In December 2010, Potter signed a three-year contract as coach of
Östersund, who were then playing in the fourth tier of Swedish football, starting on 24 January 2011.
[17] Potter was offered the job after
Graeme Jones, his friend and assistant to
Roberto Martínez at
Swansea City, recommended him to chairman Daniel Kindberg after Östersund's pre-season friendly with Swansea.
[18]
In 2013, after two successive promotions, Potter extended his contract with the club for another three years.
[19] On 27 October 2015, Östersund secured promotion to the Swedish top flight,
Allsvenskan, for the first time in their history following a second-place finish in the
2015 Superettan.
[20] Östersund finished their
debut season in eighth place, winning plaudits for their "slick passing game" and competing on a limited budget.
[21][22]
On 13 April 2017, Potter's Östersund team won the
Svenska Cupen, beating
Norrköping 4–1 in the
final.
[23] This granted the team a place in the second qualifying round of the
2017–18 UEFA Europa League where they defeated
Galatasaray 3–1 on aggregate.
[24] In the third round they defeated
Fola Esch 3–1 on aggregate
[25] and in the play-offs they knocked out
PAOK (3–3 on aggregate with more away goals), thus securing a historic entry into the Europa League group stage.
[26][21] They finished second in their
group, level on points with
Athletic Bilbao.
[27] Despite beating
Arsenal 2–1 at the
Emirates Stadium, they were eliminated from the competition after losing 4–2 on aggregate.
[28] Östersund finished their
domestic league season in fifth place.
[24]
