Tag Archives: Sweden

Slayer

19 Thursday Jun 2014

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Saturday 14th June 2014 ko 16.00

Division 1 Södra

QVIDING F.I.F. 1 (Zhubi 90)

ÖRGYRTE I.S. 1 (Pangop 46)

Att 1,275

Entry & Programme 100 SEK

NB On the Swedish hop, the £270 cost covered entry to all games, programmes, coach travel and two nights Bed and Breakfast.

About 3 months before the Swedish hop, I received an email from organiser Kim Hedwall. It had the outline line-up for the hop but the line-up included a trip to the Gamla Ullevi to watch second-tier G.A.I.S. I responded by asking whether there was an alternative to it, this hop is there to show-case Sweden, and the grounds that you wouldn’t visit normally. After all, its not difficult to book a flight to Gothenburg and do the Gamla Ullevi under your own steam. When Kim came back to me with the news that Qviding were at home at the same time it was an easy decision to shift our attention to Valhala IP, but the influence of the Ullevi was never far away. Continue reading →

Tjörn Again

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

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Friday 13th June 2014 ko 19.00

Division 4 Bohuslän/Dalsland

SKÄRHAMNS IK 2 (E Johannessen 17 79)

STIGEN/ELLENÖ 0

Att 76

Entry 100 SEK (£8.88)

Programme included

Pennant- Comp

Hot Dog and Coffee- Comp

NB On the Swedish hop, the £270 cost covered entry to all games, programmes, coach travel and two nights Bed and Breakfast.

So, picture the scene, the 3 of us had arrived at Gothenburg coach station from Oslo, and were waiting for Kim Hedwall and the hop coach to arrive. Clearly there were no lack of coaches coming and going but which one was the one with Kim? The answer became obvious and I laughed out loud as the IFK Gothenburg team coach pulled in to a lay-by. From then on wherever we went people stopped and stared and in some cases even took photos. I tried not to imagine their disappointment when I exited…..

Continue reading →

Research you understand?

09 Monday Jun 2014

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Saturday 20th August 2011 ko 11.00am

Division 7 Norra Örebro

IFK LINDESBERG II 1 (Fredriksson 90)

HÄLLEFORS A.I.F. 4 (Eriksson 5 Mohammed 45 65 85)

Att 17 at Stadskogsvallen

Entry FREE

No Programme

With the 8th annual Swedish Groundhop starting on Friday, I thought I’d give you a little of the background on the event, and the lengths that the organiser Kim Hedwall goes to make the event a success. I help Kim where needed, mainly as a sounding board, and we’ve developed the hops as being for discovering the kind of ground that is a little more obscure. And let’s be frank, it’s not difficult to book a flight to Arlanda to watch A.I.K. at the Friends Arena, and if you do have difficulties, contact me at this site, and I’ll give you guidance. We use the hop to find places that probably have not seen a British hopper, an example on last year’s hop was Månkarbo where the weather was matched only by the locals’ curiosity! Continue reading →

The Deer Park

03 Monday Jun 2013

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Thursday 30th May 2013 ko 19.30

Division 4 Mellersta Stockholm

VÄRTANS IK 3 (Morales 13 Sjöde 77 Isimeme 84)

BAGARMOSSEN/KÄRTORPS BK 1 (Sheriff 34)

Att 46

Entry FREE

No Programme

Recent events looked like making my attendance at the 7th Annual Swedish Groundhop impossible, but I was able to catch my plane to Arlanda, then the Pendeltåg, or suburban train in to Stockholm central.

I’d wanted to be in Sweden a day earlier than the rest of the other hoppers, as with there being a collection from two flights the next day, an extra pair of eyes and hands are useful. These groundhops are organised by Joachim “Kim” Hedwall, and specialise in the games of football that are a little off the beaten track, in short the games that I, and many others watch during the rest of the season in the UK! I act as his deputy, dealing with the UK end of things and offering help and advice when Kim requires it.

It gave me the chance of a bonus game too. If you take the Red T-Bana line to Ropsten you get to visit Continue reading →

The Art of Engagement

18 Sunday Nov 2012

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I’ve travelled on quite a few underground trains over the years. Firstly, and most frequently in London, with its 1930’s Art Deco feel in the suburbs, gradually being replaced by the jam-packed chaos of anything within the Circle Line. Then there was Tokyo at rush hour, where it was packed. I felt like a red (sunburnt) ant, in a colony of black ants, but the system runs with split-second efficiency. The New York subway, a dangerous place in the movies, has now been cleaned up, but I’m sorry to hear that the one day “Fun Pass” has now been discontinued by MTA.

