Emma Kullberg admits it’s crazy to think that, as she prepares to celebrate two years with the club, that there are only four members of the current squad who have been at Albion for longer.
The 32-year-old defender arrived in Sussex from Swedish club BC Hacken in January 2022 along with her partner Julia Zigiotti. Only Maisie Symonds, Katie Robinson and Geummin Lee of the current squad have been with the club for a longer period of time.
Emma and Julia got engaged a year ago and in August reaffirmed their commitment to Albion by signing new contracts. Emma likes to think they have brought a bit of Sweden to the south coast during that time.
“It’s crazy that we are two of the players who have been at the club for the longest time,” she said. “There have been lots of changes – coaches, managers, players – but we definitely think Brighton is our home from home now, it’s a special place for us.”
You can take the girl out of Sweden of course, but you definitely can’t take Sweden out of the girl. Emma and Julia love nothing better than chilling out in the Swedish coffee shop in Hove called Fika, which translated simply means coffee and cake. And if she’s not enjoying cinnamon rolls, a speciality from home, in the café she is at home relaxing in the kitchen baking and bringing them into training for her teammates to enjoy. “I will bake a few and everyone can try them for Christmas,” she says.
“There aren’t many [speciality] Swedish shops in England but the coffee place is lovely, and the staff are very nice. Little reminders of home like cinnamon rolls, small stuff like that, are very lovely,” added Emma. “And all the players know that word fika now!”
On the pitch it is a testament to her consistent performances across Albion’s defence that Kullberg has been a regular pick under all four of the coaches she has played on during the last two years – Hope Powell, Amy Merricks, Jens Scheuer and current head coach Melissa Phillips. Already on 42 appearances, all being well she is likely to become a member of a select group to have played more than 50 games for us since promotion to the Women’s Super League in 2018 by the end of this season.
However, Emma already has some thoughts on what she might do when she hangs up her boots. She recently completed an online personal training course offered by Gothenburg University. One of her thoughts post-football is to work in strength and conditioning.
“I like training, it’s a hobby for me and I’m interested in strength and conditioning, it’s something I would like to do after my football career,” she said. “I really enjoyed the online course I did, I like helping and guiding people to have a healthier lifestyle and maybe give them a perspective on that.”
All that can wait. For now Emma’s priority is helping Albion finish 2023 on a high in the games against Leicester City and Aston Villa – and kick on in 2024. “I think we have definitely made progress this season. The squad is stronger with more depth and we’ve had some great results, like beating Manchester City and drawing with United. It’s quite a new squad so I think there is a lot more to come from us. We’re definitely going forwards.”
And when Emma does swap Sussex for the next stage in her life she’ll have made some friends for life. “I have met a lot of incredible people at Brighton – teammates, coaches and people who work for a special club. I have made memories for life but there’s still a lot of football to be played.”