Gunnilse IS

Ground: Hjällbovallen

Visits: 1

Date: 1st June 2012

Match: Gunnilse - Lindome 1-2 (Division 2 Västra Götaland)

Attendance: 150

In my bid to visit every ground in the top three divisions in Sweden I decided to visit Tingvalla IP in Karlstad the first weekend of June. Since Karlstad is around 6,5 hours by car from where I live I wanted to visit at least one more match this weekend. Gunnilse are based in Angered, a northern suburb to Gothenburg, and they currently play in Division 2 Västra Götaland. On Friday evening they hosted another Gothenburg club, Lindome. With Gothenburg being the half-way point to Karlstad this was a perfect match for me. It took me around three hours to drive to Hjällbovallen, the home of Gunnilse, and I arrived shortly before 6pm. Hjällbovallen is part of quite a big football complex run by Gunnilse IS. Angered has a huge immigrant population and it was obvious what a great and important work a club like Gunnilse are doing for kids in this area.

Hjällbovallen has a main stand with around 500 covered seats and a small wooden terrace next to it. Apart from these stands there are a few steps of terracing behind the goal at the west end. The other two sides are open. Lindome had around 30 fans at Hjällbovallen this evening but it was the home fans who could celebrate the first goal. It was then 1-1 at half-time. In the second half both teams had chances to score but it was Lindome who scored the goal and it finished 2-1 to the visitors. I had a nice evening at Hjällbovallen. The weather was much better than forecasted and I was also warmly greeted as I was taking pictures before the match. Two of the ball boys asked me to take a picture of them and when I explained why I was at Hjällbovallen they said "You are always welcome here". At how many grounds do you get a reception like that?!

gunnilse is