So many designs for so many cultures, and so many different lines, colours, and even ticketing arrangements. However they all have one thing in common, no-one speaks on them! Maybe its the claustophobic element, you are shut in and underground. My ex-wife hated the London Underground so much I learned London from above ground as well as I learned it from below, years earlier at university. Above ground, the world has more space, and so people have their personal space, and so can engage with each other on their own terms.

There is one exception to this unspoken rule, and that is the Stockholm underground. Here, real effort has been made to give people something to look at, and by osmosis something to talk about. These photos were taken at two adjacent stations, Solna Centrum, and Västra Skogen, and they’re not untypical of any other station on the SL network that’s underground. By the way, if you’re wondering whether the engagement is due to the tunnels being shallow, think again, the escalator at Västra Skogen is the longest in Western Europe!

So what would it take to get people to talk? I’m not convinced sculpture on the tube would make much difference, after all the excellent Poetry on the Tube has being going for years, with the vast majority ignoring its couplets and meter. Perhaps its just the rules of engagement that need altering, starting from tomorrow. The trouble is I drive to work!

The Masterclass

17 Saturday Nov 2012

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Wednesday 14th November 2012 ko 20.30

Invigningsmatchen

SWEDEN 4 (Ibrahimovic 20 77 84 90)

ENGLAND 2 (Welbeck 35 Caulker 38)

Att 49,467

At Friends Arena, Solna

Entry Comp (face value 700sek)

Programme 20 sek

500ml Beer 50sek

10 krona = 93p

Over the years Sweden has been good to me, I love the wide open spaces, the architecture, but above all else it’s the people that have made it the country I’ve visited more than any other. I’ve watched games at around 50 Swedish grounds and the officials I’ve met have all scratched their heads when they’ve met me, wondering why on earth an Englishmen would be interested in Swedish football! The centre of all of it is my mate Joachim “Kim” Hedwall, of Swedish Radio, who moves around the sports arenas of his country with a cool, quiet authority. If you want to know about Swedish sport, just ask Kim. He really is an expert in his field, or should that be pitch?

Continue reading →

The 538 to Märsta

29 Tuesday May 2012

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Friday 18th May 2012 ko 8.00pm

Division 4 Mellersta Stockholm

JÄRLA IF FK 3 (D Eriksson 38 Sidiqi 83 87)

ANDREA DORIA IF 0

@Nacka IP

Att 82(h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

I’ve been watching Swedish football for around 6 years, since Kim Hedwall started the annual Swedish hops. I’ve been back regularly outside of that event, so when Kim asked whether I wanted to join him on an 11 game, 11 day odyssey , I jumped at the chance. Unusually I flew to Stockholm’s main airport, Arlanda and caught the bus to Märsta from where my prebooked one-day travelcard was valid from. I then travelled to Stockholm Centralen before catching the T-Bana (underground) to Karlaplan to meet Kim. We then caught the ferry from Djurgården to Slussen and then a short bus ride to Nacka, in the southern suburbs. In fact, Hammarby’s soon to be demolished Söderstadion was clearly visable in the distance.

I should explain a few terms. Swedish football is played in the summer, as its far too cold in the winter. The top division is the Allsvenskan, then the Superettan (super-one). From then, its Divisions One Norra and Södra (North and South), before regional football kicks in for Divisons 2, and 3. Divisions 4,5,6 and 7 are local leagues, and Division 8 exists in a few localities, mainly for reserves. Other useful terms are Västra (west), östra (east) and Mellersta (central). Many smaller grounds are titled IP, or idrottsplatts, meaning a multi-sports facility.

Nacka IP is a case in point, with the oh-so-common running track and ice rink looming behind. Nacka of Division 2 Norra Svealand have recently vacated the facility and Järla have taken their chance. It’s got character, with the natural features allowing a wooden step-terrance on both sides. It gives quite a large capacity, and plenty of choice for viewing positions. There was a club-run cafe selling Kaffe (coffee), cakes and Korv med brud (hot dogs). Behind one goal a group of ice skaters trained in the track infill.

Programmes are not ingrained in the culture as they are in the UK. Its not unheard of to get a programme at this level, but when you do find one, it tends to be a teamsheet with a league table. With this being local football, the rule is for rolling substutions. It sounds appalling but in practice works extremely well, with the higher divisions seeing less use of the rule than the lower ones.

Our game, in some out-of Swedish-character hot sun saw the locals take on an ethnically Italian outfit. It proved to be a decent passing game on 3G, no FA hangups on surfaces here. The differences between the two sides proved to be the visiting keeper, who committed errors for the first and last goals, and subsitute Sadiq Sadiqi whose first goal was a glorious 25 yard blast.

So a decent start to our tour, but tomorrow the real fun was to start, with the picking up of a hire car and the start of a 3000km road trip…..