The elite series in bandy will be expanded on the women's side from eight to ten teams next season.

A few months after that announcement, Skutskär closed its women's team.

- It's sad, what happened in Skutskär.

It is regional, in some parts of the country there are more players.

There have been many more younger women's players in the league, but it will take a few years until they become established, says Svensk Elitebandy's league manager Per Selin to SVT Sport.

The reason for the expansion is that the league wants to develop like the men.

- It will be more professional to play a full 18 rounds, and we think it will be more developmental for the ladies if you play against better teams.

- We want to "copy" what we have done with the men in terms of events and interest.

"Developing for women's bandy"

Another reason for the expansion is the league wants to become more professional.

- Basically, it's about the ladies wanting to play more matches, it's developmental for women's bandy, which they get with the expansion of the league.

We believe in a positive development that there will be more teams, says Selin.

There has previously been a desire from the clubs to expand the league.

For example, it has proven to work well in the women's league, under the top division, which has 18 to 20 teams.

- There have been clear signals from all women's clubs to go up to ten teams, but there can be a big difference at the top and bottom.

The economy is a big factor

The most important factor is the economic differences between the ladies and the gentlemen.

- It is difficult for the girls to move around, the boys can move from the north of Sweden to the south because there is financial muscle.

It may be one of the reasons for Skutskär that there are not enough players in the immediate area.

Had you at Swedish Elite Bandy been able to prevent teams like Skutskär from having to shut down?

- It's hard to comment on, I don't think we could have done anything differently actually.

SEE MORE: National team player Edit Ljung about Skutskär's announcement: "Could have guessed that it would be like this" (August 2, 2022)

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Edit Ljung on Skutskär's announcement: "Could have guessed it would be like this" Photo: Bildbyrån/private