The Real Sweden

31 Thursday May 2012

Tags

Andreas Welander, ÅKARPS, breath of fresh air, Division 3 Södra Götaland, Eremal Zejnullanhu, Furulunds, interlopers, Kävlinge Municipality, Ljungvalla IP, Markus Folkesson, Martin Varga, pin badges, Pontus Oor, Robin Sander, Swedish football

Tuesday 22nd May 2012 ko 19.00

Division 3 Södra Götaland

FURULUNDS IK 1 (Varga 90)

ÅKARPS IF 2 (Zejnullahu 29 Oor 52)

Att 208 (h/c)

Entry 50sek

Teamsheet FREE

Pin Badge Comp’

“1910-2010” centenary book Comp’

From Landskrona it was a mere 30 or so km south to Lund, and nearby Furulund. Its a small town of around 4,000 inhabitants, in rural Kävlinge, and is typically pretty as a picture. After watching 3 games as a reasonably high level it was a breath of fresh air to watch a grass-roots game. There’s nothing amazing about Ljungvalla IP, just a railed off pitch, and a small amount of cover in front of the changing rooms. Seating is provided by benches along one touchline. We got there early, around 2 hours before kick off and if there hadn’t been a game to watch, we’d have probably written off Furulunds IK as unremarkable, and so missed out on a gem.

It all happened slowly, firstly assistant manager Jörn Pettersson asked after the two interlopers, including the one who spoke no Swedish! We were then offered coffee and a seat in the clubhouse, and as we enjoyed the hospitality, Chairman Börje Schoug came over to present us with “FIK” pin badges, and soon after Jörn returned with beautiful hard backed histories of the club. He commented to me “You’ll have to learn Swedish” I was, and am deeply touched, and there’s quite an incentive!

With a welcome like that it goes without saying we wanted Furulunds to win the game, but with one glance at the league table that looked unlikely. Rock bottom with no points and only 3 goals scored, the club admitted that the step up from local to regional football was a step too far for them, but they were determined to stick together and enjoy their first season at this level since 1971. It felt like 4 games into my spell in their country, I was seeing real Swedes watching real Swedish football.

It seemed that the entire village caught the mood too, as they turned up in droves. All ages and genders, and supported THEIR team despite the fact it became quickly clear that the seventh game would go exactly the same way as the previous six. In the first half hour visiting midfielder Eremal Zejnullanhu should have had a hat trick but settled for a shot into the bottom right hand corner from 18 yards that the keeper really should have stopped. The first half saw nothing other than Åkarps pressure but a combination of last ditch defending and incompetance in front of goal kept the score to an unrealistic 1-0.

The second goal on 52 minutes will cause the Furulunds management sleepless nights. A free kick was swung in from the left and there was Pontus Oor to head home unimpeded from all of a yard out. Where was the defence, where was the keeper?

Salvation of sorts for Furulunds came with the introduction of young new signings Robin Sander and Andreas Welander, around the hour mark. They offered more dash and options up front, although Åkarps were still piling on the pressure. Furulunds chances of gaining an unlikely point were aided by the pointless dismissal of Åkarps defender Markus Folkesson for two stupid fouls. FIK attacked and in stoppage time Martin Varga dinked the ball over the Åkarps keeper from a yard out for FIK’s 4th goal of the season.

The ball was quickly retrieved and in the dying seconds Welander saw his shot charged down by the Åkarps keeper, to deny this lovely club a ill-deserved point, in a game I regard as the highlight of this tour.

So folks, if you’re in Southern Sweden, here’s the links you need to pay this little gem of a club a visit.

http://www.furulundsik.se/

http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/information/?scr=table&ftid=35321

: Furulunds half time team talk

Treatment for The Clinic

31 Thursday May 2012

Posted by laurencereade in L

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Tags

Andreas Dahl, Celtic, Christophe Lallet, Fredrik Karlsson, Fredrik Olsson, Hammarby, Henrik Larsson, Johannes Hoff, Landskrona, Linus Olsson, Superettan, Swedish football

Monday 21st May 2012 ko 19.20

Superettan

LANDSKRONA B.O.I.S 4 (Raun 9 Karlsson 28 F Olsson 65 85)

HAMMARBY F.F. 1 (Dahl 11)

Att 3,450

Entry 160 sek

Programme FREE

Badge 40 sek

After an overnight stay in Linköping, we drove for 4 hours and 360 km south to Sweden’s south coast to Landskrona. The Danish coast is clearly visible from the seafront here. The town is overshadowed somewhat by nearby Malmö, particularly in the shipyard business and bypassed by the Øresund bridge since 2000, which ended sea passenger traffic to Copenhagen from here. Some help has come with the building of the new railway station, and all trains on the high-speed Gothenburg to Copenhagen service now stop at Landskrona. I have to say I rather liked the town with its wide array of cafes and restaurants and the remains of defences used at various times to keep Danes and Swedes out!

Landskrona idrottsplats stretches the multisport (idrotts) to the limit, there’s no running track, and other than other pitches one with a lovely old terrace, the only other sports in evidence are courtesy of the Ice Hall at one corner. There’s only one covered enclosure, the main stand with its vertical and horizontal curves, and one end features nothing more than a hospitality area. It’s certainly differently different, and there was plenty more of interest too.

Apart from the visitors being Stockholm based Hammarby, and my travelling partner Kim Hedwall being an AIK-Solna fan, the visitors were immmediately dismissed as “The Clinic” a comment on the area’s former use as a leper colony! Add to that the home manager being Celtic legend Henrik Larsson, and it was clear that this was to be no ordinary second tier game.

At so it came to pass as Landskrona took the lead in fortuitous circumstances. Thomas Raun’s 20 yard shot was decent enough but it took a wicked deflection off a Hammarby defender to wrong foot Johannes Hoff in goal completely and nestle in the bottom right corner.

The response was almost immediate, and spectacular, as Andreas Dahl on the right, picked his spot from 25 yards out and his thunderbolt will be a goal I’ll remember for a long time.

It proved to be a flash in the pan as Landskrona quickly regained control of the midfield. Landskrona regained the lead on the 28th minute when Fredrik Olsson’s scuffed shot fell kindly to Fredrik Karlsson at the back post to tap in.

Half time couldn’t come quickly enough for Hammarby but they gained no new ideas during the interval, and Fredrik Olsson started the second half by having his close range shot blocked by Hoff, only for the same thing to happen to his namesake, Linus a minute later. Hammarby’s passing was ponderous, and a catastrophic backpass from Sinan Ayranci allowed Fredrik Olsson to dance round Hoff to tap home.

Hammarby did eventually manage to exert some pressure, and had a goal disallowed, through star player Christophe Lallet, for a marginal offside decision. The hosts simply counter-attacked and got their fourth, Fredrik Olsson’s shot having just enough power in it to trickle over the line, despite Hoff’s partial block.

A highly entertaining game, with one quirk. The programme here is in fact the sports section of the local newspaper! It’s clearly a view amongst some in Swedish football that all you really need is a teamsheet, and that’s a view I don’t necessarily disagree with.