Östersund - an introduction

So, The Arsenal is going to the “Republic of Jämtland”. Östersund is located in the only county, named Jämtland, in the monarchy of Sweden where they have their own President. Well, that is at least what the “Jämte”, as people from Östersund prefer to be addressed, is saying - and they do in fact have a president even though the title is only honorary and a bit tongue-in-cheek. The only thing the president, currently Ewert Ljusberg, is famous for doing is giving his presidential speech on the last night of the August summer festival “Storsjöyran”. The speech is mainly about celebrating the greatness of Östersund and Jämtland and is always cheered on by thousands of highly patriotic locals. They are a proud bunch.

However, the Arsenal players and the travelling supporters will niether catch the presidential speech nor see the midnight sun or the northern lights. They will not even have the chance of taking part in the partying at “Stråket“ at the shore of lake Storsjön at the summer festival.

Arsenal will face something else when they play Östersunds FK.

It is not unlikely to experience a temperature of fifteen degrees celsius during February. Below zero that is. There will most likely be plenty of snow - prior to the game against Zorya Luhansk in November ÖFK took to Facebook to bring in volunteers who could help the groundsmen at the Jämtkraft Arena to clear the stands from snow and ice.

Östersund, with a population of 50 000, is not located in the very northern part of Sweden, but it still is 400 kilometers (approximately 248 miles) north of Stockholm (to reach the very northern parts of Sweden you have to travel another 600 kilometers). The city is quite easily accessed by train (about a five hour journey from Stockholm) or by plane. You can also reach the city by train from Trondheim (where Arsenal faced Rosenborg at Lerkendal stadium in 2004). The Norwegian city is about 200 kilometers to the west of Östersund.

The city is no stranger to arranging sporting events during the winter. The premiere of the biathlon world cup is traditionally held in Östersund and the world championship will be held here in 2019. The city has also been in the running of hosting the winter olympics a few times and they came close in the early nineties, but lost out to Lillehammer in Norway.

In recent years though, it’s not winter events that have been the main focus. The football club Östersunds Fotbollsklubb has been a media darling since they started their rapid rise from the fourth tier of Swedish football to Allsvenskan in just five years. The club and the players have been known to engage in cultural projects such as writing a book, setting up plays and giving a version of the ballet Swan Lake - projects that have gotten attention all around Sweden as well as abroad.

The man behind this setup is Graham Potter, who has been the manager of Östersund since 2011 and is a former player of Birmingham, Stoke, York and West Bromwich. He has been named Manager of the Year twice in Allsvenskan and led ÖFK to their first trophy when they won the Swedish Cup in April this year, thus qualifying for the Europa League.

The club was founded in october 1996 when three local clubs decided to merge. The chairman Daniel Kindberg has, as well as Potter, been instrumental in the club’s groundbreaking methods, but he has also been criticised for being the chairman as well as one of the club’s major investors.

Östersund hasn’t had a big supporter following until their promotion to Allsvenskan, and the supporters’ club Falkarna (The Falcons) was founded only a few years ago. The supporters have gotten some attention for their efforts of only supporting their own team and not “hating” the opposition, an effort that has been somewhat ridiculed by other Swedish football supporters.

ÖFK has reached this stage of the Europa League by beating well-known clubs like Galatasaray, PAOK and Hertha Berlin, finishing second in their group. They are known for playing a technical style of football and ended up fifth in Allsvenskan this season. The Swedish season ended in early November and will not start again until the beginning of April.

Arsenal Sweden will arrange a pre-match party at a local pub before the game and all traveling Arsenal supporters will be invited to get shocked, not only by the cold but also by the Swedish price of beer. A pint of lager or ale often costs 70-90 SEK, which equals around £7-8.

Östersund vs Arsenal will be the game of a lifetime for the supporters of Östersund, and it will sure give the President of Jämtland something to talk about. Let’s hope all Arsenal supporters enjoys it as much. Welcome to Sweden, fellow Gooners.