Vissefjärda GIF v Söderåkra AIK, Swedish tier 8

A very chilly spring evening with hail showers mixed with sunshine. I headed inland to the village of Vissefjärda, famous for its idyllic church by the lakeside and birthplace of the great Swedish jazz sax player Lars Gullin and the legendary medieval rebel leader Nils Dacke who lead an army of local peasants in a revolt against the crown in the 1540s only to be defeated and killed.

Vissefjärda GIF was founded in 1929 by a group of local lads who wanted a field in the village to play football as well as other sports. The club, like many in Sweden, has over the years has offered a variety of sports including athletics, skiing and bandy (like field hockey but played on ice on a rink the size of a football field). Today the club offers football, tennis and gymnastics.

See location on map.

The ground

Widavallen has an embarkment on one side with a fence and long benches for spectators at the top. There is a pavillion and clubhouse that includes the all-important kiosk. The kiosk did brisk trade offering sausages or burgers from the barbeque and a nice touch was that the entry ticket (40 kronor, £3.10) entitled you to a free coffee or tea. Given the cold conditions this was extremely welcome. There are no other structures on the other sides of the ground and the players changed in a school just beside the ground. No programme but the speaker kept us up to date with scorers, bookings etc.

The match

Vissefjärda have started the season with an away win whereas this was Söderåkra's first league game of the new season. Vissefjärda played in red and white stripes whilst the visitors were in all blue kits. The first half hour of the game belonged to the home side who had several chances including a corner that swung in to hit the bar. Then, as so often happens, the away team took a surprise lead after a free kick from the left was headed in from close in by burly forward Anton Johnsson. It got worse for the home fans 7 minutes later when a cross from the right was swept home by Oscar Kennemar. Sleeves were then rolled up (at least metaphorically) and Vissefjärda battled to get back into the game. They did so in style with two quick goals in the last five minutes of the half by two hard-working players, Max Welander and Samuel Häggbring. So all square at the break.

The second half saw the home team pushing for the lead but Söderåkra also had their chances, often on breakaways. A home player got sent off for dissent and then pushing the referee and Vissefjärda seemed to have thrown their chance away. But then after 71 minutes a lovely shot from Malte Svensson gave them the lead. They looked like holding on but a spectacular shot from outside the box by Söderåkra's Emil Gustavsson tied things up at 3-3. Entertaining stuff indeed but I was glöad to get back to the car to warm up.

Final score: Vissefjärda GIF 3 Söderåkra AIK 3
Crowd: 102

Kalmar Södra v IFK Borgholm, Swedish tier 6

Kalmar Södra IF 3-3 IFK Borgholm

A 20 minute bus ride from home takes me to the charming ground of Kalmar Södra IF, nicknamed Skyttis. The setting is rustic despite being just across the road from the regional hospital. Today's match is the first of the new season for the home club whilst the visitors from the neighbouring island of Öland, IFK Borgholm, have started the season with a defeat. Kalmar Södra, like most clubs here, are far more than just a senior team. They have boys' and girls' teams at all levels as well as senior mens' and womens' teams. At the senior level they have spent most of their existence since 1945 in the lower leagues. I've been here a few times and always enjoy the laid-back atmosphere among the trees.

The ground

As you can see it's a perfect setting for an afternoon match in the sunshine. Since football is a summer sport over here the atmosphere is generally relaxed as supporters sit in the sunshine with a cold drink or an ice cream. A far cry from the bitterly cold and wet afternoons I was brought up on back in Scotland. Summer football in the lower leagues here reminds me a bit of watching village cricket and although there are nearly always one or two vociferous guys in the crowd, it's generally very peaceful. 

Skyttis has its changing rooms, kiosk and a sturdy wooden stand on one side and that's where everyone gathers. I counted today's crowd at around 110 with a few away fans at the top of the stand. There are some club buildings at the far end but little else. One feature of all grounds here is a match clock, often digital as here. I'm amazed that so few clubs in the UK have this feature.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the ground is its wonderful retro kiosk that looks unchanged since the fifties or sixties. The selection is limited but I love the building and it is clearly lovingly cared for.

See location on map.

The match

A very enjoyable game for a neutral like me but I can understand the home fans' frustration after their team gave away a comfortable 3-1 lead in the last ten minutes. But with six goals and plenty of chances at both ends I certainly got value for my 50 kronor entry (about £3.90). Kalmar took the lead in the 8th minute with a nicely placed shot from the edge of the box by Emanuel Allvin and seemed quite comfortable until they conceded a controversial penalty after 33 minutes when a shot hit the hand of a home defender who didn't look as if he could have avoided it. Since there was no programme or even announcements I don't know who scored for Borgholm except it was number 8.

