Damallsvenskan: Everything to know before the 2025 season | OneFootball

The Damallsvenskan returns for its 37th season in 2025, standing as one of the world’s oldest women’s football leagues. It continues to harbour emerging talent while celebrating the legends of the past, captivating fans with every match.

As the top flight of Swedish women’s football returns, here is everything you need to know before the first kick-off.

Last season recap

Last season in the Damallsvenskan was slightly unorthodox. Rosengård won their 14th league title with four weeks left of the season. The side won 25 games and lost just once. They lost in a tantalising 3-2 game against Hammarby at home, just a week after securing the title. They scored 99 goals and conceded just nine. It was a complete turnaround from the side that finished seventh the season before.

Second place fell to BK Häcken, for the fourth season in a row. The side recorded 20 wins, four draws and two losses. Both defeats came at the hands of eventual title winners Rosengård. However, the season was defined in the summer transfer window, where they lost Anna Sandberg and Rosa Kafaji to Manchester United and Arsenal, respectively.

Hammarby, who went into the season as reigning champions, finished in third, with 20 wins, one draw and five losses. Under a new manager and a reforming starting XI, the side did well in a season of change. This included a new midfield duo in Emilie Joramo and Asato Miyagawa as well as a new striker in Cathinka Tandberg.

Damallsvenskan departures

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The 2025 Damallsvenskan season kicks off after another winter break that saw the league lose top talent to clubs around the world. As always, key departures could have a major impact on the competition. Here are just a handful that stand out.

Rosengård have been hit particularly hard with change, with both transfers and retirements. The big two for the champions were the retirement of legend Caroline Seger and the end of the loan spell of Momoko Tanikawa.

Seger hung up her boots after one of the most legendary careers in women’s football. The all-time European appearance maker hung up her boots a year after her international retirement. She departed as club captain and with the trophy to round off a sublime career.

The young Japanese international Tanikawa was on loan from Bayern Munich for the season and was instrumental in the side’s success. Tanikawa started 20/20 matches and registered 16 goals and 4 assists, to round up her G/A at 20 on the dot.

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BK Häcken have once again been forced to face a number of transfers but the departure of Filippa Curmark was one of the key ones. In her first move away from Sweden, she signed with Italian side ACF Fiorentina, to join up with fellow Swede Maleden Janogy. A smart and tough defensive midfielder, she played in 21 matches last season and will be a big loss for the side.

Unlike those above them, Hammarby did not lose too many players in the winter season.

The likes of Jonna Andersson and Eva Nyström did depart for pastures new. But it was the departure of Ellen Gibson that marked a new chapter for the Bajen. After 197 appearances for the team across two stints, Gibson can become an emblem of what it means to represent the club. Her contract was not renewed after its expiration. She joined the newly formed Canadian side Ottawa Rapid in the Northern Super League.

Arrivals, both teams and players

Two teams were promoted to the Damallsvenskan from the Elitettan ahead of the 2025 season.

Malmö FF will make their return to the top flight. The side were once the mainstay of the league but after rebranding and pulling away from the men’s side, the old team became Rosengård, and ‘Malmö’ did not exist in the women’s game for a decade.

But in 2019, the side were reinstated and have been working their way up the leagues ever since, and won the league last season to be automatically promoted. They are joined by the other automatically promoted side Alingsås IF Fotboll.

Traditionally a sports club, it remains one of the oldest in clubs in the Västergötland district of Sweden. They spent five years in the Elitettan, after two years in Division One, the third tier of Swedish football.

One big arrival to the league on a player’s front is Elin Rubensson.

The Swedish international represented Häcken/Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC 157 times, scoring 39 goals. She spent 2024 in the NWSL with the Houston Dash before returning to BK Häcken ahead of the new season.

Damallsvenskan players to watch

In a league full of young exciting talent, there are many players to watch in the Damallsvenskan this season.

Malmö’s Sara Kanutte Fornes is no stranger to the Damallsvenskan. Joining from Norway in 2023, she signed with Hammarby, appearing 17 times and scoring six goals. She spent the last season on loan at IFK Norrköping where she scored 11 goals in 23 matches. She was the side’s top goal scorer as they finished fifth in the league. Ahead of this season, the Norwegian joined Malmö permanently, already scoring for the side in the Svenska Cupen.

Another player setting standards high in the Svenska Cupen is Hammarby’s Ellen Wangerheim. The 20-year-old scored seven times in the three group stage games, leading Hammarby to top the group and qualify for the knockouts once again.

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Wangerheim has made more than 100 appearances for the first team since graduating from the academy in 2020. This is despite tearing her ACL in 2022 at just 17 years old. She will also look ahead to the Euros in the summer, with a spot on the Swedish team heading to Switzerland up for grabs.

Another thrilling chapter awaits in the 2025 Damallsvenskan season. With compelling storylines and new arrivals shaking up the competition, one of the world’s most exciting and competitive leagues returns, packed with talent and great football.

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