Well, I will be in Stockholm the weekend of October 25, 2015 so I will be trying hard to see the AIK vs IFK Göteborg match. I see there will be another match in town that weekend with Hammarby IF vs Malmö FF. How far apart are the two stadiums. I guess there will be a lot of football supporters there that day or weekend.
I wanted to thank everyone in this group again for all the help you gave me last season. I especially enjoyed the full match videos.
They aren't too far apart. "Friends arena" lies in the north western part of the city in Solna and "Tele2 arena" (Nya Söderstadion) is in the southern part of the city close to Globen. Haven’t really been in Solna for a while but I presume it takes around 20 - 30min if you only count the subway/community train ride between the two arenas (you'll have perhaps a 5 - 10min walk to friends from the station if I remember correctly). Honestly speaking if you have the opportunity I would recommend going to the Hammarby vs Malmö game as well, depending a bit on how it goes for us since we're newly promoted in the league it wouldn't surprise me if this game will be sold out and we usually have a good pyro show in our last home games of the season which this game is. AIK vs IFK Göteborg is also classic game with a lot of rivalry so I doubt you'll be disappointed. I agree however on that it should be a lot of away supporters, Malmö, AIK and IFK Göteborg are also the former top three teams in allsvenskan 2014 so if they all are up there once again and Malmö haven’t already taken the gold the Malmö and IFK Göteborgs fans should bring a lot of supporters. Speaking of Hammarby and AIK by the way it seems like the first derby between us in 6 years will be sold out with 33 000 tickets sold 1 month before the Swedish cup game in the 7th of mars.
Alright guys. We´ll post as many of those as we can then! Matchreports, full game videos, highlights, supporterpics, weekly chronicles etc.... The Swedish Cup is soon to start. So the competetive season is nearing quickly folks!
With a work stoppage looming for Major League Soccer, I may be watching a lot of the Allsvenskan this year. Either that, or Beck re-runs.
Haha, yes the Beck films are great. Especially Gunwald Larsson and Beck's neighbour are my favourite characters. I've been busy at Volvo lately. The new XC 90 is entering the production line. So during the weekend I'll post the incoming results from the ongoing Swedish Cup.
The new format with the Svenska Cupen played Before the season starts is a perfect way for the teams to get into good shape. The Winner will get a Europa Place. The runner up could also get a spot if the Winners are a top 3 side in Allsvenskan.: http://nr.soccerway.com/national/sweden/svenska-cupen/20142015/group-stage/r25329/ Group 1: http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-1/ As we can se the clearcut favourites in the Group namely Malmö, are on their way towards winning the Group ahead of Superettan side (2nd tier) Jönköping and thus entering the knock out stages. Group2: http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-2/ A slight hick up by the Allsvenskan side in this Group (Göteborg) vs Trollhättan ending with a draw. But 2nd tier side Ljungskile couldn´t either snatch a win vs the same team. So IFK Göteborg should feel that they escaped a fiasco perhaps!? That is if IFK could beat LSK. But 1st ahead is a low division side Vetlanda from Jönköping county. A few injury worries for IFK as well. American Heath Pearce might get a starting spot in todays game. Group 3: http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-3/ Tough Group this one. Two Allsvenskan sides Hammarby and AIK. Local rivals to top it off as well. Behind them chased by Landskrona. A decent side. AIK have 6 Points after the two 1st games played. Hammarby are to meet Landskrona. The problem for Hammarby now is that they need to win vs Landskrona. And in the final game probably win also vs AIK as they have a clear goal margine in their favour at the moment. A big win vs Landskrona would be fitting then. Group4: http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-4/ Elfsborg should be able to pull this one off. Two Superettan sides. BP and Sirius Uppsala. And then a division1 side Athletic FC United. Group 5: http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-5/ Allsvenskan side BK Häcken had no difficulty fending off Öster in the first game. But Superettan side Mjällby will put pressure on them after winning their first game. Group 6: http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-6/ Another tough grou with two Allsvenskan sides and a decent 2nd tier side as well, Varberg. Dalkurd should have no chance here though. A slip up by Örebro in the 1st game vs tricky Varberg. This obviously leaves an opening for fellow Allsvenskan side Gefle. The latter side had some slight problems vs Dalkurd but escaped with a narrow win. Group 7: http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-7/ Norrköping and Djurgården from Allsvenskan will probably fight it out here. Norrköping are in the drivers seat at them moment winning their 1st game and Djurgården with missfortunes vs Ängelholm at home! Lousy result at Tele2. Group 8: http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-8/ Halmstad only getting a draw at Västerås. Helsingborg I think could make it here.
