(Reuters) – Former Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl’s long career may be at an end after her club Djurgarden terminated her contract by mutual agreement following a turbulent spell with the Stockholm side.
The club confirmed the departure of Lindahl, who made almost 200 appearances for Sweden, in a statement on their website thanking her for her service and wishing her well for the future.
The 40-year-old former Chelsea keeper arrived at Djurgarden in 2022, but quickly annoyed supporters by praising city rivals Hammarby for how they attracted more fans to games before signing a Sweden shirt for one of their young supporters after a derby match.
After discussions with the club about her public statements last season, she found herself in hot water again in May this year when she criticised the violent scenes that followed another derby with Hammarby that saw police investigate several cases of assault.
“That should absolutely not come into women’s football, we shall put our foot down. We will not have that violence, we will have something else,” she said at an event organised by the Expressen newspaper after the game.
The keeper engaged in long discussions on social media with angry fans, who accused her of not understanding terrace culture and of not appreciating their efforts to support the team.
Lindahl told the Aftonbladet newspaper that she might call time on her career following the termination of her contract with Djurgarden.
“I think it is a bit sad that my stay in Djurgarden did not turn out as I had hoped. My only goal was to leave the team in a better place than I found it. I wanted to be a positive force for improvement and change, but with hindsight it hasn’t turned out that way,” she said.
Lindahl played for some of Europe’s top clubs, including VfL Wolfsburg and Atletico Madrid.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk and Philip O’Connor in Stockholm; Editing by Toby Davis)
