Football in Stockholm | A Three-Way Struggle for Supremacy in the City
Ask any Swedish football fan & there is a general acceptance that the standard of their domestic football is fairly mediocre. Like the vast majority of leagues across Europe, any players or managers who catch the eye in the Allsvenskan are swiftly moved on to “bigger” leagues to further develop their careers.
What domestic football in Sweden does have is a very competitive top division, a huge number of passionate fans that fill the grounds weekly, & a particular flair for pyrotechnics & displays. These three key components to the beautiful game could not be better exemplified than in the football-crazy city of Stockholm.
AIK v Djurgårdens IF - The Twin derby
The best place to start with football in Stockholm is with the “Tvillingderbyt” or the “Twin derby” between AIK Fotboll & Djurgårdens IF (DIF).
The derby name originates from the fact that both clubs were initially formed in 1891, just three weeks apart. They were originally sports clubs that were established to compete in ice-hockey, rowing & other sports, but eventually footballing infrastructure was put in place & AIK began playing competitively in 1896, followed by DIF in 1899.
Given the non-footballing background of these sports clubs the rivalry between the two extends beyond football, with ice-hockey games between the two usually being very fiery affairs.
AIK ice-hockey players celebrating with their fans | Photo Credit
AIK have a slightly more impressive domestic trophy haul than DIF with; 12 first division titles & 8 cup wins. They have also appeared in the group stages of the Champions League in 1999 & the group stages of the Europa League in 2012. The brand-new 55,000 seater Friends Arena was completed in 2012 & is the home of the Swedish national team as well as AIK. AIK also boasts a better head-to-head record in the historic Tvillingderbyt.
While across town at Djurgårdens IF, they have amassed the exact same amount of first division titles with 12, but slightly fewer Swedish Cup successes with 5 to their name. They have also not yet managed to reach the group stages of a major European competition, something that AIK holds over them.
DIF play their home games at the Tele2 Arena, another very modern stadium in Stockholm having opened just after the Friends Arena in 2013. The most interesting aspect to the Tele2 Arena is most definitely its tenants; a ground-share between Allsvenskan & Stockholm rivals DIF & Hammarby IF.
We will come back to Hammarby IF very shortly.
The Tvillingderbyt is arguably the biggest fixture in Sweden not just because it is a Stockholm derby match, but because the outcomes of these games almost always have title implications. At the time of writing this article Malmö FF are the defending Allsvenskan champions, but in 2019 & 2018 the championship remained in the capital with DIF & AIK respectively.
The result on the pitch is of course the most important aspect of any derby, but the Tvillingderbyt has a very clear added aspect of the two sets of fans battling in the terraces for supremacy for the best TIFO & pyro show.
In recent times there have been some incredibly impressive displays by both sides. The main fan groups responsible for these displays; “Black Army” (AIK) & “Ultra Caos Stockholm” (DIF).
A DIF TIFO prior to a Twin derby in 2016 | Photo Credit
Hammarby IF
The third piece to the Stockholm football puzzle is Hammarby IF. Hammarby were formed in 1897 & during their long history have only managed one single first division title in Sweden back in 2001. They have never managed to capture the Swedish Cup & have also never made any group-stage European appearances.
In their more recent history between 2010 & 2014 Hammarby spent some time in the Superettan, the second division of Swedish football. Compared to their neighbours AIK & DIF, Hammarby’s on the field achievements pale in comparison.
So what do Hammarby have to brag about? Their fans, definitely their fans.
Since their return to the Allsvenskan they have held the highest average home attendance in Swedish domestic football, in all of Scandinavian football in fact. Between 20,000 - 25,000 fans turn up to the Tele2 Arena week-in week-out to cheer on Hammarby, led by their core ultras group known as; “Ultra Boys”.
On average Hammarby home games attract almost 10,000 more fans than when DIF are playing their home games at the same arena, something that Hammarby fans do not allow DIF fans to forget.
A small detour from football in Stockholm, but it wouldn’t be an article about Swedish football without mentioning a certain individual. Hammarby made football news around the world in November 2019 when it was announced that 23.5% of the club was bought by none other than Zlatan Ibrahimović.
The Swedish legend now owns almost a quarter of the club in a very controversial move seeing as Ibrahimović was seen as a club legend at Hammarby’s Allsvenskan rivals Malmö FF. The news did not go down well in Malmö, judging by the treatment his statue received once the news broke…..
Ibrahimović’s statue outside FF Malmö’s Eleda Stadium after the news broke | Photo Credit
The Geography of Stockholm
Back in Stockholm & the origins of the rivalries between the three clubs are primarily based around the basic geography of Stockholm. AIK fans are traditionally based in the north of the city. DIF fans are traditionally based in the east, on the island of Djurgården. While Hammarby fans are traditionally based in the south.
In addition to geography we know that the AIK-DIF games have the long history of the Tvillingderbyt.
In recent years, since Hammarby’s return to the Allsvenskan, the DIF-Hammarby rivalry has intensified due to the ground share that is in place between the two.
While at the same time politics has crept into certain aspects of the fan groups of each club & many would consider Hammarby to have more left-wing fans, with AIK & DIF having a core of their ultras leaning more right.
Adding in all of these factors, the Stockholm derbies that Swedish football hosts each season have become known well beyond Swedish borders for the show the fans have put on. However these fan spectacles haven’t always been a good thing.
Stockholm’s Growing Ultras & Hooligan Scene
A 2016 derby between DIF & Hammarby will live long in the memory when it was temporarily suspended for 30 minutes after DIF fans threw flares & smoke bombs onto the pitch & some fans even managed to get onto the pitch. Hammarby ended up winning the derby, with their fans serenading their city rivals with a rendition of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”. There were a number of arrests inside & outside the stadium that day.
In 2017 the start of a Tvillingderbyt was delayed after fans invaded the pitch & flares & smoke bombs were let off. Scuffles continued between fans & police throughout & after the game, leading to over 170 fans being held behind in temporary custody after the game to be individually identified by police.
While in 2019 there was also trouble at a Hammarby-AIK derby. Fighting broke out at restaurants near the Friends Arena prior to kick-off where one fan was hospitalised with serious injuries.
These various examples of incidents at derby games in Stockholm show the growing disdain the fans of these clubs have for each other. As preventative measures, Swedish police have banned fans from wearing masks that fully cover the face & have also tried reducing the capacity of the standing sections, where the ultras reside.
Aside from these minor enough incidents of violence surrounding the fixtures, the massive TIFOs, banners, smoke & colour unveiled at the games are what derbies in Stockholm are becoming world-famous for. There is a competition in the stands with fans constantly having to innovate & create to “one-up” their city rivals.
The Allsvenskan is unpredictable. There have been six different winners in the last decade. The fans are equally as unpredictable & are constantly surprising onlookers with their impressive terrace displays. The hatred between Stockholm’s three main clubs seems to be growing deeper, evident in the increased violence in recent times. However it should not discourage fans from wanting to attend any of these derby games.
A derby day in Stockholm can stand-up to any other derby on offer. If you are not going for the footballing spectacle, fine. Go for the fan spectacle.