Arena news: As mentioned earlier Olympia in Helsingborg will be finalised first in 2017. The 1st stage is under way though. The Southern terraces. The finnished reconstruction looks like this: Häcken will get their small but tight Bravida Arena ready to be taken in use for Allsvenskan somewhere in May. So a few further homegames at the the more centrally placed Ullevi (home of IFK Gothenburg): http://rambergsvallen.higab.se/foton/ Gefle is Another club getting a new arena. And just like Häcken it will be a small, tight arena. The two clubs barely have any supporters so they will certainly fill their needs though: http://www.gavle.se/Gavlehov-arenaby/Folj-bygget-av-fotbollsarenan/
Interesting! In Group 2, the draw between IFK and Trollhättan (Volvo vs Saab) has created the real probability that the Group could end in a three way tie at 5 points each (assuming IFK draws and the Trolls defeat the smaller Vetlanda side). Can't wait for Sunday! In Group 3 Hammarby needs to win this Saturday to advance, while AIK only needs a draw at home. Friends will definately be a rocking place this weekend!
Financial results coming in from a few clubs from last season: Malmö FF +144,6 mkr AIK Fotboll AB +14 mkr IFK Norrköping –2 mkr IFK Göteborg ca – 10,4mkr Halmstad –6 mkr Kalmar FF –8 mkr Malmö´s positive result stems from the obvious fact that they participated in the Champions League. AIK´s I would Think is due mostly to them selling off players such as Quaison, Markanen and a few others.... IFK showing a lousy result. This due to some aweful transfer decisions such as for example the buying of Malick Mané. A huge disaster. Nordin Gerzic, Sobralense and co. on loan to :rebro but still got paid by IFK during that period. Generally the A-squad is costing much more than a few years back. Mostly more expensive wage budget. A big minus result despite Selling a few players such as f. ex Hysén. Note though that 2015 most probably will show a better financial result as transfers such as Augustinsson will be registered to this season..... Halmstad, a club that generally did sportively well last season by their standards. But the club needs modernisation and new thinking. The old Örjans Vall their arena, will be reconstructed in phases. The municipality turned down the whishes from the club of wanting an entirely new arena. (A certain fredrik Ljungberg is now at the club and will function as a trainer.) Kalmar probably showing a bad result partly due to bad avarage attendance last season. A club with a really fine venue. One would Think they ought to make better use of GulfFågeln Arena. Excellent facilities. Other clubs showing good financial results include Hammarby, Falkenberg (small but still), Häcken etc..... Costs of standing season tickets in some clubs as follows: IFK Norrköping: 595:- BK Häcken: 895:- IFK Göteborg: 995:- GIF Sundsvall: 1200:- Halmstad: 1400:- Djurgården: 1570:- Gefle: 1600:- Helsingborg: 1600:- Kalmar: 1645:- Malmö: 1645:- AIK: 1700:- Örebro: 1700:- Hammarby: shortside: 1700:-, longside: 2200:- IF Elfsborg: 1750:- Falkenberg: 1800:- Åtvidaberg: 1950:-
Great report on the latest financial results. I imagine Malmo, AIK, and probably Hammarby will translate their positive results by investing in top line players (they will definately be able to outbid some of the smaller clubs and probably other Euro clubs). Do you believe IFK will be able to do that, too? Also, I understand that Ljungberg's return was probably a return to his Allsvenkan roots, but is it also an opportunity for the club to (rightfully so) attempt to get more investments, endorsements and eventual stronger capital? I personally hope so.
I presume the biggest surprise in the cup was that Djurgården managed to get knocked out from the cup by 0-0 against Ängelholm and then proceed to lose with 4-2 against Norrby. IFK Göteborgs playing 2-2 against Trollhättans wasn't their proudest moment as well I presume but they seem to pass the group stage and Hammarbys 1-1 vs Landskrona wasn't the best either in presumably the worst game we played since Nanne Bergstand took over as head coach. Halmstad also played rather bad against Västerås 2-2. Tomorrow is the biggest game in the cup for a while when AIK take on Hammarby in the first derby between the two sides in about five and half years. Friends arena is sold out (about 40 000 tickets) but would had a higher attendance if the second tier of the arena wasn't being refurbished at the moment. This will most likely be the highest attendance in the Swedish cup ever breaking the former record by Malmö and IFK Norrköping at the cup final in 1944 when 35 087 people attended. AIK should be major favourites since they will pass the group stage with a tie and are the better team coming at second place last season while Hammarbya are newcomers to allsvenskan. In short they got everything to lose and Hammarby have everything to win. I believe it was nearly 10 years since we've won against AIK as well even though most games ended with ties if I recall correctly. By the way IL Kicks I don't think Bajen will buy that many players at the moment but rather strengthen our capital this season. We wouldn’t like to be in the same financial mess as we were in 2009 for a while and the team we have right now should be strong enough for not getting regulated.
Before anyone corrects me I would just say that AIK came third last season while IFK Göteborg took the second spot.
