Vänersborgs FK

Ground: Vänersvallen

Visits: 1

Date: 6th July 2018

Match: Vänersborgs FK - Hisingsbacka 3-3 (Division 2 Norra Götaland)

Attendance: 80

In order to complete Division 1 Norra and thereby the top three divisions in Sweden I have to visit Rynninge and Linköping and the weekend 7/8 July was a perfect opportunity for me to visit my missing grounds. Looking at the fixture list I noticed Vänersborgs FK were at home, v Hisingsbacka, in Division 2 Norra Götaland on Friday (6 July) evening. Vänersborg is around 4 hours by car for me and although it was a slight detour for me on my way to Örebro I decided to start this tour with a visit to Vänersvallen in Vänersborg. Apart from the heavy traffic in Gothenburg the drive went without problems and at 14.30 I could park my car at my hotel in Vänersborg. After checking-in I made the short walk to the ground for a few pictures. Vänersvallen was built in 1926 and until 2008 it was used for bandy. When Arena Vänersborg, an indoor arena for bandy, was opened in 2008 an artificial pitch was installed and the ground is now home for three football clubs. There is a nice wooden stand on the east side and a few rows of terracing on the west side and for this level it is a good ground.

Once back at my hotel I watched the World Cup quarter final between France and Uruguay and had something to eat drink before returning to Vänersvallen for Vänersborgs FK v Hisingsbacka. There are two teams from Vänersborg in Division 2 Norra Götaland and it seems the other team (Vänersborgs IF) have the better attendances. Anyway, it was free entrance but competing with Brazil v Belgium on TV is not easy and only 80 or so spectators showed up this lovely Friday evening. This turned out to be a very entertaining game of football though. VFK took the lead early on but a few minutes later Hisingsbacka equalized. To me the equalizer was two metres offside and going by the reactions on and off the pitch others seemed to agree but VFK scored again to make it 2-1 at half-time. It was then 3-1 in the 52nd minute and I was by now certain the home team would win comfortably. That was not to be the case though. Hisingsbacka pulled a goal back and VFK then had their goalkeeper sent off. In the 86th minute Hisingsbacka managed to equalize, 3-3, and two minutes later VFK had another player sent-off. Down to nine men the home team still managed to hold on to a draw though. A dramatic and exciting game for me and a great start on this tour.