We can beat anybody at home and that sure includes Arsenal
SAYS OSTERSUNDS No2 BILLY REID
HAD it not been trademarked by a leading sportswear brand, Impossible
is Nothing would make a pretty good slogan for Billy Reid’s place of work.
The other Scot left in the Europa League has made confounding expectations part of his day job. Arsenal should beware.
Being paired against Arsene Wenger’s side in yesterday’s last-32 draw was merely the latest step in the utterly remarkable rise of Ostersunds FK. Assistant to manager Graham Potter, Reid has been an integral part of the story since moving to Sweden four years ago.
The club’s first-ever European campaign has already delivered victories over Galatasaray, PAOK Salonika, Hertha Berlin and Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk. Level on points with Athletic Bilbao, they finished second in their Europa League group only because of an inferior head-tohead record.
Ostersunds have a turnover of around £5million — the same as Kilmarnock and little more than one per cent of the £423m recorded by Arsenal. Reid, though, insists they will approach the February head-to-head with genuine belief.
‘Our home form in Europe is that we have played six, won five, drawn one and had five clean sheets,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘We can beat anyone at home — and I mean that.
‘The first leg is at home, so the aim must be to get a result that gives us a chance going to the Emirates. That is our focus, to try and make sure that we play to our potential. Because we are confident we can trouble anyone in our own ground.
‘When I first came here and met the chairman, he said they wanted to bring European football to the club.
‘I thought: “We are watched by 1,500 people and we are in the second tier of Swedish football, so that isn’t the best place to start!”. Everyone in Sweden laughed at his ambition, but now it has come to fruition. You can believe in miracles.’
A former army battalion commander who moved into real estate, Ostersunds chairman Daniel Kindberg set out the vision. Potter and Reid have made it a reality by transforming limited resources with an alchemist’s touch. Attendances now top 6,000.
Promotion to the Allsvenskan in 2016 — six seasons after the club languished in the fourth tier of Swedish football — was rapidly followed by a place in the Europa League. Drawn against mighty Galatasaray in their first qualifier, the external predictions were of a short-lived adventure. But a 2-0 home win was followed by a 1-1 draw in front of an irate audience in Istanbul.
‘They were the No1 seeds in the Europa League at that stage,’ reflected Reid. ‘When that second leg was coming to an end, I actually said to a couple of the guys: “Look, we don’t celebrate too much here”. The Galatasaray fans were not happy at all. There were missiles coming down on their bench.
‘We went onto the pitch and the home fans applauded us all the way round. It was incredible. I think they realised the size of our club and the fact it was our first European tie. To knock out Galatasaray was an astonishing start.
‘It has gone on from there. In the group, we actually missed a late penalty to win in Berlin as well. That would have given us 13 points and meant we won the group and avoided Arsenal.
‘In Sweden, there are huge followings for Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool, so the whole of the country is really thrilled and excited about this tie, not just the people from Ostersund.
‘I’ve never met Arsene Wenger. The last 32 of the Europa League is a new level for us all. The biggest challenge we have is that our domestic season is finished (and isn’t due to start again until March). We are trying to bring one of our cup games forward so that we would have a competitive match before playing Arsenal.
‘We go back to Sweden to begin pre-season on January 8 and go to Tenerife two days later for a training camp. We are also trying to piece some friendlies together, maybe against a couple of Russian teams.’
Reid raised eyebrows when he decided to leave Scottish football following his exit from Hamilton in 2013. In Sweden, however, he has found an environment that allows his preferred brand of the game to flourish.
‘I said at the time that the club was going places,’ he insisted. ‘I went to work with the manager for one week and could see our thoughts were similar in terms of how we wanted to play.
‘We all want to express ourselves and I think we have done that. Our European run vindicates it. You get a chance to do so in Sweden. Our team is very comfortable on the ball and that’s why we have done well in Europe.
‘All the players have come from lower leagues. Fouad Bachirou came over from Morton after they had been relegated from the Championship and he is now one of our star players. It is players of that ilk that we have turned into European campaigners.’
Far richer clubs are taking notice. Playing Arsenal will inevitably deliver a further boost to Potter’s profile.
‘Graham’s contract was up at the end of this year and so was mine,’ said Reid. ‘He signed for another three years and asked me to do the same. So we still have another two years on our contract here.
‘Our ambition next year is to win the top league in Sweden, the Allsvenskan. Obviously, the longer the run goes and the more attention we get, then there is going to be a bit of interest, but continuing to work the way we are at Ostersunds is the only focus at the moment.
‘The aim is to be in the Champions League qualifiers after next year.’