Calle Johansson’s and Alexander Bernhardsson’s Holstein Kiel close to making the step up to the Bundesliga

Soon the football club is better known to Swedes than both the ferry and the handball team.

Alexander Bernhardsson, 25, and Calle Johansson, 29, are very close to a promotion to the Bundesliga with Holstein Kiel.

– I am very proud of the journey I have made, says Johansson, who a year ago was unwanted by IFK Gothenburg.

Ten years ago, Holstein Kiel played in the German fourth division, in the Regionalliga Nord, and averaged 3,000 spectators per game.

After the 1-0 victory away last weekend against arch-rivals, classic big club Hamburg SV in front of 57,000 spectators, Holstein Kiel lead the 2. Bundesliga and with four rounds to play have a six-point margin down to a qualifying spot.

At the moment, everything indicates that the leader Holstein is closing in on first or second place and a direct promotion to the Bundesliga.

– There are four finals left, we don’t take anything for granted, but the situation is very good, says former Elfsborg player Alexander Bernhardsson, who moved to Kiel last winter.

Six straight zeroes

Holstein Kiel has won six straight games and kept a clean sheet in all of them. Bernhardsson has scored two goals in the last three games and against HSV Calle Johansson played great in central defence.

– It’s incredibly fun when you get it right with your first move abroad. Holstein had scouted me properly and really believed in me. They explained how they wanted to use me and about the club’s ambition to take the step to the Bundesliga. It turned out really well, says Bernhardsson, whose parent club is Partille IF, and who accounted for 17 goals and 7 assists over three seasons in Elfsborg.

During the successful journey with Holstein in the spring, since the move there have been nine league games, six of which started and three goals.

– I have gained more and more trust from the coach (Marcel Rapp) and have grown into the game. I’m satisfied even if you can always score a few more goals from some of the chances I’ve missed, says the top-of-form Bernhardsson.

How do you see your position at the top of the table?

– It would be fantastic to reach the Bundesliga, it is one of the best leagues in the world and it would be hysterical in town. Even if we have a margin, it can be decided in the penultimate round when we have Fortuna Düsseldorf chasing us at home, says Bernhardsson.

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Giant crowd in the 2. Bundesliga

On Saturday, Holstein meets another former big team, second-tier Kaiserslautern at home. The match has long since been sold out and the Kiel team has already outgrown the Holsteinstadion, whose lawn has been named the best in the series for several years, and which had its capacity expanded to 15,000 spectators in 2019.

– There are incredible matches in the 2. Bundesliga. There are many matches with 40,000–50,000 spectators, says defender Calle Johansson.

The 2.Bundesliga’s audience average is a whopping 29,000 spectators per match, and Holstein Kiel together with the city are planning for a new stadium with space for at least 25,000 spectators.

How do you explain Holstein Kiel’s success against Schalke 04, HSV, Hertha Berlin, Hannover 96 and Nürnberg?

– We have a good, very tactically driven coaching team, a favorable environment that is a little easier than in the really big German clubs. We have a very good community in the club and in the team. Our physical trainer Tim Sörensen has been with us since the team played in the Regionalliga. Holstein produces its own young players and they are skilled at recruiting the right ones, says Calle Johansson.

Against Hamburg last weekend, the 19-year-old giant talent, left-back Tom Rothe, on loan from Dortmund, became the match-winner, played by team captain Lewis Holtby, 33, former German national team player and with Schalke, Tottenham and Fulham as some of the former club addresses.

Was selected by Blåvitt

Calle Johansson’s own trip to Holstein Kiel is also a bit odd.

Just over a year ago, the former Helsingborgs and Falkenberg centre-back wanted nothing more than to help IFK Göteborg up.

But after two seasons as a regular in Blåvitt’s central defense, he was told shortly before the transfer window closed last winter by club director Håkan Mild that IFK Gothenburg would invest in new signings Adam Carlén and Sebastian Hausner. Johansson was asked to apply for a new club.

Johansson was loaned to Danish side Randers, where things went so well that Kiel decided to buy him from IFK Göteborg last summer.

– It has been a special season for me. After only a few games in the series I had to have meniscus surgery. I probably went back into the game a little too soon because I went on a setback. It is only now the last month that I have been able to come back properly, says Calle Johansson.

How do you see how it turned out with IFK Göteborg?

– I feel no bitterness, I like Blåvitt very much. But it goes without saying that it was lighter fluid for me, to show that they made a mistake by choosing me. Now it has turned out great for me in the end.

– What we are doing with Holstein Kiel is incredibly fun. We can reach the Bundesliga, it feels fantastic both for myself and the team.

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Going to handball with Mellegård

Calle Johansson’s girlfriend is Olivia Mellegård, national team star in handball, formerly in Sävehof but ready for Danish Ikast and now long-term injured after tearing the cruciate ligament in her knee, for the third time.

Comfort in sorrow are the two things that Kiel is best known for to many Swedes.

The ferry between Gothenburg and Kiel that took 100,000s of Swedes to vacation on the continent and the major handball team THW Kiel.

– It is a luxury to be able to go and watch world-class handball just ten minutes from our apartment. We have been to a few matches, says Johansson.

Ten years ago, football in Holstein Kiel lived heavily in the shadow of handball in THW Kiel. Holstein then averaged 3,000 spectators per match in the Regionalliga Nord.

Now Calle Johansson’s and Alexander Bernhardsson’s leading team in the 2.Bundesliga average close to 14,000 spectators in the packed home arena and have thus overtaken THW Kiel who cannot get more than the average 10,130 in the Wunderino Arena.

How good is the pressure on the handball matches?

– It’s good and loud, but it’s also because of these yes claps they’re doing… Now I get an angry look from Olivia, explains Calle Johansson over the phone. It’s a different kind of atmosphere at football matches.

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Waiting for the premiere tour

But neither Calle Johansson nor Alexander Bernhardsson has yet used the Kiel ferry, which takes 14 hours to Gothenburg.

– I have family and relatives in Skåne, so I have driven that way when we have had time off, says Johansson. But Olivia and friends have taken the ferry. It is very practical.

– I drove seven hours home to Gothenburg on one occasion. I don’t change that. Friends have taken the ferry here and dad has taken it several times. I’ll probably take it home in the summer when we’ve finished playing, says Alexander Bernhardsson.

First, the Swedish duo will go ashore with the surprising trip to the Bundesliga with Holstein Kiel.