Helsingborgs IF (alternative spelling Hälsingborgs IF between 1912 and 1971), most commonly referred to as HIF, or Helsingborg, is a Swedish football club located in Helsingborg. The club, formed 4 June 1907, has won six national championship titles and three national cup titles. They are currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan.

Malmö FF is a Swedish football club located in Malmö. The club, formed on 24 February 1910, has been awarded 15 national championship titles (despite winning the Swedish football league 18 times) and 14 national cup titles. Malmö FF was the runner-up in the 1979 European Champions Cup final, which they lost 1-0 to Nottingham [.

Some great news coming from Sweden concerning the Englishmen plying their trade in the Allsvenskan. Former Portsmouth and Kidderminster Harriers striker James Keene has propelled his Elfsborg side to the top of the league, while ex-Millwall man Kenny Pavey has played his part in cementing AIK in 2nd spot.

This summer, U.S. National made the move from Hammarby IF of Sweden's Allsvenskan to FC Sochaux-Montbeliard in France's Ligue 1 after have a breakout performance with the U.S. National Team at this past Summer's Confederations Cup in South Africa. Davies made his debut for his new club today and what a debut it was.

With no action taking place on the pitch in June, activity is instead found in the transfer market. It's a mid-year silly season that is particularly sweaty for us AIK supporters. The biggest target for rumors and speculation just happens to be AIK's most valuable player and the hero of the spring season, Ivan Obolo.

Ivan Obolo scored the winner in tonight's Stockholm derby at Råsunda, where AIK beat Djurgården 1-0. "A really fine goal," Obolo told Canal Plus. Modest, isn't he?

AIK's Sporting Director was asked about Obolo's future after the game, and with the transfer window approaching, he fell short of a resounding commitment to keep the Argentinian in Sweden.

Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro drew with cellar dweller Orgryte in the Allsvenskan while the Ljungskile train keeps on rolling in the Superettan.

I've described the derbies against our true antagonists Djurgården and Hammarby as the Battle Ryales of Swedish soccer. A derby against Brommapojkarna never truly reaches the same levels of anticipation and hysteria. This is a instead a game that I've dubbed the Novelty Derby. It's a novelty because it's a rather new derby as Brommapojkarna is only playing their second season ever in Allsvenskan.

Colin Burns is expected to start for Ljungskile with compatriots Etchu Tabe and Ryan Miller as the Superettan takes center stage with the Allsvenskan shut down for the international weekend.

I mentioned the hoolietwattery in my previous post, so it's only fair that the amazing tifo AIK fans put on for the derby against Djurgården last night gets a mention too. This is unbelievable stuff.

L'Équipe is reporting that American international Charlie Davies is headed to FC Sochaux. The Hammarby striker has played in both the Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup this summer, with his participation in the latter hinting that his time in the Allsvenskan was done. Davies, who left Boston College for Sweden following his junior year, drew some interest from clubs around Europe after he scored 14 goals in 27 league appearances last season.

The twenty-second round of Allsvenskan is finally upon us after a two-week long break. The top two teams AIK and IFK Göteborg face tricky away games, which could open up the field for Elfsborg. But don't expect any big moves in the top of Allsvenskan as you can be sure that things will remain extremely close even after play is completed in this round.

Charlie Davies was the lone American in midweek action in European soccer as Hammarby took on Kalmar FF in the Swedish Allsvenskan. Here's a full recap (along with video highlights) of Davies in Wednesday's match.

Charlie Davies - Hammarby IF - Swedish Allsvenskan - Hammarby moved to 15h place in the league table with a 1-4 loss against Kalmar FF on Wednesday evening.

IFK Göteborg won 2-1 against FF kalmar, thanks to a suberb goal from Tobias Hysen which was immediately hailed by some commentators as the goal of the season. It's some finish, but not quite that good, as Kalmar goalkeeper Petter Wastå will want to look at his positioning, but well-taken all the same from IFK's midfielder.

In a brief moment of clarity I once wrote that I will avoid making predictions because doing so will eventually offer proof that I have no idea of what I'm talking about. While I was smart enough to figure that much out on my own, I am unfortunately dumb enough to ignore my own advice.

The following entry will present my predictions for the fall season in Allsvenskan.

As July ends so does the ability for Swedish teams to acquire new players. The Swedish transfer window closed this past Tuesday, which allows us the opportunity to review the most significant Allsvenskan signings. It's been a fairly interesting shopping window for the Swedish clubs with a few foreign additions as well as one major move between Allsvenskan clubs.

The eighteenth round of Allsvenskan sees an historic five derbies played in the same round. On the surface it doesn't look like much will change in the top of the table as most top teams face relatively easy tasks. The bottom could see a bit more movement as Djurgården and Hammarby meet up in one of the most interesting bottom feeder battles of the year.

We've ignored Allsvenskan a little bit recently, due to unavoidable other commitments*, but there are a couple of stories I'd like to bring to your attention. First up, Swedish hooligans. This has been a theme in coverage of Swedish football, as the problem has grown in recent years. It's certainly something the Stockholm clubs will have to deal with, as they have had more dificulties than other clubs, as the Swedish FA's cack-handed attempts at making away clubs pay for the security of their fans - without sharing any ticket revenue with them - were always doomed to failure.

After browsing the Allsvenskan fixtures earlier today, it struck me that there are no less than five derbies in the upcoming round. The derby on Saturday between AIK and Brommapojkarna will most certainly be the most interesting match and of course it's one that I have carefully planned my entire weekend around.

