Hello and an icy cold welcome to the next Blog Squad League. It’s been a fair while since we’ve done something like this, as we’ve all be off adulting. In short, the idea here was to take the 10 teams with the best reputations from the Scandinavian countries and throw them together to thrash it out in a not so modern take on the Royale League concept.

Why? It gives us a great chance to further explore a bunch of players and teams that don’t always load into saves and kind of levels the playing field a bit. So, who are the teams we are looking at? In no particular order; AIK Stockholm [SWE], AaB [DEN], SK Brann [NOR], FC Kobenhavn [DEN], IFK Goteborg [SWE], Malmo FF [SWE], OB Odense [DEN], Rosenborg BK [NOR], Stromsgodset IF [NOR], Brondby [DEN]. We’ve also applied January transfers for these teams for players ‘in’ given we are running this on the v2.93 patch and to ensure the squads have some depth where possible.

In an added twist, not only will we draw out the hat for these teams, but we will also draw for 10 additional ‘star players’ – the top 10 players of Scandinavian descent by ability that don’t currently play in one of the CM9798 playable leagues. So, who do we have up for grabs? Jes Hogh [DEN], Orjan Berg [NOR], Tommy Svindal Larsen [NOR], Peter Wibran [SWE], Christian Bye Andersen [NOR], Par Andersson [SWE], Aasmund Bjorkan [NOR], Karl-Petter Loken [NOR], Magnus Kihlberg [SWE], and Dag Riisnaes [NOR]. The only shock is the omission of Jesper Ljung.

We’ll also be having a ‘October Transfer Window’. On the 1^st of October we’ll allow each manager to identify a shortlist of 16 Scandinavian players playing for Scandinavian clubs and we’ll allow the top 3 to sign 1 of those, the middle 4 to sign 3 of those, and the bottom 3 to sign 5 of those, all to be added to their side. So get scouting gents.

So, now we’ve covered the concept let’s see who got what in the draw.

Matt Wills

Matt has the pleasure of managing AIK Stockholm through this league. Players immediately recognisable would be Mellberg, Limpar, and the two ‘keepers Asper and Andersson. Shoutouts to Rahmberg, Lidman and Lagerlof.

In the star player draw Matt drew Jes Hogh. I’m not sure this is much of a win.

Philip Verbist

Our token Belgian gets AaB. Feels like a mixed bag for Philip, though AaB have some exceptional attacking options in Andersen, Hojer and Gronkjaer. And again, at least they have two ‘keepers!

Philip got one hell of a pick from the star player draw, Orjan Berg.

Dave Black

The man, the myth, the legend. The boss. Dave drew SK Brann. Mons Ivar Mjelde is a decent offering up top. Can I vouch for the others? No.

In the star player draw however, Dave’s luck was in as he drew CM9798 legend Tommy Svindal Larsen.

Andrew Chapman

Me! Well, I think I’ve proven the draw isn’t rigged as I pull what I’d say is one of the poorer squads in FC Kobenhavn. Goldbaek and Cliffort standout players for me.

In the star player draw, I pulled one of the worst players, statistically, out the hat. Peter Wibran, will I even have a space in the team for you?

Dean Emson

Another token, in this case a token Welshman. Everyone’s favourite Welshman (yeah, f*** off Gareth). Deano’s draw is IFK Goteborg. Ravelli, Lilienberg, Ekstrom, and Lucic all great players capable in the CM9798 world.

And in the star player draw, Deano pulled out top bins. Christian Bye Andersen is his.

Zak Brockman

Poor Zak. I think he has ended up with the short straw in terms of squad depth and adaptability. Malmo have a shocking distribution of positions. Could I tell you much about them, no. Four ‘keepers though, spoiled for choice.

If it makes up for it, Zak drew a very decent Par Andersson in the star player draw.

Nick Rowe

A man used to messing around with unknown players, Nick will probably be quite happy with this draw. OB Odense have Morten Bisgaard, Stig Tofting and Thomas Sorenson.

A decent pull in the star player draw as Nick gets Aasmund Bjorkan.

Nathan Gent

As draws go, I think Nathan can be very pleased. Rosenborg may not have the biggest squad, but this is a side that usually go far in Europe when driven by the AI. Strand and Rushfeldt stand out names.

In the star player draw, Nathan came out with Karl-Petter Loken, who I have to say, I’ve never used on this game before.

Rob Tait

Rob usually entertains us with his sharp wit and suspect vegetable world leaders. In this case I think Rob will be the entertainer of the group having drawn Stromsgodset. This squad is the GOAT. Bye, Nyan, George, Olsen, Dokken, Flo…how can anyone stop that fire power?

And to add insult to everyone else’s injury, Rob’s star player draw was Magnus Kihlberg.

Ross Bell

Last, but  by no means least (we need to keep him happy as we use his Zoom account) Ross draws what is quite possibly the other star team from the draw. Brondby are stacked across the pitch. Probably the most complete of the teams. No pressure Ross.

Ross didn’t really need the star player draw, but he did pull the Big Dag out the hat.

So there it is, the battle lines are drawn. Who will come out on top in this 10 team Royale Mashup? We’d love to know your thoughts on who will come out on top.