Kalmar replied immediately with a lovely breakaway goal from the impressive Kalle Mörck and at the break it was 2-1. Ten minutes into the second half and it looked as if Kalmar had done the business with a lovely finish in the box by Kim Borgebäck. Borgholm had their chances including one off the post but couldn't break through until the 80th minute when a corner from the left was parried by the home keeper and then headed in at close range. Things got a bit frantic and a few minutes later Borgholm equalised on a nice breakaway and that was that. Just to finish things off a home player got sent off after receiving a second yellow card.

Entertaining stuff but a very frustrating day for the home fans. They had three points in the bag but couldn't shut up shop at the bag and paid dearly. Anopther fun day in the sun for me and it's now time to scan the fixtures for my next outing.

Torsås-Norra Tång v Rockneby IK, Swedish tier 7

Springtime here in Sweden means the return of football and especially the local leagues that I find myself increasingly attracted by as a welcome alternative to the billionnaire playground of the big leagues. Today's match is from the depths of the 7th tier, Division 5 South East Småland and features a merged club Torsås-Norra Tång. Mergers have become a necessity in the lower leagues as a lifeline for clubs that can no longer survive on their own. In this case the village team of Norra Tång merged with the club from the neighbouring small town of Torsås. They merged about 6 years ago and share the home matches between the two grounds and the season opener was scheduled for the tiny Norrvallen ground in Norra Tång rather than the larger ground in Torsås. Last season Torsås-Norra Tång fell a few points short of a promotion play-off place whilst Rockneby finished a few points clear of the relegation zone.

Since Torsås-Norra Tång can be abbreviated to TNT there are no prizes for guessing which ACDC song they play when the teams run onto the field!

The ground

Norra Tång is hardly a village, more of a hamlet, and the ground is set on the edge of a forest. Entry was 50 kronor (£3.90). A very basic but typical Swedish lower league ground with a nice clubhouse, a kiosk and not much else. Most people sit on the clubhouse side. The far side has the dugouts with corrugated iron roofs and there are ancient long benches on the top of an old railway embankment. I spent most of the match on that side since the evening sun was in the eyes of everyone on the clubhouse side. The kiosk offered the usual selection of hot dogs (grilled on the barbeque outside), coffee and sweets but unlike the big clubs they managed to get me a cup of tea so full marks for that. There was even a match programme - an A4 sheet folded in the middle but again, better than clubs in the higher leagues.

The match

A 1-1 draw was not really a fair reflection of the match. The home team should have won clearly after dominating the second half. TNT played in all black whilst the visitors from Rockneby (a few miles north of Kalmar) played in all green. The guests started very well and took an early lead when Ali Hussein easily stroked the ball into the net after some poor defending. I feared a rout but TNT held on thanks to a few nice saves from their very young keeper, Bertilsson. The hosts slowly began to push forward but didn't really threaten till after the break when they stepped up a gear and had lots of half chances but without anyone being able to get that final touch. The after 75 minutes Filip Johansson pushed through the defence and slotted the ball home for the equaliser. The finale was tense with plenty chances but no goals, though Rockneby thought they'd got the winner with a break away only to see the linesman's flag in the air.

Final score: Torsås-Norra Tång 1 Rockneby IK 1

Crowd count:80.

Memorable matches - Arbroath v Dundee 1977

 

I've been to many Arbroath matches over the years but the one that stands out was actually a defeat. It was on 12 March 1977, a Scottish Cup quarter-final against local rivals Dundee that finished 1-3 in front of a massive crowd of 9,558 at Gayfield. In the previous round we had knocked out Premier League Hibernian after a famous replay win at a wet and windy Easter Road in Edinburgh that I also attended. If we could beat Hibs then we could also beat Dundee who were only 3 points above us in the old First Division table (equivalent to today's championship).

I travelled up from Edinburgh with my Dad with high hopes and we stood near the harbour end of the ground as the photo above shows. It was amazing seeing the ground absolutely packed . Arbroath had a good side in those days with players like John Fletcher, Jimmy Bone, Tom Cargill and veteran Gordon Marshall in goal. As for Dundee they had a promising young lad called Gordon Strachan who proved to play a key role in the away team's victory as well as former Celtic star Tommy Gemmell and top scorer Billy Pirie who had moved from Arbroath the previous season.

The game got off to the best possible start when Tommy Yule put Arbroath ahead in the first minute and the Arbroath end went wild. Thoughts of potential semi-final opponents went through my head but Dundee set about creating pressure and it paid off in the 24th minute when that man Strachan slotted in the equaliser from the edge of the 6 yard box. Arbroath played very well holding out Dundee and making a few chances for themselves. With only four minutes to go and a replay at Dens Park looking very likely the deadlock was broken by Strachan with a neat dribble on the left, a cross and a free header into the net by Eric Sinclair. Two minutes later Sinclair headed home another cross from the left to seal the victory. I was still proud of the fighting performance Arbroath had made and if we had just converted one of our chances (Yule hit the post for example), who knows.

