Helsingborgs 4-1 Elfsborg, Thursday 14th August, 2014

Helsingborgs 4-1 Elfsborg, Allsvenskan, att. 7,275

Head up here towards Olympia.  A bit understated for me.

In the 'Battle of the Borgs', struggling Helsing despatched the 3rd placed Elfs as comfortably as I've seen anyone do on this holiday.  2-0 up after 10 mins, the game was effectively over once Elfsborg went down to 10 men after 14. A long hoof up the pitch bounced behind the Elfish centre half and as he turned to recover, the ball bounced and hit his hand.  The ref waved play-on but the linesman was insistent.  Obviously wants to make a name for himself.  And if it was a foul...then, as the last man, he had to walk.  I sat (stood) back expecting a goal fest.

Ticket booths.  Seriously.

Elfsborg still went at the home side (they had a European place to contest) while Helsingborgs looked to counter - but never quite got it right.  After another criminal miss from Helsingborgs, Elfsborg scored with a carbon copy headed opportunity.  Worried, the homesters thought it best to attack again and within 10 minutes had scored two more.  Easy!  So the manager took the best attacking players off and Helsingborgs fell into the mediocrity they usually are.

A 6ft subbuteo keeper.  Possibly made in tribute to a 'borg great.

I really liked the stadium.  Essentially, it's two side side stands and open terracing at either end.  One side stand curves in slightly at each end.  At the home end of the stand, the seats have been taken out in the upper tier and the resultant terrace is where their ultras congregate.  And, may I say, what a terrific din just a few hundred make.

This is also great, cos it affords the rest of us a much more mellow time behind the goal.  There was plenty of space.  If you wanted  barrier to lean on, you could have one.  Elfsborg had a small section of terracing at the far end.  They'd brought about 150, but it was midweek.

Helsingborgs ultras.

'Olympia' is easy to get to as well,  There's signposts all over the city centre for it ('900m' away; very precise).  Surely the best route though is to walk up the castle ('Karnen') staircase, past the castle itself and through the park?  Where else do you walk through castle grounds to get to the stadium? Caernarfon Town? (maybe)

Scoreboard.  But who is match C?  (No idea.)

There was limited regalia in the club shop, though some decent t-shirts for a bargain 100 SEK (£8). No badges. Inside the stadium, no beer either.  This was a bit of a shame since the area around the ground was hardly swimming in hostelries.  But with plenty of ticket ('biljetter') kiosks around the stadium, have a drink in town and then mosey on up the hill to Olympia.  I shouldn't imagine there'll be a run on tickets.

**Note.  Tickets (and I'm talking terrace tickets) were 50% more expensive for certain games, eg AIK, IFK, Elfsborg (and presumably Malmo).  Maybe that helped keep the crowd down to 7,275 tonite?

Attendance: 7,275 (away: c150)

Slinky

Another ticket booth.

Note the corner.

Entrance to the terrace (home end).

I love that roof.

The rain is leaving as the sun arrives.

Elfsborg's fans.  Started well before tailing off.

Heja Helsingborgs!

Ultras' cheerleader

Sun setting over Olympia

Not quite light, not quite dark.  Twilight!

Match action.

Malmo 3-2 Orebro, Wednesday 13th August 2014

Malmo 3-2 Orebro, Allsvenskan, att. 12,264

Welcome to ...

After a pleasant walk from the city centre to the stadium, through a large park, one of the pleasures of visiting Malmo’s new stadium is the chance it affords to have a look at their old ground, right next door.  The Malmo Stadion was built for the 1958 World Cup and is a much more beautiful thing than its successor.  With its sleek lines and bright white exterior, it’s the very opposite of the Swedbank Stadion.  Perhaps that’s the point.  I wish I’d seen a match there.

