The Cup. It was different story, deliberate or not. The final was reached by teams outside the battles for the title. AIK was unfortunate and missed the final championship stage, but Osters IF was not even close to such a possibility this year. May be they put all their efforts in the Cup tournament and AIK, once out of the championship, also aimed at winning. At the final, ambition drove both candidates and no winner emerged in regular and extra-time: 1-1. Penalty shoot-out is always chancy, but this time it looked like justice prevailed: overall, AIK was better team this year. They clinched victory 3-2.
Unlucky Osters IF, but it was only fair they lost the final. At least their dignity was intact – they did their best at the final. No shame losing a penalty shoot-out. Yet, their season was weak and in terms of fairness, they had to lose. If football has anything to do with fairness, of course.
Must have been a great moment for AIK – they lost a chance to fight for the title only on goal-difference and were one of the strongest Swedish squads this year. Winning the Cup was more than compensation. Not an easy win, perhaps even a bit lucky, but they have been unlucky in the championship, so it was fine. It was the 4th Cup for AIK and the first after 1976 – had to weight almost 10 years for another trophy, but it was theirs again. The title was out of their reach since 1937, so the Cup was perhaps more important for the club – given the circumstances, they had no chance competing with IFK Goteborg and Malmo FF. As a Stockholm-based club, they had strong local competition for available top players and no chance of building really strong team. Perhaps the numbers of won cups appear small, but the reason for it is the Swedish Cup was introduced only in 1941 – the championship exists since 1896. AIK could not compete with Malmo FF in terms of Cup winning, but with this victory they climbed to 2nd position, leaving IFK Norrkoping and IFK Goteborg behind.
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