Remembering the day of the last Dell game .....

[david in sweden]

we all saw a similar experience for the Stockholm based Hammarby club last week.

 

The old Söder stadium (on a large island in the southern part of Stockholm) had really seen better days, and finally hosted its last game before the bulldozers moved in to start building new flats /office complex.

 

Hammarby have had a checkered history, having won a league title and a Cup here and there in the distant past, but now play in Superettan (type Div.2 / Championship-level). They have seldom surpassed their local arch-rivals Djurgården and AIK in recent times and I might liken their style to (say)..... West Ham. A good cup side whose fans demand " Brazilian -style " football, even if they don't win every game.

 

It's been sad few years for Hammarby, with a relegation two years ago, but they have kept the core of their fans, (who'd make the old Millwall gang look like choirboys), but their final league game at Söder brought a record crowd, banners, tears and a wreath-laying ceremony on the last remnants of the pitch which was dug up in chunks by departing fans. The game itself was a bit of a bore and ended in yet another 1-1 draw.

 

However, the pictures reminded me of the last day scenes at the old Dell ground. Now Hammarby await a move to the newly-built Tele 2 stadium, a move that didn't go off so smoothly when it was announced that they would be sharing the facilities with ..the Djurgården club, who recently moved location, too.)

 

More trouble brewing there without a doubt.