Malmo Stadion

As it is, the new stadium has no running track, great acoustics and excellent views.  The fact it resembles a shopping centre, or some monstrous futuristic headquarters of Darth Vader, is neither here nor there.  It does possess ‘the No. 1 sports bar’, containing a mish-mash of Malmo paraphernalia and lots of American junk with nothing to do with football.  It definitely had No. 1 prices.  I paid 74 crowns for a beer (600 ml of the unmemorable Falcon to be precise).  I was sorry I hadn't seen they’d got Brooklyn lager, till I got my bill.  Noticeably, they served Brooklyn in 400ml glasses.

Club shop and 'The No. 1 sportsbar'

The Swedbank Stadion is all seater, apart from the home (one large terrace) and a chunk of away terracing, seemingly cut out of the seats.  I'd seen Malmo on TV and they can cook up an atmosphere.  And since they were four points clear, struggling Orebro were sure to be lambs to the slaughter.  The rest of the stadium, two-tiered and covered in sky blue seats, was smart enough, but gave me the horrific recollection of the Ricoh Arena (the sky blue seats, not the two tiers).

Match action

Upon getting in, I showed a man my ticket, he let me through and as I climbed the staircase I thought ‘this is odd’, as the terrace was below.  I’d ended up in the more expensive seats and it wasn't even by my own machinations.  If anything though, the upper corner to the left of the main terrace is MORE vociferous and passionate than behind the goal.  And while the terrace needed a cheerleader to tell them what to sing, it was constant on the corner.  It was nice to hear something more organic for a change.  But I had to move: the guy behind me spent the first half shouting and screaming so much I could feel the resultant ‘gob’ on the back of my head.  There aren’t many grimmer feelings in life.

The upper corner.

Malmo hadn't been themselves and were two down, both goals at our end.  The first, a cut inside from the left followed by a rocket high to the keeper's near post, the 2nd a defensive mix-up and tap-in.  Orebro also missed a one-on-one at 0-1.  For all Malmo’s attacking intent, they're very poor defensively.  The right back, in particular, looks built for rugby – or sumo.  Next week Malmo play off for a Champions League place.  Should they get through, they'll be one of them teams what loses 6 out of 6.  You see.

Orebro fans

Second half, despite some fans giving the team the bird, most continued to back the home side.  However, they were still going nowhere till off a corner, an Orebro defender went up with his arm and the Malmo player headed against it.  Penalty for stupidity.  1-2.  I think Malmo scored every 15 minutes, right on cue, but I can't remember the second.  Then, with a couple of minutes left, a curling effort from the edge of the box fooled everyone including the fans, as it nestled in slow motion in the far bottom corner.  Pandemonium.  Malmo had somehow rescued it from 0-2.  So much for my pulling for OSK.  I think being gobbed on by angry man had swayed me, rather than my admiration for the 30 away fans who’d made it several hundred miles for a midweek fixture.  (Of course, they almost certainly live in Malmo.)

Malmo's success was then compounded by nearest rivals AIK being held in the Stockholm Derby, the closing moments being shown on telly in the ‘No. 1 sports bar’.  Don’t accept second best!

The Damage:

140 SEK ent

74 SEK beer

40 SEK badge

25 SEK (tiny) hotdog

= 279 SEK

Malmo Stadion stadium plan.

The longest bench in the world (probably).

Horrorshow.  The Swedbank Stadion.

Shopping centre?  Oil tanker?

Sexy angles though...

I spy....Orebro's team coach.

Matchday parking, with a backdrop of both stadiums.

Malmo Stadion.

Heja Malmo!

The teams line up.

Looking towards the away end.

The home terrace.

The concourse.  Prison: Cell Block H.

Match action

Malmo press for a winner.

Sunset over the Swedbank Stadium.

The home end celebrates victory.

Malmo FF's ORIGINAL home (before Malmo Stadion)

Behind the goal at Malmo Idrottsplats.

Malmö FF 3-2 Örebro SK, Tuesday 12th August 2014

Look at those beautiful curves (old stadium, not new).

One of the pleasures of visiting Malmö's new stadium is the chance it affords to have a look at their old ground, right next door.  The Malmö Stadion was built for the 1958 World Cup and its design (reminiscent of Nya Ullevi, Gothenburg) is far more interesting than most modern stadia.  I wish I'd had a chance to see a match there.

