Piteå

Ground: LF Arena

Visits: 1

Date: 25th June 2015

Match: Piteå - IFK Luleå 1-2 (Division 1 Norra)

Attendance: 2 957

The match I built this tour around was the Norrbotten derby in Division 1 Norra between Piteå IF and IFK Luleå. Piteå IF won Division 2 Norrland last year and with Piteå only being 50 km south of Luleå the derby was the game I aimed for and I wanted the derby to be played in the summer. Piteå is 1 350 km from where I live so I had to go in the summer. Every year Piteå host Piteå Summer Games, a youth tournament with around 800 teams. The club requested to have the derby during Piteå Summer Games and to my delight that wish was fulfilled. At 09.05 on Thursday morning my flight left Arlanda airport and at 10.30 I was at Kallax airport in Luleå. For this match I would be joined by Leif Pekkari from Pajala. In the afternoon he picked me up at the airport and we then travelled to Piteå. I was hoping for a bumper crowd but unfortunately it was raining in Piteå and more rain was forecasted for the evening. Anyway, Leif and I had something to eat and drink before heading towards LF Arena, the home of Piteå IF. LF Arena is a sport complex with an ice-hockey arena, a grass pitch with running tracks but above all a football ground with an artificial pitch. The complex used to be called Kvarnvallen. Piteå IF have a women´s team in Allsvenskan as well and the club compete in several different sports. As we left the ground we ran into two German groundhoppers (what a surprise...) and we chatted for a while. Rain in combination with a limited number of covered seats meant Leif and I returned to LF Arena more than an hour before kick-off. The covered seats quickly filled up and the two side stands were full as the game started.

Piteå haven´t lost a game at home since the start of last season. With both teams fighting in the top of the table this was an important game. Not many chances in the first half but in the 40th minute Piteå scored to make it 1-0. In the second half IFK Luleå were the better team and in the 55th minute they scored a stunning equalizer, a looping free-kick blasted into the Piteå net. 15 minutes later it was 1-2 at LF Arena. More of a goal-keeping howler this time around though. As we approached the 90th minutes the rain had almost stopped. Piteå pressed on for an equalizer but IFK Luleå hold on to a 2-1 victory in the Norrbotten derby. The attendance was given as 2 957, which is a new record attendance for the men´s team in Piteå. After the match Leif drove me all the way back to Pajala. Pajala is a three hour drive north of Luleå (and 100 km north of the Arctic Circle). This time of the year that means midnight sun but unfortunately it was cloudy as we arrived in Pajala. Maybe more luck tomorrow when I will visit my first ever match in Sweden north of the Arctic Circle?

lf arena, entrance