Hammarby endured a volatile campaign in 2016 which began with some hope, but ended with the club in uncertainty. After a successful first campaign back in the Allsvenskan last season, Hammarby had a very high turnover over of players as Nanne Bergstrand tried to overhaul a large part of his side. Their pre season form looked promising and the new players seemed to be integrating well into the team. However, once the season got started the results did not reflect the initial potential the squad had showed. Indeed for a long time the club seemed like candidates to go down as Bergstrand struggled to find a defence which worked. Until their last game in July Hammarby had not collected a clean sheet and it was only once youngster Joseph Aidoo and veteran David Wiklander started playing regularly together that Hammarby finally started picking up points. After a 2 – 0 win over Gefle Hammarby went on a run of losing just a single match in 11 games where they collected results against IFK, AIK and a number of their relegation rivals. It was a run which effectively saved their season and made sure they were safe for another season. After securing their safety Hammarby then failed to win for the final four games of the season, showing once again the fragility of the squad. Though Bergstrand has a proven track record in the league the board are set to end his contract early and that has caused some disruption in the team as a whole. The active first team squad remains one of the largest in the league and after some of their winter signings failed to integrate into the team properly, whoever leads the team next season will have a tough task on their hands. Although a few players played well for periods of the season, the only player to do well over the whole campaign was Erik Israelsson who also ended the season as top scorer with ten goals from 29 appearances. He will be crucial to their campaign next season so keeping him at the club will be of the highest priority even though other clubs will certainly have an interest in him.
