retired_srhrose17

And on the undercard before your Swedish Second Division North matchup this evening... France (5-0-1, 5 KO) vs. England (5-1-0, 5 KO)... - July 2002

Sweden got beat by France 2-1 in the quarterfinal on July 5; Henrik Larsson's early goal couldn't hold up after strikes from Zizou and Thierry Henry. France proceeded to blitz through Brazil 3-0 (Silvestre, Thuram, Zidane) to set up a grudge match with England in the final. England's road to the final was paved with creampuffs; they advanced from Group F ahead of Turkey, Russia, and Costa Rica, then beat Ecuador 2-1 and South Africa 5-1 in the second round and quarterfinal. Italy provided a somewhat tougher test in the semis, but Michael Owen and Sol Campbell scored late to overcome Stefano Fiore's opener. The final was not nearly as well-contested as it was expected to be; the English ran riot over their continental opposition, and though Campbell's goal was the only one in the game, the 1-0 scoreline was very kind to the French, who never looked like they even wanted to play. So yeah, the World Cup went to the British Isles for the first time since '66. Congratulations, In-ger-lund.

And now to the good stuff... another game against one of the many Luleå teams, this one Luleå Fotboll.

Sunday 21 July, Kiruna (11th) vs. Luleå Fotboll (8th)

We were only a couple of points behind the Luleå lads before the game, so a win would see us jump at least one spot in the table. Of course the two new guys started, Axelsson at GK and Nilsson at D L; Svanelöv, Harju, and Lindmark formed the rest of the defense, with Jönsson, Hans Stridsman, Lantto, and Johan Bergström across the middle, and Gunillasson captaining the side and partnering Axeldal up front. Looked a lot like the other team sheets we'd had that year, but with a break we've had of over a month, I felt like it was a fresh start nonetheless. It was a tactically different 4-4-2 that we used this game, too; the fullbacks took on a more attacking role in this version with Hans Stridsman staying somewhat behind Lantto in midfield to try and stop attacks before they got started. Stridsman certainly did his job, picking up the Man of the Match award and doing his part to keep Luleå scoreless. Unfortunately, we couldn't score either; our best chance was a penalty in the first half that Marcus Jönsson sent straight at the goalkeeper. Joakim Gunillasson was guilty of several poor shots, too, but hey - a draw was better than what we'd been getting. Kiruna 0-0 Luleå Fotboll

Stayed in 11th after getting that point, but things are looking up. Yeah, we were definitely gonna keep Nilsson until the end of the year, thank you very much Västra Frölunda...

In the Swedish Cup first round, we were drawn at home to Boden. With Joon Karlsson in for Svanelöv the only change from the last game, we jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with goals from Stridsman and Axeldal. It was good, but despite the fact that we did dominate most of the rest of the game, Boden came back with a couple of late scores that Robert Axelsson really maybe should have saved, and extra time was forced upon us. It was costly in that Stefan Harju twisted his ankle, but we got a deserved win thanks to Lindmark volleying in Marcus Jönsson's cross. Swedish Cup - Kiruna 3-2 Boden (H. Stridsman, J. Axeldal, M. Lindmark)

A win at last! In the cup, okay, but it was against Second Division opposition and surely the players would derive some benefit from remembering what victory was like.

The second-round draw heralded a difficult game - we'd get to play at Lombiavallen, yes, but it was going to be Premier Division team GIF Sundsvall who came to visit us. Attendance should be high, and ergo the gate receipts should be good, but we weren't gonna win that game. It was scheduled to be played in exactly a month, on the 28th of August.

Sure didn't end up being much to July, did there?

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Swedish Second Division NorthPos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Östersunds FK 9 5 0 0 12 4 0 4 0 5 5 19 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Robertsfors 9 4 0 1 10 8 2 0 2 7 7 18 3rd Boden 9 3 2 0 9 6 1 3 0 5 4 17 4th Söderhamn 9 1 2 1 8 5 3 0 2 9 7 14 5th Selånger 9 3 0 1 11 4 1 0 4 7 12 12 6th IFK Holmsund 9 2 1 1 8 7 1 2 2 4 5 12 7th Friska Viljor 9 1 2 2 7 8 2 1 1 4 6 12 8th IFK Luleå 9 1 2 2 5 5 2 0 2 6 8 11 9th Luleå Fotboll 9 1 1 2 4 6 1 3 1 12 11 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10th Skellefteå AIK 9 2 2 0 13 7 0 1 4 4 14 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11th Kiruna 9 1 2 2 5 5 1 0 3 4 7 8 12th Umedalen 9 1 1 2 7 8 0 1 4 6 13 5 </pre>

retired_srhrose17

This is as hot as it gets in the Artic Circle, folks! - August 2002

August was a pretty packed month for us - 4 league games and the Cup second rounder. We had two games left until the midway point of the league. After that, we'd go back to the beginning and play all the teams again, in the same order, just at the opposite venues from the last time around.

Sunday 4 August, Söderhamn (4th) vs. Kiruna (11th)
Oh, what a game! We brought about 400 in traveling support - practically an army - and with over 2,000 fans at the ground, the atmosphere was electric. So was Jonas Axeldal, who scored the first goal of the game 16 minutes in with a header from a Johan Bergström cross. Söderhamn were not to be taken lightly, though, and they mounted several attacks behind their star striker and captain, George Bcheri. Still, when they got close enough to score, Robert Axelsson was generally able to keep them out, up until just before halftime when Bcheri broke through. It had been a tight game so far, but on the far side of the break, Kiruna dominated. Joon Karlsson scored off of a corner kick in the 49th minute. Three minutes later, Bergström demonstrated to all the kiddies why you're supposed to follow your shot, scoring off of his own rebound to put it at 3-1 with his first goal of the season. And very shortly after that, Joakim Gunillasson got in on the action, driving home a pass from Erik Lantto. 4-1, and the singing of the Kiruna fans - "Vi e från K'runa, från Lombiavallen, vi går på fotboll och sjunger högt..." - was all that anyone could hear. Axeldal put the final touches on with a second headed goal, giving Marcus Jönsson his second assist of the game. Great stuff. Söderhamn 1-5 Kiruna (J. Axeldal 2, J. Karlsson, J. Bergström, J. Gunillasson)

A fantastic win without question, but it only pulled us up to 10th in the league, which is still a relegation playoff position. Fortunately, our next game was at home against Umedalen, who'd been bottom since the beginning of the season. We were riding the wave of momentum from the last game, and I figured we should take all three points from those fellows.

