Kalmar FF v IK Sirius, Swedish tier 1 (Allsvenskan)

See location on map.

I have lived just outside the city of Kalmar for the past 22 years so I naturally follow Kalmar FF, even if I still have a soft spot for clubs I have supported when I lived in Stockholm (Hammarby) and Malmö (Malmö FF). Kalmar FF have been a top flight club since 2004, even winning the championship back in 2008, but are usually parked in mid-table or battling against relegation, pretty good for a population of just over 36,000. After a few lean years the club finished the 2022 season in 4th place and hopes are high for a repeat this season, especially after winning three of their first four games. 

This evening's visitors were IK Sirius from the city of Uppsala, Sweden's fourth largest city. They haven't had such a good start to the season but have a habit of producing good young players each season who sadly tend to move quickly to bigger clubs, including two in today's Kalmar team.

The ground

Old ground at Fredriksskans

I have seen many games over the years, first at the old city centre ground of Fredriksskans and then since 2011 in the new Guldfågeln Arena (named after the sponsor, a poultry company - translates as the Golden Bird Arena) just outside town. The old ground was charming and had a lovely view out on to a lake but was a bit basic in terms of facilities. The new place looks like thousands of other modern stadia around the world but everyone is under cover and has a good view. The capacity is 12,000 though that number is only reached when one of the big teams visits and there's a lot at stake. Otherwise it can be a little short on atmosphere with average crowds of 4,000-5,000.

The catering is efficient but unimaginative with the usual hot dogs, popcorn, sweets, coffee, fizzy drinks and low alcohol beer. Unlike the lower league games I attend they don't have any kettles or tea bags for me so I don't bother anymore. I wish Swedish grounds would try and diversify the catering a bit as is now so common in the UK.

One nice touch is the wall of fame paying tribute to the great players of the past (see photo below). 

The match

Kalmar FF 2 IK Sirius 2
Crowd: 4250

A tale of two halves with Kalmar winning the first in style and then threw it all away in the second. Kalmar played in their new Arsenal-style kits that I really like whilst Sirius played in their usual Inter Milan blue and black stripes. The crowd was disappointing considering the decent start to the season. The away end was particularly empty with a total of seven brave Sirius fans who had travelled down for the game. It was rather comical to see the seven watched over by two security guards, two stewards plus two staff in the kiosk. Almost man-to-man marking.

Kalmar got off to a great start with the impressive tall front man Mileta Rajovic, signed from Danish second tier Næstved in the winter, scoring twice from close range after good crosses from the right. He is the sort of player Kalmar have lacked for so long, a proper target man who can stuff the ball in the net. When they play direct balls into the box he is very effective, but sadly Kalmar can't seem to shake off their old style of passing the ball endlessly from side to side and backwards without anyone getting into the danger area. Once they got the second goal they contented themselves to just passing around, apart from one dangerous chance at the start of the second half that Hümmet missed when it looked easier to score in a virtually empty net.

After that Sirius took over and Kalmar seemed to be content to knock the ball around and play for the result. As so often happens this did not work. First, Tashreeq Matthews slotted the ball home after a beautiful through pass and then in overtime a long ball was headed deftly into the net by Jamie Roche for a deserved equaliser. Kalmar have only themselves to blame for losing two points and need to play a more direct game and make better use of the power of Rajovic up front. When they do that they are very dangerous but in the second half they just didn't seem to try. 

There was a lot of mumbling and grumbling as the fans headed for the exits at the end and it felt more like a defeat than a draw.