Caroline Sjöblom

Finnish soccer coach and former player

Caroline Sjöblom
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-10-16) 16 October 1989 (age 34)[1]
Place of birth Saltvik, Åland, Finland
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Åland United 41[2]
2011 Djurgårdens IF 22[2]
Managerial career
2016–2018 Tyresö FF
2018–2020 AIK
2020–2022 Sweden U17
2020–2022 Sweden U19
2023 Kansas City Current (assistant)
2023 Kansas City Current (interim)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Caroline Sjöblom (born 16 October 1989) is a Finnish women's football manager and former player. As a player, she won the 2009 Naisten Liiga with Åland United.[3] and participated in the 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League.

Sjöblom was most recently interim head coach of Kansas City Current in the American top-flight National Women's Soccer League.[3]

Early life

Sjöblom was born in the municipality of Saltvik in the autonomous region of Åland, Finland. She studied behavioural science in university.[4]

Club career

Åland United, 2008–2011

Sjöblom joined Åland United in the Naisten Liiga in 2008.[5]

In 2009, she won the Naisten Liiga with Åland United, then participated in the 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League,[3] where Åland fell to 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam 15–0 on aggregate in the round of 32.[6]

Djugardens IF, 2011

In 2011, she transferred to Djurgårdens IF in Sweden's Damallsvenskan, where she played centre-back. The club competed for the Svenska Cupen.[3]

Sjöblom retired as a player after the 2011 Damallsvenskan season at the age of 22.[3]

Coaching career

In 2012, Sjöblom joined Stockholm-based AIK Fotboll as an assistant coach for its academy, then in 2014 for its women's under-19 team.[3][7]

Tyresö FF, 2016–2018

In 2016, she was appointed manager of Tyresö FF competing in Sweden's Division 2. The team won the division, earning promotion to Division 1, and the club appointed Sjöblom sports director in addition to manager.[3]

AIK, 2018–2020

On 21 November 2018, AIK Fotboll appointed Sjöblom as managers of AIK's women's side.[7] In 2020, the club won the Elitettan with a record 72 points, winning 24 of 26 matches, and was promoted to the top-flight Damallsvenskan in 2021.[3][8]

The Swedish FA, 2020–2022

On 1 October 2020, Sjöblom left AIK to accept an appointment from the Swedish Football Association to manage its under-15 and under-17 teams.[4]

In 2021, Sjöblom served as an analyst for the senior team during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.[9][10]

Sjöblom led the Sweden women's national under-19 football team to qualify for the 2022 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, Sweden's first since 2015,[3][11] where Sweden lost to Spain in the semi-finals and finished third.[3][12][13] Her tactics in the tournament were praised by Jarmo Matikainen in UEFA's technical review.[14]

Sjöblom departed the role on 14 December 2022.[15]

Kansas City Current, 2023 (interim)

On 25 January 2023, American National Women's Soccer League club Kansas City Current announced that it had hired Sjöblom as an assistant coach to head coach Matt Potter[3][16] on a contract until 2024. In an interview with Aftonbladet, she said the offer was for more resources than any club in Sweden could provide and praised the Current's facilities, staff, and ambitions.[11]

On 19 April 2023, Kansas City fired Potter hours before a match against Houston Dash in the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup, and Sjöblom was appointed the club's interim manager.[17][18]Sjöblom learned of Potter's firing and her appointment hours before it occurred and led the Current to a 2–0 victory in her debut as manager, comparing the short turnaround to the limited preparation she had as an international coach.[19]

Sjöblom was not retained as the full-time head coach of the Current for the 2024 season when the franchise hired former U.S. women's national team and FC Kansas City manager Vlatko Andonovski to lead the team.[20][21]

Licensing

Sjöblom served as district association captain for the Stockholm Football Association,[4] and completed the UEFA A Licence diploma course for former elite players.[22] In November 2021, Sjöblom graduated from the UEFA Pro Licence program.[23][24]

Honours

Player

Åland United

Manager

Tyresö FF
  • Sweden's Division 2: 2016
AIK Fotboll Dam

Individual

  • Åland Sports Awards Silver Ball: 2006[25]
  • Åland Sports Awards Manager of the Year nominee: 2022[23]

