Malmö FF – Hammarby IF (08-05-2007)

Although I had been already in Malmö for five weeks, I had yet to see a game of the local pride: Malmö FF. As the end of my stay in Sweden is drawing nearer, and the number of potential visits is decreasing rapidly, I was happy to find that this Tuesday evening featured a game in the Allsvenskan (Swedish Premier League): Malmö FF-Hammarby IF. After having left my (visiting) mother and girlfriend at my apartment, I walked from the city centre to the stadium, a decent 20 minute walk.

Malmö Stadion is a somewhat smaller version of the (Nya) Ullevi stadium in Göteborg (see 30-04-2007), also built for the 1958 World Cup, with a capacity of 26,500 people. As in Göteborg, the city of Malmö is currently building a new, modern stadium that will house 21,000 people.

When walking to the stadium, I was reminded of an earlier attempt to visit Malmö FF in 1995, when my brother and I drove to Malmö (which at that time still included a short boat trip to Helsingborg) only to find out, one hour before kick-off, that they were rebuilding the stadium and were playing their home games 50 km outside of the city. Fortunately, this time the old, concrete Malmö Stadion was the venue of the game, and just in time for the kick-off (at 19.00) I arrived, paid 150 SEK (ca. 16 euro), again didn’t receive a ticket (what’s wrong with these people?), and entered the stand with the hardcore home fans.

I was surprised to find the stadium quite full. Officially 15,607 people were present, which is a good turnout for a Tuesday evening game in dodgy weather (although it didn’t rain, despite the predictions). Undoubtedly the opponent, Hammarby IF, which brought some 500 fans of its own, played a role. Hammarby is one of the Stockholm teams, which has established itself as a major force in Swedish football in the 21^st century.

The game started in a good atmosphere, with the home fans chanting and waving flags and the away fans regularly breaking through with some songs too. Already in the 9^th minute Malmö FF scored 1-0 to the great delight of the people around me. All seemed to expect a glorious victory, but wouldn’t get what they wanted.

Despite the 1-0 lead, the teams were equal to each other and kept each other in balance. Indeed, in the 32^nd minute Hammarby IF scored the rather deserved equalizer. 1-1 was also the half-time score. Time to ease the bladder.

Having used the impressive facilities, I went to the ticket offices to ask for a ticket. As expected, the people in the booths said they didn’t have any, but fortunately the proved both helpful and resourceful and came up with one ticket. To celebrate, I scored a very decent hamburger; I guess the first one I saw in a Danish or Swedish stadium so far.

The second half was much the same: the home team looking for the attack, and the visitors being more careful and looking for counter opportunities. While this led to some good set plays, neither team was able to create many clear-cut chances and there were no more goals.

Though the game was not that amazing, Malmö FF is definitely worth a visit for football fans. It belongs to the few Swedish clubs with a strong following and home games tend to have a real football atmosphere. While the old stadium doesn’t feature a souvenir shop, you can buy an unbelievable variety of fan goodies online or in the Malmö Support shop in the centre of town.

IFK Göteborg – Halmstad BK (30-04-2007)

Göteborg is the second biggest city of Sweden and home to the most famous team of the country, IFK Göteborg. In fact, it is home to (at least) three (semi-)professional football teams: GAIS (currently also in the Allsvenskan, the Swedish Premier League) and Orgryte IS (currently in the Superettan, the First Division). Although like all (real) groundhoppers I tend to prefer the second or third club of a city, I have always had a bit of a weakness for Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg, the band of semi-profs who won the Uefa Cup twice in the 1980s (1982 and 1987). So, I decided to visit the city for a two-day trip with my girlfriend and see a game of IFK.

We took the train from Malmö around 11.00, arriving in Göteborg some three hours later. On the way in we had already seen the lights of the massive Nya Ullevi (New Ullevi) stadium. For the past years IFK had been playing in the smaller Gamla Ullevi (Old Ullevi), but this has been recently destroyed to make way for a new modern arena with the logical (well, at least in Göteborg) name: Nya Gamla Ullevi. Unfortunately, this means that they play their games in the 2007 season in the vast (Nya) Ullevi, which houses 43,200, but is at best half full (in the top games against the big Stockholm teams).

Not aware of this, I had ordered tickets online through the Swedish version of Ticketmaster, Ticnet. For 140 SEK (including 15 SEK service charges) each, roughly 15 euro, we bought tickets for Sektion A3, which put us almost at the middle of the pitch, second tier. The stadium is a huge concrete monster, almost identical to the old ground of Malmö FF, and for IFK games they only sell tickets for certain parts of the stadium.

Despite the fantastic weather, and the fact that the opponent was a good team from relatively nearby (Halmstad is a bit over one our away from Göteborg), a mere 8,320 people found their way to the stadium, of whom only some 100 from Halmstad.

The game started disappointing for the home fans. After just 4 minutes Halmstad scored 0-1 with a freak goal. The striker accidentally curled the corner kick into the far corner of the goal, completely surprising both the defender and the goalie. Except for two away fans jumping up, most people around us started cursing and moping.

