At first, I was going to slag off the Swedes in this article. But with Sweden helping England in Euro 2000 I can’t really do that, can I? Yes I can, I’m Norwegian, and we don’t particularly like Sweden or Swedish people. So Sweden, take this: Jävla svenskefaan……….. There. Finished. Feeling much better know. Now for the unpartial and well researched travel information on Stockholm city (pah!):

After pasta in Florence, tapas in Barcelona, it’s off for some bread(!) at Anders LimpBar in Stockholm. Superswede now owns a third of this restaurant/pub, and with clever word play (”limpa” means bread in Swedish) he’s raking in the money in both Stockholm and Denver USA, where he plays for Colorado Rapids. Anders LimpBar sell their beer in pints at 35 Swedish kroners before 9 at night. Cheers Anders, that’s roughly £2,60 and half the price of most other places in Stockholm! The restaurant area seats about 80, and there is standing room for only about 60. However, co-owner Dan Sandgren spoke of Chelsea fans stopping outside in their hundreds before and after the 1998 Cup Winners Cup Final. Anders LimpBar can be found in Upplandsgatan 2 (tel. 0046 8 4112720 if you feel like booking), a couple of blocks north of the main railway station.

The centre of Stockholm can be dull, cold and expensive. So you’re better of venturing south into Söder, an old working class part of town which has at least retained some of its charm and character. It’s here that the supporters of one of AIK’s city rivals, Hammarby, hold house. Look for Kvarnen at Tjärhovsgatan 4 (tel. 0046 8 6430380). It’s one of Stockholm’s few remaining beer halls, and last time I checked their prices had not gone above 40 kroners for 50 cl. Reasonably priced food too. Hammarby flags behind the bar and plenty of football banter. Also in the same area, and worth a visit, is Gröna Jägeren at Götgatan 64 (tel. 0046 8 6409600) and O’Learys Bar & Restaurant in Götgatan 11 (tel. 0046 8 6446901), the latter being an American type sports bar with higher prices and a liking for Boston Celtics. Most places stay open until 1.00 in the morning. However, Kvarnen will not chuck you out until well after 3.00.

AIK’s stadium is called Råsunda, which also hosts Sweden’s home internationals. Solna is the suburb surrounding the stadium, and it lies about five kilometers north-west of the city centre. Nothing much in terms of pubs near the stadium, so you’re better off in the city. The tube is easiest for Råsunda, and you want the blue line to Solna Centrum, five stops from the T-centralen. The tube station at Råsunda is right behind the Sörra (south) stand where the Arsenal fans will sit. Home supporters are behind the other goal in the Norra (northern) stand where they sit, stand or lurch.

A lot has been said and rumoured about AIK fans having a bad reputation. Much of this is hype, and Arsenal fans are unlikely to encounter any trouble unless they couple their colours with city rivals Djurgården and Hammarby. Djurgården come from the posh side of town, while Hammarby are found to the south of the city and play their matches near Globen, the big ice-hockey arena. The trouble caused has been relatively high profile, since fighting the police and then trying to stop football matches because your team are getting relegated tends to be a bit of a give-away (Djurgården did this a couple of years ago). A lot of the idiots who cause trouble at football in Sweden seem to be attention seekers more than anything and will be easy to spot. They tend to have a ”far-right political clothing fashion complex” with accesories such as tatoos, braces, military boots etc. You will quite easily be telling your mates ”look, there goes a Swedish football hooligan”.

There is a certain naivety about Swedish people which four of us Norwegians experienced in 1981 when we where in Stockholm to watch Arsenal play AIK pre-season.

At about three in the afternoon we were at Solna Stadium to buy tickets. By the ticket office, we suddenly got surrounded by AIK blokes competing for best Buster Bloodvessel look-a-like. ”Are you English?” they asked us. We weren’t wearing any colours and just looked very Norwegian (the blond hair, brown suede jackets, jeans and dockside shoes was not exactly a clever disguise, even then). So, my mates and me had one look at each other and went, ”yeah, sure” in somewhat ironic manner.

They bought it! They actually thought we were English! Now, the point was that we weren’t afraid. We still thought that the Swedes took us for anything but English. The AIK blokes seemed to back off, but then sent one of their boys over to us, and he started out in English: ”How many of you here today?” Again, my mates and me gave each other bemused looks, and answered ”just us four”. The Swedish bloke shook his head and then started asking us questions like ”do you have season cards” and ”is fighting popular with Arsenal”?

The penny had by now dropped with us Norwegians, and one of my mates (who had lived in London) went into a broad Cockney accent, rambling incoherently about travelling to Ipswich and doing this and that. Not one word of Norwegian was uttered during the whole ”conversation”, and most of our English tales were pure invention, enthusiasm and downright lies. I even joined in with some mad ramblings on Scousers and certain DIY tools. By now, the other Swedish blokes were standing around us, eyes like saucers and all ears. What could have turned into a nasty stand-off had now developed into the football version of campfire tales. The whole episode was rounded off by AIK blokes shaking our hands in what must have been deep respect. They then marched off into the Solna afternoon sun singing loudly about biting the heads of Djurgården fans. It dawned on us that we had just met the dimmest football fans in the whole world. Still straining our face muscles, we got on the tube back into Stockholm and nearly pissed ourselves laughing. To this day I still wonder what would have happened if the AIK blokes had found out we were Norwegians!

Sverige, ni er jättekula!