Exciting, historic and progress – those are just a few words to describe Robert Vilahamn’s first season in charge at the Club.
The 41-year-old made the switch from Swedish top-flight side BK Hacken to Hotspur Way in July, 2023, and, despite it being his first job in England, our Head Coach took little time to integrate his attacking style of play.
After narrowly losing to Women’s Super League holders and eventual champions Chelsea on the opening weekend, Robert then guided us to an eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions and ended with a top six finish in the league for the first time.
Upon his arrival he also spoke about working towards challenging for trophies in his tenure and, just after nine months at the helm, we had reached the Adobe Women’s FA Cup Final for the first time in our history, highlighting the progress made within such a short space of time.
Today (Sunday 7 July) marks one year since Robert was announced as the Head Coach of the Women’s team and so we caught up with him to reflect on his time so far.
"We are a strong staff group and that’s one of the key things we have when we look at how we are going to compete against the top teams in the coming years."
“It was a really fun year with plenty of steps taken forward, getting to know everybody within the Club, building a new squad and creating a new identity on how we wanted to play,” Robert said.
“Step by step, I have become used to working in England and at Spurs, the players and staff have been collaborating really well throughout the whole year.
“Of course, there has been ups and downs, but we wanted to improve and, when we ended the season, we were a lot better in all areas than when we started back in October, which is really nice to see.”
There has been a lot of changes for Robert after embarking on a new adventure in England, but one of the most surprising challenges has been the number of backroom staff members, and he has loved working with every single one of them.
Robert Vilahamn alongside Assistant Head Coach Vicky Jepson.
Robert Vilahamn alongside Assistant Head Coach Vicky Jepson.
“One big thing for me was starting to work with more staff members and a bigger squad, more people around the Club, and I think that was a big change for me from Hacken, which was a smaller squad.
“It has been something I have really enjoyed as you get to work with so many amazing people and you can use their skills and knowledge to make sure I can focus on what I need to focus on, instead of being everywhere. In one way, it has been a big difference but, in another way, it has been a lot easier for me to do that as I can use the amazing staff around me.
“We are a strong staff group and that’s one of the key things we have when we look at how we are going to compete against the top teams in the coming years, we might not have the same budget as the top three clubs, but we have an amazing environment to help the players develop and perform so we can start to compete on the highest stage.
“We have an identity now, the players, staff and the whole Club want to continue building and make sure we take steps, and even though we reached Wembley and finished in the top six, if you look at what the most important thing this year, it was how we built an environment.”
When asked about adapting to the culture in England, he said: “It's a lot more tough than you think, it’s a different culture, different language and even driving on the different side of the road.
“With me bringing my family over here, we also changed lives. It took some time, there were some ups and downs, but after Christmas, we found our way living in London, met some good friends and my kids have football teams as well. We are really settled here and looking forward to living here for many years to come.”
With many highlights from a season full of creating history for the Club, whether it be competing at Wembley Stadium in the team’s first-ever major final or a maiden WSL victory over rivals Arsenal Women in a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Robert couldn’t look past the north London derby in December as his favourite moment from a memorable maiden campaign.
“It was our first game this season at the Stadium and against Arsenal, so there was a lot of fans, and we also won that game for the first-time ever. That was the highest moment for me this year and then, of course, with the atmosphere and experience, it was also our trip to Wembley,” he added.
“It was an amazing experience, even though we lost that game, it was brilliant to see how our fanbase was growing and how big the Club is, to reach that stage of the competition in the first year was an amazing journey. We could have won that game, so something is missing, so that’s why Arsenal was my favourite as we won.”
Robert celebrates with Bethany England after our historic victory over Arsenal in December, 2023.
Robert celebrates with Bethany England after our historic victory over Arsenal in December, 2023.
Robert leads the team out at Wembley Stadium for our first-ever appearance in the Women's FA Cup Final.
Robert leads the team out at Wembley Stadium for our first-ever appearance in the Women's FA Cup Final.
Team celebrates after beating Arsenal for the first time in our history at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Team celebrates after beating Arsenal for the first time in our history at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Over 18,000 supporters were in attendance in N17 for our historic victory over the Gunners before 11,000 of our Lilywhite fanbase turned out for the Women’s FA Cup Final at Wembley, which was played in front of 75,000 spectators, and Robert couldn’t hide his love for our supporters this season.
“It gives me so much energy, even if we are winning or losing, it comes down to the supporters and they have been brilliant throughout my first year with the Club,” Robert proudly said.
“They were so consistent for us last season, with more and more people coming to watch, cheering for us no matter the result, you can see it and that’s what has given me energy to keep building with this Club.
“We do it for them, they are with us and I feel we can start to fill out the grounds together. We will make that happen as there are so many good people who are cheering for Spurs and want to be a part of this, I have loved the first year with them.”
Robert all smiles as he walks out the tunnel at Brisbane Road.
Robert all smiles as he walks out the tunnel at Brisbane Road.
The start of the 2024/25 WSL season might still feel a distance away – scheduled to start on the weekend commencing 21 September – but it’s not long until pre-season preparations get back under way at Hotspur Way.
After a maiden campaign full of progression and memorable achievements under Robert, he is keen for another season of development for the players and Club, while continuing to close the gap on the top teams in the division.
“We finished top six so we have a good ground to take the next step, we are going to make sure next season is about improving on and off the pitch, making sure we get better on how we play, developing the players even more and, with that, we can aim to go higher in the table.
“It's also very important that we look at it with development eyes, we need to make sure we keep building and, hopefully, be better next season, try and compete with the top teams. I’m also aware that the gap is still quite big but if we keep making steps, then we will continue to close that gap.”
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