Vimmerby

Ground: Skobes Arena

Visits: 1

Date: 1st June 2014

Match: Vimmerby - FC Rosengård 0-1 (Division 2 Östra Götaland)

Attendance: 433

I visited Vimmerby in 2010 for the top of the table clash against Motala AIF. That match was played at Vimarvallen but in time for the 2014 season Vimmerby IF moved to the newly built Skobes Arena. Since I want to complete Division 2 Östra Götaland this season I decided to yet again travel to the town where Astrid Lindgren was born to watch football. Astrid Lindgren is of course the author of Pippi Långstrump and Emil i Lönneberga (among others) and in Vimmerby you can visit Astrid Lindgrens Värld (The World of Astrid Lindgren), a children´s holiday park. The local football team is not yet as famous as Astrid Lindgren but still have decent attendances. Vimmerby is around 250 km from Kristianstad and the drive took me around 3 hours 15 min. The weather this Sunday afternoon was really nice and certainly much warmer than at my previous match (in Asarum five days ago). As I parked my car I realized the Skobes Arena complex was not yet ready. The football pitch was of course ready but still some building works in the surrounding areas. Once inside I was a bit disappointed, the ground felt sterile and not as I had hoped for. The only proper stand was in the east side of the ground and on this side there is also a grass hill providing a good view fo the match.

FC Rosengård are managed by former Malmö FF player Hasse Mattisson and before this match they were top of the table, four points ahead of Höllviken. Rosengård started the match looking the better team but Vimmerby created some chances as well and should have taken the lead. No goals in the first half though. The second half was even but Rosengård scored in the 59th minute to take the lead. Vimmerby then tried everything to find an equalizer but the Rosengård defence was very strong. In the 81st minute a Vimmerby player fell to the ground and it was obvious this was a bad injury. Play was halted and after a few minutes I heard people calling for an ambulance. Apparently the player was unconscious after clashing heads with a Rosengård player. No ambulance available in Vimmerby but after a while the ambulance, from nearby Västervik, arrived. In total the match was halted for 23 minutes but at least the player had regained conscious. The match then continued but no more goals and in the 117th minute the referee could finally blew the final whistle. 1-0 to Rosengård who are now seven points clear at the top of the table.

Pictures from Vimmerby´s old ground can be found at: Vimarvallen

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