1.
Solna Municipality
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Solna Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in south-east Sweden, located just north of the Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area, the municipality is a part of Metropolitan Stockholm. None of the area is considered rural, which is unusual for Swedish municipalities, Solna is the third smallest municipality in Sweden in terms of area. There are two parishes in Solna Municipality, Råsunda and Solna, Solna is divided into eight traditional parts with no administrative functions, Bergshamra, Haga, Hagalund, Huvudsta, Järva, Råsunda, Skytteholm and Ulriksdal. The largest districts are Råsunda, Hagalund and Huvudsta, with the Solna Centrum in between them, the final matches of both the 1958 FIFA World Cup and the 1995 FIFA Womens World Cup were played at Råsunda Stadium, the national football stadium from 1937 to 2012. Solna has very low tax rates and has attracted a range of companies and authorities. Among the most important employers are the medical university Karolinska Institutet, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute are also located in Solna. As with all 290 municipalities of Sweden, Solna has a municipal assembly, an executive committee is appointed by its members. It was served by trams until 1959, trams returned after 54 years of absence when Tvärbanan was extended from Alvik to Solna centrum. A further extension will be opened in 2014, skanska has its head office in Solna. NextJet has its office in Solna. Mall of Scandinavia has opened in November 2015 and is located in Solna, the head office of Scandinavian Airlines and SAS Group is located in Solna. The airline head office was located on the property of Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sigtuna Municipality. Haga Park, part of the Royal National City Park, was initiated by king Gustav III, the city features three of Swedens royal palaces. Friends Arena, the Swedish national arena of association football, the Solna Church was constructed in the 12th century. For defensive purposes, it was built as a round church, the following football clubs are located in Solna, AIK Blue Hill KF Råsunda IS Vasalunds IF Solna Gymnasium is the senior high school/sixth form college of Solna
2.
Allsvenskan
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Allsvenskan is a Swedish professional league for mens association football clubs. It was founded in 1924, and is the top flight of the Swedish football league system, operating on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan. Seasons run from late March or early April to the beginning of November, with the 16 clubs all meeting each other twice, resulting in a 30-match season, Allsvenskan is ranked 20th in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years. As it stands now, Allsvenskan is ranked highest of the leagues in Scandinavia, the current champions are Malmö FF, who won the title in the 2016 season. Allsvenskan started in the 1924–25 Allsvenskan season and the first winner was GAIS, the one-league twelve team Allsvenskan replaced the Svenska Serien, consisting of a southern and northern group that was held before. In 1931, the league started to decide the Swedish football champions, in the early years, Norrland and Gotland teams were not allowed to play on higher levels in the league system, which was gradually changed to include the Norrland and Gotland teams on higher levels. In the 1955–56 season, Lycksele IF became the first Norrland team to play in an Allsvenskan promotion play-off, for the 1959 Allsvenskan, the season start was changed from autumn to spring to be played in one calendar year. In 1973, it was expanded to contain 14 teams. C, from the 1982 season, the league introduced a play-off to determine the Swedish football champions. In the late 1980s, Malmö FF were dominant, winning the five times in a row. The 1990 season saw the introduction of three points per win, the play-off season years were followed by two years of continuation league, named Mästerskapsserien. The 1993 season saw a return to the format, again with 14 teams. IFK Göteborg won five Allsvenskan league titles in the 1990s, in the early 2000s, Djurgårdens IF won three titles. In 2004, Örebro SK lost its place in the due to financial problems. Since 2008, the league consists of 16 teams, the champions of the Allsvenskan are considered Swedish champions and gold medal winners. The runners-up are awarded the Large Silver medal, the third positioned team are awarded the Small Silver medal, there have been seasons with exceptions when the winners of Allsvenskan wasnt considered Swedish champions as well. The years 1982 through 1990 are also exceptions, the title was decided through play-offs during these years. The same was true for the years 1991 through 1992 when the title was decided through a league called Mästerskapsserien. Historically, there is though a big difference between the Allsvenskan winners before 1931 compared to the period between 1982 and 1992, since 2008 there are 16 clubs in Allsvenskan
3.
