Utländska spelare i allsvenskan 1974–2021. Globalisering, kommersialisering och migration

Abstract

Since the late 1990s, professional football players moving across national borders in search of the best possible livelihoods constitute a form of transnational labour migration that has grown enormously in scale and scope. The Swedish Premier Division has gradually been incorporated into this global player market. The development began in 1974, when Swedish clubs for the first time were allowed to sign foreign players. However, it was only after the Bosman-ruling in 1995, and the removal of restrictions on the number of foreign players, that the league was forcefully globalized. In this article, this globalizing development between 1974 and 2019 is analysed. The study shows that the development took place in three different phases, with the last phase (2009-19) constituting a break in the trend in globalization. From this point on, the number of players from countries in the nearby geographical area increased rapidly.