly better at football? One of the answers could be that great football is not enough when trying to reach a new audience today. That it’s not enough of a reason to care about a team.

What Football Can Learn From FC Möllan

…That you need to have a unique selling point that is not football.

Sunglasses during warmups? Funky dance moves? A DJ representing the opponents? Mini supporter clubs? Those were amongst things that happened long before any kick-off, but exactly what what we envisioned could happen because FC Möllan showcase their unique selling point very well. We could have went to any other game yesterday. But we knew what we would get at FC Möllan. We knew the vibe that would be present. We knew exactly what kind of audience would be present.

The reality today is that many clubs today in women’s football take on a traditional approach as far as showcasing their identity. You get your traditional broad football coverage but as a result the brand identity cannot reach a new audience because football is simply not enough. FC Möllan showcases a unique identity, and that identity isn’t going to appeal to everyone, in fact, it may not appeal to many, but it will appeal to someone, and that someone can make all the difference.

The Irish club Bohemian FC is a fantastic example of that. Being a fully fan owned club competing against private clubs on the men’s side of the League of Ireland they have built a unique identity that has got them known around the world, bringing in revenue streams through collaborations with bands like Fontaines D.C. or Guinness. Those didn’t come because of the football but because of the unique selling point by focusing so much on the community in everything the club does.

FC Möllan provides a feeling. The social media content is funky and highly creative and targets a very specific audience. The new jerseys are outstanding appealing to the visual lovers. That versus traditional football content when trying to reach a new audience, it works. And that can also be seen in other clubs. We seen at young clubs like AKS Zły, the 2015 UEFA Grassroots Award winners from Poland. Some of the fans we talked with stated they don’t even like football, but merely go because of everything that happens around the games.

Identity Matters

What is your clubs identity or identities? What can your club bring that is not football itself that brings people to your games? People need to have a reason to come that is not football, whether your games are a meeting spot of likeminded people, a place to sing for 90 minutes. Whatever it is, it needs to be more than just going to watch a football game.

…Especially with how accessible football today is. Long gone are the days of limited access to football. We no longer have to wait for a football match as if it was Christmas. No need for dodgy websites or complicated TV subscriptions. We have access to more games than we could ever watch, almost every single day, with more competitions in existence than ever before. That means that we don’t even have to leave our home to watch football. Today we have so much access to football and there is so much more of it that great football in itself is no longer enough. We have become numb to great football.