Sunday 11 August, Kiruna (10th) vs. Umedalen (12th)
Johan Bergström had the first good shot of the game. Saved. Then Umedalen came back with a shot of their own. Axelsson saved. Then we beat 'em. Jonas Axeldal scored in the 10th minute - Bergström assisted - and then the winger picked up a goal for himself six minutes later. Erik Lantto found Axeldal for his second goal before the halftime whistle, and we shut up shop with a 3-0 lead and cries of "Vem fan är Nistelrooy, vem fan är Nistelrooy, för vi har Jonas Axeldal, för vi har Jonas Axeldal..." ringing in our ears. Umedalen picked up a goal in injury time in the second half, but who cared? Certainly not us. Kiruna 3-1 Umedalen (J. Axeldal 2, J. Bergström)

That win sent us skyrocketing up the table... relatively speaking... since we jumped up from 10th to 7th after the game. And our next game would give us an opportunity to climb even higher, since we were taking on IFK Holmsund (who had, if you'll recall, beaten us in the opening game). They were 6th and just a point ahead of us.

Sunday 18 August, Kiruna (7th) vs. IFK Holmsund (6th)
After Jonas Axeldal's heroics in recent days, most people were overlooking his partner in attack, Joakim Gunillasson. Not after this game. Joakim was a madman, firing more shots on goal than the entire Holmsund squad combined. It took him 55 minutes and a fine cross from Marcus Jönsson to open the scoring, but open it he did, thanks in part to Robert Axelsson's efforts in keeping the visiting team out of the net. Jönsson went off injured shortly after that effort, and so Erik Lantto became Gunillasson's new provider, sending him free for his second goal in the 82nd minute. That nailed down our third win in a row and bumped us up to 5th in the league. Kiruna 2-0 IFK Holmsund (J. Gunillasson 2)

Jönsson's injury, it turned out, was a problem with his ankle ligaments that promised to keep him out of action for five weeks. This necessitated the return of Magnus Oja to left back and moving loanee Andreas Nilsson to midfield.

retired_srhrose17

For the first time in a long time, our on-field efforts had been proceeding better than our scouting ones. Johan Petersen, apparently determined to change that, told us to give this Norwegian kid, Magnus Rønning, a trial period. We offered it, he took it, he looked good, we signed him. Easy as cake.

Transfer in: D C Magnus Rønning, NOR, 19, free transfer, 1300 SEK p/w. Last club: none

Skellefteå next. We'd beaten them at home - could we do it away? I thought maybe we could.

Sunday 25 August, Skellefteå (10th) vs. Kiruna (5th)
Ain't nothin' happened for about 10 minutes or so. Then, out of nowhere, Jonas Axeldal scored. The play developed amazingly quickly, and I think Bergström might have gotten an assist on the goal, but I'm not sure. Anyway, 1-0 to the good. Twenty minutes later, Axeldal happened again, although at least this time I was able to see how the goal developed. Bergström crossed it into the middle, Jonas powered a header towards the net that the goalkeeper pushed weakly away, and my boy's confident follow made it a 2-0 game. Skellefteå pulled one back with their first shot on goal midway through the second half, but couldn't get anything else and we got three more points in the bag. Skellefteå 1-2 Kiruna (J. Axeldal 2)

And so to the cup game, and the end of August. It drew, as expected, by far the largest crowd of our season, with 2100 fans packed into Lombia. Also as expected, we got reamed. To our credit, we held out for almost a half-hour before Sundsvall scored their first. They didn't get a second until after Andreas Nilsson was stretchered off the field. He was hurtin' bad and it didn't look good for him coming back by the end of the season, much less for the next game. Sundsvall added a second goal just before halftime, scored another in the 76th minute, and then got a fourth from a Göran Samuelsson own-goal which wasn't really his fault. Swedish cup: Kiruna 0-4 GIF Sundsvall

Andreas Nilsson's injury turned out to be a groin tear, which would require three months of recovery. Seeing as that would make him unable to play until after the season ended, we sent him back to Göteborg, where at least he could rehabilitate at home.

But anyway, when you're past the midway point of a season, and you go into a month in 11th place and come out in 4th, that's some damn fine work.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Swedish Second Division NorthPos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Östersunds FK 13 7 0 0 16 5 1 4 1 8 8 28 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Robertsfors 13 5 0 1 12 8 4 1 2 14 10 28 3rd Boden 13 4 3 0 11 7 1 3 2 6 9 21 4th **Kiruna** 13 3 2 2 10 6 3 0 3 11 9 20 5th Luleå Fotboll 13 2 1 3 6 10 3 3 1 18 15 19 6th Söderhamn 13 1 2 3 10 12 4 1 2 13 10 18 7th Friska Viljor 13 1 4 2 9 10 3 1 2 7 9 17 8th IFK Holmsund 13 3 1 2 13 11 1 2 4 4 9 15 9th Selånger 13 3 1 3 17 12 1 1 4 7 12 14 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10th Skellefteå AIK 13 3 2 1 15 9 0 2 5 5 16 13 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11th IFK Luleå 13 1 2 4 6 8 2 0 4 7 11 11 12th Umedalen 13 2 2 2 9 9 0 2 5 7 16 10 </pre>

retired_srhrose17

Pale September - September 2002

Given the recent form of the involved sides, our game at the beginning of September against IFK Luleå should have been easy. Especially since we were at home. They hadn't won in their last 7 league games, and only one of those had been a draw. We hadn't lost in our last 5, and only one of those had been a draw. Things were lookin' up.

Sunday 1 September, Kiruna (4th) vs. IFK Luleå (11th)
Scoreless draw. It was kind of weird. Neither Stefan Harju (at left-back) or Pär Asp (on the wing) played particularly poorly, but without Andreas Nilsson there was something missing from that side of the pitch. Both teams' finishing was poor; actually, neither goalkeeper was forced into a save. Jonas Axeldal and Erik Lantto were our main culprits, Lantto especially - he clipped the woodwork twice. A boring game in front of a large crowd - over 1500! Kiruna 0-0 IFK Luleå

So that point wasn't enough to keep us in the lofty heights of 4th, unfortunately. But we had a chance to grab it back in our next game against Boden, who were in third but with just three points more than us. And our goal differential was better, so there you go. Anyway.

Sunday 8 September, Boden (3rd) vs. Kiruna (5th)
Boden just looked better. We got off a couple of shots in the first half, both from Gunillasson, but he couldn't score. The home team got more than a couple shots which Axelsson managed to keep out, but it only took them a minute to score in the second half. They kept the pressure up and scored again fifteen minutes later. That was the cue for a bit of regrouping by Kiruna, and substitute Johan Stridsman gave us a bit of a spark with a nice run and shot that was well saved; Magnus Oja then actually scored his first goal of the season to halve the deficit. 'Twas all we could get though. Tough loss, but they were certainly better and deserved the three points. Boden 2-1 Kiruna (M. Oja)

Missing a left-side presence after your prize loan signing tears a groin muscle? Find a new one! That's what we did. Johan Petersen's scouting paid off again as he found a fellow on a D2 West Gotaland team who was available on loan. Jens Ljungcrantz, fullback or winger, traveled just about the entire north-south length of Sweden to join us from a club located in Borås.

Loan in: D/M L Jens Ljungcrantz, SWE, 20. No wages. Loaned from: Norrby. Loan ends: End of season

Ljungcrantz had slightly above-average pace and was a very good dribbler of the ball. He'd play on the wing for us and make his debut at home against a very good Östersunds FK side.