One thing is certain - that was the biggest crowd at Gayfield in my lifetime and is not going to be improved on now, unless they rebuild the whole stadium. 

Here is a video of the game though sadly only showing the Dundee goals and giving the impression that it was one way traffic.

Östers IF Växjö v Trelleborgs FF, Swedish tier 2 (Superettan)

After 55 years of going to football matches I am now starting a blog about it. I have been reading other ground-hopping blogs and realise that maybe my travels could be of interest. Please read more about my background under the tab About this blog.

The honour of the first post on this blog goes to Östers IF from the city of Växjö in south east Sweden, about 100 km west of where I live. This was my first visit to the Visma Arena in Växjö (pronounced "vecksher") despite living only an hour's drive away for the past 22 years. Östers IF and my home town team Kalmar FF are of course local rivals but the Växjö side have been absent from the top flight since 2015 so there have been no derby matches since then. The rivalry between the two cities, Växjö and Kalmar, is echoed in ice hockey where Växjö are one of the top teams in the country whilst Kalmar are two tiers below them. Öster were a major power in Swedish football during the sixties, seventies and eighties, winning the championship four times with many of their players winning international honours, notably goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli, who was one of the heroes of Sweden's bronze medal winners in the 1994 World Cup in the USA. The team are one of many "sleeping giants" in Swedish football having been down in Division 1 (3rd tier) a couple of times in recent years. Last season they made the play-offs to the top tier (Allsvenskan) and hopes are high this season to finally return to the top flight. They'll have tough competition though with teams like Sundsvall, Helsingborg, Örebro and today's opponents Trelleborg in the mix. 

The ground

Öster play at Visma Arena with a capacity of 12,000. The stadium is part of an impressive sports complex that also includes the ice rink, the old football ground, Värendsvallen (now used for athletics), an indoor football hall plus indoor athletics and training grounds. The stadium was opened in 2012 and the record attendance came in the very first match, against local rivals IFK Värnamo, 12,173. Ice hockey is definitely king in Växjö these days and football has been in its shadow for a while. 

The ground is fairly functional with no particularly unusual elemants. Good views from all sides and cover all round. I managed to sit on the sunny side and despite remembering to take sunglasses I still had difficulty with the sun in my eyes most of the time. The catering at Swedish grounds is extremely unimaginative and Växjö is no exception. Hotdogs, coffee, fizzy drinks, crisps or chocolate and that's it. I keep asking for tea but they just look surprised and say no. Lower league grounds are actually much better. At a few wee grounds someone has actually run off to find a tea bag for me while another unearths a kettle and starts boiling water! More of that in future posts.

The match

It was nice to see both teams playing in their true colours with Öster in red tops and blue shorts and Trelleborg in blue and white. No weird second, third or fourth kits. In the shelter of the stadium the sun was very warm and I regretted my cautious choice of thick jersey and winter jacket.

The game was a cracker with the home team winning 5-2 after going behind early on. Öster kicked off the season with an impressive 1-0 win away to relegated Helsingborg and a decent crowd of 5,112 gathered today to see if another three points could be gathered. A gallant band of 25 away fans had made the journey upp from the south coast.

Öster started comfortably enough but in the 10th minute a Trelleborg break-away saw Filip Bohman run unchallenged from the half way line to slot home the opening goal. Poor defending basically but it didn't take long for the home side to make amends when Adam Bergmark Wiberg equalised from the spot. There were chances at both ends but then shortly before half-time Öster moved up a couple of gears and scored two goals in as many minutes. First, Jesper Jonasson Westermark scored at close range after a shot had been parried by the away keeper and then Niklas Söderberg stuffed in a shot from a few metres out to make it 3-1 at the break.

The second half had hardly started before Mouhammed-Ali Dhaini pulled Trelleborg back into the match after some complacency in the home defence but on the 55 minute mark Adam Bergmark Wiberg got his second of the day with a stunning free kick straight into the far right corner of the Trelleborg goal and that basically sealed the deal. In added time a fifth goal for Öster by Bonnah put the icing on the cake and the fans headed happily homewards in the early evening sun.

Final score: Östers IF 5 Trelleborgs FF 2

Verdict

A very enjoyable start to my Swedish season on unfamiliar territory but I really should try to make a return visit before long, especially if Öster continue in this form. They will meet sterner tests over the season and maybe need to tighten up in defence but I wish them well and look forward to seeing them in a derby match next season.