FLASHBACK - MATCH 458 - Saturday 16 June 1990

SEASON 1989/90

FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS - ITALIA '90

Venue:  Stadio Luigi Ferraris

SWEDEN  1  SCOTLAND  2

Scorers: Stromberg; McCall, Johnston

Attendance 31,823

On this day in 1990 I was at the FIFA World Cup in Italy watching a clash between two Northern European countries Scotland & Sweden.

Like the first World Cup match the venue was Genoa which meant another 10 hour round trip by coach from our base in Rimini.  

Many of the Swedish fans were also based in Rimini and mixed brilliantly with their Scottish counterparts. 

This time Scotland recorded a rare World Cup finals win.

Match report: 

Personal note:

• This was the 2nd match I attended at the 1990 World Cup Finals
• This was the 17th Scotland match I had attended 
• 3rd match attended on Mainland Europe

MATCH 1838 - Tuesday, 29 June 2020

 

Round of 16

Venue:  HAMPDEN PARK

SWEDEN  1  UKRAINE  2

** after extre time **

Scorers:  Forsberg(43);  Zinchenko(27); Dovbyk(120)

After 15 long months of no football due to Covid-19 I finally get back to a game with a long summers night at Hampden as the delayed Euro 2020 championship are finally played.

Happier days for Ukraine as they win with a goal right at the end of extra time to progress to the next round - God Bless Ukraine!

Story of the match:   BBC Report

MATCH 1808 - Thursday 22 August 2019

SEASON 2019/20

Qualifying Round 1st Leg

CELTIC  2  AIK  0

Two second half goals see Celtic get the better of their Swedish opponents to gave them a good platform for the second leg.

The second time seeing AIK - the first was in Rhyl, Wales in 2016.

MATCH 1650 - Thursday, 7 July 2016

SEASON:  2016/17

QUALIFYING ROUND - 2nd leg

Venue:  BELLE VUE STADIUM



my ticket

BALA TOWN    0    AIK STOCKHOLM    2

Scorers:  Avdic, Strandberg

New season for me starts in Rhyl, North Wales with a UEFA Europa League qualifying tie.  The small compact all seater ground is the venue - a new ground to add to my list.

There was small but lively crowd of fans from Sweden and as previously experienced they were all friendly and well behaved.

AIK fans

Having won the first leg 2-0 AIK completed their overall victory with another 2-0 win on the night, which saw them progress 4-0 on aggregate. 

The pre-match line up

Personal note: New ground no. 96 and two new clubs nos. 201 & 202

Link to:  Official UEFA.com stats

MATCH 1616 - Wednesday, 19 August 2015

Season:  2015/16
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFYING ROUND 1st Leg
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

My little legend!

CELTIC    3    MALMO    2

Scorers: Griffiths(2), Bitton;  Berget(2)

Fantastic night of European football at Celtic Park with both sets of fans experiencing a rollercoaster ride of football's highs and lows.  There was a near capacity crowd and a terrific away following from Sweden that created a wonderful atmosphere that you only get in Champions League football.

At 3-1 up going into the latter stages Celtic were one second away from a very good result, one goal away from an exceptional result or one goal away from a mini disaster.  Like Alex Ferguson old European comment "just when you think you are OK the roof falls in".  And that's exactly what happened when Malmo scored a last second goal to bring the tie within their reach again.  For the first time the atmosphere change to incredible silence except for the merry band of Malmo fans.

Leigh Griffiths produced a splendid No. 9 performance scoring twice.

The stage is set!

Personal note:  Malmo became the 197th club side that I've seen and the fourth European tie involving a Swedish club following Gothenburg, Helsingborgs IF and IF Elfsborg.
In order to keep my run of 14 years of not missing a home match going my little daughter attended her first UEFA tie.

MATCH 1518 - Wednesday, 31st July 2013

Season:  2013/14
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Qualifying Round 1st Leg
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    1    ELFSBORG    0

Scorer: Commons 

 

 

A nervy performance from Celtic against the Swedish champions.  Elfsborg are well into their season while Celtic have yet to play a domestic match and it should showed as Celtic were rusty in this European clash.

 

This is my 3rd match of the season and 3rd new team to add to my List of Clubs.



Match 1476 - Wednesday, 29th August 2012

Season:  2012/13
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFIER 2nd Leg
Venue: CELTIC PARK

CELTIC     2     HELSINGSBORG     0

Scorers: Hooper, Wanyama

Celtic completed home & away victories over their first ever Swedish opponents in European competition to book their place in the Champions League.

This was only my second time watching a Swedish side, the other ocassion being Gothenburg at Old Trafford in 1994.