GAIS
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Göteborgs Atlet- och Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as GAIS or Gais, is a Swedish football club based in Gothenburg. The club is affiliated to the Göteborgs Fotbollförbund and play their games at Gamla Ullevi. Fans also refers to the club as Grönsvart or The Mackerels because of the shirt colours. GAIS is one of the oldest football clubs in Sweden, the club was a founding member of Allsvenskan and also the first champions of the league. They have won a total of four championship titles, five league championship titles. The club thus gained the reputation of being a club, constantly going up. After their promotion in 2005 the club played seven seasons in Allsvenskan which was a feat not achieved since the degradation in 1955. After relegation in 2012 they finished seventh in Superettan in 2013 and has remained there since, GAIS was founded 11 March 1894 at Ehdlunds Café in the Gothenburg city centre. The founders had created the club for patriotic purposes and to all kinds of sports. Its main activities were athletics and an assortment of strength sports, the football section was formed in 1897 and played their first official game against local rivals Örgryte IS in 1903. GAIS first appearance in the highest league at the time, Svenska Serien, was in 1915/16 where they finished in fourth place, in 1919 the club won its first national championship beating Djurgårdens IF away in the finals. The same procedure would be repeated in 1922, this time against another Stockholm team, GAIS won the first season of the new first tier league Allsvenskan in 1924/25, two points ahead of local rivals IFK Göteborg. The feat was to be repeated in 1926/27, this time three points ahead of IFK Göteborg, unfortunately the league champions was not recognised as national champions until the 1930/31 season. GAIS won this year as well, six ahead of AIK. During the 1930s GAIS slowly lost the dominance the club had exercised over Allsvenskan since its foundation, having spent three years in the second division GAIS returned with a vengeance for the 1941–42 Allsvenskan where the club finished in second place. Later in 1942 they won Svenska Cupen for the first, and until today, the club then stayed in Allsvenskan throughout the 1940s and the early 1950s. They quite unexpectedly won their national championship one single point ahead of Helsingborgs IF in the season of 1953/54. The clinching game was the last one of the season, a nail biting no score draw at Stadsparksvallen in Jönköping, the following year, equally unexpectedly, disaster struck when the club finished third last and was relegated
4.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
5.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
6.
Sweden national football team
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The Sweden national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for football in Sweden. Swedens home ground is Friends Arena in the Stockholm urban area, Sweden made their first World Cup appearance in 1934. Sweden has made eleven World Cup appearances and five appearances in the European Championships and they finished second in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, and third in both 1950 and 1994. Swedens accomplishments also include a medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics. They reached the semi-finals in UEFA Euro 1992, Sweden has traditionally been a strong team in international football, with 11 World Cup appearances and 3 medals in the Olympics. The Swedish team finished second in the 1958 World Cup, when it was the host team, Sweden has also finished third twice, in 1950 and 1994. Sweden played its first international game against Norway on 12 July 1908, other matches in 1908 were played agaisnt England, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium, Sweden lost all five matches. In the same year, Sweden competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for the first time, Sweden, however, lost a game in the Olympics against the Great Britain 1–12, the biggest loss in the Swedish national teams history. In 1916, Sweden defeated Denmark for the first time, Sweden played in the 1912 Olympics, the 1920 Olympics, and in the 1924 Olympics, where Sweden took the bronze and their first medal ever. The 1938 World Cup was Swedens second qualification for the World Cup, in the first round, they were scheduled to play against Austria, but after Germanys occupation of Austria, the Austrian team could not continue playing in the tournament. Instead, Sweden went straight to the match against Cuba. They beat Cuba 8–0 with both Harry Andersson and Gustav Wetterström scoring hat-tricks, in the semi-final match against Hungary, Sweden lost 1–5. Swedens next match was the match against Brazil. In that game the Swedes lost 2–4, and ended in fourth place for the first, in the first round, Sweden played against Austria. The Austrian team had qualified without their professional players, which was a surprise since the Austrian league had many players who were allowed to play in the tournament. The match was played at White Hart Lane in London and Sweden won 3–0, in the second game, Sweden played against Korea and won 12–0, one of the two largest margin wins Sweden has ever had. In the semi-final Sweden met their archrivals from Denmark beating them 4–2, the final was played at legendary Wembley Stadium in London. The attendance was around 40,000 people which was high for a game in those days
7.