Sunday 15 September, Kiruna (6th) vs. Östersunds FK (2nd)
Östersunds had a scary scoring chance very shortly after kickoff, but fortunately for us their striker overhit his shot at the open net and it flew over the bar. Ljungcrantz picked up on Axelsson's goal kick and engaged in a mazy run, completely fooling Östersunds' midfield hardman in the process, and finished it off with a right-footed shot that flew past their goalkeeper into the top corner. Well that's a way to debut, folks. The visitors had more than a few other chances in the half, only one of which forced a save from Robert Axelsson. Ljungcrantz continued to dominate the left side of the field in the first half and created many shots for Kiruna, none of which went in. After the break, though, Ljungcrantz's crossing skills yielded results, as he curled a corner kick right onto Johan Bergström's forehead. The winger would have had to make a conscious effort in order to not score, and he didn't screw it up. For most of the remaining time, Kiruna held on to the ball, mounting only the occasional attack and keeping our opponents at bay. Good game. Kiruna 2-0 Östersunds FK (J. Ljungcrantz, J. Bergström)

Six games remaining, then, so 18 points available, and we were 11 off the pace. Next game up was a visit to league leaders Robertsfors, so we could climb up to within 8 with a victory. I admit that the odds of winning the league then were very slim, but if we won out, anything could happen!

Right. We were just trying to play well.

Sunday 22 September, Robertsfors (1st) vs. Kiruna (5th)
That ambition looked as though it might take a bit of a beating against the best team in the D2 North, as they got off two fine shots within the first couple of minutes. One went over, and one was saved by Robert Axelsson. And then the momentum swung the opposite direction when Jens Ljungcrantz's corner kick was headed in by Joon Karlsson. The goal sent the traveling support into raptures ("Vi e Kiruna, Kiruna FF, vi e tokiga som fan och fulla nu igen..."). I was feeling pretty rapturous myself, but of course it wouldn't be very professional for me to start singing. Robertsfors strove to silence the away end, and very nearly succeeded, but Axelsson made his second (and, as it turned out, final) save of the game. The home team, it seems, shot their wad early on, so to speak. All they could muster for the remainder of the half and even after the break was shots that went high or wide. As for us, Ljungcrantz and Bergström hooked up for another corner-kick goal at the end of the game, and we had ourselves a fine away victory over the first-placed team. Robertsfors 0-2 Kiruna (J. Karlsson, J. Bergström)

Marcus Lindmark broke his toe during the game. And the stupid kid didn't even come out, he just gritted his teeth and played the whole damn time, worsening the injury in the process. Count him out for three weeks.

Looking at the table, I felt like winning the division was far too much to ask, but we could maybe sneak into the bridesmaid's spot with a good run of form over our final five games.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Swedish Second Division NorthPos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Robertsfors 17 6 0 2 15 11 5 2 2 18 13 35 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Luleå Fotboll 17 4 1 3 13 12 5 3 1 25 15 31 3rd Östersunds FK 17 7 0 2 18 11 1 4 3 9 13 28 4th Boden 17 5 3 1 14 10 2 4 2 11 12 28 5th **Kiruna** 17 4 3 2 12 6 4 0 4 14 11 27 6th Friska Viljor 17 2 5 2 13 13 5 1 2 12 10 27 7th Söderhamn 17 2 2 4 14 14 5 1 3 16 12 24 8th Selånger 17 4 2 3 21 15 2 1 5 12 17 21 9th Skellefteå AIK 17 5 2 1 21 13 0 2 7 8 22 19 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10th IFK Holmsund 17 3 2 3 15 16 1 2 6 6 15 16 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11th IFK Luleå 17 1 2 6 6 14 2 2 4 8 12 13 12th Umedalen 17 2 3 3 11 13 0 3 6 9 21 12 </pre>

retired_srhrose17

This Halloween, let's dress up as an average football team! - October 2002

First game of October was on the sixth of the month, against Frisky Village or whatever they're called. Our fullbacks were a bit different this game, Ljungcrantz dropping back to the left side and young Mikael Holmgren coming in on the right.

Sunday 6 October, Friska Viljor (6th) vs. Kiruna (5th)
Holmgren... looked good. He picked up a couple of assists, both off of corners (scored by Marcus Jönsson and Hans Stridsman), and played well defensively, too. Even though our goals were sandwiched around one for Viljor, we felt pretty confident of the victory. Until, that is, Jens Ljungcrantz's knee gave out about an hour into the game. What is it with lefty loanies getting injured? Ljungcrantz had been just as good in defense as he was in midfield, and when Niklas Svanelöv came in for him our defense just looked a whole lot worse. Viljor proceeded to knock on the proverbial door several times before finally kicking the damn thing in during injury time with a free kick goal. Axelsson should maybe have saved it, but he'd saved other shots during the game that should've gone in, so we couldn't really blame him. And we did get a point, so we stayed above Viljor in the standings on goal differential. Friska Viljor 2-2 Kiruna (M. Jönsson, H. Stridsman)

Ljungcrantz's injury turned out to be strained ligaments, and he would, we hoped, be back in action in three weeks. That would make him available for our final two games in November. A little bit of Jens is better than no Jens at all, is what I've always said.

We had a couple of weeks off before the clash with Selånger. This gave Marcus Lindmark valuable time to recover, and he was back in the lineup on game day. Young forward Johan Stridsman also got a start in place of Joakim Gunillasson.

Sunday 20 October, Kiruna (4th) vs. Selånger (8th)
♪tweeeeeeeeeeeeeee♪ Gert Jönsson's whistle signalled kickoff. Pass, pass, pass, dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble cross shot GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLL It was the same guy who scored both of Selånger's goals in their previous game against us. Benny Mattsson. I didn't like that guy much. Mattsson had another chance shortly afterward that went just wide, and then finally we started attacking. Nils Johan Labba forced a nice double save from the visiting goalie, and we got a corner that came to nothing. Twenty-five minutes into the match, Selånger's goalie did us a favor by taking Marcus Jönsson's feet out from under him in the area. Jönsson sprang to his feet and drilled the penalty, knotting the game at one apiece. It wasn't long after that - maybe around the half-hour mark - that Jönsson got a cross in to Super Jonas Axeldal's head. Goal! 2-1. Axeldal was heavily involved in the next major event of the match, too. Labba sent a high ball in that Axeldal headed towards goal, but it was saved and deflected to the right side of the penalty area. Marcus Lindmark was right there and alertly poked it in, extending the lead to two. We kept getting chances all through the second half, but the only other goal of the game was scored by - yep - Mattsson, bringing his tally to four goals against us in two games. Ugh. Eight goals he had, and half of 'em against us. Kiruna 3-2 Selånger (M. Jönsson pen, J. Axeldal, M. Lindmark)

Last game of October was another of the Luleå "nearby rival" games, this one against the Fotboll team rather than the IFK. It was another Stridsman-Axeldal pairing in attack, and the rest of the lineup didn't contain any surprises, either. Kind of an important game for our hopes of a top-three finish, given that Luleå were second with 34 points and we were fourth with 31.

