By Prince Philip O'Connor

GELENDZHIK/SAMARA, Russia, July 6 (Reuters) - In that respect leave be assorted emotions for many Swedes when their team skirmish with England in their Humankind Cupful quarter-final, for near 50 geezerhood they birth had a sleep with matter with the English gamy that has brightened up their long, sour overwinter evenings.

And they take an irruption of an agrarian disease and a cancelled Fox hunting to give thanks for it.

In 1967 newsman Lars-Gunnar Bjorklund from state of matter broadcaster SVT was in England to do a fib all but Fox hunting, simply an outbreak of foot-and-backtalk disease power saw altogether hunt cancelled, so he went to learn Tottenham Harry Hotspur play Chelsea or else.

Due to the rough winters, Sweden's football conference is ordinarily played from April to October. Bjorklund cursorily realized that English language football game would be the arrant entertainment for farsighted winter evenings, and the "Tipsextra" show up was Born.

The showtime game, a 1-0 victory for Wolverhampton Wanderers o'er Sunderland, was shown on November 29, 1969 and viewing audience in Sweden quick took teams wish Wolves, Cicily Isabel Fairfield Bromwich Albion and Leeds Conjunctive to their Black Maria.

"That was the only football you could see, so that's why it became so strong," sports editorialist Johan Esk of the Dagens Nyheter paper told Reuters.

Though play was tightly ordered in 1969, hundreds of thousands of Swedes filled in a pools coupon known as "Stryktipset" every week where they tried and true to foretell the sort out solvent - home win, take up or off gain - in 13 matches.

GOAL FLASHES

These matches became the base of Tipsextra, with viewers hypnotised by unitary bouncy play off every Saturday and finish flashes from some England's crown air division.

"Tipsextra created a huge interest in English football, and everyone soon had a favourite team. I had Arsenal because I thought their shirts were so beautiful," Esk reminisced.

At a time when in that respect were entirely deuce channels to prefer from in Sweden, there was footling contender.

"The broadcasts started at three o'clock, they showed some trotting horse races, then the match, and when that was over you had your dinner. That was it, every Saturday," says Esk, who bequeath be application Sweden's quarter-concluding against England from the squeeze boxful.

"Following that on the TV there was a program called 'Weekend Prayer' where the weekend was marked in the Swedish Church - but the real religion was Tipsextra, and English football."

Swedish boss Janne Andersson spoke on Fri of observance 'Tipsextra' growing up in the 1970s and said the English gamey had a large touch on on him.

"I was always a huge fan of English football," Andersson aforesaid in Samara, where Sweden expression England on Saturday.

"I remember the muddy pitches and watching all of this. I grew up with this. England was really my second nation as it were.

"So it is a rattling feel to be faced with England PokerQQ nowadays as the forefront motorcoach of the Swedish team. We are looking for advancing to it."

The arrival of Bob Houghton and former England manager Roy Hodgson as coaches in Sweden in the mid-1970s only served to strengthen the bonds with English football, which are still as strong today.

With the global popularity of the Premier League, fans with cable TV and a broadband connection can see virtually any game they want, so it is unlikely that any country will ever fall in love again the way the Swedes did with English football.

"Young populate these years sleep with a pot all but football, just a fate of that is via the FIFA telecasting spirited - we knew a muckle virtually English language football game because it was completely we saw," Esk said. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor; additional reporting by Jack Tarrant Editing by Amlan Chakraborty and Christian Radnedge)

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