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| 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.
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| 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?)
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.)
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| 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)
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| Kom igen Malmö! |
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| The entry points add to the prison feel |
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| 'On the inside' |
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| The No1 Sportsbar (sic) |
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| The long side |
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| The away end. Note the chunk of terracing. |
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| The teams line up. |
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| Home end choregraphy |
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| Supras Malmö! |
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| The team take their applause |
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| The overhang where I sat 1st half |
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| Half-time; not so 'supras'. |
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| Sunset over the Swedbank Stadion. |
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| I spy with my little eye...the ÖSK bus! |
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| I must end with a shot of the old stadium. Beautiful. |
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