Sunday 27 October, Luleå Fotboll (2nd) vs. Kiruna (4th)
A poor start from us saw the home team hold the vast majority of possession early on, with Kiruna's only shot being a long-range Johan Bergström blast that went well over. Luleå got their first goal after a corner. They didn't score off of the initial kick, but kept the pressure up and eventually got a ball chipped into the box and headed in. Down 0-1, I urged the lads on to greater efforts, but the only other opportunity we could scrounge up in the first half was another poorly-placed long shot, this time from Marcus Jönsson. After the break, Hans Stridsman singlehandedly stopped two dangerous Luleå attacks and then gave Jönsson the opportunity to set up Axeldal for a header that went just over. Kiruna were slowly imposing themselves on the game, but nothing seemed to be coming out of it. Joakim Gunillasson came on for Johan Stridsman midway through the second half, and it was he who finally got Kiruna on the scoreboard, scoring a beautiful shot after a Johan Bergström cross 84 minutes into the match. Good stuff! Hans Stridsman again loomed large in fending off Luleå advances late on, and it looked as though both teams would have to settle for a point. Which would really do neither side any good, since Luleå needed to charge hard to catch up to Robertsfors, and we needed to win to catch up to Luleå. Anyway, it turned out not to be an issue when Nils Johan Labba foolishly held back a Luleå player in the area. Labba was sent off, a penalty was awarded, the home team scored, and we lost. Luleå Fotboll 2-1 Kiruna (J. Gunillasson)

And thus ended the only October 2002 that the world would ever see. Sad, in a way.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Swedish Second Division NorthPos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Robertsfors 20 6 1 2 17 13 6 2 3 20 14 39 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Luleå Fotboll 20 6 1 3 18 14 5 3 2 25 17 37 3rd Boden 20 6 3 1 17 12 3 4 3 15 16 34 4th Östersunds FK 20 8 0 2 20 11 1 6 3 15 19 33 5th **Kiruna** 20 5 3 2 15 8 4 1 5 17 15 31 6th Friska Viljor 20 2 6 2 15 15 5 2 3 14 13 29 7th Söderhamn 20 2 3 5 17 18 5 1 4 18 15 25 8th Selånger 20 5 3 3 25 18 2 1 6 14 20 25 9th Skellefteå AIK 20 7 2 1 25 13 0 2 8 9 24 25 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10th IFK Luleå 20 2 2 6 7 14 3 2 5 11 15 19 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11th IFK Holmsund 20 4 2 4 18 20 1 2 7 6 18 19 12th Pl Umedalen 20 3 3 4 14 17 0 3 7 9 22 15 </pre>

retired_srhrose17

Tying up the loose ends – November 2002

Just two games this month, and as the table shows, we had little hope of getting even as high as third. All we could do was play the games and see what happened, though, and so that’s what we planned to do. I welcomed back Jens Ljungcrantz to the lineup at fullback for our last home game of the season. He was a difference-maker, that boy. Maybe if Norrby had kept him around, they wouldn’t have been staring relegation in the face. Sucks for them.

Sunday 2 November, Kiruna (5th) vs. Söderhamn (7th)
Söderhamn tried to fool everyone into thinking that they were better than us by getting the first shot of the game. It got saved, and then we proceeded to prove that we were, in fact, the superior team. Mostly it was Jens Ljungcrantz doing the proving. Little Jens was just generally making a pest of himself all the way up and down the left side of the field. Just inspiring to watch. But he wasn’t actually involved in Kiruna’s first goal, oddly enough – that was Johan Bergström setting up young Johan Stridsman for his first-ever senior goal. The second one, though, was another Ljungcrantz corner kick. Dude must have been the best corner-taker in Swedish history. Anyway, Johan Stridsman was the beneficiary of the fine kick this time around and put us ahead by two. That goal turned out to be key since Söderhamn pulled one back shortly after, but couldn’t pick up the vital second. Man of the Match? Jens Ljungcrantz. Kiruna 2-1 Söderhamn (J. Stridsman 2)

We passed up Boden on goal differential with the win to move up to fourth. Luleå Fotboll and Östersunds FK could both be caught if we won and they both lost, so second was the best we could hope for. On the flip side, if Boden and Friska Viljor won and we lost, we could drop as low as sixth.

Sunday 9 November, Umedalen (12th) vs. Kiruna (4th)
Boden and Friska Viljor’s results became irrelevant very quickly. Johan Stridsman opened the scoring on seven minutes, and Hans Stridsman tacked on another before halftime, assisted by Super Jonas Axeldal. Umedalen got one back after the break, but that was a proverbial twig against the tide. Johan Stridsman picked up his second on Axeldal’s second assist, and Super Jonas punctuated a good season for Kiruna FF with his 10th goal of the season, assisted by Johan Bergström. Umedalen 1-4 Kiruna (J. Stridsman 2, H. Stridsman, J. Axeldal)

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Swedish Second Division NorthPos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Pl Robertsfors 22 8 1 2 23 14 6 2 3 20 14 45 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Luleå Fotboll 22 7 1 3 22 14 5 3 3 26 20 40 3rd Östersunds FK 22 9 0 2 22 12 2 6 3 18 19 39 4th **Kiruna** 22 6 3 2 17 9 5 1 5 21 16 37 5th Boden 22 6 3 2 17 13 4 4 3 17 17 37 6th Friska Viljor 22 3 6 2 18 16 6 2 3 16 13 35 7th Skellefteå AIK 22 7 2 2 26 15 1 2 8 11 25 28 8th Söderhamn 22 2 3 6 17 20 5 1 5 19 17 25 9th Selånger 22 5 3 3 25 18 2 1 8 15 27 25 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10th Pl IFK Holmsund 22 4 2 5 18 23 2 2 7 7 18 22 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11th R IFK Luleå 22 2 2 7 8 16 3 2 6 11 18 19 12th R Umedalen 22 3 3 5 15 21 0 3 8 10 24 15 </pre>

That’s how it looked at season’s end. Robertsfors would go into the playoffs against the West Svealand group winner, and IFK Holmsund would take on non-league Luleå SK in an effort to stay up in the Second Division. Turns out both Robertsfors and IFK Holmsund lost. So despite IFK Luleå’s relegation, that particular town would remain well-represented in the Swedish Second Division North.

By the end of the season, this was Kiruna FF’s squad list, stats, and fixtures. Please note Jens Ljungcrantz’s final statistics: 5 games, 1 goal, 4 assists, 3 Man of the Match awards, 8.60 average rating. What an excellent scouting and management team Kiruna must have had!