As it is, the new stadium has no running track, great acoustics and excellent views - so should be a vast improvement inside.  Shame then that it looks like a shopping centre from the outside.  It does however contain the 'No. 1 Sports Bar', a mish-mash of Malmö FF paraphernalia and lots of (faux?) American junk with nothing to do with football.  It definitely had No. 1 prices - 74 SEK for a beer (£6.50), a Falcon. Good job I hadn't noticed they'd got Brooklyn lager, I can't imagine how much that was.

The world's longest bench (possibly).

At the 'Swedbank Stadion' it's all-seater apart from the home end, one large terrace, and a small chunk of away terracing seemingly cut out of the seats.  The rest is de rigueur, 3 sides of 2 tiers.  But sky blue seats are still not my thing.  (Ever seen how miserable the Ricoh looks?)  

Shopping centre?  Prison?

I'd seen Malmö FF on TV and they can cook up an atmosphere.  And since they were 4 points clear, struggling ÖSK were sure to be lambs to the slaughter.  Upon entry, I showed a man my ticket and climbed the staircase.  'This is odd', I thought, as the terrace was below.  I'd somehow ended up in the (more expensive) seats and it wasn't even by my own machinations.  If anything though, the upper corner (to the right of the terrace as you look at it) is even more passionate and vocal than behind the goal. While the terrace needed a cheerleader, the upper corner chanting was constant and altogether more organic. Except for one guy, who sat behind me.  He spent the 1st half shouting and screaming and I could feel the 'gob' on the back of my head.  I had to move.

You are HERE.

MFF hadn't been themselves and were two down, both goals at our end.  The 1st, a cut inside from the left followed up by a rocket high to the keeper's near post, the 2nd a defensive mix-up and tap-in. ÖSK also missed a one-on-one at 0-1.  For all MFF's attacking, they're very poor as a defensive unit. The right back in particular looks built for rugby (or sumo), not football.  Next week is Malmö's play-off for a Champions League place. Should they get through, they'll be one of them teams wot loses 6 out of 6.  You see.

Flats? A ship?

2nd half, despite some fans giving the team the bird, most stayed behind MFF.  However, they were still going nowhere till off a corner (or free kick, I can't remember) an Örebro defender went up with his arm and the Malmö player headed against it.  Penalty for stupidity.  1-2.
15 mins later an equaliser came (I can't remember that either) and the comeback was complete with a couple of minutes left.  A curling effort from the edge of the box fooled everyone (including the fans) as it nestled in slow motion in the bottom corner.  Cue pandemonium.  Malmö had somehow rescued it from 0-2.  So much for my pulling for Örebro - I think being gobbed on by Angry Man had swayed me, rather than my admiration for the 30 away fans who'd made it 300 miles for a midweek fixture.  (Ok, they problies live in Malmö.)

Seats, ready for Champions League action in a few days' time.

Malmö's success was compounded by nearest rivals AIK being held in the Stockholm Derby, the closing moments being shown in the No. 1 Sports Bar.  Thus, the tile looks nailed on.

As for getting to or from the stadium, it's a beautiful walk through a huge park.  And if you come from the city centre, you can always half your walk by getting off at the metro/rail stop 'Triangeln'. Easy!

Attendance: 12,264

The Damage (SEK):
140 ent
74 beer
25 korv (a tiny hotdog)
40 badge
= SEK 279 (£24)

Kom igen Malmö!

The entry points add to the prison feel

'On the inside'

The No1 Sportsbar (sic)

The long side

The away end.  Note the chunk of terracing.

The teams line up.

Home end choregraphy

Supras Malmö!

The team take their applause

The overhang where I sat 1st half

Half-time; not so 'supras'.

Sunset over the Swedbank Stadion.

I spy with my little eye...the ÖSK bus!

I must end with a shot of the old stadium. Beautiful.