Sunday 7th June 2026 ko 15:00

Division 6B Stockholm

BRO IK 3 (Tayeb 68 Zhao 80 84)

VÄLLINGBY AIK 0

Att 45 at Bro IP

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.

They say always end on a good note, and leaving them wanting more. I tend to look at all the grounds we’re visiting well in advance, I do like to plan! I’d expected the opening ground on this year’s Swedish Hop to be wonderful, and Häradsvallen didn’t disappoint. I certainly didn’t expect Bro (pronounced “Brew”) to be another gem, clearly the photos I’d seen didn’t do the place justice!

We’d headed north-west to right at the edge of Stockholm County. So much so the facility is owned by Upplands- Bro Kommun, but is still in Stockholm Kommun. That said, Bålsta station is further into Upplands and is on the Stockholm commuter train. If nothing else it shows just how good value the SL card is at 180sek a day! for Whatever the geographical ramifications are there was so much to love here.

For a start Bro is Swedish for “Bridge” and with the road bridge running over the railway line, anyone can create a visual metaphor for the name! Then there’s those wonderful bench seats set into the natural incline, what could be better, watching a game in the warm sunshine, with the trains passing by. Even the cafe in the football hall was relaxed, at first it was pay by Swish only, but once they realised they had British visitors, cash or card was happily accepted!

Bro IP is exactly what Kim and I want the Swedish Hop to be about. I’ll always remember the conversation we had on it. We were in would you believe Ricoh’s HQ in Stockholm receiving hospitality prior to the opening game at the National Stadium– yes the one where Zlatan Ibrahimovic utterly destroyed England. We decided we wanted to the Hop to be about the beautiful, but obscure places unknown to foreign eyes. And while you can get to Bro with that SL card, how many foreign groundhoppers scan the Swedish Division 6B Stockholm fixtures?

The Swedish Hop was nearing its end, and while noone expected anything other than a home win, Vällingby were second-from-bottom, they did make Bro work for their win, to such an extent that the home manager saw red for a volley of verbals aimed at the referee. It all seemed out of place with the bucolic setting!

There were a few loose ends to tie up before the drop offs back at Arlanda. One was to award first prize to Robyn for the “Predict the scores” competition. But the main thing was to thank dear Kim Hedwall for organising what was a quite wonderful weekend, the best for many years. It was Dave that pointed out that next year will be the 20th anniversary of the very first hop. So much has changed, but then again so much hasn’t, so it would be lovely to see some of those folks that came on some of the previous events to come along next year for a reunion.

Kim was kind enough to drop Robyn and and Adrian at Solna Station, and it is never easy to find the words to thank someone who has done so much for Robyn and I, and the reason you see the two of us in so many Swedish football grounds!We met our friends Per and Elisabeth, at Akkurat, near to the redeveloped Slussen. The place is well known for its extensive beer menu, but the food is wonderful, and the company even more so.

In the first missive of this set of 5 I commmented that the Swedish Hop is a difficult sell. Perhaps that’s not the way to look at it, as when you see all that Stockholm and its people have to offer it is the easiest sell of them all. The trick is not worry about trying to do so.