Friday 5th June 2026 ko 19:00

Division 3 Södra Svealand

TROSA VAGENHÄRADS SK 1 (Åkerblom 71)

HANVIKENS SK 0

Att 85 at Häradsvallen (grass)

Free Entry

The Swedish Hop cost £360 which included all transport from and to Arlanda Airport and between games, 2 nights bed and breakfast, and any admission fees.

It’s the same every year. I try and explain why Robyn and I spent a not inconsiderable amount of money to spend a weekend watching some fairly obscure football matches in Stockholm. I’m happy to admit it’s not for everyone, but since 2007, with a 3 year break for Covid these weekends have become my happy place. So much so, Robyn and I got engaged in Stockholm prior to the 2018 edition!

Sweden and I seem to complement each other, so over the years these events have slowly metamorphosed into trips with friends to see friends. I know that that doesn’t sell the hop to many others, but in all honesty, there’s a part of me that has stopped worrying. Read these next few articles, and perhaps you’ll see the value.

So I look forward to organiser Kim Hedwall’s email that always starts with “Welcome to the …th Swedish Groundhop”

Except in 2026 there were a couple of problems.

The first was Kim’s personal circumstances; he wasn’t sure he would be able to organise the 17th hop, and when he could clear his diary for the weekend, he decided to limit it to his 5 regulars only. I got one extra added, but there was additional interest so having to tell the disappointed there wasn’t room for them was a little awkward. The bottom line though, it is and always will be Kim’s call as to what happens. Hopefully that’ll change for next year, and I have offered to drive a second minibus!

The second was that a week before we were due to fly out Robyn was in A & E with an infection in her leg. Other than being extremely painful it severely restricted her mobility. I ticked the “Help” box on the airline’s check-in page, but wonderered if we’d be claiming on our travel insurance. Fortunately some industrial strength antibiotics got her fit enough to travel, and the airports were lovely, she was wheeled from check-in to plane, then from plane to arrivals. An unintended consquence was we bypassed queues for security and the EES check, we actually had a happy 2-and-half hours having coffee with Kim waiting for the others. Our thanks to everyone who helped.

With our hotel rooms not ready for a couple of hours we had an early lunch at the Restaurang Pizzeria Grande in Solna. It’s my favourite Serb-owned Italian restaurant in the northern Stockholm suburbs. You’ll find something similar in just about every Swedish estate, they serve much the same function as the British pub, yes you get to buy beers too! In fact I’d comment that 19 years of the Swedish hop has been based on Planksteaks and Mariestadts Export! Boy it was good to be back!

From there Kim took the others to our hotel in Hammarby Sjöstad in the south of the city; a district that didn’t exist when that first hop was organised. I headed to central Stockholm and enjoyed a couple of hours in and around T-Centralen and Sergels Torg while Jim who’d booked a later flight headed my way. I met him and accompanied him to our base for the weekend.

We headed south-west from Stockholm for roughly an hour and passed the likes of Södertälje and Tumba, passing over the bridge where tragically indie rock band Viola Beach died in 2013. We soon left Stockholm’s influence and found ourselves in Trosa Municipality. It’s area of peaceful countryside, with many Stone Age burial mounds and archeological sites, as well as some old runestones.

The village of Vagnhärad sits in the middle of all this beauty with its church simply demanding to be placed in your photographs! Kim had made sure the club were expecting us, and the introduction by an official and the pennant each were appreciated. The original Vagnhärads SK team date back to 1921 with their claim to fame being that in 2007 the club hosted the Brazil national team at Häradsvallen as they prepared to play Ghana at the Råsunda Stadium. The club merged with merged with Trosa IF in 2013 but the team are still based at Häradsvallen.

And what a wonderful place it is! There are two pitches, one 3G with a stand and a grass pitch with a large set of bleachers. Our game was on the grass but I do wonder if we’d have been given the choice which pitch we’d have plumped for? If it helps, this was the first game on grass they’d played that season!

Whatever pitch this was an idyllic place, perhaps I can sell the Swedish Hop after all! After all this isn’t the kind of place you’ll get to easily by public transport, Kim had enough trouble finding it by conventional means! It was a wonderful way to relax after a long season, amongst friends with a friendly club, and in the warm summer sun. What could be better?