Superettan
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Superettan is a professional league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish mens football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Allsvenskan, seasons run from April to October, with teams playing 30 matches each, totalling 240 matches in the season. The league was created in 2000, the second tier of Swedish football had previously consisted of a varying number of regionalized leagues operating under the Division 2 and Division 1 names. There are 16 clubs in Superettan, during the course of a season each club plays the other twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. The top two teams in Superettan are promoted to Allsvenskan and the two lowest placed teams from Allsvenskan are relegated in their place, the third placed team in Superettan plays a promotion/relegation play-off against the third lowest team in Allsvenskan. The Swiss corporation Kentaro has owned the TV rights for Superettan since 2006, the current license agreement is valid from 2011 to 2015. 1 Correct as of end of 2015 season The current managers in Superettan are, the highest attendance ever recorded at a Superettan match is 31,074. The leagues best season attendance-wise was 2014 when Hammarbys average attendance reached a level that was extraordinary for Superettan, sports attendances Allsvenskan Swedish Football Association - Superettan
8.
Friends Arena
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Friends Arena is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of Stockholm City Centre. Since its opening it has served as Swedens national stadium for football, the main tenants of the stadium are Swedens national football team and Allsvenskan football club AIK, both relocated from their previous home at the Råsunda Stadium. The venue has a capacity of 65,000 at concerts and 50,000 seated at football matches. Friends Arena is the largest football stadium, and indoor venue and it was calculated to cost around 1.9 billion kronor to complete. The estimated cost before construction had begun was 2.3 billion kronor and it replaced Råsunda Stadium, Swedens former national arena for football. Råsunda will be torn down and will be the first stadium that hosted a FIFA World Cup in history to be removed, blocks of 700 flats and office buildings will be erected on the site. Swedbank acquired the rights to the new stadium in a 153 million kronor deal that will last until 2023. As such, the stadium was renamed Friends Arena, on 22 August 2012, Friends Arena unveiled the plans for the opening ceremony which took place on 27 October 2012. The theme for the show was Swedish Moments and it was directed by Colin Nutley, the stadium has a retractable roof, enabling events to take place during the winter season and to host indoor entertainment shows. The facade of the arena can be lit up in 17 million different color schemes, for example, the stadium is lit up in blue and yellow when Swedens national team is playing matches. Friends Arena is a UEFA Category 4 stadium, and the natural turf pitch measures 105 x 68 metres, in the middle of the stadium roof, a 240 square metres big media cube is placed where the attendance can follow what is happening. In addition,647 LED-screens are installed throughout the facility to enhance the guest experience, crown Princess Victoria of Sweden declared Friends Arena inaugurated at the opening ceremony which took place in the venue at 27 October 2012. The show, directed by famous Swedish director Colin Nutley, was entitled Svenska Ögonblick, artists like Agnes Carlsson, The Hives, Icona Pop, Loreen, First Aid Kit and Roxette performed in front of a crowd of 46,000 people. Furthermore,1,700,000 TV viewers watched the show live at SVT1. Swedish House Mafia made three acclaimed concerts during their One Last Tour in the arena, a total of approximately 115,000 people visited Friends Arena during the three sold-out concerts in November 2012. At 14 November 2012, the stadium hosted its first football game, zlatan Ibrahimović scored the first goal at Swedens new national stadium in the 4–2 victory against England. The game was seen by 49,967 people, which is the current attendance record for a sport event. A spectacular new record for Swedish bandy was set at the 2013 Swedish Bandy Championship Final, AIK played their first competitive football match at April 7,2013
9.
