SWEDISH DELIGHT

PAUL EADE EXPLAINS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO FOLLOW LOWER LEVEL FOOTBALL IN SWEDEN

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WHAT'S it like to support a club in Sweden's second division?

Having moved here just over a quarter of a century ago, I think it's absolutely marvellous - but how does it differ from the English fan experience?

I follow Täby Fotbollsklubb (Täby Football Club), located on the north side of Stockholm, who currently compete in Division 2 Norra Svealand, which, in simple terms of domestic level, is the equivalent of League Two in England. That's where the similarities start and end.

You might assume that playing in the fourth tier of Swedish professional football would require something akin to England such as a 4,000-capacity stadium with stands on all four sides.

Think again. From my own experience, a Swedish Division 2 ground can be as basic as a pitch, floodlights, dugouts, changing rooms, toilets and a small strip down one side where spectators congregate. Several grounds do, however, offer much better than this, with a least a proper stand.

One thing that needs to be understood is that below the topflight, Swedish professional football is on a much smaller scale to England when it comes to attendances.

Generally, below the second level, Superettan, it's uncommon to get a thousand spectators, and the low hundreds is the norm. Even the top league, Allsvenskan, has seen clubs with sub-1,000 attendances on a few occasions.

Get down to the real lower reaches, such as the fourth division, the 'equivalent' of National League North and South in terms of steps, and you are looking at crowds of well below a hundred, or even less spectators than players. So why bother with strict ground regulations for that?