Vasteras Women

Every meeting with Eskilstuna Guif at Västerås Arena is billed as the Västerås–Eskilstuna derby. VästeråsIrsta Handbollsförening carries that name into a ground its predecessors filled long before the merger that produced it.

The club itself dates only to May 2011, when IVH Västerås HK and Irsta HF joined forces — the second such attempt, after an earlier union in 1998 had come apart by 2006. But the women's game in Västerås goes back further than either predecessor's founding years suggest.

Martina Thörn , a World Championship gold medallist as goalkeeper, is the name most associated with the club's playing history, alongside national team player Alexandra Bjärrenholt. The club has also kept faith with its own production line, sending homegrown players like Julia Sand and Ellen Göthlin through to senior handball.

Youth handball has its own fixture here too: Irstablixten, run by the club, ranks among the largest indoor tournaments for young players in Sweden, filling the calendar in a way the senior results alone would not explain.

Västerås Arena holds 1,800, in the club's black and white.