Guldbollen
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Guldbollen, is a Swedish football award given by the Aftonbladet and the Swedish Football Association to the best male Swedish footballer each year. The first award was given in 1946 to Gunnar Gren, and was created by Bengt Liljedahl, from 1946-65, the awarded was given out in cooperation with Stockholms-Tidningen. The current holder is Zlatan Ibrahimović, who is the player to win the award eleven times. Bo Larsson of Malmö FF was the first player to win the award more than once, diamantbollen, the female equivalent of the award, was established in 1990. Both awards are given out at the same gala, source, Media related to Guldbollen at Wikimedia Commons
10.
Bandy
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Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing teams goal. Based on the number of participating athletes, bandy is the second most popular winter sport after ice hockey. Bandy also is the two winter sport in tickets sold per day of competitions at the sports world championship compared to the other winter sports. The sport is considered a form of hockey and has a background with association football, ice hockey. Like football, the game is played in halves of 45 minutes each, there are eleven players on each team. It is played on ice like ice hockey, but like field hockey, players use bowed sticks, a variant of bandy, rink bandy, is played to the same rules but on a field the size of an ice hockey rink and with fewer people on each team. Bandy is also the predecessor of floorball, which was invented when people started playing with plastic bandy-shaped sticks, Russian monastery records dating back to the 10th to 11th centuries record games which may be ancestors of bandy. A game that could be recognized as essentially modern bandy was played in Russia by the early 18th century, although the rules used differed from those invented in England at a much later date. In modern times, Russia has held a top position in the bandy area, Russians see themselves as the creators of the sport, which is reflected by the unofficial title for bandy, Russian hockey. The first match, more recently dubbed the original match, was held at The Crystal Palace in London in 1875. However, at the time, the game was called hockey on the ice, the name bandy comes from Britain, which has played an important role in the sports development. Bando, a game played in Wales in the Middle Ages and it was played throughout the country in varying forms and is still found in some areas. The earliest example of the Welsh-language term bando occurs in a dictionary by John Walters published in 1770–94, the game became particularly popular in the Cynffig-Margam district of the Vale of Glamorgan where wide stretches of sandy beaches afforded ample room for play. As a winter sport, British bandy originated in the Fens of East Anglia where large expanses of ice formed on flooded meadows or shallow washes in cold winters, members of the Bury Fen Bandy Club published rules of the game in 1882, and introduced it into other countries. The first international took place in 1891 between Bury Fen and the then Haarlemsche Hockey & Bandy Club from the Netherlands. The same year, the National Bandy Association was started in England, the first national bandy league was started in Sweden in 1902. Bandy was played at the Nordic Games in Stockholm in 1905, a European championship was held in 1913 with eight countries participating. The highest altitude where bandy has been played is in the capital of the Tajik autonomous province of Gorno-Badakhshan, as a precursor to ice hockey bandy has influenced its development and history – mainly in European and former Soviet countries
11.
Ice hockey
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Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponents net to score points. Ice hockey teams usually consist of six each, one goaltender. A fast-paced, physical sport, ice hockey is most popular in areas of North America, Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity. In North America, the National Hockey League is the highest level for mens hockey, the Kontinental Hockey League is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation is the governing body for international ice hockey. The IIHF manages international tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking, worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries. Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and these games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as shinny and ice polo. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion, in international competitions, the national teams of six countries predominate, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in mens competition at the Olympics, in the annual Ice Hockey World Championships,177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations. In Russia and the Ukraine, where hockey can also refer to bandy, the name hockey has no clear origin. The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word hockey when he translated the proclamation in 1720, the 1573 Statute of Galway banned a sport called hokie—the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves. A form of this word was thus being used in the 16th century, though much removed from its current usage. According to the Austin Hockey Association, the word derives from the Scots Gaelic puc or the Irish poc. The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck. Stick-and-ball games date back to pre-Christian times, in Europe, these games included the Irish game of hurling, the closely related Scottish game of shinty and versions of field hockey. IJscolf, a game resembling colf on a surface, was popular in the Low Countries between the Middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. It was played with a curved bat, a wooden or leather ball
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