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ================================================== ============================================== Squad============================================= ================================================== =No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asp, Pär AM/F C SWE 2.1.82 20 - - 1,3|TKr 11.11.02 0|:- - Asp, Peter S C SWE 18.8.77 25 - - 1,7|TKr 7.11.04 140|TKr - Axeldal, Jonas F C SWE 2.9.70 32 - - 2|TKr 14.11.03 400|TKr - Axelsson, Robert GK SWE 16.3.75 27 - - 0|:- 17.11.02 180|TKr - Bergström, Bertil AM/F R SWE 20.4.85 17 - - 1,3|TKr 1.11.03 60|TKr - Bergström, Johan D/M R SWE 19.9.83 19 - - 2,3|TKr 1.11.06 350|TKr - Gabrielsson, Magnus AM C SWE 6.7.85 17 - - 750|:- 28.11.03 60|TKr - Gunillasson, Joakim S C SWE 10.11.77 25 - - 2,5|TKr 15.11.04 200|TKr - Hannu, Johan DM C SWE 10.3.72 30 - - 650|:- 8.11.04 40|TKr - Harju, Stefan D LC SWE 6.3.72 30 - - 700|:- 5.11.03 50|TKr - Holmgren, Mikael D R SWE 23.11.84 17 - - 850|:- 28.11.03 30|TKr - Johansson, Fredrik AM R SWE 24.1.70 32 - - 2|TKr 15.11.03 50|TKr - Jönsson, Marcus M LC SWE 15.10.78 24 - - 2|TKr 18.11.05 300|TKr - Karlsson, Joon D/M C SWE 1.9.80 22 - - 2|TKr 5.11.05 350|TKr - Kero, Jon D C SWE 9.3.78 24 - - 650|:- 27.11.05 60|TKr - Laaksonen, Hans AM/F C SWE 5.7.75 27 - - 900|:- 25.11.04 40|TKr - Labba, Nils Johan M C SWE 5.11.84 18 - - 2,2|TKr 11.11.05 350|TKr - Lantto, Erik AM C SWE 10.3.80 22 - - 2,75|TKr 2.11.04 650|TKr - Lindgren, Tomas S C SWE 6.1.74 28 - - 1|TKr 14.11.07 300|TKr - Lindmark, Marcus D R SWE 12.5.83 19 - - 2,1|TKr 2.11.05 280|TKr - Ljungcrantz, Jens D/M L SWE 23.7.82 20 - - 0|:- 10.11.02 300|TKr - Malmbring, Niklas S C SWE 6.7.80 22 - - 2,5|TKr 13.11.04 500|TKr - Niemälä, Lars-Göran GK SWE 18.1.74 28 - - 650|:- 3.11.04 40|TKr - Oja, Magnus D RLC SWE 27.3.63 39 - - 1|TKr 5.11.06 60|TKr - Ökvist, Lars M C SWE 11.3.83 19 - - 650|:- 12.11.04 40|TKr - Olofsson, Mattias D C SWE 26.1.80 22 - - 750|:- 13.11.05 60|TKr - Rønning, Magnus SW/D C NOR 19.11.82 19 - - 1,3|TKr 19.11.03 120|TKr - Samuelsson, Göran D C SWE 7.11.83 19 - - 600|:- 10.11.03 80|TKr - Skånberg, Mattias M C SWE 2.2.78 24 - - 2,75|TKr 15.11.02 0|:- - Stridsman, Hans DM C SWE 28.8.67 35 - - 1,8|TKr 7.11.06 60|TKr - Stridsman, Johan F C SWE 3.6.80 22 - - 650|:- 7.11.05 60|TKr - Stridsman, Tommy S C SWE 13.5.65 37 - - 3|TKr 13.11.06 60|TKr - Svanelöv, Niklas D/DM C SWE 17.9.80 22 - - 1,7|TKr 2.11.04 160|TKr - Vikeväinen, Mikko GK SWE 6.6.79 23 - - 1,2|TKr 25.11.06 200|TKr ================================================== ============================================== 2002 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asp, Pär 3 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 - Asp, Peter - - - - - - - - ---- - Axeldal, Jonas 20 (1) 10 0 0 2 1 0 5 7.57 - Axelsson, Robert 16 0 19 0 0 0 0 0 7.25 - Bergström, Bertil 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 - Bergström, Johan 22 4 0 0 5 0 0 0 6.68 - Gabrielsson, Magnus - - - - - - - - ---- - Gunillasson, Joakim 14 (4) 5 0 0 2 0 0 1 6.83 - Hannu, Johan - - - - - - - - ---- - Harju, Stefan 19 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 6.79 - Holmgren, Mikael 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.00 - Johansson, Fredrik 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 - Jönsson, Marcus 18 3 0 2 (1) 7 1 0 1 7.00 - Karlsson, Joon 13 (2) 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 6.60 - Kero, Jon 2 (1) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.00 - Laaksonen, Hans - - - - - - - - ---- - Labba, Nils Johan 8 (5) 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 6.62 - Lantto, Erik 16 (2) 1 0 0 3 2 0 1 6.72 - Lindgren, Tomas 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.00 - Lindmark, Marcus 22 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.36 - Ljungcrantz, Jens 5 1 0 0 4 0 0 3 8.60 - Malmbring, Niklas 3 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.75 - Niemälä, Lars-Göran - - - - - - - - ---- - Oja, Magnus 22 (2) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.83 - Ökvist, Lars 0 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 - Olofsson, Mattias 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.00 - Rønning, Magnus 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 - Samuelsson, Göran 1 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.67 - Skånberg, Mattias 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 - Stridsman, Hans 24 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 7.25 - Stridsman, Johan 6 (2) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.13 - Stridsman, Tommy 6 (3) 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 6.78 - Svanelöv, Niklas 8 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.64 - Vikeväinen, Mikko 9 0 14 0 0 0 0 1 7.22 ================================================== ============================================== 2002 Transfers========================================= ================================================== =====Date Player In From Fee-----------------------------------------------------------------------20.4.02 Jonas Axeldal Free Transfer Free 15.5.02 Göran Samuelsson Free Transfer Free 19.6.02 Robert Axelsson Sleipner Loan 24.6.02 Andreas Nilsson Västra Frölunda Loan 23.7.02 Andreas Nilsson Västra Frölunda Loan 23.8.02 Magnus Rønning Free Transfer Free 12.9.02 Jens Ljungcrantz Norrby Loan Date Player Out To Fee-----------------------------------------------------------------------1.11.02 Magnus Mäki Harrow Borough Bos ================================================== ============================================== 2002 Fixtures========================================== ================================================== ====Date Opposition Ven Competition Res Attend Scorers-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------24.3.02 Haparanda H Lombia Cup 1:0 388 Malmbring25.3.02 Gällivare H Lombia Cup 2:1 390 T.Stridsman 231.3.02 Dingle N Swedish Cup 4th Rnd 1:2 2844 Lantto7.4.02 IFK Holmsund A Second Division N 2:3 1124 T.Stridsman 214.4.02 Skellefteå AIK H Second Division N 2:0 778 H.Stridsman, Gunillasson21.4.02 IFK Luleå A Second Division N 1:0 731 Karlsson28.4.02 Boden H Second Division N 1:1 756 Lindmark5.5.02 Östersunds FK A Second Division N 1:2 780 M.Jönsson12.5.02 Robertsfors H Second Division N 2:3 1505 Axeldal, Lindmark19.5.02 Friska Viljor H Second Division N 0:1 1228 9.6.02 Selånger A Second Division N 0:2 771 21.7.02 Luleå Fotboll H Second Division N 0:0 757 28.7.02 Boden H Swedish Cup Grp 8 1st Rnd 3:2 933 H.Stridsman, Axeldal, Lindmark4.8.02 Söderhamn A Second Division N 5:1 2493 Axeldal 2, Karlsson, J.Bergström, Gunillasson11.8.02 Umedalen H Second Division N 3:1 1252 Axeldal 2, J.Bergström18.8.02 IFK Holmsund H Second Division N 2:0 1378 Gunillasson 225.8.02 Skellefteå AIK A Second Division N 2:1 879 Axeldal 228.8.02 GIF Sundsvall H Swedish Cup Grp 8 2nd Rnd 0:4 2176 1.9.02 IFK Luleå H Second Division N 0:0 1538 8.9.02 Boden A Second Division N 1:2 756 Oja15.9.02 Östersunds FK H Second Division N 2:0 1107 Ljungcrantz, J.Bergström22.9.02 Robertsfors A Second Division N 2:0 2562 J.Karlsson, J.Bergström6.10.02 Friska Viljor A Second Division N 2:2 1308 M.Jönsson, H.Stridsman20.10.02 Selånger H Second Division N 3:2 1298 Jönsson pen, Axeldal, Lindmark27.10.02 Luleå Fotboll A Second Division N 1:2 781 Gunillasson2.11.02 Söderhamn H Second Division N 2:1 844 J.Stridsman 210.11.02 Umedalen A Second Division N 4:1 1271 J.Stridsman 2, H.Stridsman, Axeldal</pre>

