VB Cup and International Cup
To continue the success from last year with the 3 clubs it was decided to consolidate the league and the independence of the clubs. The SAFF league continued to grow for the second year in a row, now featuring 115 players from Sweden, Australia, Ireland, Germany, England, South Africa, Estonia, Russia and Austria. In order to push the clubs to recruit more Swedes a rule was introduced that sets a limit to 6 Australian players on the field at the same time. An incentive that paid off as more than half of the players in the league now are of non-Australian origin. The main event of the year for Swedish footy was the national team going to the International Cup in Melbourne. This affected the regular football activities in Stockholm as well as the rest of Sweden.

This year’s SAFF Premiership was not as even as last year but no team went through undefeated and all teams won at least one game. After losing the Anzac day clash against Solna, Södermalm went on undefeated for rest of the regular season. Bromma and Solna were left fighting for 2nd place and a spot in the final. Bromma were working hard with rejuvenating the club so they struggled during the season and not even a comeback by the barrel chested bomber Waldo could help them. Solna with its more experienced side came second and joined Söder in the Grand Final, and what a final it turned out to be! Solna got off to a ripping start and scored after only 10 seconds. Söder however retaliated straight after the ball up, and that was pretty much how the game turned out. It was a very tight match and the lead changed several times with the biggest margin just over 2 goals. With a minute left of the game and scores exactly levelled, best on ground Mark McManus put the ball through the goal and Solna in front. Söder fought hard to equalise but had to accept defeat as the siren rang, in a game that must be one of the best in SAFF history (13.11.89 – 12.11.83). Report.

SAFF Awards
Leading Goal Kicker (18 goals) - Trevor Edwards (Bromma Vik ings)
Rookie of the year - Ivan Rexed (Södermalm)
SAFF Clubman of the Year - Dave Carde
LARS HAGBERG BEST AND FAIREST PLAYER AWARD 2008
Non Australian - Max Larsson (Södermalm) and Ivan Rexed (Södermalm)
Australian - Stuart Tonkin (Södermalm)


The Tri-regional Cup was put on ice for this year so Stockholm Dynamite only played three games during the season, all away games. Under snowy conditions in Svärdsjö the Miters took on Falun and came home with a win (72-51). With the help of a couple of Karlstad players Stockholm Dynamite defeated the Dragons in Karlstad (62-32). The annual game against the Finns took place in Salo where the Stockholm lost against the Finland Icebreakers (27-60).

All three clubs organised pre season games each in April. The new Bromma oval hosted 2 games; Bromma vs. Uppsala (93-55) and Solna vs. Karlstad (46-95). At Årsta, Södermalm took on the Finnish national team and won comfortably (75-37).
In the Old boys vs. Young guns game the cut was set at 28 years old and the kids won (60-43).

Two Stockholm teams, Bromma and Solna, went to Karlstad for the inaugural VB Cup. This was a day when Stockholm showed how high the standard of footy is the capitol as both teams ended up in the Grand Final. The game was hard and heated at times as can be expected in a derby. Umpire Jay Siermans did a stand up job especially as there were an extra 18 umpires on the field at times. When the siren rang the score board said Bromma: 55 Solna: 50, but due to the handicap rules Solna took home the trophy as they had a lower number of Aussies.

The national squad that went to the International Cup featured 9 players from Stockholm (Patrik Karlsson, Michael Nabb, Joel Tjernlund, Sean Donnelly, Patrik Hyberg, Nicklas Jonsson, Mikael Stabo, Mats Wurmbach and Lars Hagberg). Well in Melbourne the Elks played 5 games in 9 days and ended up in 12th place out of 16 countries. The Stockholm players performed well both on and off the field. On the coaching squad Stockholm was represented by Ryan Kingsley who unfortunately couldn’t join the Elks in Melbourne, but his invaluable assistance before the trip helped the team in during the cup. Through his contacts at Richmond Football club he also organised assistance from the prestigious club. This meant that the national team could train and do recovery sessions at the amazing facilities at Punt Road. In addition the team got to meet the Richmond players and see them train and also get some good tactics advice from the Richmond coaches. A fantastic opportunity which was one of the highlights of the trip!

In addition to Årsta and the Bradley William Oval, Stockholm now has the Bromma oval.
The Bromma club made an arrangement with the Bromma Rugby club to use their field so they have their own home ground for training and matches.

True to our code SAFF and the clubs kept the social agenda busy. Australia day at the pub O’Connell’s, ANZAC day game, SAFF Awards night and AFL Grand Final breakfast at Hard Rock Café. A new event for the year was Ladies night which was held in conjunction with the Solna vs. Södermalm game on the 23rd of May. To show our appreciation for all the support from wives and girlfriends they were treated to wine and refreshments during the game.

SAFF Board
President - Lars Hagberg
Vice President – Ben Kirk
Secretary – Daniel Ferguson
Manager of Marketing and Finance – Daniel Jordan
Manager of Football Operations – Ryan Kingsley