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Alfred Johansson was unveiled to the media this morning, as he laid out his expectations and plans for the coming week. 

The new Motherwell manager was questioned around his journey in coaching, recruitment at Motherwell this summer, the upcoming UEFA Conference League tie and his knowledge on Scottish football.

Match details have now been confirmed for our UEFA Conference League second qualifying round tie against Havnar Bóltfelag.

The first leg will take place at 7:45pm on Thursday 23 July at Fir Park. The second leg will take place in the Faroe Islands on Thursday 30 July, with the match taking place at Tórsvøllur, the national stadium. Kick-off time is 6pm for the second leg.

Allocation numbers for away tickets in Torshavn will be communicated once confirmed, with all ticket information regarding both legs being communicated in due course.

As the squad returns for pre-season, we can provide the following update on our playing squad. 

Academy graduate Zander McAllister has penned a new two-year deal with the club, keeping him at Fir Park until the summer of 2028.

McAllister made four first-team appearances last season. Good to have you with us, Zander.

Liam Gordon will not be returning for the 26/27 season. Gordon made 57 appearances across two seasons, scoring two goals. We thank Liam for his professional attitude and strong work-ethic during his time at Fir Park. Best wishes for the future, Liam.

As 20 first-team players returned from their summer break, two are yet to return. Elijah Just remains on international duty with New Zealand at the World Cup.

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos has been granted additional personal leave following the birth of his child. He will join up with the squad next week.

Captain Paul McGinn missed the last three games of last season through injury. Further assessment on the injury concluded that the 35-year-old would require surgery on his knee. Having undergone surgery during the summer, McGinn has started his rehabilitation process and is expected to return in a number of months. Best wishes and see you back soon, Paul.

Callum Hendry is also set for a spell on the sidelines through injury. The forward picked up the injury in the latter stages of last season. He will also be out for a number of months. Wishing you the best, Callum.

The squad will now begin their preparations for the 26/27 campaign. We are still yet to get official confirmation of our match details for our UEFA Conference League matches against HB Torshavn. Once we have this confirmed, it will be communicated as soon as possible.

Alfred Johansson addresses his playing squad for the first time, outlining what he plans on doing this season.

It’s day one of 2026/27 pre-season for the Motherwell squad as they get back together after the summer break.

Alfred Johansson is the new manager of Motherwell Football Club. 

On his first day as the new boss, the Swede speaks about his journey in football, pre-season plans, the quick turnaround until competitive action and what he wants his team to look like.

Alfred Johansson is the new manager of Motherwell Football Club.

The 35-year-old Swede becomes the 31st manager of the club.

“We are delighted to welcome Alfred to the football club,” chairman Kyrk Macmillan said.

“Following the same data-driven process that we undertook to appoint the previous two managers of the football club, we believe Alfred is an excellent fit here at Motherwell. The data plays a key role to ensure the game model aligns with how we want to play and continues our evolution, but the process is also blended with ensuring we bring good people to the club.

“We met with Alfred on a number of occasions, and he stood out as the best candidate to continue our journey at the club. It became evident from our conversations that there was a clear alignment between both parties, and we have built a strong relationship already. Identifying and appointing someone that fits with the type of people we want to work with is equally as important.

“There is a strong belief that Alfred has the correct characteristics to lead and deliver on his ideas. He is a determined and ambitious young manager who wants to continue the success we had last season.

“It was important for the squad that we completed our detailed process of recruiting a new manager, but we were also conscious of time. With the players back in for pre-season this week, Alfred can begin working with his new squad ahead of a busy and exciting period for the football club.

“We were delighted with the connection our fans had with the team last season and we hope to take that even further this campaign”

Johansson arrives off the back of a two-and-a-half-year stint as manager of Norwegian top league side Rosenborg.

His coaching career began in Sweden, where he started out working with the youth squads at Enköpings SK in 2011 before serving as academy manager at Djurgårdens IF until 2015.

His strong academic results gave Johansson a strong grounding to begin his journey in football, despite not playing the game professionally.

He then moved to FC Copenhagen to work as youth manager and chief analyst for the under-19 squad. A brief spell back home in Sweden with AIK’s under-17 squad in 2018 was followed by a return to the Danish capital to take up the position of youth manager.

Impressing by guiding the Under 17 squad to the top of the DBU U17 Drenge Ligaen, he progressed to work with Copenhagen’s Under 19 squad in 2022, which saw Johansson build a strong, talented group that could compete at European level, defeating the likes of Bayern Munich and Manchester United in the UEFA Youth League.

He then was appointed manager of Rosenborg in 2023 at the age of just 33. In his maiden season in professional management, he guided Rosenborg to a fourth-place finish in the Norwegian top-flight, securing a return to European football after a 12-month absence, by winning over half of their league matches.

In a strong first season that saw Johansson pick up the league’s manager of the month award in August, he guided Rosenborg to the cusp of Conference League league phase football, defeating Banga Gargždai and Hammarby in the second and third rounds. After defeating Bundesliga side Mainz at home in the first leg of the playoff round, the Germans won on home turf to progress to the next round in the second leg.