Excellent summary of the results of the Swedish Cup, Kung! Yes what a huge game! It lifts the whole tournament! Everyone in Swedish football are immensely excited having Hammarby back where they belong, in Top tier of Swedish club football. Good luck Bajen I say! I hope you´ll be a top side and the best Stockholm side of the three. How Lovely it ould be to see the cocky AIK side lose at Friends! Regarding Bajen´sroster, I firmly Believe they with this squad can be a solid top half side. Would be good for Swedish club football if anything....
Both AIK and Hammarby have already made some fine transfers of players comiing in ILKicks! I suppose these two sides are fairly contempt with their rosters. Regarding Bajen only Kung here can give us a more precise answer there. Malmö have made a few great transfers in as well. Former IFK and Ajax winger Tobias Sana comes in on right midfield. Two more or less Norwegian NT players have also joined. One from Celtic the other from the Premier League. Tells us that this club have some cash to invest with. Regarding IFK, your question is a very valid one since also the IFK fans are asking themselves when that supposed Mr X (as they now call him) will arrive at central midfield. Or should we now say IF he arrives. This since the financial result wasn´t brilliant and now people are starting to doubt if it even is a good thing long term. I suspect the player could be a norwegian, Ulvestad. Sports Director Gren have now more or less given up that prospect of him coming. It might be Another decent central midfielder on the radar now though. IFK by the way just today managed to find Another head sponsor which could strengthen them financially for Another 3 years. The bad result as mentioned is due to some really weird players transfers including Malick Mané, Gerzic and so on. These were made by the former Sports Director Mild. Also remember that IFK sacked the coach Stahre and brought in a new guy. That also cost them Money. I suspect that deals such as Svensson and Rieks cost a lot in sign-on fees as well. The Selling of Sam Larsson and Augustinsson will be counted in first to the coming years financial budget. Personally I would like to see a new CM coming in of class. We have basically only two decent CMs at the moment Gustav Svensson and Sebastian Eriksson. Both with experiance from professioanal "soccer" abroad. But unfortunately both those guys are also very injury prone. Especially Eriksson. IFK have lost some of their own capital due to last seasons bad financial output. But 2015 will be a better year I expect as long as the attendance goes up slightly. This in Gothenburg means that we need a good sportive result to boost that attendance. We´re not like Hammarby. A club with a very large faithful fanbase who will support them nomatter what. IFK have a decent sportive past and supporters here generally expect very good top notch results. So Another CM would be necessary. We still have the money to spend I think. We have made one really good signing I expect and that is a danish winger from Esbjerg. If we are to reach top 3 we would definately have to strengthen the CM position though.....
Talking of Hammarby I say this: What is You´ll never walk alone compared to this haha: The ambiance created in Southern Stockholm is at a totally different level to anything I´ve seen or heard.....At least in Scandinavia. 2nd Divisio as well mind you. First you think wow this is sick. Then they raise their voices even further at the 1:22 mark. Incredible!
Swedish Cup game between AIK-Hammarby. Final game in the Group stages. It starts 13:00 CET http://firstrowne.eu/watch/327385/1/watch-aik-vs-hammarby-if.html
Swedish Cup (Svenska Cupen) Group 1 http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-1/ Not surprisingly Giants Malmö wins the Group emphatically after dumping decent Superettan side Jönköping (does ABBA´s Agnetha Fältskog cheer for her Birth Town?) seamingly easy, 4-0. And with this huge goaldifference MFF will obviously be one of the best Winners and playing at home in the Quater-Finals. Group 2 http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-2/ ILKicks mentioned IFK vs LSK (Ljungskile) and Trollhättan a few Days back. As it turned out prior to tomorrows deciders the only significant game will be just that one in Gotheburg since Trolls goaldifference is worse and a win would not be sufficiant enough. Instead not surprisingly its all up to the Allsvenskan side and the Superettan side to decide it all. LSK are tricky and reached Allsvenskan Play offs last year. A small but hard working countryside club from the West Coast just like IFK. Homegame for Blue and White should normally mean Gothenburg entering next phase..... Group 3 AIK–Hammarby 1–2 (1–1) 1–0 Henok Goitom (8), 1–1 Kennedy Bakircioglü (16 str), 1–2 Johan Persson (62). attendance: 41 063. Landskrona–Kristianstad 2–1 (0–0) 1–0 Andrew Stadler (48), 1–1 Albert Ejupi (72), 2–1 Andrew Stadler (73). http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-3/ One of 3 Classic meetings in Stockholm between The Mighty Blacks from the North and the Green and White Giants of the South, AIK vs Hammarby! The game was postponed 10 minutes due to the usual furious display of pyrotechnics. But when it all started off it was tuned up into a frantic tempo. Particularly AIK started the better. Special goal sniper Henok Goitom made it 1-0 subsequently poking the ball into the open net to the utter joy of the Black rmy folks behind the goal. A Swift stop in play as the firecrackers