Spjutstorp

Ground: Bäckavallen

Visits: 1

Date: 22nd October 2022

Match: Spjutstorp - Alegria 2-2 (Play-off to division 5)

Attendance: 120

22 October is my birthday and what better way to celebrate than going to a decisive play-off game. Last weekend Alegria, from Landskrona, beat Spjutstorp 3-1 in the 1st leg of the play-offs to division 5. This time of the year lots of games are moved to artificial pitches but Spjutstorp announced they would play at Bäckavallen in Spjutstorp, the ground where they normally play. From where I live it takes just under an hour by car to reach Spjutstorp and today is actually the first time ever I visit the village with a population of around 200. Once I had parked my car I was positively surprised by the ground. The far (south) side has a covered wooden stand and the ground is really nice. It would not look out of order in division 2! To save the pitch warm-up was on the nearby practise pitch but the main pitch looked alright and held up well during the game.

Spjutstorp needed to score goals today and in the 12th minute it was indeed 1-0. 10 minutes later Alegria equalised and were by now 4-2 up on aggregate. Alegria had a few chances to score again but after a corner in the 41st minute Spjutstorp were back in the lead, 2-1 at half-time. This is the last weekend of football in the lower leagues and the 2nd half at Bäckavallen could be my last taste of domestic football in 2022. At least I had an interesting 45 minutes ahead of me! Spjutstorp hit the bar and missed a few other great chances but failed to find another goal. Instead Alegria counter-attacked and in stoppage time they scored, from the penalty spot, to make it 2-2 (5-3 on aggregate). Drama on the pitch and unfortunately emotions were running high in the clubhouse area as well. One of the Alegria substitutes were goading home fans who reacted with “strong” words. A few supporters of Alegria confronted the home fans and the exchanges became louder and louder. Suddenly punches were thrown and I would describe it as a proper brawl with fist fights. Players from both teams came running towards the incident, which occured 3 m from where I was, and after a few minutes it was relatively calm again. As I left the ground Alegria players and fans were celebrating and I hope the troubles were over. Spjutstorp must be bitterly disappointed to be relegated but there is actually a chance of an extra qualifying round. It depends on the number of teams from Skåne being relegated/promoted from/to Division 3.

View of Bäckavallen

East End

South side

South Stand

A closer look...

West End

North side

Kick-off

View of play

Bäckavallen

South Stand

North side