References

  1. ^ a b "Caroline Sjöblom". Playmaker. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Caroline Sjöblom Career". Tribuna Digital. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Kansas City Current add former Swedish National Team coach to technical staff" (Press release). Kansas City Current. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Fredriksson, Emelie (23 September 2020). "AIK:s avgående tränare om succén" [AIK's outgoing coach about the success]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  5. ^ ""Carro" missar premiären - och EM-kvalet" ["Carro" misses the premiere - and the EC qualification]. Ålandstidningen (in Swedish). 19 April 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  6. ^ Laverty, Richard (1 June 2021). "Aland United, the Minnows Heading for Europe". Our Game Magazine. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  7. ^ a b Sundqvist, Victor (22 November 2018). "Caroline Sjöblom ny tränare i AIK" [Caroline Sjöblom new coach in AIK]. Nya Åland. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  8. ^ "AIK avslutade med seger och satte poängrekord" [AIK finished with a victory and set a scoring record] (Press release) (in Swedish). AIK Fotboll. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  9. ^ Rydén, Anna; Fagerlund, Frida (27 July 2021). ""Det kvittar – vi kommer vinna vilken match som helst"" ["It settles - we will win any match"]. Aftonbladet. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Åländska Caroline Sjöblom på OS i Tokyo" [Åland's Caroline Sjöblom at the Olympics in Tokyo]. Nya Åland. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  11. ^ a b Nyblom Hardie, Clara (25 January 2023). "Caroline Sjöblom byter F19-landslaget för NWSL" [Caroline Sjöblom changes the F19 national team for the NWSL]. Aftonbladet. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Spain-Sweden | Women's Under-19". UEFA. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  13. ^ Laverty, Richard (4 September 2022). "How is Sweden Preparing for a Different Future?". Our Game Magazine. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  14. ^ Hamill, Pauline; Matikainen, Jarmo; Hills, Brent; Staab, Monika. "Technical Topics". UEFA. Retrieved 21 April 2023. When Sweden pressed in a high block, one of the midfield players joined the striker trying to force an error from the opposition. You could hear, Head coach, Caroline Sjoblom, urging them to step up. And you can see that they were shifting to that shape. Again, it's clever because it's simple. They were basically moving the players within their own, let's say, 'channels'. explains Matikainen.
  15. ^ "Caroline Sjöblom lämnar SvFF" [Caroline Sjöblom leaves SvFF] (Press release). SvFF. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  16. ^ Pussinen, Peter (25 January 2023). "Klart: Caroline Sjöblom till Kansas och USA:s högstaliga" [Done: Caroline Sjöblom to Kansas and the USA's top league]. Nya Åland (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  17. ^ "KC Current fires Matt Potter hours before game in Houston". Washington Post. Associated Press. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  18. ^ Diamond, Drew (23 October 2023). "Vlatko Andonovski new head coach Kansas City Current". Her Football Hub. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  19. ^ Lauletta, Dan (20 April 2023). "Immediate aftermath of Potter firing: KC team shocked but go on to win first game of 2023". The Equalizer. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  20. ^ Diamond, Drew (23 October 2023). "Vlatko Andonovski new head coach Kansas City Current". Her Football Hub. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  21. ^ Kassouf, Jeff (20 October 2023). "Sources: Kansas City Current to Hire Vlatko Andonovski as Head Coach". The Equalizer. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Lång intervju med Caroline Sjöblom: Mitt liv består utav fotboll" [Caroline Sjöblom quit football at the age of 22 - now she coaches one of Sweden's best teams]. SvFF (Press release). 7 February 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  23. ^ a b "Nomineringar 2022" [Nominations 2022]. Idrottsgalan. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  24. ^ Caroline Sjöblom [@Sjoblomskan] (25 November 2021). "UEFA PRO graduates 🤩" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 April 2023 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ "Caroline Sjöblom Fotbollens silverbollar 2006" [Caroline Sjöblom Football Silver Ball 2006]. Åland Sports Awards. Retrieved 21 April 2023.

External links

  • Caroline Sjöblom at Soccerway (manager)
  • AIK manager profile
  • Caroline Sjöblom on Twitter
  • v
  • t
  • e
Kansas City Current – Head coaches
(i) = interim