Years ago Umea IK, were the darling stars of Sweden Damallsvenskan, the Northland outfit had the best players in the world, played the most beautiful football and had the biggest crowds, and regularly competing in the Women’s Champions League against some of the finest women football team in the world, not seeing them grace the Champions League again for a long, speaks a lot about how much the darling team of the Northland, and Europe had fallen from the top to the bottom.
The fans of Umea IK were always overjoyed and proud for having a team from the Northland who always represent them well in competitions, and as a matter of fact, the team had players who played with guile and flair which brought huge success to the club, as such the fans are always excited to see them play anytime they filled out on the pitch.
The Northland outfit Umea IK was so much than just a team from a cold region up in the north, it was a team that ruled the Swedish Damallsvenskan and Europe, in 1985 Umea IK started its reign in the Swedish fourth division and won it the following year, at the time women’s football was nowhere near as professional, popular and accepted as today.
Prior to the 1991 season, the club manager, Roland Arnqvist wanted a drastic change in the team, and he immediately set the ground running by contracting the great players to the clubs, which ushered in an era of new professionalism and exciting football into the club, a drastic change of what Arnqvist wanted in the team, as a result of that the team got 35 Swedish Kroner for each game they played.
As things progress at Umea IK, the innovative Arnqvist started preparing and training his players more frequently compared to other teams in the league, the manager had a vision of making Umea IK the best team in Europe and as such he began to understand what it would take to get his players to the top, so with Arnqvist still in charge of the Northland outfit, they started doing things differently and its led to incredible success for them in Europe and in the Damallsvenskan.
Fast forward to 1995, success started knocking on the door of Umea IK by reaching the top tier of the women’s football in Sweden for the first time, four years later the club finished second, before eventually becoming Damallsvensken best women’s team in 2000, and during this time the innovative Arnqvist had quit as the manager and took up the responsibility of the club’s sporting director, without doubt, the vision he had for the club started reflecting on the pitch with Richard Holmlund managing UIK to achieved success.
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Success finally entered the home of Umea IK between 2000 and 2008 by winning 7 Damallsvensken league titles, specifically in the 2006 campaign they won the league with 21 point margin and didn’t lose a single game, surprisingly all of the players that played in the league were predominantly local players, such as Frida Ostberg who marshal the defense line, in the middle of the park was Malin Mostrom, and in the front line was the goalscoring machine Hanna Ljungberg.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup final between Sweden and Germany in 2003, was a testament to how good Umea IK was, with five players of the Swedish national paraded in that match, no wonder why they’re the darling team of Northland and Europe, especially with the kind of players the team paraded, which were included in the 2003 world cup final loss to Germany.
The following season the UIK wanted to make their superiority grow beyond the four walls of the Damallsvensken, as such they started recruiting top players from abroad, and among the top players that were brought in was the legendary Brazilian ‘Pele In Skirt’ Marta, who arrived in Umea IK at the age of 18, followed by her compatriot Elaine Moura, Chinese star Ma Xiaoxu, Swiss wonder kid Ramona Bachmann, and Finland’s all-time leading goalscorer Laura Osterberg Kalmari all joined the Northland outfit and went on to achieved success with the team.
All of the players signed by Umea IK settled in perfectly with the club, and as time progresses the team was the envy and talk of the town in the whole of Sweden, due to how they play which made their fans elated, as every game played by Umea IK draw huge attention, as the flair and excitement they often bring to the table when they file out to play opponent is out of this world.
In 2008, in a match between Linkoping and Umea IK, away from home over 9,413 people came out to see the team from the north dazzled on the pitch with great football stars on the pitch, during this time the Northland outfit also won two titles in the Women’s Cup, currently known as Women’s Champions League, they could have won the first historic final in the Women’s Champions League, but sadly they lost to a German side Frankfurt led by legendary Birgit Prinz.
Having lost the first historic final of the Women’s Champions League to Frankfurt, Umea IK got their revenge on the German side the following season, having done their assignment pretty well before locking horns with the German giant, and a semi-final triumph over Frankfurt saw the Northland outfit reached the final for the second season in a row which they eventually won.
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Without mincing words, with all of the success Umea IK had in the Damallsvensken and Europe, we can categorically say the vision and dream of Arnqvist had been accomplished, but the saddest part of Umea IK stories was the fact that they couldn’t maintain that success for long, as their ultimate glory days became a sour moment, for a team who had once paraded the best players, played the most beautiful football and had the biggest fans, the question is what really happened to the Northland outfit?
Umea Ik Decline
In the 2007-08 season, Umea IK dominance and success started falling apart, for the second season in a row they lost the Women’s Cup final which ushered in their fall from top to the bottom, this time against their German rivals Frankfurt, who as a result surpassed the Northland outfit as the team with the most European titles won, and couple with the exit of the innovative Arnqvist which left a big hole in the heart of the club after 25 years of his service with Umea IK.
Following the exit of Arnqvist, the following season big players in the team started leaving, Marta, Lisa Dahlkvist, and Bachmann all left the club, without doubt from the sporting angle the players that left really affected the team on the pitch, while the team also suffered a financial blow.
In 2011, Umea IK was able to avoid bankruptcy, having forced to restructure the organization of the club which resulted in the team been a more independent club, rather than how the club was before, and with the addition of ‘FF’ to their name, after that, they end up finishing 7th, 5th, 6th, and 8th respectively with a jaded squad which has lost its magic touch.
Sometimes sustaining success could be very difficult, truly Umea IK ruled the Damallsvensken and Europe at some point, after many years of dining with some of the finest team in women’s football and 12 years after beating Frankfurt in the Women’s Champions League final and becoming the best team in Europe.
UIK was no longer the best in Sweden and Europe, albeit they’re still playing in the Damallsvensken having returned back from relegation. Would they be the powerhouse of women’s football in Europe again? maybe, maybe not only time would tell.
