Lars Kim Björkegren (born 18 December 1981) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

who currently serves as the manager of

Racing Louisville FC Racing Louisville Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League team based in Louisville, Kentucky. It began playing in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium. The team is owned by Soccer Holdings LLC, which also owns Louisville City FC of the USL Cham ...

in the U.S. National Women's Soccer League. He was hired from

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

champions Apollon Ladies FC after the 2020–21 European season. Björkegren has earlier won

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

with

Linköpings FC Linköpings Fotboll Club is an association football club from Linköping, Sweden. The club was established in 2003 when Kenty DFF women's football club decided to merge with the premier division ice hockey club Linköpings HC under the new name L ...

and has worked as a manager in China. Kim is the only Swedish manager since Sven-Göran Eriksson who won two domestic titles in two different countries.

Coaching career

Kim Björkegren started his coaching career in his hometown of

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

, where he coached the

Karle IF Karle IF is a Swedish football club located in Linköping. Background Karle IF currently plays in Division 4 Östergötland Västra which is the sixth tier of Swedish football. They play their home matches at the Karlbergsplan in Linköping. Kar ...

's men's team in Swedish division 4. After climbing the ladder with men's teams such as

Kisa BK Kisa BK ''(Kisa Bollklubb)'' is a Swedish football club located in Kisa, which was founded in 1925 and is still currently based in Kisa, Sweden. Background Kisa BK currently plays in Division 4 Östergötland Västra which is the sixth tier of ...

and

IK Gauthiod IK Gauthiod is a Swedish football club located in Grästorp in Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populou ...

Kim began to coach women's football after accepting a role as head coach for Hovås/Billdal in 2016.

IK Gauthiod

Björkegren went to

for a role in the youth team of

Tyresö FF Tyresö Fotbollsförening is a Sweden, Swedish association football, football club in Tyresö, a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Stockholm County. The club was founded in 1971 and is primarily known for its main women's team, which compe ...

, where he was meant to take over the senior team after Tony Gustavsson's departure. But when the club folded, Björkegren moved to

Grästorp Grästorp is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Grästorp Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 2,969 inhabitants in 2010. It is the only locality in Grästorp Municipality. Sports The following sports clubs are l ...

and

. The spell in Gauthiod was successful for Björkegren, who led his team to a 5th place in the

Swedish division 2 Division 2 is the fourth level in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 84 Swedish football teams. Division 2 had status as the official second level from 1928 to 1986 but was replaced by Division 1 in 1987. It then had status as ...

. The team also qualified for the Swedish cup, by winning the DM final against IFK Tidaholm with 3–1. After only one season with IK Gauthiod, Kim decided to leave with the motivation he had to coach a team at a higher level.

Linköpings FC

Björkegren replaced Martin Sjögren as the manager of the reigning champions

in 2017 with the clear articulated goal of defending the title as the champions. Björkegren and Linköping secured the title in the 2017 Damallsvenskan with two rounds to go, despite the fact that they lost influential key players such as, Pernille Harder,

Fridolina Rolfö Fridolina Rolfö (born 24 November 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish Liga F club FC Barcelona and the Sweden women's national team. Club career After joining from Tölö, Rolfö scored nine league ...

, and Stina Blackstenius before the start of the season. In addition, team captain

Magdalena Eriksson Magdalena Lilly Eriksson (also Ericsson, born 8 September 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Chelsea Women in the English Women's Super League as well as for the Swedish national team.

was sold to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

mid season. During the successful season in 2017, Björkegren led Linköpings FC not only to become the league champions, but also to reach their best ever position in the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

, where he guided the team to the quarterfinal.

Beijing BG Phoenix

In January 2018, Björkegren was presented as the new manager for the Chinese club Beijing BG Phoenix, which made him the first Swedish coach in the Chinese Super League. Björkegren appointed the newly retired Swedish player, Elena Sadiku, to become his assistant coach. Björkegren who also was in charge of the clubs transfers, signed the Spanish star Vero Boquete as his first signing to his new club, and later the Swedish striker Marija Banusic. Björkegren decided to leave China after the 2019 season, to move back to Europe and to be closer to his family.

Apollon Ladies FC

In June 2020 it was announced that Björkegren had been appointed as the manager for the Cypriotic Champions, Apollon Ladies FC, prior to their 2020–21 campaign. Apollon had a goal to defend the championship title and advance further in UEFA Women's Champions League. Björkegren led Apollon Ladies FC to win the domestic league in Cyprus, and went thru the season without losing one single game. When the league finished, Apollon had took 64 out of 64 points, winning the league with a stunning goal difference of 105+ When Björkegren led Apollon Ladies to win the title, he made history by becoming the first Swedish coach to win a league in two different countries. After the success with Apollon Ladies FC, Björkegren was awarded Coach of the Year, by PASP, the finest rewards a coach could win in Cyprus.

Racing Louisville FC

On 9 December 2021, it was announced that Björkegren would become the new head coach (American equivalent to "manager") of

, which had completed their first season in the National Women's Soccer League several weeks earlier.

Honours

* Winner coach of the year 2020–21 * Winner Cypriot League 2020–21 * Runner-up Cypriot League cup 2020–21 * 3rd Place Chinese FA cup 2018 * 3rd Place Chinese League cup 2018 * Winner Damallsvenskan 2017 * Runner-up Swedish cup 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorkegren, Kim 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Linköping Linköpings FC Swedish football managers Swedish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in China Swedish expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate soccer managers in the United States Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Racing Louisville FC coaches National Women's Soccer League coaches