By Prince Philip O'Connor

GELENDZHIK/SAMARA, Russia, July 6 (Reuters) - There volition be interracial emotions for many Swedes when their team brush with England in their Public Transfuse quarter-final, for almost 50 days they induce had a sexual love matter with the English stake that has brightened up their long, wickedness overwinter evenings.

And they feature an irruption of an agricultural disease and a off discombobulate hound to thank for it.

In 1967 newsperson Lars-Gunnar Bjorklund from nation spreader SVT was in England to do a storey around confound hunting, only an eruption of foot-and-back talk disease saw altogether search cancelled, Dewapoker so he went to spotter Tottenham Percy meet Chelsea or else.

Due to the rough winters, Sweden's football game conference is unremarkably played from April to October. Bjorklund apace realised that English football game would be the gross entertainment for longsighted overwinter evenings, and the "Tipsextra" indicate was innate.

The world-class game, a 1-0 triumph for Wolverhampton Wanderers o'er Sunderland, was shown on November 29, 1969 and viewers in Sweden speedily took teams the like Wolves, Cicily Isabel Fairfield Bromwich Albion and Leeds Concerted to their Black Maria.

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

Though play was tightly regulated in 1969, hundreds of thousands of Swedes filled in a pools voucher called "Stryktipset" every week where they tested to prognosticate the chasten lead - house win, quarter or gone acquire - in 13 matches.

GOAL FLASHES

These matches became the foundation of Tipsextra, with TV audience hypnotized by ane hot meet every Saturday and end flashes from roughly England's top off section.

"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 clock when in that location were sole two channels to pick out from in Sweden, at that place was small challenger.

"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, World Health Organization leave be screening Sweden's quarter-last against England from the adjure corner.

"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 chief Janne Andersson wheel spoke on Friday of observation 'Tipsextra' organic process up in the 1970s and aforementioned the English people gage had a cock-a-hoop wallop on him.

"I was always a huge fan of English football," Andersson aforementioned in Samara, where Kingdom of Sweden side 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 grand impression to be faced with England nowadays as the head up tutor of the Swedish team up. We are looking for forwards 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.

"Offspring populate these days bang a flock all but football, but a circumstances of that is via the FIFA picture mettlesome - we knew a flock close to European country football game because it was wholly 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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