Strømmen

Ground: Strømmen Stadion

Visits: 1

Date: 3rd August 2014

Match: Strømmen - Sandefjord 1-1 (1. divisjon)

Attendance: 344

Earlier in the Summer my friend Christian contacted me about the possibility of a double-header in Norway the first Sunday in August. Going through my options I decided to join Christian and Magnus for the trip to Norway. From Gothenburg it is around 300 km to Oslo, where both matches were to be played. Having watched two matches in the Gothenburg area on the previous day I didn´t have to do any driving at all today. At 09.45 Magnus picked me up outside my hotel in Hisings-Backa (northern Gothenburg) and 15 minutes later Christian was picked up as well. The border between Sweden and Norway is across Svinesund and in 2005 the new bridge was opened. Magnus decided to use the old route and next to the old bridge (still in use) it was possible to park the car. I have never crossed the border here before and used the opportunity to take some pictures of the nice surroundings. After a 15-minute break our journey continued and 13.15 we were outside Strømmen Stadion. Strømmen IF were promoted to Adeccoligaen (now 1. divisjon) in 2009 and have played in the Norwegian second division since then. Strømmen Stadion is quite a small ground with only one stand. This stand has some terracing for away fans but the rest of the stand is seated. Around 1 500 people can be accommodated in the stand.

Kick-off for the first match of the day was at 15.00. When I asked where I could find a cash machine I was told it was possible to pay by card and since I didn´t have any Norwegian crowns that was good news for me. After a quick lunch in the car, it had started to rain heavily by now, we went to the entrance of Strømmen Stadion. Once there it turned out my card was not working, tried another one with the same results. Apparently it only worked with Norwegian cards. My card worked in Belarus earlier this year but in Norway I had problems. Make of that what you want but I wasn´t pleased. Thankfully my friends had soem cash and paid for me as well. As the match was about to start I noticed fans of both teams walking around with pyros. In Norway it is allowed to use pyro before football matches and for a few minutes the only stand was covered in smoke. The actual match was alright, Strømmen scored the first goal of the match and it was 1-0 at half-time. The quality of the football was not very good though but in the second half the visitors from Sandefjord pressed on for the equalizer and in the 64th minute it was 1-1. Some chances for both teams in the last 15 minutes still made this an ok match to watch. The match finished 1-1 and even though it rained at times during the match the forecasted thunder storms stayed away. Kick-off for the second match of the day, Stabæk vs Rosenborg, was at 19.00. Before that the three Swedish groundhoppers went to central Strømmen to have something to eat. More troubles for me trying to pay with a foreign card but then again this was Norway.....

norge