Skövde HF Women

Skövde sits in Västergötland, a region better known for its handball than for much else in the Swedish sporting map, and Skövde HF, known locally as Flickorna, have carried that reputation on their own for decades. The club was formed in 1949 by Herman Somby.

The club spent the 1990s finding its level: promoted to the Elitserien for the first time in the 1996–1997 season, relegated the year after, and back up in 1998–1999 after winning the playoffs.

Between 2005 and 2010 Flickorna reached six straight championship finals, losing five of them before finally beating IK Sävehof in 2008 to take the Swedish title.

Angelica Wallén, on the roster for that 2005–2010 run, played through the whole stretch of finals and the eventual title. The club also has a junior pedigree to match, having won the Junior-SM in 2000, a sign that the sides built during that period didn't come from nowhere.

Games against Skara HF are still called the Skaraborg derby, a fixture that matters more locally than anything else on the calendar, the two towns sitting close enough that the rivalry needs no explanation for anyone in the region.

Since 2010 there has been no return to a final, and the Swedish Cup remains the one trophy Flickorna have never managed to win.