Name: Andy Kelly Date of Birth: 9th January 1984 Place of Birth: Stockton-on-Tees Position: Central defender or midfielder Previous clubs: Middlesbrough, Vasteras SK, Landskrona Present club: Unattached It has been a tumultuous few months for Andy Kelly, once of Middlesbrough and Landskrona in Sweden.

Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro take aim at Djurgarden in the Allsvenskan while Ljungskile USA host Atvidabergs in Superettan play.

Despite a slow start to the 2009 Superettan season, Ljungskile goalkeeper Colin Burns is still upbeat that the western Swedish team will return to the Allsvenskan and redeem itself after last year's end-of-season swoon.

United States forward Charlie Davies confirmed earlier today that he will be transferring from his Swedish club Hammarby to French Ligue 1 club Sochaux. Davies has been one of the principle offensive forces for Hammarby, currently 13th in the Allsvenskan with 13 games played.

Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro take on bottom feeder Orgryte in Monday Allsvenskan action while the Americans at Ljungskile look for three Superettan wins in a row against Sirius.

The seventh 1-0 victory of the season has everyone talking about 1998. This was of course the year AIK won Allsvenskan after having scored only 25 goals in 26 games. While there are a few noticeable differences between this year and AIK's last gold-winning season, we can certainly find several similarities.

With fifteen rounds behind us we have now reached the halfway point of the season. In theory anything is still possible, but realistically it appears that the league has been partitioned into three distinct segments. In the first segment we find the five teams that all have a serious shot at the gold; in the middle of the table we have another segment of six teams; and in the bottom of the table we have five teams all struggling to stay out of the relegation zone.

A home game against IFK Göteborg represents one of the most anticipated and prestigious matches of the year. Even on a bad year this game is at the very least a good old-fashioned hate match. This year, both teams are involved in the very top contention of Allsvenskan and 2009 must be considered an extremely good year for AIK to beat the Geat.

In a brief moment of clarity I once wrote that I will avoid making predictions because doing so will eventually offer proof that I have no idea of what I'm talking about. While I was smart enough to figure that much out on my own, I am unfortunately dumb enough to ignore my own advice.
The following entry will present my predictions for the fall season in Allsvenskan.

Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro pay a visit to Henrik Larsson and Helsingborgs in the Allsvenskan while Ljungskile USA looks for four wins in a row at Vasalunds in Superettan action.

The Novelty Derby against Brommapojkarna gave us an exhilarating come-from-behind 2-1 victory for AIK. At this point it almost feel as if I can make a macro that can be used to describe every single AIK game. Imperfect play is overcome by the impressive team morale and points are won thanks to a solid defense and a late goal.

Excuse me, Allsvenskan? I think it's time we had a talk. Now don't get upset, because I'm not really complaining. It's just that the recent results have us worried. We are concerned that you may perhaps be... How do I put this?
You're absolutely, certifiably insane.
This was after all supposed to be the round where the results felt more or less predetermined.

Normally I wouldn't cover these type of training matches, but the mid-season friendly against AIK's feeder-club Akropolis IF on Wednesday is of special interest. The match will see the a non-official AIK debut for exciting new Brazilian signing Antonio Flavio.
The game will be played in a rather unusual location in the northern Stockholm suburb of Akalla.

Monday's game against Halmstad is yet another crucial match for AIK, but one that wouldn't raise my pulse much at all if wasn't for the fact that AIK is involved in an intense title race. Halmstad is after all a pretty dull club. They show up twice a season as an opponent, but they usually fail to leave much of an impression or elicit very strong emotions.

AIK won the game against Halmstad by 2-1 after goals from Ivan Obolo and Kenny Pavey. We are therefore in the very top of Allsvenskan. It was a tough game, almost ruined by monsoon-like conditions, but the boys did it!
More information as soon as I've gathered myself enough to put together a post-game report.

Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro shut down Djurgarden in the Allsvenskan while Ljungskile USA picked up some breathing room from the relegation zone in Superettan action.

The nineteenth round saw just the expected amount of shuffling at the top and the bottom of Allsvenskan. New league leaders AIK have only scored an average of one goal per game and have had to fight extremely hard for almost every single point they've racked up so far. But an impressive display both defensive strength and team morale has brought the team to the very top.

The twentieth round of Allsvenskan gives us two very interesting matches at the top of the table. Kalmar is up against the wall as they take on league leaders AIK. The reigning champions of Kalmar will need to come up with a good result in order to remain in a strong title contender. In the other notable match-up for the top, disease-ridden and injury-laden Elfsborg takes on Örebro only three days after their match against Lazio in the Europa League.

If I were to put a positive spin on this game I'd say that AIK is still the team with the longest undefeated streak in Allsvenskan. Oh, and that AIK still remains in first place for another day or two. But if I had to level with you, I would say that the draw against Kalmar still feels like a bit of a letdown.

Matches against Trelleborg tend to conjure up images of AIK struggling to break through a ten-man defense in order to break a stiff and cold deadlock. I usually hate those types of games as they tend to be the most nerve-racking ones. Although Trelleborg has shown themselves to be a far more positive team this season, I still approach this game with a bit of trepidation.

Alejandro Bedoya had a game-winning assist for rebro in the Allsvenskan while Etchu Tabe played ninety solid minutes in Ljungskile's final Superettan match of the year.