For the 2025 league campaign, Johansson and Rosenborg finished seventh in the standings, keeping 11 clean sheets in the process, the second highest in the division and also picked up a second manager of the month accolade.

Johansson departed the club seven league games into his third season in May 2026. Managing 131 matches in his tenure in Norway, Johansson accumulated 71 wins and 21 draws.

He will now begin work ahead of pre-season, with all football staff remaining at the club.

“This is a huge honour for me,” manager Alfred Johansson said.

“To work at this football club and to lead is a privilege. I’ve analysed the club closely, and the direction that it’s going in is of huge importance to me. Last season was hugely successful, and I want to be able to carry this success forward. The squad of players we have is exciting, and we will get to work straight away.

“There is no time to waste with European football next month and the league season starting in a few weeks. I can’t wait to get to know all the players and staff at the club, but most importantly, I’m looking forward to meeting the supporters. I’ll see you all very soon.”

Our 2026/26 William Hill Premiership campaign will start with a trip to Easter Road to face Hibernian. 

Kick off is at 4:30pm on Sunday 2 August with the match being broadcast live on Sky Sports.

Our first home game of the season is on Saturday 8 August against Falkirk.

The festive period is jam-packed once again, with the return of Boxing Day fixtures to the schedule. We travel to Celtic Park on Saturday 26 December for a 3pm kick-off before travelling north to Aberdeen on Wednesday 30 December to round off 2026.

Our final match prior to the split is against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Saturday 10 April.

All fixtures are subject to change.

Motherwell discovered this afternoon that they would be facing Havnar Bóltfelag of the Faroe Islands in the second round of the UEFA Conference League. 

Otherwise known as HB Torshavn (HB), Motherwell and HB have already met in European competition.

Back in 1994, Motherwell were drawn against HB in the Preliminary Round of the UEFA Cup. Playing the first leg at Fir Park, Alex McLeish’s side cruised to a 3-0 win thanks to goals from Tommy Coyne, Paul McGrillen and Stevie Kirk.

After a strong result in the first leg, the squad travelled to the Faroe Islands, and after just 20 minutes, Kirk and Billy Davies had extended the Steelmen’s advantage to five before skipper Andreas Hansen pulled one back to deny Stevie Woods his clean sheet. Kirk scored his second of the match ten minutes later before Alex Burns rounded off a 4-1 win on the night.

A second tie between the two sides almost occurred in 2020 when HB were Motherwell’s potential opponents in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, Glentoran came out 1-0 winners of the tie with the Faroese side instead and progressed.

But the connection with the Faroese side doesn’t stop there.

André Olsen is HB’s current manager, a name Motherwell fans probably won’t recognise. But one connection between the Fir Park dugout and the one in the Gundadalur Stadium is Jens Berthel Askou. Askou managed HB through a successful spell, winning the league and league cup in 2020, and was named manager of the year for these achievements.

HB missed out on their 25th league title last season, finishing runners-up to winners Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag. HB hasn’t won the Faroese top-flight since 2020.

Now 13 league games into the 2026 season, HB have won four and drawn three of their matches as they sit sixth in the table.

Their top scorer is Storm Bugge Pettersen, who currently has six goals in all competitions. But someone who has two goals this season is former Motherwell player and fan-favourite Moses Ebiye, who moved to the Faroe Islands in April.

Former Motherwell goalkeeper Gunnar Nielson came out of retirement for one match in April this to take up a spot on the bench for HB, the side he came through the academy at. He didn’t feature.

HB play their home games at the Gundadalur Stadium, which is roughly a 45-minute journey from the main airport and has a capacity of 5000. The National Stadium in the Faroe Islands, Tórsvøllur, is also in Gundadalur.

HB are European regulars, having played in Europe, including this season, eight years in a row and 15 of the last 19 seasons. They have recorded notable wins over Red Bull Salzburg in 2010 and Maccabi Haifa in 2021 and drawn at home against the likes of Brøndby, Hajduk Split and HJK Helsinki in recent years, and a notable draw with Malmö in 2011.

The Faroese side have progressed through two European ties since 2014, a 6-3 aggregate win over Lincoln Red Imps from Gibraltar in 2014 and a 6-0 win over FK Budućnost Podgorica from Montenegro in 2021.

A reminder to all supporters that although we expect the first leg of our tie to be played at Fir Park, we encourage everyone to not book travel or accommodation until UEFA confirms match information.

All ticket and match information will be confirmed in due course.

We will face Havnar Bóltfelag of the Faroe Islands in the second round of the Conference League. 

The first leg will take place on Thursday 23 July, with the second leg taking place on Thursday 30 July.

As we have been drawn first, we expect the first leg to be at Fir Park. However, UEFA will confirm dates and venues of matches in the coming days.

We urge supporters not to book travel or accommodation until all match information is absolutely confirmed. These will be communicated as soon as we have all information confirmed.