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.