Akropolis (Akalla Gårds BP)

Ground: Akalla Gårds Bollplan

Visits: 1

Date: 30th June 2012

Match: Akropolis - Östersund 0-2 (Division 1 Norra)

Attendance: 180

Akropolis are nowadays playing at Spånga IP.

When Umeå were promoted to Superettan at the end of last season it meant I was "missing" a ground in the second tier of Swedish football. With Umeå being 1 200 km from Kristianstad I wanted to combine the journey to the capital of Norrland with some other matches. First up on this tour was a visit to Stockholm and the match between Akropolis and Östersund at Akalla Gårds Bollplan in Akalla, a northern suburb to Stockholm. Due to rail works my train departed one hour earlier than originally scheduled. At 6.06 I was on the train for the 5 h trip to Stockholm. There had been heavy rain overnight but as we approached Stockholm the rain had stopped and after a while I could even see the sun. I stayed at a friend´s place (in Liljeholmen) and since it was a year since we last met Håkan and I had some catching up to do, starting at the new nice Italian restaurant in Liljeholmen. Due to other commitments Håkan couldn´t join me at the match. As I wrote earlier Akropolis play in Akalla and being the end station of the blue metro line this was new territory for me. The ground is only a 5-minute walk away from the metro station.

Akalla Gårds Bollplan is a very basic ground with only a small uncovered terrace on the west side. Behind one of the goals there is a grass slope which act as a natural "stand". Akropolis are in the relegation zone and it was the visitors from Jämtland who clearly were the better team. Östersund had several really good chances to score but it wasn´t until the 42nd minute they actually did score (when I was right behing that goal!), 1-0 to Östersund at half-time. The 2nd half was similar to the first and in the end Östersund won by 2-0. It could have been a higher score-line but Östersund are probably pleased with the win anyway.

As I left the ground I noticed a few kids gathering around someone and taking pictures It was Sweden and Feyenoord striker John Guidetti who was the centre of the attention. It was a bit strange to see such a star at a game like Akropolis vs Östersund but he seemed to enjoy being in focus. Plenty of kids had their picture taken with Guidetti and I am sure he earned several new fans this afternoon.

akalla gårds bollplan