retired_srhrose17

Hot-stove league in a cold-ass region! – December 2002/January, February 2003

First things first: Jonas Axeldal was unsurprisingly voted Fans’ Player of the Year. Because of heavy pressure from my coaching staff, I did sign Pär Asp to a one-year contract extension. And financially, Kiruna operated at a loss of 1,836,310 SEK during fiscal year 2002, by which I mean January through December of 2002. Which dropped the club to over 4 million in the red overall. Not overly worrisome, but it was approaching a level at which we would need to be concerned. I suppose that financially, it was a good thing there were several contracts expiring after the 2003 season, but cutting players was always difficult for me. I wasn’t really looking forward to it.

Second things second: first offseason signing occurred on Christmas Eve.

Transfer in: D C Björn Andersson, SWE, 22, free transfer, 600 SEK p/w. Last club: IFÖ/Bromölla IF

Björn was a decent player who was on a non-league team last year and didn’t get to play much, so he was thrilled to death to sign a contract as a backup player at Kiruna. He’s a hard worker and I was sure that if he had to play, he’d do fine.

January was the really active month. Players that our scout had located before were coming out of contract, but most of the really juicy targets were staying with their clubs on rolling contracts, which of course necessitated compensation being paid to those clubs. Kiruna couldn’t afford that. And so… I waited. And waited. And whilst I waited, I signed up a couple of youth scout finds that were without teams.

Transfer in: S C Juha Tuominen, FIN, 19, free transfer, 1600 SEK p/w. Last club: none

Transfer in: D L Lars Larsen, DEN, 19, free transfer, 950 SEK p/w. Last club: none

Couple of pretty good prospects, those. Juha was a rapid, aggressive player who moved well away from the ball. I fully expected him to force his way into the first-team plans over the course of the ensuing season. Lars Larsen was a bit of a risk to sign, because when he came in on trial my coaches weren’t too impressed with him at all. I was taken with his incredible pace and fantastic skill on the ball. They were disgusted by his lack of any discernible defensive ability, despite the fact that he claimed to be a fullback. We compromised – I signed him for a year, cheap, to see if he’d make an impression. All of my coaches were certain it was a mistake.

Speaking of my coaches, Karl-johan Mäki had been my assistant all along, but I had three new ones – Hans and Tommy Stridsman and Magnus Oja, all of whom had retired from the playing staff during the offseason. Oja, in particular, had great potential as a teacher, and the Stridsmans were useful as well. It was a good, very loyal staff.

retired_srhrose17

Finally – finally – one of my real, majorly-coveted targets left his rolling contract and struck out on his own looking for a club. We were it.

Transfer in: D LC Robert Kjellin, SWE, 29, free transfer, 2750 SEK p/w. Last club: Malmö FF

Huge coup. Huge. Kjellin was the best player on Kiruna as soon as he signed the contract. I figured that he would play in the center of defense for two reasons: first, that was where we were weak, and second, he was right-footed despite officially being a left back. Oh, my goodness… I was so stoked about this signing. So many things had to go our way in order for us to get him. I mean, he accepted five or six contract offers from other teams while his contract with Malmö was rolling, but none of them could afford to pay the compensation and we swooped in faster than anyone else once his contract was out, locking him up until November 2005. I thanked Johan Petersen several times for locating him in the midst of his scouting. So stoked. Ahhhh!

There were four other players that were on rolling contracts that we hoped to get. By the beginning of March, only one had left his club, and I snapped him up forthwith.

Transfer in: D L Stefan Sjöbom, SWE, 29, free transfer, 1900 SEK p/w. Last club: Vallentuna BK

Stefan’s another reason why Kjellin wasn’t going to start at fullback. He’s not loads better than Harju, but he’s quicker and better going forward, and so I was anticipating that Sjöbom would be the starter for at least the beginning of the 2003 season. He was signed through November of 2004.

My other three rollin’ targets were a goalkeeper, Håkan Jensgård of Vasalund, defender Mathias Svensson of Hässleholm, and pacey attacker Johan Hellstein of Mörbylånga, who like Kjellin had accepted several contract offers which ended up being no-gos because of a lack of funds on the part of the offering club.

With new players coming in and the wage bill consequently rising, I had to make the difficult decision to transfer list some players. After consultation with Mäki, Oja, and the Stridsmans, five players were made available for purchase: Peter Asp, Johan Hannu, Jon Kero, Tomas Lindgren, and Lars Ökvist. That latter decision was particularly disappointing since Lars had looked so promising before the 2002 season, but poor work habits had seen him do nothing but regress in ability.

retired_srhrose17

No worries... the tide always drops before a tsunami hits... – March 2003

Early March was still preparatory for us as far as finalizing some transfers and nailing down a first-choice lineup before the Lombia Cup at the end of the month. The first newsworthy event of March was the signing of another youth player who’d impressed in a trial period with the club:

Transfer in: M C Kenneth Haglund, SWE, 17, free transfer, 700 SEK p/w. Last club: None

Haglund’s passing skills weren’t quite as refined as you’d want yet, but his fitness was impeccable, he was quite fast and he was generally considered to be a pretty good prospect.

