Football Season Guide

On their return to the top flight Halmstad stayed out of trouble for most of the season. They finished 3 points above the bottom 3 in the end but the most impressive achievement was that never in the 30 rounds they dropped into the relegation zone. It was the very good home form, had the sixth best home record in 2023, that provided this comfort. The big issues were in attack though. Apart from bottom-dwellers Varbergs nobody else scored fewer than Halmstad’s 30 goals in 30 matches. The 2022 Superettan top goalscorer Viktor Granath struggled to make successful transition to the top flight and he had a disappointing year. In the winter Halmstad replaced their main goalkeepers. Tim Rönning will be the new number one and he is a vastly experienced goalie that is seen as an improvement on Säfqvist. The team also lost two of their main inner midfielders in Ahlstrand and Karlsson, with no replacements signed yet. This is a concern as both players were vital for the stability in midfield last season. Also, the issues in attack haven’t been resolved properly. Clearly, the manager hopes that in his second year at the top flight Granath will be much more productive but it seems risky to rely only on that. Added striker Wiedesheim-Paul as a backup. However, in his previous 2 spells at Allsvenskan in the last 3 years he scored 1 goal in 27 appearances and he is another forward struggling to find his feet at this level. It seems likely that in the last few weeks of the transfer activity in spring Halmstad will look to add more depth in midfield and maybe another striker or two.