Fans react as Graham Potter dons bold new look in Sweden training | OneFootball

Ex-West Ham and Chelsea coach getting into the thick of Texan culture from World Cup camp

Graham Potter has thrown himself headlong into American culture as Sweden gear up for their World Cup opener.

His Blagult side area in a training camp in north Texas ahead of joining the Netherlands, Tunisia and Japan in the group stages.

Much has been made of the heat at this World Cup, but Potter, presumably unused to the conditions having been born and raised in Solihull, has embraced local expertise as a means of keeping the sun off his face.

As Sweden staged an open training session in Dallas, Potter took to the pitch sporting a ten-gallon cowboy hat, endearing himself to the Texan locals in doing so.

Howdy: Graham Potter

X/svenskfotboll

“There’s a new sheriff in town,” read a post on the Swedish national team’s X account.

Unsurprisingly, Potter has been subject to some social media ridicule for the move.

Potter only took charge of Sweden in October 2025, following a pair of disastrous spells at Chelsea and West Ham, which both ended in ignominious sackings.

But he quickly turned Sweden ship-shape after a dismal start to their World Cup qualifying campaign under Jon Dahl Tomasson.

And in an interview with the Guardian, he has said it is a dream come true to manage at the tournament: “My first football memories are ’86, 11 years old, watching Diego Maradona rip football up. As a kid, that’s where I started. To get the chance to work in that environment, it’s just a dream.”