Saturday 9th June 2012 ko 13.00

Division 4 Värmland

IMMETORP BK 0 El Naga sent off 88 (2nd booking) Zetterberg sent off 88 (foul and abusive language)

SK SIPHÄLLA 1 (Nilsson 43)

Att 118

Entry, Programme, & badge -Hop Ticket

T-Shirt 70 sek

Pennant 20 sek

Coffee, Beer, Soft drinks and Fruit- Complimentary

After taking full advantage of the hotel’s buffet breakfast, for me, the final piece in the Swedish hop jigsaw arrived. That of course is Thomas Nybom of Interbus coaches. He’s driven each and every one 6 Swedish hops, and now greets us as old friends. He didn’t let us down with the transport either, the coach was high-spec, and brand new!

It took around 90 minutes to reach Karlskoga, the birthplace of Alfred Nobel, and the small village of Immetorp lies virtually adjacent. Kim and I visited Källmossen IP a couple of weeks earlier, and I’d been asked “Do groundhoppers like beer?” Obviously I’d replied in the affirmative, but I wasn’t expecting the sheer volume of the stuff they’d bought! Three brands, and at least 3 times as much as we could drink. I gave it my best shot though! Player Johan Karlsson (who I saw score at Nordmark) told us all about the history of the club and showed us the club’s old ground 200m away. The line-ups were posted on a whiteboard for us, and a barbeque was fired up.

My only concern was the dark clouds as there was little or no cover, but the rain held off until the final few seconds of the game. Another coach arrived with the away fans, who like us were off to Degerfors after this game. A makeshift entrance was rigged up for them. I told Thomas, and he moved the coach so we could make a sharper exit than them! You need a great driver for a hop, and Thomas, despite not really being a football fan is the perfect man for the job.

The game in truth failed to live up to the wonderful hospitality. The visitors annoyed 24 British visitors by scoring just before half-time, but we were consoled by at least avoiding a nill-nil! Immetorp made a comeback impossible with the dismissal of Martin El Naga for his second booking, closely followed by Fredrik Zetterberg for giving referee Davoud Ataei a mouthful of abuse for the decision.

That was a real shame, particularly as assistant manager Dennis Gustafsson found time at the end to come over to the coach, shake Kim and I’s hands and thank the party for coming to visit. Dennis, it was our pleasure to visit a classy group of people. I wish you and your club all the best.