and bengals were lit up once again..... But that joy was short-lived as the Green and Whites equelized shortly after with legendary South Stockholm hero Kennedy Bakircioglu scoring from the peanalty after a clumsy handball by Bahoui inside the box. The goal gave Hammarby some mental boost as they managed to even out the ball posession slightly and scoring chances. In the 2nd half we saw a similar scenario with AIK trying to up the tempo and also creating quite a few chances throughout although Hammarby countered with two really great chances of their own. Hard-working central midfielder of Bajen Persson did the same as Bahoui did in the first, that is touch the ball with his hands inside the peanalty area. But this time the referee Lerjéus didn´t react to the frustration of the AIK team and fans. Instead a heroic hardworking performance throughout the 2nd half resulted in an eventual win for the Pride of the South as mentioned Persson scores with a long range shot with 28 minutes of regular time remaining. A humiliating loss at home for AIK vs one of their biggest rivals. And even worse inflicting an exit from the Swedish Cup. Positive emotions of joy flooding the streets of the Southern Stockholm diaspora....... Group 4 http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-4/ Tomorrows two games is just a mere "open net" to score in for the Group favourites from the Rain City, Borås. Group 5 http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-5/ BK Häcken (Häcken=Ass or Hedge depending on how you translate it) wins convincingly at home vs newly relegated from Allsvenskan, Mjällby. The Gothenburg Island side are through. Congrats hrm.... Group 6 http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-6/ Delicately poist to say the least. Gefle leads on 6 Points but they have yet to meet 2nd placed fellow Allsvenskan side Örebro Sportklubb away at Örebro. Not the easiest task. A draw is enough as ÖSK are at 4 Points and one goal worse off. We can never wipe off that notorious sour Örebro dialect but can we see some smiles from them tomorrow at least....? Group 7 http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-7/ Djurgården didn´t start the season at a high to say the least. Despite winning the last game vs Norrköping they left it too late as it becamen affair of goaldifference in the end. A nerverattling one as Norrby incredibly scored 5-0 unanswered versus Ängelholm!!! Norrköping passing to the next phase with a desperately tiny margine.... Group 8 http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/svenska-cupen-herrar/grupp-8/ Helsingborg goes through to the Quater Final stage if they play a draw vs Halmstad tomorrow due to 1 goal better in goaldifference. But legendary Fredrik Ljungberg (HBK coach) and former Roxette member Per Gessle will not give up as yet. A win will do it for the West Coast Boys..... Hardworking central midfielder Johan Persson of Hammarby Stockholm touches the ball inside the box. No peanalty to the frustration of AIK players and Black Army fans behind the goal..... South Stockholm hero and living Legend Kennedy Bakircioglu screams out his joy after scoring from the spot..... AIK´s Bahoui with a handball inside the box and a yellow card recieved from ref Lerjéus... Tifos and ambiance inside the Friends Arena prior to kick-off.... Highlights and most probably entire game video coming up in the short future.... IFKGötet
Highlights AIK Hammarby: http://www.tv4play.se/program/sport...&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se
My guess is that IFK maybe stuck for answers until the summer transfer window. In American sports it is called the dreaded "restructuring season", when clubs effectively tell their baseball/American football supporters not to expect anything special for the season, just status quo. However, IFK is strong in it's own right, so they could probably pull this off, and probably surprise many of the Allsvenskan followers, especially when the other top clubs (Malmo, AIK, etc) are hit with normal season injuries and possible player losses during the summer window. Also, you are correct, Gnagnet and Bajen appear to both be ready for a great season. AIK is ALWAYS looking to finish on top while HIF may want to make a big strike in the Allsvenkan in 2015, surprising everyone, and to the delight of their throngs of supporters in Stockholm's South. I plan on attending a couple of matches at Tele2 in 2015, as well as at Friends. Hopefully I can get to Goteborg too. All those places are crazy during match day--could a football supporter ask for more?!
Could very well be the case regarding IFK. We´ll see if they strengthen with a further central midfielder. As long as Sebastian Eriksson stays fully fit IFK´s central midfield is decent. A very well balanced roster except that position then. Malmö are favourites. And perhaps AIK see themselves as contenders. After Malmö it´s wide open still I think. Allsvenskan is Always very tight. Exciting to see the outcome. After todays final games in the Group stages the following sides are through to the Quarter Final stage in the Swedish Cup: Seeded teams with homeadvantage Malmö Elfsborg Häcken IFK Göteborg will meet following sides depending on Monday´s draw Örebro Hammarby Helsingborg Norrköping Unfortunately people outside Sweden can´t see the entire Cup game played yesterday between AIK and Hammarby at the SVT site. I haven´t been able to upload it as of yet. I will try to find a solution to this somehow . The atmosphere was fantastic I can tell you guys.