Former European Head Coach Sixten Böstrom Joins Crew
Böstrom brings UEFA Champions League & Europa League coaching experience with topflight clubs in Finland and Sweden, tenure at Football Association of Finland to Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter’s technical staff.
Columbus Crew SC today announced that it has hired former European head coach and Finnish international Sixten Böstrom (pronounced: SIX-tin BO-strum) as an Assistant Coach. Böstrom is set to join Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter‘s staff effective immediately as the team continues preseason training in Lakewood Ranch, FL. Per club and MLS policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Böstrom, 51, joins Crew SC after an extensive playing and managing career. Most recently, Böstrom served as the Head Coach in the Finnish First Division for HJK, the most successful club in Finland. He has also served as the boss of three other European clubs: Örebro, Jaro and Ekenäs IF as well as previously serving as the Education Manager for the Finland Football Association. His success as a coach saw club berths into the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying Round with HJK and the 2011-12 UEFA Europa League Second Qualifying Round with Örebro in Sweden, its first qualification since the 1997-98 campaign.
“We’re excited to have Sixten join the technical staff,” said Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter. “His experience and his tactical expertise are going to be an asset to the coaching staff and the club.”
Prior to coaching, the former midfielder played 13 years of professional soccer for clubs in Finland, Sweden and Singapore, including two topflight stints with HJK, the club he would later go on to coach.
Most recently, Böstrom managed HJK from 2013-2014, accumulating a 28-7-9 record and a +68 goal differential over 44 matches. In 2013, he won the Veikkausliiga title with a 22-4-7 record, finishing 12 points clear of second-placed FC Honka for the First Division championship. The club’s goal differential of +53 that year was also 39 tallies ahead of FC Honka’s 14 for tops in the league. The title earned HJK a berth in the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying Round.
Previously, Böstrom managed Swedish club Örebro for four-and-a-half seasons. Örebro spent the duration of Böstrom’s tenure in the Allsvenskan, the Swedish First Division. In 2008, his debut season, the club finished in seventh place with 42 points, a 17-point improvement over the 2007 campaign. Böstrom improved Örebro to sixth place (45 points) in 2009 and then again to third place (52 points) in 2010, earning a 2011-12 UEFA Europa League Second Qualifying Round berth. It was the first time that Örebro qualified for the UEFA Europa League since the 1997-98 season.
Böstrom served as the Education Manager for the Football Association of Finland from 2005-2007, where he oversaw the training, organization and development of soccer coaches in his native country.
From 2002-2004, Böstrom also managed Finnish club Jaro, keeping the club in the topflight throughout his duration. His first head coaching job came in 1995-1996 for Ekenäs IF, and the native of Helsinki has also saw prior roles with VJS Vantaa, FinnPa and Jokrut.
As a player, Böstrom plied his trade for HJK, BK Häcken, FC Kuusysi, Geylang International and FinnPa. The majority of his playing career was spent in Helsinki for HJK, where, in two different stints, he made 87 appearances and scored 22 goals.
Over his entire playing career, he made eight different appearances in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup (six for HJK and two for FC Kuusysi), currently known as the UEFA Champions League. Additionally, he earned 14 Senior Team caps for his native Finland, scoring two goals.
Crew SC is currently in preseason in advance of the 2015 Major League Soccer campaign, highlighted by two stays in Florida and an Austin, Texas trip. Over the course of the preseason, the club will also participate in a pair of inaugural tournaments.
The Black & Gold begin their 20th season on March 7 at Houston and return home for the Opening Match at Crew Stadium on Saturday, March 14 against Toronto FC. In celebration of the 20th campaign, the club is offering free customization to any fan that pre-orders his or her 2015 jersey. Once the jerseys have been revealed to the public, fans can select either the primary or secondary jersey along with any name and number they wish to add at no additional charge. This offer will be available at the Crew SC Shop at Crew Stadium or CrewSCShop.com. The pre-sale opportunity ends February 28.
