The aim of this study was to explore the career development of Swedish female elite football coaches, how they have experienced their journey as a coach, what have been perceived as prosperities and adversities, how that has affected and been handled by the participants. Collecting the data by low-structured interviews, thus the participants got to describe their journey, in chronological order, following a couple of key questions. The participants consisted of 12 Swedish elite female women football coaches. The analyzing method used was a reflexive thematic analysis. The data analysis resulted in three main themes: Beginning - From player-to-coach transition, Continuation - Searching for sustainability and, Today - Making decisions for the future. These in turn have sub-themes that explain the participants' different experiences from their journey, for example challenges and strategies. The primary conclusion made was that sustainability among the participants was of great importance for their journeys. Implications that the study can contributed to are new knowledge for future female coaches, sports organizations and how they can work to facilitate and create a more sustainable journey, to, eventually, making the profession more attractive.

Nowadays, the desire of getting more female coaches involved in Swedish sports in general, and football in particular. The goal is clearly stated by various organizations. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the career development of Swedish female elite football coaches. Thus, getting a better understanding of their experienced prosperity and adversity. This exploratory study scrutinizes the experiences of twelve female elite football coaches' career developments. By using in-depth interviews and reflexive thematic analysis, three overall chronological themes are generated: beginning - from player-to-coach transition, continuation - searching for sustainability, and today -making decisions for the future. Within these findings, there are, for example, reasons for starting to coach, the value of having a mentor, challenges in the profession in combination with having a lifestyle balance, personal insights to foster sustainability, and strategies to promote safety along the journey. Finally, additional studies regarding female coaches in different contexts are of interest to further understand and promote this field in progress.