Danish double 1, HB Køge v Esbjerg fB

HB Køge 0-1 Esbjerg fB
Friday 6 March 2026, 18:30 kick-off.
Danish Division 1 (2nd tier)
Capelli Sport Stadium
Attendance: Cannot find any official figure but I guess 1,500 - 2,000.

I have decided to revive this blog after a couple of years' break. During this time I have of course visited many grounds in several countries and could have built up an impressive number of posts by now. Anyway, it's time to try again and I hope now to cover a wide range of football grounds from my home region of south-east Sweden as well as the nearby countries that I often visit, namely Denmark, Poland and Norway. If you want to see where I've been it's all on a Google map where I feature photos on most of the pinned grounds. It's actually a lifetime map so some of the grounds were visited way back in the 1970s back home in Scotland.

I often take the train from my base in Kalmar, Sweden to Copenhagen to watch my favourite Danish team Brøndby and to visit other grounds in the Copenhagen region. This time I decided to head south of the city to the historical coastal town of Køge to see a match between HB Køge and Esbjerg fB from the west coast. The home team are second bottom and fighting to avoid relegation whilst Esbjerg are in the promotion hunt in fourth place, only 3 points behind current leaders Lyngby from a northern suburb of Copenhagen. This was my second encounter with Esbjerg this season having watched them soundly beating fellow promotion hopefuls Hvidovre at the end of November so I knew they would fancy a win here in Køge.

The large stand behing the goal was
well-filled

The ground

The ground has been largely been rebuilt and is almost complete. There is still some building work in progress and finding the entrance wasn't so simple, having to walk round fenced off areas and getting my shoes a bit muddy. The crowd was restricted to the west and east stands and they were well filled and vocal. The south end is the solid wall of a sports centre and the main east stand is not quite finished. The changing rooms are already in the new stand but the dugouts are on the opposite side so the subs and trainers have to traipse across the pitch at the start and end of each half. It will be a compact and very tidy ground once it's all ready and maybe some day the club will return to the top league where they last appeared in 2012.

One curiosity was the absence of a PA system or if there was one I couldn't hear it. It felt very retro when the teams just casually ran out on to the pitch at the start without the usual hysterical speaker and the tones of ACDC or  "Eye of a tiger" and suchlike. I liked it but that's because I'm getting old. Disdavantage was that you didn't know who had scored or what the attendance was. I so miss programmes!

The new east stand

Food and drink

Typical Danish fare: big grilled sausages with bread and condiments washed down with plenty beer. Also popcorn. Excellent if that's what you like but if you don't, you're struggling. I'm sure I'm not the only vegetarian who watches football and it wouldn't hurt to offer a bit of choice on the menu. At least a bag of fries or toasties. I see plenty of UK grounds that offer an amazing selection of food for all tastes but over here in Scandinavia it's sausages or nothing.

The match
Esbjerg deserved their win with a beautiful free kick by Strandby in the 79th minute, curling over the wall and in off the top left post. They always looked more dangerous up front whilst Køge, typically for a side near the bottom, played some nice football but just couldn't make that final touch up front. They battled hard to equalise but despite pressure and several corners the guests held them off. Esbjerg are now 4th in a very tight promotion struggle with four teams seperated by only two points. Køge have a fight on their hands to avoid the drop - bottom team Middelfart looked doomed whilst Køge and Hobro fight to avoid the second relegation spot. I wish them well. With a nice new stadium it would be sad to fall down to division 2.

Køge (blue and black) defending in the first half

More than football ...
Køge is a very historical town and well worth visiting. The town centre features a beautiful church from the early 17th century and many other buildings from that period. It was very pleasant strolling around the streets in the early spring sunshine and there are many wonderful cafes and bakeries to stop at. Denmark is deservedly famous for its fantastic baking - more than just Danish pastres!

A few kilometres outsuide town is the site of a viking ring fortress, Borgring, built by King Harald Bluetooth (Harald Blåtand). He converted Denmark to Christianity and built five ring fortresses at strategic points around the country to demonstrate the new faith. The actual fortress is a circular mound and there isn't so much to see since it was mostly made of wood but the new visitors centre is excellent and explains the history and legends of the site. And yes the mobile technology Bluetooth was named after the king!

See more on Google maps.