The 2017 season was Hammarby Fotboll's 102nd in existence, their 48th season in Allsvenskan and their 3rd consecutive season in the league. They competed in Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen during the year. League play started in early April and lasted until early November. Jakob Michelsen made his first season as manager.

In the off-season, on 18 November 2016, the board chose to sack manager Nanne Bergstrand, citing "a need to get a new voice and new energy into the club's sporting development".^[1] Later the same month, Jakob Michelsen was announced as the successor. He joined the club on a three-year deal from the Danish club SønderjyskE.^[2]

The team had a disappointing run in the 2016-17 Svenska Cupen, getting knocked out in the group stage following a 0–1 away loss against Östersunds FK in a deciding fixture.^[3]

Hammarby had a promising first half of the 2017 Allsvenskan season, claiming the 6th place in the table after 12 games.^[4] During the spring, Hammarby also won both fixtures against fierce rivals AIK (2–1) and Djurgården (3–1).^[5]

In May 2017, Hammarby hired Jesper Jansson as the new director of football, ahead of a hectic summer transfer window. Hammarby sold 9 players, most notably defender Joseph Aidoo that moved to Genk in a reported club record transfer. At the same time, Hammarby brought in 8 new signings. Among these were Mads Fenger, Jeppe Andersen, Muamer Tanković, Johan Wiland and Sander Svendsen.^[6]

In the second half of the campaign, Hammarby struggled to produce any sort of challenge in the league, and subsequently dropped of in the table. Both manager Jacob Michelsen and several of the new signings suffered criticism from both supporters and pundits as the club eventually finished 9th in Allsvenskan.^[7]