One of our weaknesses that we still hadn’t overcome was the lack of depth (and quality, too) at goalkeeper. With Håkan Jensgård not looking like leaving Vasalund for free anytime soon, I needed to look elsewhere for help between the pipes. Fortunately, a slick bit of scouting in Norway located a fellow who could fill the role just fine, perhaps better than Jensgård:

Transfer in: GK Frode Henriksen, NOR, 18, free transfer, 1100 SEK p/w. Last club: None

Frode looked as though he was better than ostensible starter Mikko Vikeväinen. But that was just in training, and Mikko was more proven in game situations than Frode was. Tentatively, Vikeväinen was still going to go into the season as the starter, but Henriksen was right the hell behind him in case of any slip-ups.

There were a few players promoted from the youth setup over the course of the month. Sixteen-year-old D/DM C Kalle Oscarsson came up first, looked okay, and got a small two-year contract. D/AM LC David Danielsson, aged 17, came up next, looked okay, and got a small two-year contract. Patrick Strömberg, a D/DM C like Oscarsson, was promoted last and made me wish I hadn’t given Oscarsson a contract. Strömberg was better, and got a small two-year contract.

Precisely a week before the first game of the Lombia Cup, we took another trialist on board, Norwegian left winger Dagfinn Solbakken. He hung around just long enough to play in the first game of the tournament and, in fact, he scored in it. Wary of signing yet another player, I tried offering him a small contract, which he would have none of. He was very sure of himself for a 16-year-old kid. We let him go back to Norway.

Speaking of the Lombia Cup, there were a couple of vital pieces of information we garnered from the three games we played. In the first, a 4-3 victory over Luleå Fotboll, I discovered that Mikko Vikeväinen apparently didn’t particularly want to keep hold of his starting spot; he played very poorly. I also noticed with some satisfaction that Johan Bergström looked much improved from last year.

In our second game, a 2-0 triumph over newly-promoted Luleå SK, new defensive signing Björn Andersson, who had played well in the first game, proved once and for all that he deserved to start next to Robert Kjellin (who was captaining the side) in defense. Midfield signing Kenneth Haglund showed great skill and put me very much at ease about having signed him. And I was able to give my coaching staff a bit of an “I told you so” when Lars Larsen started at left-back and was one of the best players on the field. Pace and dribbling skill... devastating combination. And Frode Henriksen made a couple of fine saves in his push for a starting spot.

In the final game, a penalty-kick loss after a 2-2 draw with Boden, Haglund confirmed that his performance during the Luleå SK game was no fluke, and Magnus Rønning pushed for an important role in defense with a fine game. Frode Henriksen was less spectacular this day, but did make six saves during the game in addition to saving a penalty kick.

I scheduled one final friendly for the end of the month, against rivals Gällivare, mostly for the purpose of giving Mikko Vikeväinen one more shot to save his spot in the first eleven. He did not help his case; we lost 4-1. Mikko made four saves but certainly should not have let in four goals; we actually outshot Gällivare but our only goal was turned in by Juha Tuominen in the closing seconds of the game. Such was the nature of our rivalry with Gällivare that the board of directors made it a point to let me know that they weren’t happy with the result, despite the fact that it was a friendly. But it told me all I needed to know, and allowed me to set in stone my first-choice team for the beginning of the upcoming season:

GK Frode Henriksen
DL Stefan Sjöbom
DR Marcus Lindmark
DC Robert Kjellin (C)
DC Björn Andersson
ML Marcus Jönsson
MR Johan Bergström
MC Nils Johan Labba
MC Erik Lantto
FC Joakim Gunillasson
FC Jonas Axeldal

I even had an idea of what I wanted my bench to look like:

GK Mikko Vikeväinen
SW/D C Magnus Rønning
D LC Stefan Harju
AM/F C Pär Asp
S C Juha Tuominen

A good mix of experience and youth, I thought. Perhaps Kiruna were not good enough to win the division, but were certainly a team not to be taken lightly.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ================================================== ============================================== Squad============================================= ================================================== =No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Andersson, Björn D C SWE 11.3.80 23 - - 600|:- 19.11.03 30|TKr - Asp, Pär AM/F C SWE 2.1.82 21 - - 1,7|TKr 4.11.03 90|TKr - Asp, Peter S C SWE 18.8.77 25 - - 1,7|TKr 7.11.04 120|TKr - Axeldal, Jonas F C SWE 2.9.70 32 - - 2|TKr 14.11.03 350|TKr - Bergström, Bertil AM/F R SWE 20.4.85 17 - - 1,3|TKr 1.11.03 30|TKr - Bergström, Johan D/M R SWE 19.9.83 19 - - 2,3|TKr 5.11.06 400|TKr - Danielsson, David D/AM LC SWE 28.4.85 17 - - 750|:- 20.11.04 40|TKr - Gabrielsson, Magnus AM C SWE 6.7.85 17 - - 750|:- 28.11.03 40|TKr - Gunillasson, Joakim S C SWE 10.11.77 25 - - 2,5|TKr 15.11.04 200|TKr - Haglund, Kenneth M C SWE 24.7.85 17 - - 700|:- 25.11.03 70|TKr - Hannu, Johan DM C SWE 10.3.72 31 - - 650|:- 8.11.04 40|TKr - Harju, Stefan D LC SWE 6.3.72 31 - - 700|:- 5.11.03 40|TKr - Henriksen, Frode GK NOR 7.2.85 18 - - 1,1|TKr 5.11.03 20|TKr - Holmgren, Mikael D R SWE 23.11.84 18 - - 850|:- 28.11.03 20|TKr - Johansson, Fredrik AM R SWE 24.1.70 33 - - 2|TKr 15.11.03 20|TKr - Jönsson, Marcus M LC SWE 15.10.78 24 - - 2|TKr 18.11.05 350|TKr - Karlsson, Joon D/M C SWE 1.9.80 22 - - 2|TKr 5.11.05 350|TKr - Kero, Jon D C SWE 9.3.78 25 - - 650|:- 27.11.05 50|TKr - Kjellin, Robert D LC SWE 11.3.73 30 - - 2,75|TKr 18.11.05 600|TKr - Laaksonen, Hans AM/F C SWE 5.7.75 27 - - 900|:- 25.11.04 40|TKr - Labba, Nils Johan M C SWE 5.11.84 18 - - 2,2|TKr 8.11.05 400|TKr - Lantto, Erik AM C SWE 10.3.80 23 - - 2,75|TKr 24.11.05 550|TKr - Larsen, Lars D L DEN 20.1.83 20 - - 950|:- 4.11.03 20|TKr - Lindgren, Tomas S C SWE 6.1.74 29 - - 1|TKr 14.11.07 300|TKr - Lindmark, Marcus D R SWE 12.5.83 19 - - 2,1|TKr 2.11.05 280|TKr - Malmbring, Niklas S C SWE 6.7.80 22 - - 2,5|TKr 13.11.04 400|TKr - Niemälä, Lars-Göran GK SWE 18.1.74 29 - - 650|:- 3.11.04 40|TKr - Ökvist, Lars M C SWE 11.3.83 20 - - 650|:- 12.11.04 40|TKr - Olofsson, Mattias D C SWE 26.1.80 23 - - 750|:- 13.11.05 50|TKr - Oscarsson, Kalle D/DM C SWE 27.6.86 16 - - 750|:- 5.11.04 80|TKr - Rønning, Magnus SW/D C NOR 19.11.82 20 - - 1,3|TKr 19.11.03 80|TKr - Samuelsson, Göran D C SWE 7.11.83 19 - - 600|:- 10.11.03 50|TKr - Sjöbom, Stefan D L SWE 31.10.73 29 - - 1,9|TKr 6.11.04 200|TKr - Stridsman, Johan F C SWE 3.6.80 22 - - 650|:- 7.11.05 60|TKr - Strömberg, Patrik D/DM C SWE 28.4.86 16 - - 750|:- 24.11.04 50|TKr - Svanelöv, Niklas D/DM C SWE 17.9.80 22 - - 1,7|TKr 2.11.04 160|TKr - Tuominen, Juha S C FIN 16.10.83 19 - - 1,6|TKr 2.11.03 260|TKr - Vikeväinen, Mikko GK SWE 6.6.79 23 - - 1,3|TKr 2.11.06 180|TKr ================================================== ============================================== 2003 Transfers========================================= ================================================== =====Date Player In From Fee-----------------------------------------------------------------------1.1.03 Martin Engström (scout) Free Transfer Free7.1.03 Juha Tuominen Free Transfer Free 8.1.03 Lars Larsen Free Transfer Free 24.1.03 Robert Kjellin Free Transfer Free 7.2.03 Rickard Granberg (scout) Free Transfer Free 11.2.03 Stefan Sjöbom Free Transfer Free 2.3.03 Kenneth Haglund Free Transfer Free 9.3.03 Frode Henriksen Free Transfer Free Date Player Out To Fee-----------------------------------------------------------------------None============================================== ================================================== 2003 Fixtures========================================== ================================================== ====Date Opposition Ven Competition Res Attend Scorers-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------21.3.03 Luleå Fotboll H Lombia Cup 4:3 323 Axeldal, J.Bergström, Lindmark, Solbakken22.3.03 Luleå SK H Lombia Cup 2:0 351 Lantto, Kjellin23.3.03 Boden H Lombia Cup 2:2 320 Gunillasson, J.Bergström30.3.03 Gällivare H Friendly 1:4 182 Tuominen</pre>

