Swedens Soft Hooligans — Football Case Study

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Dispatch: a series dedicated to immersive storytelling, where our photographers and writers journey to chosen places, combining evocative imagery with long-form editorials to uncover and share unique football cultures.

Sweden’s Soft Hooligans

“We are hooligans, but Soft Hooligans.”

Words and Photography by Akis Katsoudas

April 11, 2025

ZURICH, Switzerland —If you browse through Estrid Kjellman’s Instagram profile, you won’t find photos with flares, masked faces, or giant banners. Instead, you'll see cows in the mountains, sunsets, works of art and museums; and yet, Estrid is a hooligan, a Soft Hooligan.

It was 5 p.m. in Zurich, Switzerland, and in one corner of the Fan Zone, fans dressed in yellow and blue began to gather. These fans were just a few of the 2,000 Swedes who made the trip to support their national team in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025.

Among them was Estrid. When I met her, she was holding a beer in one hand, while a group of young girls beside her painted new banners for their match against Germany set to take place a few hours later at the city’s stadium, a match that determined who would finish at top of the group.

Most of the people here are members of the Soft Hooligans. Estrid never imagined this would happen when the idea of creating a new fan group dedicated to following the Swedish women’s national team first crossed her mind eight years ago.

“I’ll tell you exactly how the name came about. It all started in 2017, right after the Euro in the Netherlands. When we were there — me, my sister, my mum, my cousins, and my friends — we were cheering really loudly. We were supporting our team. Everyone was staring at us with wide eyes, as if we were dangerous. As if they were silently asking, ‘What are you doing?’ They looked at us like we were hooligans. So we said: ‘Fine, we’re hooligans. Soft hooligans,’” Estrid explained.

“It all started as a joke. Of course, we don’t stand for anything associated with actual hooliganism. But we do have passion. And I think that’s what matters most,” she added.

She fell in love with football from a very young age. At ten, she joined the Hammarby youth academy and played as a forward. But there was a catch: she just couldn’t score. That’s how she quickly decided to leave the pitch and climb into the stands instead.

Her favorite team is the Swedish women’s national team, and rightly so. Sweden’s women’s national team is the most successful in the country’s history, with one 1984 Euro title, two Olympic silver medals and five bronzes across World and European Championships. At the peak of its success, the team even had a legendary duo made up of Svensson and Ljuberg who both nearly signed for a men’s Serie A club, Perugia. However, the transfer fell through, due to Italian league regulations banning women from playing in the same competitions as men.

Now, Sweden is experiencing a new golden age. Though Sweden is now out of the tournament, everyone in Zurich on this night was hopeful that 2025 would bring a second Euro title, 41 years after the first. “I think this is our moment. We’ve got an amazing team. Besides, we need to justify all the money we’ve spent to be here in super-expensive Switzerland!” she said.

The Soft Hooligans follow a very specific pre-match ritual: a few hours before kick-off, they meet at a designated spot where they sing, drink beer and then head to the stadium on foot. No buses or trains, even if, like the day I met them, the walk takes an hour.

Even before meeting them in person, I had seen countless striking images of the atmosphere they create on the streets. But it’s something else entirely to experience it up close. Thousands of people dressed in yellow and blue, waving flags, carrying drums and banners, holding posters of the players. And at the front are mostly children, and though they’re new to football, the kids are already shouting the chants by heart while their parents walk proudly beside them.

“The Soft Hooligans mean so many things to all of us. Some very strong friendships have formed through this group. We even have fans from other countries now, even from Germany, who we’re playing against tonight. And the best part is, there’s nothing specific you need to do to become a member. You just show up. Everyone is welcome. What matters to us is creating a fun, inclusive atmosphere. The kind that didn’t really exist in the past at women’s national team games,” Estrid said.

Though she feels incredibly happy to see how much the Women’s Euro has grown, Estrid knows there’s still work to be done.

“Of course, we should celebrate our victories, and what’s happening this year in Switzerland is a huge win. But there’s still a long way to go. The tournament is considered a success, but the money that’s been invested is just a grain of sand compared to what’s spent on the men’s game,” she explained.

Even though she grew up in a country where women’s football developed earlier than in most of Europe, Estrid still experienced the struggles of being a girl who wanted to play football. “Of course women never had — and still don’t have — the same opportunities to play. We had much worse fields compared to boys our age. Worse facilities. That needs to change.”

The Soft Hooligans, whose Facebook group alone has over 5,000 members, have made such an impression that even the residents of Zurich take notice. This summer day, locals came out onto their balconies to watch the yellow wave pass through the streets, chanting powerfully on their way to the stadium.

And, as always, leading the way is Estrid, the woman whose idea started it all nearly a decade ago. Wearing her Sweden jersey with the number 6 on the back and Soft Hooligans written above it, she raised her megaphone and gave the signal for the next chant.

“I may not have been great at playing football,” she says, “but I’m pretty good at cheering.” —

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