Football Season Guide

Norrkoping will know that 2019 was rather unacceptable and disappointing in the end. The fifth place finish was a huge step back from being runners up the year before, and Jens Gustafsson's side finished nine points behind Djurgardens in the end. Another bitter pill to swallow is the lack of European qualification which means less revenue for the club. On paper the squad looks excellent and much better equipped than a fifth place finish would suggest. They may have overachieved in 2018 and underachieved last season, so now is the time for Norrkoping to get the balance right. They will want to get out of the block quickly and make sure that they can at least break into the top four, but it's going to be tricky to dislodge the likes of Malmo and the three Stockholm clubs Djurgardens, Hammarby and AIK. But, while nine points sounds like a lot, Gustafsson will be able to identify just where those points were lost and hopefully they will have learned a valuable lesson and be ready to improve for this season.