retired_srhrose17

Up, Up, Down, Down (Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start?) – April 2003

The Swedish Second Division North looked considerably different from last season. After winning the group last year, Robertsfors did not win in the playoffs and were moved to the South Gotaland region (???). So were Friska Viljor. Aspeboda and Anundsjö promoted from the fourth level, as did Heden, a club near us.

The alphabetical table pre-season was like so:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Swedish Second Division NorthPos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Anundsjö 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Aspeboda 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd Boden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4th Gefle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5th Heden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6th Kiruna 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7th Luleå Fotboll 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8th Luleå SK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th Östersunds FK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10th Selånger 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11th Söderhamn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12th Skellefteå AIK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 </pre>

We were given a tough row to hoe at the beginning of the season; our first game was at home against just-relegated Gefle, who should not, judging by the talent that they still possessed, have succumbed to the drop. The scouting report we got on them singled out Johan Berg as a dangerous striker but somewhat pessimistically noted that they had very few weaknesses as a team. We’d have no excuses if we lost, either, since my entire first-choice squad was available with the exception of substitute Magnus Rønning, who’d injured himself in training. Niklas Svanelöv took his spot on the bench.

Sunday 6 April, Kiruna vs. Gefle
It wasn’t my intent to do so, but Kiruna started out this game very tentatively, whereas Gefle looked smooth and confident right from the opening kickoff. Frode Henriksen was called upon to make two saves early on, and the pressure on the Kiruna defense was constant. It gave out right on the half-hour mark, when the Gefle right winger put in a low cross for one of their strikers, Ytterbom, who didn’t miss. Our first chance came in the second half, when Björn Andersson headed over the bar from a corner. Johan Bergström and Joakim Gunillasson were both denied as Kiruna began to assert themselves, and late in the game Jonas Axeldal’s diving header went wide. In a last throw of the dice I sent on Juha Tuominen for Axeldal and Pär Asp for Nils Johan Labba. Asp effectively ended any chance we had of equalizing when he was sent off for landing an unprovoked left hook on a Gefle midfielder. Kiruna 0-1 Gefle

In addition to the automatic one-match ban for receiving a red card, Asp was banned by the Swedish FA for eight matches for his violent conduct as well as fined a week’s wages by me. As far as I was concerned, he’d just blown his chance for a new contract come November. I was sure my coaches would lobby on his behalf, but there was just no excuse for punching an opponent in my book.

Remember Dagfinn Solbakken? That Norwegian winger who scored in his only game here? Once I realized that I effectively had no backup for Marcus Jönsson, Solbakken was the first person I wanted to pick up. He was slightly miffed about having traveled across to Sweden and then back to Norway, only to be summoned back east again, but the contract I offered him pacified him somewhat.

Transfer in: AM L Dagfinn Solbakken, NOR, 16, free transfer, 1500 SEK p/w. Last club: None

Dagfinn went straight to the substitutes’ bench for our second league game away to Söderhamn.

Sunday 13 April, Söderhamn (5th) vs. Kiruna (11th)
The book on Söderhamn was that they were only a decent team that featured one major threat – George Bcheri. He wasn’t involved in Söderhamn’s first attack, though, one which culminated in a blast toward Frode Henriksen’s top corner that the young Norwegian did well to turn away. Kiruna mounted a quick counter-attack and it came good when Marcus Lindmark’s low cross was hammered in by Marcus Jönsson to give us an early lead. Shortly afterward, Bcheri showed why he was considered one of the most dangerous strikers in the Second Division, intercepting a wayward pass in our defensive third and thumping one into the back of the Kiruna net. With the scores level once again, the game settled down somewhat. For about fifteen minutes. After which Johan Bergström went off on a run down the right flank and squared the ball for Erik Lantto, who scored easily. On Kiruna’s next attack, Lantto took his turn as the creator, lofting a ball for Jonas Axeldal to head in. Benny Dahlin grabbed one back for Söderhamn after halftime, but Robert Kjellin scored his first goal for Kiruna and Gunillasson rounded out the scoring late in the game to finish off the rout. Söderhamn 2-5 Kiruna (M. Jönsson, E. Lantto, J. Axeldal, R. Kjellin, J. Gunillasson)