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Ohtana/Pajala (Byavallen)

Ground: Byavallen

Visits: 2

 

Date: 26th June 2015

Match: Ohtana/Aapua - Hemmingsmark  1-2  (Division 3 Norra Norrland)

Attendance: 100

 

Date: 26th June 2015

Match: Pajala Ohtana/Aapua 2 - Pol/Svanstein  1-3  (Division 5 Norra Norrbotten)

Attendance: 50

In 2021 the club changed its name to Ohtana/Pajala

 

On Friday morning I woke up in Pajala in the very north of Sweden. Pajala is a town (village?) with a population of around 2 000. It is situated 220 km north of Luleå and 200 km southeast of Kiruna. From Kristianstad, where I live, it is 1 650 km to Pajala. As soon as the Piteå vs Luleå derby in Division 1 Norra was confirmed for Thursday evening I looked at other fixtures in northern Sweden. I wanted a match north of the Arctic Circle and I was more than pleased to find out Ohtana/Aapua vs Hemmingsmark would be played at Byavallen in Aapua. This "ground" is north of the Arctic Circle and is one of the most northern (natural) grass pitches in Sweden. The club Ohtana/Aapua was formed in 1998 as a merger between Ohtanajärvi and Aapua. The two villages have a combined population of less than 200 and most of the players live in Pajala. After a late breakfast one of Leif´s friend showed up for coffee, that was Per-Erik from Tärendö. Tärendö is a small village 40 km west of Pajala and is famous for being the place where Charlotte Kalla grew up. Charlotte has won five Olympic medals (2 golds and 3 silvers) as well as nine World Championship medals (2 golds, 4 silvers and 3 bronze´s) in cross country skiing and is Sweden´s most celebrated female athlete at the moment. Per-Erik is Charlotte´s father. Later in the afternoon Leif drove me to Tärendö where we had a look at the (now closed) football ground as well as the statue of Charlotte Kalla before having coffee with some other friends.

 

Ohtana/Aapua played Hemmingsmark in Division 3 Norra Norrland at 19.30 this Friday evening and at 21.30 Pajala Ohtana/Aapua 2 played Pol/Svanstein in division 5 Norra Norrbotten. That meant two matches for me at Byavallen. Leif is manager of Pajala Ohtana/Aapua 2 and this is the first time I travel with the manager to a ground. Aapua is 80 km from Pajala so a long way for the players to this home game. Before this match Ohtana/Aapua were 5th and Hemmingsmark 9th in the table. 0-0 at half-time and despite several chances it was still 0-0 after 80 minutes. A missed cross turned out to be a perfect shot, 1-0 to Ohtana/Aapua in the 82nd minute. A minute later Hemmingsmark equalized and the visitors then scored again to win 2-1. Another winner this evening was actually myself. At half-time there was a penalty shoot-out between the two winners of the matchday programme draw. Three penalties each and I won 2-1. My prize was a set of tools (see picture below).

 

The second match of the day started at 21.30 and after 40 minutes the home team manager (Leif!) was sent to the stands (or more literally, into the forest) for standing on the pitch. First time this happened to him and without their manager Pajala Ohtana/Aapua 2 lost 3-1 against Pol/Svanstein. The match finished around 23.30 but still very bright outside. It had been cloudy for most of the evening but on our way back to Pajala the sun finally appeared. It really was fascinating to experience proper midnight sun and this alone was almost worth the money spent on this tour. The midnight sun is visible/possible for around 30 days in Pajala. Around 1am I went to bed. 2,5 hours later I was woke up in the most dramatic of circumstances. The house had been set on fire by a local gangster and this was to be the most dramatic moments of my life. More about this in the report from the Bergnäset vs Gällivare/Malmberget match.

 

arctic circle

Arctic Circle

 

arctic circle2

Arctic Circle (pictures taken 23.51)

 

Pictures from Tärendö

charlotte kalla, staty

Statue of Charlotte Kalla

 

kalix älv

Kalix Älv

 

kalix älv1

Kalix Älv

 

kalix älv2

Kalix Älv

 

tärendö bifurcation

Tärendö bifurcation

 

Pictures from Byavallen in Aapua

welcome to aapua

Welcome to Aapua

 

north end

North End

 

east side

East side

 

clock

Clock

 

dug-out

Dug-out

 

old goals

Old goals

 

south end

South End

 

west side

West side

 

Pictures from Ohtana/Aapua vs Hemmingsmark

referees

Referees

 

camera man

Camera man

 

avspark

Kick-off

 

byavallen, vy

View of Byavallen

 

spelbild2

View of play

 

spelbild1

View of play

 

spelbild3

View of play

 

spelbild

View of play

 

west side

West side

 

west side1

West side

 

west side2

West side

 

windmills

Windmills

 

tools

My prize for winning the half-time penalty shoot-out!

 

pano, byavallen2

Pano

 

pano, byavallen6

Pano

 

Pictures from Pajala Ohtana/Aapua 2 vs Pol/Svanstein

dressing room

Strange looking dressing room

 

avspark

Kick-off

 

spelbild

View of play

 

spelbild2

View of play

 

spelbild3

View of play

 

spelbild4

View of play

 

west side2

West side

 

referees

After the match

 

pano, byavallen1

Pano

 

pano, byavallen3

Pano

 

midnight sun

Midnight sun

 

midnight sun2

Midnight sun

 

The two pictures above were taken around midnight.

It was however much brighter than it might seem looking at the pictures.