Sweden’s Soft Hooligans push better vibes at Women’s Euro 2025

ZURICH – Swedish supporters’ group the Soft Hooligans have brought their chants, drums and message of inclusion to Switzerland to support their national team at Euro 2025, to promote good vibes in the stands and better conditions for women’s football.

The idea for the Soft Hooligans came about in 2017 when Kajsa Aronsson, 61, and her daughter Estrid Kjellman, 29, attended the Women’s European Championship in the Netherlands.

“It was just so incredibly dead. We shouted sometimes, we cheered, and people looked at us as if we were completely crazy,” Kjellman told AFP.

“We joked that we were hooligans. And then we were like: ‘But we’re not like other hooligans, we’re soft hooligans’,” she added with a big smile.

The young woman then created a Facebook group to spread their message.

“In the beginning, there was no defined cheering section,” Aronsson explained.

Kjellman said: “We had to build everything from scratch and get people to want to stand in the stands. Early on, it wasn’t even that much fun to attend the games. You were on your own.”

Eight years later, with the Women’s Euro now well under way in Switzerland, the atmosphere has changed significantly, the two women noted, sitting in front of a ski lift in an alpine landscape wearing caps with the slogans “More Women in Football” and “Soft Hooligans”.

“There are many more Swedes here. I think there’s a big difference with the other teams too,” said Kjellman.

“In England (at Euro 2022), there were several matches where the opposing team basically had no supporters. Now I think most teams have some kind of organised supporter group,” she added.

A change they welcome enthusiastically.

“We definitely cheer for Sweden the most. But then you support women’s football and want there to be more atmosphere, better football, better conditions,” said Kjellman.

“The culture in the stands is also a big part of making it more and more interesting to go to women’s football matches.”

The Soft Hooligans stick to some core values.

“Everyone should feel welcome,” Kjellman stressed, underlining the inclusive and LGBTQ-friendly nature of the group.

“There are many families and children in the stands,” Aronsson explained.

Their movement is not, however, without its detractors.

“We receive mocking comments about our name,” Kjellman said.

“But we choose not to focus on that,” her mother added.

Kjellman lamented the ever-present political aspect of women’s football.

“Women’s football is still very marginalised. In Sweden, we’ve come a long way. But there’s still a long way to go,” she said. “In other parts of the world, girls don’t have the opportunity to play football at all.”

The two women are optimistic about the younger generations.

“Women’s football is much more accepted today. Now we have children who have (Spanish two-time Ballon d’Or Feminin winner, Aitana) Bonmati as their favourite football player,” Kjellman noted.

For the more immediate future, the Soft Hooligans are rooting for a Swedish victory at Euro 2025.

In the stands, their massive banner proclaims “41 Years Since Last Time” on one side and “Bringing the Gold Home” on the other, referring to Sweden’s triumph at the inaugural Women’s Euro in 1984.

The Swedes are through to the quarter-finals in Switzerland after a completing a perfect group stage campaign with a 4-1 win over Germany on July 12.

“I have never, as a national coach, experienced the kind of support we had,” said Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson.

“There was a whole section that was completely yellow with a little bit of blue, and we had people above our bench, so we were enclosed in a cool way.”

Sweden will stay in Zurich for their quarter-final against reigning champions England on July 17.

Said Gerhardsson: “It feels great that we are playing here again on Thursday, almost like home advantage.”

Swedish fans went on a ticket-buying frenzy on July 14, snapping up all the available spots in their section for the match within an hour of going on sale.

“This news gives the whole team so much energy in the build-up to the quarter-finals,” forward Madelen Janogy said in a statement issued by the Swedish Football Association. AFP, REUTERS