Ground: Rosengårds Idrottsplats

Visits: 2 (1 for a Balkan match)

Date: 1st June 2018

Match: FBK Balkan - Kulladals FF  0-1  (Division 3 Södra Götaland)

Attendance: 120

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In October 2008 I visited Rosengårds IP for MABI (later renamed FC Rosengård) v Öster in Division 1 Södra. Last year FBK Balkan were promoted from Division 4 to Division 3 and with Balkan also playing at Rosengårds IP I decided to revisit this ground in 2018. Rosengård is of course the part of Malmö where Zlatan Ibrahimovic grew up and before joining Malmö FF Zlatan played a few seasons for Balkan youth teams. FBK Balkan was founded in 1962 by Yugoslav immigrants and Rosengård is an area of Malmö with a very large immigrant community. From Kristianstad it takes around 70 minutes to drive to Rosengård and with a 19.00 kick-off time on Friday evening I was in no rush as I left work on Friday afternoon. As has been the case recently the weather was very nice and as I parked outside the ground my car showed 25 degrees. Conditions were more Balkan than Sweden!

I took a few pictures before heading towards the food and drink area. The (large) hot dogs at Rosengårds IP are supposed to be very spicey and I can confirm this is still the case. I took shelter in the shadow before finding a seat in the top row of the South Stand. From my seat I had a good view of the action and in the first half Balkan had most of the good chances but once inside the penalty box they were ineffective. In the second half Balkan were rewarded a penalty but that was blasted over the crossbar. 10 minutes or so after the missed penalty I thought Balkan had another chance to take the lead from the penalty spot. No penalty given though, instead it was a yellow card for diving. This incident enraged the home fans at Rosengårds IP and a few mistakes later I could hear someone shout “You are not going home tonight” at the referee. When Kulladal, 7 minutes from the end, scored from the penalty spot feelings among some home fans were running high. Kulladal could hold on to the three points and are now top of the table. As I left the ground I could see four or five fans approach the referee and standing less than a meter from him they applauded sarcastically and said “Good match, good match”. The referees made it back to the dressing room unhurt though. Brovallen in Bunkeflostrand is now me only remaining ground in this league and in late June I hope to tick off that one as well.

North Stand

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North Stand​

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North Stand​

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East End​

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South Stand​

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South Stand​

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South Stand​

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VIP-section​

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West End​

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Kick-off​

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North Stand​

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View of Rosengårds IP

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View of play​

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South Stand​

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South Stand​

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View of play​

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Penalty, Balkan​

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Pano​

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Pano​