Who Are Elfsborg? A Guide to Tottenham’s Europa League Opponents
This coming Thursday (30 Jan), Tottenham Hotspur conclude their UEFA Europa League Phase when Swedish side IF Elfsborg travel to North London, with kickoff at 8.00pm GMT.
After another league defeat to Leicester on Sunday, Ange Postecoglou finds his position hanging in the balance as Spurs look to avoid a two-legged Playoff tie and advance straight through to the Round of 16.
The match is available to watch live on TNT Sports 2, with talkSPORT broadcasting nationwide radio coverage from 7pm.
With the tie just one day away, here is an overview of the history of Spurs’ opponents, and how Elfsborg can shock the Londoners on Thursday evening.
The Name
Though the names of Malmö, Göteborg and AIK may be more familiar to outsiders, IF Elfsborg are one of the biggest teams in Swedish football.
They have been champions of the Allsvenskan (All-Swedish) league as recently as 2012, and have claimed six league titles and three cup successes in their 120-year history.
They were formed back in 1904, in the city of Borås, by a group of 14-15 year-olds – 19 of them, in fact – after they felt the city’s existing team did not cover football well enough as part of its remit.
Though initially named after the town, there were so many clubs with a similar name that within two years it had been changed to the current moniker, based on the contemporaneous spelling of the old county in which they were based, Älvsborg County.
This also gave them their enduring yellow and black colour scheme, based on armed forces branch the Älvsborg Regiment.
One of the biggest high points in the club’s history was a 2-1 victory over the Swedish national team in August 1941, just years after three title wins in four seasons catapulted many of the team into national stardom.
By 1954, Di Gule (The Yellow Ones) found themselves relegated from the top-flight, and they stayed in the second division until 1960 – by 1961, they found themselves once again Allsvenskan champions after being promoted the season before, a feat never achieved in Sweden since.
This meant European football arrived in the city for the first time, as they made the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1961, beating Tasmania Berlin and FC Basel on the way to defeat against Sparta Rotterdam.
Two Svenska Cupen (Swedish Cup) wins in 2001 and 2003 brought them back to relevance, and European football arrived back in 2001.
An average of around 8,000 fans regularly attend the functionally-named Borås Arena, putting them around the seventh-best supported team in the country, though far behind fellow Västra Götaland side Göteborg, who are from the same county.
Their visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium marks their 16th European game this season, starting all the way in July against Pafos of Cyprus and culminating in a first Europa League Group Stage appearance since 2013.
They currently sit 20th overall, slap bang in the middle of the unseeded Knockout Qualifiers, knowing a win could see them finish above the likes of Roma, Porto, and Spurs’ previous opponents Hoffenheim.
The Form
The Swedish league is one of the few in Europe to take place over the summer months, beginning in March, and so Elfsborg have not played a competitive match domestically since November.
Their European odyssey, on the other hand, has been something to behold. Wins against Roma, Azeri champions Qarabag, and OGC Nice have propelled them into contention to progress to the knockout phase for the first time in their history.
They also snagged a point against Braga, and pushed AZ Alkmaar and Galatasaray all the way, losing by a goal in end-to-end, goal-packed encounters.
Previous manager Jimmy Thelin left for Aberdeen last summer, but his replacement, Oscar Hiljemark, has maintained the positivity around the club, despite only being 32-years-old.
The former midfielder, who accrued 28 caps for Sweden and appeared at two major international tournaments, has won 19 of his 33 games in charge, with his 3-4-3 formation proving effective at stifling teams with equal pedigree in Europe.
The Threats
Arguably Elfsborg’s most influential figure so far has already departed this month: Ghanaian midfielder Michael Baidoo, their leading scorer with 10 goals, joined EFL Championship side Plymouth Argyle for a club-record fee.
Though a big blow to the Swedes, many components that helped them become a force to be reckoned with remain.
Striker Simon Hedlund remains, with nine goals so far, along with another Ghana international in the evergreen Jalal Abdulai up front.
Further grit is provided by captain Sebastian Holmén, Kosovo’s Arbër Zeneli, and Iraqi-based Swedish prospect Ahmed Qasem, with Isak Pettersson between the sticks having joined from Toulouse last year.
A third Ghanaian player can be found in defender Terry Yegbe, who claimed to idolise David Alaba growing up, alongside veteran left-back Niklas Hult manning the line in his second spell at the club.
Their two previous goalscorers in Europe – defender Gustav Henriksson and Danish forward Emil Holten – should also be available for this encounter.
The Result
All of the attention – and pressure – will be on Tottenham to get a win and begin to salvage something from their underwhelming season, with Liverpool in the League Cup Semi-Finals to prepare for on the horizon.
This will undoubtedly suit Elfsborg, who have disrupted some of the bigger nations so far in this campaign to find themselves on the brink of a new experience in knockout football.
Ange Postecoglou finds himself a defeat or two away from the axe being wielded in his direction, and, though boasting a technically superior squad, must be wary of Elfsborg’s defensive resilience and counter-attacking output thus far.