Fans’ group will take megaphones, banners and flags to Switzerland to ensure the atmosphere doesn’t fall flat
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n some parts of the world, Sweden is often confused with Switzerland. But this summer there will be no mistaking Swedish football fans as they descend on Switzerland for the Women’s European Championship bringing great colour as well as great noise. As ever, Soft Hooligans, a grassroots supporter group, is leading the line but this time there are more logistical issues to think about. “A major concern was how the ‘f’ we were going to get all our stuff down there,” says Caroline Gunnarsson, a Soft Hooligans member who will be driving the group’s campervan to Geneva, one which will be full to the brim with drums, megaphones, banners and flags.
Soft Hooligans was founded in 2017 after Estrid Kjellman returned from the Netherlands where she had watched the Euros with her family. She was impressed with the presence and passion of Dutch fans but was also taken aback by the lack of atmosphere in general. Used to the singing culture at men’s games in Sweden, Kjellman was inspired to change things.
“I felt really strongly that I wanted it to be just as fun to watch women’s football as it was to watch the Herrallsvenskan [the Swedish men’s top division],” Estrid says. “It was incredibly quiet [at Sweden games at the 2017 Euros] although we’ve got a national team that competes for and wins medals at practically every tournament.”
