FarewellFire
IMG_5241
Bajen Forever.
I define myself as relatively uninterested in sports. I'm not a jock. Even at gunpoint I probably couldn´t name two players in the Swedish national football team. Yet Hammarby have always played a crucial role in my life.
Their home turf Söderstadion always was a fantastic place, at least in my book. Ugly as hell, made out of concrete that slowly crumbled as time passed. On June 23rd Hammarby played their very last game at the arena and I was there to witness it.
One of my strongest childhood memories is when Hammarby faced Djurgården at Söderstadion. I have long since forgotten what year it was but it had to be sometimes during the 1980´s. A young Daniel sees a pissed of janitor emptying a fire extinguisher on the supporters of the visiting team, instantly understanding getting the message - "don´t mess with our castle".
I remember a young Kennedy Bakircioglü working his magic around the turn of the millennia and a fantastic game against Helsingborg in 2008 (2-1) when I also got to meet legendary coach Soren Cratz. After the game I got a call that changed my life for years to come, but that´s a different story.
I remember the pouring rain that gave me a horrible cold during the game against Helsingborg in 2005, a game that just was too good to walk away from (6-2). Back in 2001 I nervously ran up and down the stairs of an underground studio where my old punk band recorded our first (and only) full length album. Why? So that I could tune in to the radio and in between takes follow the game that would decide if Hammarby would become Swedish champions or not.
They did.
I remember interrupted matches, frustration, "Just Idag Är Jag Stark", how my friend Pongo smuggled beer into the stadium by putting cans in his underwear, the sometimes chilling winds from the freeway behind the eastern stand and a great goalkeeper from Ghana who always got his last name misspelled. All great memories that have one place in common - Söderstadion.
If you don´t understand my love for Hammarby you will never understand me.
IMG_5241
Bajen Forever.
I define myself as relatively uninterested in sports. I'm not a jock. Even at gunpoint I probably couldn´t name two players in the Swedish national football team. Yet Hammarby have always played a crucial role in my life.
Their home turf Söderstadion always was a fantastic place, at least in my book. Ugly as hell, made out of concrete that slowly crumbled as time passed. On June 23rd Hammarby played their very last game at the arena and I was there to witness it.
One of my strongest childhood memories is when Hammarby faced Djurgården at Söderstadion. I have long since forgotten what year it was but it had to be sometimes during the 1980´s. A young Daniel sees a pissed of janitor emptying a fire extinguisher on the supporters of the visiting team, instantly understanding getting the message - "don´t mess with our castle".
I remember a young Kennedy Bakircioglü working his magic around the turn of the millennia and a fantastic game against Helsingborg in 2008 (2-1) when I also got to meet legendary coach Soren Cratz. After the game I got a call that changed my life for years to come, but that´s a different story.
I remember the pouring rain that gave me a horrible cold during the game against Helsingborg in 2005, a game that just was too good to walk away from (6-2). Back in 2001 I nervously ran up and down the stairs of an underground studio where my old punk band recorded our first (and only) full length album. Why? So that I could tune in to the radio and in between takes follow the game that would decide if Hammarby would become Swedish champions or not.
They did.
I remember interrupted matches, frustration, "Just Idag Är Jag Stark", how my friend Pongo smuggled beer into the stadium by putting cans in his underwear, the sometimes chilling winds from the freeway behind the eastern stand and a great goalkeeper from Ghana who always got his last name misspelled. All great memories that have one place in common - Söderstadion.
If you don´t understand my love for Hammarby you will never understand me.