The ex-sandwich maker who cycles to Champions League games
Jacob Bergstrom never imagined he would be rubbing shoulders with stars like Yaya Toure in the Champions League.
The 31-year-old was never picked up by a youth academy and was still playing amateur football at 22.
Even after joining Mjallby in 2018, he continued working at Subway to make ends meet. He did not become a full-time professional until he was 24.
But over the past year the burly striker has helped Mjallby win the Swedish championship and Swedish Cup for the first time in their 87-year history.
He then scored on his Champions League debut and now aims to help Mjallby continue their fairytale by overcoming Slovan Bratislava, whose new head coach is Champions League winner and former Manchester City midfielder Toure.
“When I first came here, we were in the third division,” Bergstrom tells BBC Sport. “I was so happy to sign. It was so big to me then.
“I never dreamed of anything like this. It was like, I didn’t even think about it. For me to be here now is crazy, and to do it with Mjallby as well is amazing.”
Last season’s surprise title triumph made headlines around the world, mainly because of Mjallby’s remote location. The club is based in Hallevik, a coastal village in southern Sweden with fewer than 1,000 residents.
As the strongest football team in Blekinge County, Mjallby attract fans from across the region, averaging home crowds of 5,000 last season.
They also attract players such as Bergstrom, who grew up an hour’s drive north in Blekinge’s capital Karlskrona, a naval city where handball and ice hockey are more popular.
When Bergstrom rejoined Mjallby after a brief spell with Stockholm-based Djurgarden in 2023, he and his wife moved to Hallevik. They and their two children now call it home.
Although Hallevik is a sleepy fishing village come the winter, holidaymakers quadruple its population in the summer.
And Bergstrom likes to cycle to games and training at Mjallby’s home ground Strandvallen. It is just 100 metres from the Baltic Sea, nestled between some woods, a campsite and an outdoor swimming pool.
“You have the ocean and the people,” adds Bergstrom. “It’s so beautiful by the water and the beach.
“In the winter there’s not many people here, so it doesn’t fit for everyone, but it fits for us.”
Mjallby fans now regard Bergstrom as one of them. The 6ft 3in target man has come to embody the underdog mentality of the region’s rural communities.
He once celebrated in front of Malmo fans and did not flinch when they showered him with beer, saying later “it tasted very good”.
And after last season’s win at Mjallby’s big-city rivals he grabbed a megaphone and led a chant of “whoever doesn’t jump is a Malmo pig”.
Despite his and Mjallby’s remarkable rise from obscurity, Bergstrom remains a regular guy.
He still cycles to games and fans might still bump into him in the local supermarket, just as BBC Sport did the day after last month’s Champions League qualifier at Strandvallen.
There was a carnival atmosphere for Mjallby’s first European game against Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps. A jazz band welcomed 3,500 fans while another 2,300 carried deckchairs and cool boxes to Hallevik’s marina to watch on a big screen.
“[Playing in Europe] is special for the whole village and for everyone here at the club,” says Bergstrom.
“Every time I take my bike to the game, I see all the people in their yellow and black shirts. Everyone has flags in their garden. It’s so fun to see everyone get together.
“They are so proud to be part of this journey we’ve made together.”
Hallevik has become the second smallest village to stage a Champions League fixture - after Streymnes in the Faroe Islands (population 321).
Before the 3-0 win over the Red Imps, Mjallby fans revealed a tifo which featured a ship and a map of Europe, with a banner which read: “A new chapter in the history books - written by all who dared to dream and those who refused to give up.”
Bergstrom said the tifo was unbelievable while captain Jesper Gustavsson had goosebumps. Gustavsson is one of those that refused to give up - literally.
The 31-year-old is the last survivor of the Mjallby team that avoided relegation to the fourth tier - and probable bankruptcy - on the final day of the 2016 season.
“At that time, me and some team-mates were like ‘are we gonna quit after this season?’” he says.
“It was tough, but we kept going and now I’m living my dream with Mjallby.”
Gustavsson grew up just 20 minutes north of Hallevik. He went to Mjallby games with his dad before making his debut aged 18.
Now the diminutive midfielder leads a loyal, tight-knit group that has a core of local players and punches above its weight.
“It means everything because I’ve been here my whole life,” he says. “Mjallby believed in me so I’m forever grateful.”
A 0-0 draw in Gibraltar meant Mjallby progressed to the third qualifying round to meet Slovan Bratislava, who gave Yaya Toure his first managerial job in June.
The 43-year-old helped Barcelona win the 2009 Champions League final at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. Tuesday’s first leg at Strandvallen (17:00 BST) will be unlike any Champions League game he’s been involved in.
Many away teams do not like visiting Mjallby. They face a long drive through acres of farmland, with virtually nothing of note except Mjallby flags hanging from tractors.
They reach a modest ground with a vociferous home crowd, which is even louder for European games because Mjallby’s hardcore fans must relocate to the biggest-seated stand.
Toure said Mjallby have “something that other teams don’t have” and now they face the 24-time Slovakian champions for a place in the Champions League play-offs.
But even if Mjallby don’t pull off another upset, they’re guaranteed to play in at least this season’s Conference League so Bergstrom is set to meet a few more stars yet.
