Scandinavian football..

[KLOEN]

This'll probably be an extremely short-lived thread, but I'll give it a go anyway.

Does any one in here have an opinion on Scandinavian football, whether it be the national teams of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, or it be the national leagues with the most famous teams being Rosenborg (Norway), F.C. Copenhagen and Brøndby (Denmark) or Malmö FF, AIK Stockholm or IFK Göteborg.

Whether you actually follow one or more of the leagues, or if you just keep an eye open for 'em in Champions League or the UEFA cup, let me know what you think or feel about it. If you're interested to hear more, please ask.

Personally I'm an avid F.C. Copenhagen fan, so I of course follow the Danish league http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_Superliga, but I also try to keep up with scores in both the Swedish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allsvenskan and the Norwegian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Premier_League leagues. Exciting stuff.
We also have a joint tournament for the top 4 teams in each country, it's called the Royal League http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_League.

 

[KLOEN]

Meh.. Guess not.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Well, from what I can see swedish and norwegian club-football seems to suck, although the attendance and support in the stadiums (especially in Sweden) is very impressive. I guess the clubs can't really keep up with all their talented players being transferred to bigger leagues at a young age all the time. I remember FC Copenhagen doing well in the Champions League a few years ago, but that's all.

Anyway, I don't really follow international football that much, but I do look out for how the fans of other teams are supporting their clubs, and Scandinavia has become very interesting in that regard lately (or always was and I just missed it ), I'd love to watch one of the Stockholm derbies sometime for example. Last year Valerenga Oslo played against the local rivals of the club I support, and their away fans were among the best I've seen here in a while (just watched it on tv, not in the stadium though , good numbers and solid support, I liked it.

 

[anais]

Last year Valerenga Oslo played against the local rivals of the club I support, and their away fans were among the best I've seen here in a while (just watched it on tv, not in the stadium though , good numbers and solid support, I liked it.

Not that I know much about football, but I can tell you that Vålerenga is an old working class, blue collar neighborhood. Their club has retained some of the collective, down-to-earth, all in the same boat kind of spirit from times past.

Their fans are well known for it, I don't think it's too common with other Scandi clubs. Rosenborg possibly come close.

 

[KLOEN]

Well, from what I can see swedish and norwegian club-football seems to suck, although the attendance and support in the stadiums (especially in Sweden) is very impressive. I guess the clubs can't really keep up with all their talented players being transferred to bigger leagues at a young age all the time. I remember FC Copenhagen doing well in the Champions League a few years ago, but that's all.

The attendance for the top 4 teams in each Scandinavian league has definitely risen and become really impressive. But it is a problem with youthful talent, they're GONE at first notice.
I remember during the qualifiers for EURO 2008 it was big news that our national team actually had players from the Danish league on it. Normally it completely consists of Danes playing in foreign clubs. Sweden and Norway probably suffers from the same.

Anyway, I don't really follow international football that much, but I do look out for how the fans of other teams are supporting their clubs, and Scandinavia has become very interesting in that regard lately (or always was and I just missed it ), I'd love to watch one of the Stockholm derbies sometime for example. Last year Valerenga Oslo played against the local rivals of the club I support, and their away fans were among the best I've seen here in a while (just watched it on tv, not in the stadium though , good numbers and solid support, I liked it.

Yeah, we've become really, really good at great tifo's and stuff, however, when fans get better so do the hooligans unfortunately. So that's a major subject in the news these days.
Here's a video from the most recent incident between the two top teams in Denmark (And Scandinavia for that matter..): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtGCtZqbfJQ&feature=related

And some pics..
Brøndby I.F.'s away fans:

FCK's (Copenhagen) away fans:

Brøndby I.F.'s home fans from a match between FCK and Brøndby:

Not that I know much about football, but I can tell you that Vålerenga is an old working class, blue collar neighborhood. Their club has retained some of the collective, down-to-earth, all in the same boat kind of spirit from times past.

Their fans are well known for it, I don't think it's too common with other Scandi clubs. Rosenborg possibly come close.

Brøndby I.F. would definitely qualify here. They're located in the west end of Copenhagen, a real blue collar neighbourhood. People out there are fierce about their support, and Brøndby's fans are traditionally and repeatedly mentioned as the most loyal and creative in Denmark and sometimes Scandinavia as well.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Here's a video from the most recent incident between the two top teams in Denmark (And Scandinavia for that matter..): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtGCtZqbfJQ&feature=related

That kind of thing happens here too, and I don't really mind it, flares add atmosphere, they shouldn't be tossed on the pitch though. You don't see that stuff in the big leagues anymore though (but also no honest support from the stands).

Unfortunately because of the weird regional allocations of the UEFA (assuring the Scandinavian clubs get weak opponents as much as possible) Austrian clubs rarely get to play up north.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Btw., I meant to post this earlier, but then I forgot about it.

A couple support-videos of "my" club, SK Rapid, from last season (I was present at all those games), just so you know that there's something going on here too; maybe our teams meet some time in the European Cup.

away @ Anderlecht (UEFA-Cup)
away @ Linz
away @ Graz
@ home vs. Kärnten

 

[KLOEN]

Looks great!

Yeah, could be fun, there'd definitely be some good-hearted slamming in this thread then!

 

[Tomalak]

This'll probably be an extremely short-lived thread, but I'll give it a go anyway.

Does any one in here have an opinion on Scandinavian football, whether it be the national teams of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, or it be the national leagues with the most famous teams being Rosenborg (Norway), F.C. Copenhagen and Brøndby (Denmark) or Malmö FF, AIK Stockholm or IFK Göteborg.

Whether you actually follow one or more of the leagues, or if you just keep an eye open for 'em in Champions League or the UEFA cup, let me know what you think or feel about it. If you're interested to hear more, please ask.

Personally I'm an avid F.C. Copenhagen fan, so I of course follow the Danish league http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_Superliga, but I also try to keep up with scores in both the Swedish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allsvenskan and the Norwegian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Premier_League leagues. Exciting stuff.
We also have a joint tournament for the top 4 teams in each country, it's called the Royal League http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_League.

I do keep an eye on most of the European leagues, and tend to pick an arbitrary favourite to make it a bit more fun. Sometimes it's a place I've been, or a team Liverpool have played, and sometimes because I just like the name. Shallow I know, but it makes it more entertaining.

I picked Brøndby as my Danish team, basically on the back of Daniel Agger being a legend, and even managed to guide them to UEFA Cup glory on Football Manager. It's next to impossible to see Danish football in Britain, but I read match reports from time to time. If I'm ever in Denmark, I'll probably try to get to a match.

A shame about the league form last year. Bloody Aalborg.

 

[KLOEN]

Heh, yeah.. the Agger effect.

He was big in Brøndby, so we all hated him, but then he made it, got sold to Liverpool and now he's every Dane's darling.

And yeah, bloody f...... Aalborg.
this year though, Copenhagen takes the gold back and Brøndby gets a nice silver medal.

 

[Tomalak]

Great to see Litmanen back at his first club, and scoring goals. One of my favourite players, and undoubtedly the greatest Finn of all time.

I still wonder what might have been for Liverpool if we had a different manager in 2000. Instead of Houllier preferring the likes of Emile Heskey and Vladimir Smicer and punting the ball up to Owen, we might have had a Fowler-Litmanen strikeforce. Both struggled with injuries in the latter half of their careers, but it would have been beautiful on its day!