When IFK remained the weaker team, sarcasm got the best of some around us. To be fair, they were severely tested by the poor performance of the home team. There is nothing left of the grandeur of the old team that won the Uefa Cup, except for the noteworthy jerseys. Most players are mediocre at best, even within the Swedish league, as I had already noticed at the Trelleborg game. Halmstad was not much better though, and didn’t seem to want to push their luck for a second goal. As a consequence, a fairly equal and decent, but not particularly good game developed. Not fully deserved IFK would even score an equalizer, and a pretty one (a half volley from some 12 meters), a couple minutes before half-time: 1-1.

At half-time I roamed the stadium, as far as I was able to go, in search for souvenirs and interesting snacks. I found none: they only sold t-shirts and shawls (not the pennants I collect) and hot dogs and drinks. The second half was much the same as the first, but without goals. Moreover, because of the many changes the game became even less fluent. 1-1 was a deserved final score, as Halmstad didn’t push for more, and IFK couldn’t create more.

Ok, IFK Göteborg is a team of the past, rather than the present, but it still is a nice club to visit. They have a great strip, a beautiful logo, and a good following. Moreover, where can you still visit a stadium in the heart of the city. And in the new stadium the atmosphere will undoubtedly be much better. Unfortunately for groundhoppers, the Nya Gamla Ullevi will be home to all three (main) Göteborg teams.

Trelleborgs FF – IFK Göteborg (6-4-2007)

I’m spending two months for work in the South Swedish city of Malmö, which is not just a very pleasant town, but also a perfect location for groundhopping. Not only can I watch games in (South) Sweden, I can also take the train to Copenhagen for games in the Danish competition. As Good Friday is a holiday, I decided to take my first groundhop of this stay. And as one shouldn’t overdo it in the beginning, I decided to go to the town of Trelleborg, the most southern town of Sweden.

As Trelleborg doesn’t have a railway station, I had to take the bus from Malmö. They actually had a special bus for the football game, which followed the regular bus (146) from Malmö to Trelleborg, but ended at the football stadium rather than the central bus station. The trip of roughly 30 km took some 30 minutes. There were some 20 people in the bus, all supporters of IFK Göteborg. Around 14.00 the bus dropped us straight in front of the visitors’ stand of Vångavallen stadium.

As the clouds looked threatening, and it was quite cold and windy, I decided to buy a ticket for the main stand: a covered seat would cost me 140 SEK (ca. 15 euro), which was fine, but the sorry excuse for a ticket, i.e. the receipt, was not! If this is the future of football, God help us! Fortunately, I could buy a nice pennant and a fat, spicy sausage with aivar, which somehow softened my mood. As my seat was in a cold and windy spot, and didn’t provide me with many opportunities to take pictures of the ground, I decided to walk around instead. At various times the sun came through, and although it remained cold and windy, it was a great afternoon for football.

According to the website of Trelleborgs FF Vångavallen can hold 10.000 people. I am quite skeptical about that estimate though. For this first game of the 2007 Allsvenskan (Swedish Premier League) season, against the powerhouse of Swedish football, 5.480 spectators had come to the stadium, I would estimate between a third and half supporting the visitors. While IFK has many supporters outside of Göteborg, between 10 and 12 buses had made the 272.5 km long trip to Trelleborg! That shows real support!

Just before 15.00 the players came onto the pitch and the season was about to start… but not before some obscure woman had sung the Swedish national anthem! I don’t know whether this is customary, like in South Korea or the US, or because of the start of the season, but I’m not a big fan of national anthems before games. Fortunately, while most people stood up, hardly anyone sang (except the IFK fans, but they song their own song :-).

The game started furiously. After a couple of half-chances, IFK scored 0-1 in the 6^th minute. As the goal was scored in front of their own supporters, which were housed on what seemed an emergency stand, they went mad and even accidentally pushed through the fence. Fortunately, the Göteborg supporters (including the “ultras” ;-) were as surprised as the stewards and police, and everyone behaved as one expects from Swedes: properly.

I must admit, at that time I feared the game was over. Let’s face it, when the biggest team in the country scores the 0-1 after 5 minutes against a team that until recently played in the first division, the best you can hope for is a big victory for the favorites. However, instead of a walk-over by IFK, the home team recovered quickly and took the initiative. Although it took them some time to start creating real chances, during which time IFK always seemed the more dangerous (though more in potential than actions), Trelleborgs FF clearly dominated the highly attractive game. And in the 43^rd minute they scored the very deserved equalizer from a corner, captured aptly by yours truly! 1-1 was also the half time score.

The second half started with a short offensive by IFK, which almost led to another quick lead. However, Trelleborgs recovered and slowly but steadily pulled the initiative back. The game remained attractive, mostly because of the attacking spirit of the home team, with half and real chances on both sides. The most bizarre was when the IFK goalie, chased by the Trelleborgs striker, mishit the ball, which ricocheted from the striker, over the goalie, but the soft shot of the striker was cleared from the line by an IFK defender. After having been dominated for most of the second half, IFK started another offensive 5 minutes from the end, leading to several good chances, but (fortunately) no goal. With 1-1 the final score, I felt Trelleborgs FF got what it had hoped for, but less than it deserved. All in all, however, a highly entertaining game and very pleasant groundhop. This promises for the weeks to come!