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Emilie Joramo has long had her sights set on the Women’s Super League, but she held herself back from pushing for a move over from Scandinavia – until now.
“I’d been interested in the league for a long time now and it was a goal for me to get here one day,” says Joramo, who Brighton signed on a free transfer at the end of June. “It was about finding the right path for me to get here. I didn’t want to go too early, I wanted to feel ready for it both physically and mentally. Now, everything just felt right.”
Brighton had been tracking the Norwegian midfielder for some time and the 24-year-old was aware of their interest. An encouraging conversation with Brighton’s manager, Dario Vidosic, and good meetings with the club as her contract with Hammarby drew closer to its end meant she was at last ready to join the league she had followed from afar.
That time in Sweden with Hammarby, with whom she reached the Europa Cup final last season, and before that in her homeland with Rosenborg who she helped win the Norwegian Cup for the first time in 21 years, was crucial in preparing her for her latest challenge.
“I had so much fun at Hammarby and I’ve got so many good friends there,” she says. “I grew both as a football player and as a person in those years. I didn’t feel ready when I was 21, when I went to Sweden, to come over here. I felt like I needed to play a bit more, to play every game, that was really important for me.”
That Brighton had been aware of her for some time was a boost too. “It’s reassuring for me that they really wanted me,” she says. “They hadn’t just watched a couple games, they’d been following me for years, and that’s really important to me because I’m not going to jump at the first opportunity I get. I like to think things through and it has to feel right for me.”
For Brighton fans wondering what they are getting, there should be some excitement too. Joramo is fiercely motivated and feels she fits the possession-based style of football that Vidosic wants his team to play.
“I would say that I’m a hardworking player,” she says, when asked to describe herself. “I always give 100% all of the time. I can’t do 50, 60, 70, I’m always 100%. I want to have the ball. I want to play, not just put balls in behind but to keep the ball , play with each other, [build] good relationships with the other players and think several steps ahead. They’ve always been things that I’m good at and I’m always wanting to get better at too.”
Brighton and the WSL present a step up. “I think I can get challenged a lot here because things go much faster, the intensity is higher, you have a smaller amount of time when you have the ball,” she says. “So, it’s a perfect place for me to be at now to be challenged further and develop my strengths but also the parts that I’m not as strong at and need to develop more.”
Arriving and starting life on the south coast was “a bit overwhelming” in the beginning: “There’s so many people to get to know, the staff is so much bigger than what I’ve been used to. So, instead of one physio you have five and you need to get to know everyone and get to know which person does which role. That’s always the way it is in a new team, of course, but it’s much bigger here.”
Everyone has been very welcoming and her first impressions of training sessions under Vidosic have been positive. “I’ve only had two sessions with him so far,” she says, “but he seems very, very good at football tactics, how the game works, how to play good football, and that was important for me because I’m a player that wants to have the ball and always wants to try to get better and try to play good football together as a team, not only as individuals. This is what Dario wants, so it really fits my ambitions, my values and how I want to play.”
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She is finding her feet on the pitch, and starting to find them off it. Joramo’s girlfriend has moved to England with her, which has helped the transition and helps her escape football when needed. “I have to have other things to do besides football,” she says. “We’ve been to the beach and have been exploring the city. It’s so different for me to live by the beach, I’m from the mountains and the woods. This is like a holiday for me, and with the weather as well, it’s been so warm. It’s really nice.”
The goal now is “to contribute as much as I can to this team and play as much as I can”, but Joramo’s patience as she worked towards her WSL goal should continue to serve her well. “I feel like I’m now in the place I want to be and develop in and I need to give it a bit of time in the beginning, because I can be very impatient,” she says. “I have to give it some time to get into it, get into the intensity and everything around the game here, because it’s so much more than what I’m used to in Sweden, this is so much bigger.”
At the end of her first season in England is a big carrot, should Norway come through a two-legged playoff against Romania and then another against Albania or Wales and qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Joramo made her debut for the senior side in 2022 and has been on the fringes of the squad since, making three appearances in total and playing for the under-23s. In April she was on the bench for the senior side’s back-to-back qualification campaign wins over Slovenia and she is hopeful her WSL move helps her show what she can bring.
“Hopefully this also will strengthen my opportunities with the national team,” she says. “I know this is the best league in the world, so if I get to play here, then I’ve done something right, I think.”
