I’m working on a project in Sweden at the moment which requires me to visit once a month or so for some meetings. That gives me the opportunity to take in a game or two each time and my first fixture of this trip was in Lulea, for a match in the fifth-tier.
It’s getting a bit colder in Lulea now and as my luggage arrived two days after I did, I had to add a coat to the list when I popped to the shops for some emergency clothes.
The game was at the Nyabvallen Stadium. I’d probably have walked it from my town-centre hotel if there hadn’t been some drizzle in the air. There was a guy waiting at the entrance collecting money. Presumably he was connected to the club.
Once again, my lack of the Swish App made life difficult and as he had no change for a 200 Crown note, he accepted 20 Crowns instead of the usual 50 Crowns admission fee. He told me that the stadium dates back to the 1970s and it was easy to believe.
There was a large covered main stand with wooden seats. The artificial pitch had a running track around it and there was an electronic scoreboard that fitted perfectly with the seventies vibe. There were woods opposite and to the right and with the weather closing in, the floodlights were on from the start.
There wasn’t a food and drink cabin and the only refreshments available were courtesy of a lady in the stand who had brought a large Tupperware box full of cakes. As I only had a 200 Crown note, I didn’t bother wandering over.
The game was in Division 3, Norra Norrland. Home side IFK Lulea are an academy team, with the visitors, Infjardens, having a more usual spread of age groups within their line-up.
The away team took the lead mid-way through the first half with a cracking volley that revealed the presence of a handful of away fans celebrating to my right. Lulea hit back on the break and levelled a few minutes later before promptly adding a second with a shot driven across the keeper from the left,
Shortly after the restart, Lulea went two up with another goal from a break. It might well have been offside, but the lino was adamant that he’d called it correctly.
There were plenty of chances for both sides, but a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing meant that going into the final few minutes, Lulea remained three-one ahead. A late flurry from the hosts added two more goals, the final one direct from a corner for an eventual five-one victory.
Trail of the Lion King 
Leave a comment