POTTER, HOPCUTT, AND A DESK IN EAST LONDON – A chat with author George Mallett
“As a coach making his way in football, leading a university team, you would be a brave man to bet on him forging a career as a manager in the professional ranks.”
There are many great underdog stories in sports.
Leicester City winning the Premier League in 2016; Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson; or USA’s ‘Miracle on Ice’ at the 1980 Olympics.
So, it’s always refreshing when a new one comes around and gets told in all its glory.
Step forward Östersunds FK and Graham Potter.
Today, you can find Graham Potter under intense pressure in the hot seat at Chelsea Football Club.
Several disappointing results have led to numerous Blues fans vying for his immediate removal.
If their form doesn’t improve quickly, Potter could be out of work any day now.
But that doesn’t take away from his incredible time as manager of little-known Östersunds FK.
Located on the edge of the Arctic circle, Östersunds FK is a small Swedish football club in a small Swedish town.
And in 2015, the then-unknown Graham Potter was appointed their manager, his first managerial role in the professional game.
Potter’s incredible rise from the manager of Leeds Met (now Beckett) University football team to the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League is enthralling.
And author George Mallett found himself caught up in this incredible journey.
His new book: POTTER, HOPCUTT, AND A DESK IN EAST LONDON, charts the ultimate underdog story. As Östersunds FK rise from the fourth tier of Swedish football to the Europa League in just six seasons.
Needing a distraction from their nine-five grind, George and his friend James decided to join the esoteric Englishman, and his small Swedish club, on their journey across Europe.
George was first exposed to Graham Potter when he was plying his trade as a left-back for York City.
An Englishman in the twilight of his playing career, Potter was about to embark on an intriguing journey into football management.
Potter’s European Tour
Taking a risky plunge into Scandinavian football, he applied his unique methods towards propelling the small Swedish club towards the upper echelons of European football.
And it was his York City connections that led to two friends tagging along on an unlikely European Tour.
“We’re both from York and support York City, and Graham Potter used to play for York. We’d always read the paper and get these annoying updates every year, just a little paragraph, saying Östersunds have got promoted. And we’re just not interested in this random Swedish team. But then they gradually get higher and higher. And when we got to sort of our mid-20s, York had been relegated to the National League North, so we couldn’t really watch that much. So, we got a little bit silly and said: actually, what about this Graham Potter? and because we’d always kind of kept an eye out for them.”
Opportunity sprung for George in 2017 when Graham Potter and Östersunds won the Swedish Cup and in turn, qualified for the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League. The two friends sprung up with a plan and decided to follow their new team across the continent.
“We went to various places when they played away in Europe, and we just met Östersunds fans in bars, who would then introduce us to other people.
“Östersunds is a very small community, so as soon as you meet one person, you are then the English blokes, ‘the two English chumps.'”
One night in Bilbao
This extract from George’s book: POTTER, HOPCUTT, AND A DESK IN EAST LONDON, shares a story from a stop on their tour in Bilbao, as George and James enjoy one of their bar nights spent with an agent who represented some Östersunds players.
‘Hi James, it’s John, Jen’s friend. Jens gave me your number. He’s heading home this afternoon but my flight’s not till tomorrow morning. I was wondering if the two of you fancied a drink?’
“This was probably the best news I had had since my employer offered me a job. Hoping this experience would provide an ultimately more satisfying ending, the two of us were giddy with excitement. Not only would we be going for dinner with a ‘real-life football agent’ but, more importantly, we had a third member with which to recycle our conversations. Within seconds we concluded that a drink wasn’t enough and that he should come for some dinner as well. Text sent, we wandered back in the direction of our hotel and awaited the response. Checking the phone every 2.5 seconds, it felt like the early stages of an exciting new relationship. Not meaning to give too much away, this continued for ten minutes. Just as we began to lose all hope and think we had put our hearts on our sleeves too early, John replied:
‘Yeah, sounds good. Where shall we meet?’
The evening evolves into a night of bar hopping and story-telling as the three bonded over their Östersunds connections.
This night is just one of the many memorable European nights George, James, and Östersunds FK enjoyed on their adventure.
Emirates Elimination
As the journey continued unexpectantly into the knockout stages, Östersunds drew English side Arsenal.
It was a tie that introduced Graham Potter to a much-wider English audience and for one Östersunds player to leave an impact on George and the rest of the ÖFK contingent at the Emirates.
Ken Sema.
Now plying his trade at Watford, the striker was recently in the media spotlight after giving a post-match interview on Sky Sports despite suffering from a stammer.
The Swedish international is responsible for the pinnacle of Östersunds’ journey, and George was there to witness it:
“I love him. He gave me one of my best moments watching football ever. He scored the second at Arsenal. They went two nil up at three nil down after the first leg, they did that within two minutes of each other, and they almost scored a third.
So, it looked for 20 minutes like they were going to knock Arsenal out of the Europa League, and yeah, he turned into Lewandowski in his prime. It was Ridiculous.”
Although Östersunds held on for an unforgettable 2-1 win at the Emirates, it wasn’t enough for them to advance, and their European escapade was over.
Regardless of their elimination, Graham Potter had achieved the impossible:
“Three promotions to the Allsvenskan subsequently cementing their status as a top-flight club, and then the Swedish Cup, all on a self-sustaining budget. Crowds increased from 500 to 6,400 sell-outs and they were now going toe to toe with European royalty.”
Potter Post Östersunds
Graham Potter’s triumphs caught the eye of football clubs across his native England.
As a result, Championship side Swansea offered him the head coaching job for the following season.
He spent one season on the Welsh coast before moving to the Head Coaching role at Premier League side Brighton.
Brighton slowly progressed to a top-half side in the two-and-a-half seasons under Potter’s guidance.
Chelsea tracked his progress, and early in the 2022/23 season, they offered Potter their top job.
Always highlighted as a long-term appointment, results for Potter’s Chelsea have not been overwhelmingly positive.
At the time of writing, Chelsea have only three wins from their last 16 games.
Plus, there are rampant rumours their form needs to improve immediately for Potter to keep his job.
Despite his current predicament, Potter’s time at Östersunds FK will always be a fairy tale that deserves to be told.
And George Mallett’s whimsical spin on the story produces a captivating read.
For further tales from other memorable on Östersunds and George’s journey.
It is a must-buy for any football fan.
POTTER, HOPCUTT, AND A DESK IN EAST LONDON – The Story of Östersunds FK’s European Adventure – Available everywhere from 02/04/2023.
