Ostersunds manager Graham Potter shows a path to managerial success for young English coaches

On December, 9, 2010, Graham Potter’s life changed forever. That was the day when the young English manager, formerly a midfielder with Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and others, signed a contract to coach Östersunds FK, then in the fourth tier of Swedish football.

“It was a massive risk,” Potter said during an article he wrote for the Coaches’ Voice. “I had a good coaching job at Leeds. A career I’d built up over five years. We had a life that was safe. Comfortable. And here I was, suggesting we swap it for a city in the middle of Sweden. In the middle of Scandinavia. The middle of nowhere.”

Just over 1500 kilometres away in London, Arsene Wenger was preparing for a game against Manchester United. The Gunners would lose the match 1-0, and even though much has changed at Old Trafford and for Östersunds since, there’s an apathy inducing sense of repetition haunting the Emirates Stadium, and in particular Wenger.

MATCH CENTRE: Ostersunds vs Arsenal

READ MORE: Ostersunds vs Arsenal: Five key talking points ahead of the Europa League clash

Amazingly, Potter is the only Englishman still managing a club in European competition, and yet that appears the smallest of his many achievements. When a club rises through the divisions in the way Östersunds have it is easy to assume that financial doping, (a phrase coined by Wenger in 2005 to criticise Chelsea) was the catalyst.

That is not the case here. Instead, Potter has taken players rejected elsewhere, and reinvented their careers, like Jamie Hopcutt and Curtis Edwards. The latter was on the books of Middlesbrough in his youth, but as recently as two years ago he was a labourer that used to enjoy a beer after work near the Emirates.

“If you said that this would happen to both of us when we’d just been released and we weren’t enjoying our football in the lower leagues of England, we’d have just laughed,” Edwards said of the tie against Arsenal, which follows on from match-ups against Hertha Berlin and Atletico Bilbao in the group stages.

Östersunds earned back-to-back promotions in Potter’s first two seasons at the club. In 2015, after three years in the Superettan, they finished second and were promoted to Sweden’s top division-the Allsvenskan–for the first time in their history.

Their route into Europe came via a 4-1 win in the Swedish Cup final against IFK Norrkoping. Amazingly, this season they felled both Greek side PAOK, and Turkish giants Galatasaray over two legs to qualify for the Europa League. Although it is easy to look back now on the many successes, not all of Potter’s journey has been smooth sailing though.

The 42-year-old moved to Sweden in 2010 with his wife Rachel and an 11-month-old baby, which presented struggles that weren’t always seen.

“I had the football opportunity but she had to give up her business she’d built up for 10 years,” he said in an interview with the Guardian. “We had an 11‑month old baby and were away from the grandparents. Rachel told me afterwards she cried every day for six months. She wouldn’t show me when I came home as she was trying to be positive.”

That one harrowing anecdote gives an insight into what has been a cornerstone behind the success — hard work. Whether it was Potter, his players, or his family at home, hard work and dedication have fuelled the club’s rise to the Swedish top flight and subsequently the Europa League.

“I remember the fans holding up a banner thanking Rachel,” he said. “I’d done an interview describing the big sacrifices she’d made. The supporters recognised that and it was a really nice gesture.”

On the pitch, Östersunds play a flexible, possession orientated style, and although many will study Potter’s tactics intensely, they’d be just as wise to look at what has done away from the pitch.

The 42-year-old has not only sought to develop top level footballers, but also human beings. The club has a culture academy where the players learn about more than just the game.

READ MORE: Graham Potter relishing opportunity to face ‘inspiration’ Wenger

The team put on a production of Swan Lake, and followed that up with a concert for supporters in the wake of their Swedish Cup success.

Potter has admitted that a spell in higher education early in his career, (he worked at both Hull and Leeds Metropolitan University early in his career) prepared him for a slightly more modern way of thinking, and one that is at odds with the blame culture he saw espoused in the English lower leagues.

“It [higher education] taught me a more holistic approach and prepared me for the experience of working abroad,” he said. “Where your cultural beliefs are challenged and, sometimes, turned on their head.”

Potter has been tentatively linked with a job in the Premier League, although finding a team willing to commit the patience required still seems a ways off. Regardless, his success is a blueprint for those young coaches back home that feel opportunities are simply not there.

The 42-year-old’s route has taken him from a small part of Sweden to a meeting with Wenger, where he is admittedly the heavy underdog. If, however, he can pull off the unlikely feat of beating Arsenal then it will not only mark the end of Wenger’s participation in the Europa League, but also perhaps the start of a bright career in management for Potter.