By Philip O'Connor

GELENDZHIK/SAMARA, Russia, July 6 (Reuters) - At that place wish be sundry emotions for many Swedes when their squad clang with England in their Humanity Cup quarter-final, for all but 50 age they birth had a love affaire with the English gage that has brightened up their long, dark winter evenings.

And they possess an irruption of an farming disease and a cancelled confuse run to thank for it.

In 1967 newsman Lars-Gunnar Bjorklund from land broadcaster SVT was in England to do a level all but fox hunting, only an eruption of foot-and-lip disease proverb totally hunt cancelled, so he went to sentinel Tottenham Hotspur caper Chelsea instead.

Due to the rough winters, Sweden's football league is ordinarily played from Apr to Oct. Bjorklund quickly realized that English football would be the arrant entertainment for prospicient wintertime evenings, and the "Tipsextra" read was natural.

The first off game, Pokerace99 a 1-0 victory for Wolverhampton Wanderers o'er Sunderland, was shown on November 29, 1969 and viewing audience in Kingdom of Sweden cursorily took teams care Wolves, Western United States Bromwich Albion and Leeds Joined 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 newsprint told Reuters.

Though play was tightly regulated in 1969, hundreds of thousands of Swedes filled in a pools voucher named "Stryktipset" every week where they tested to omen the set result - national win, suck or aside gain ground - in 13 matches.

GOAL FLASHES

These matches became the groundwork of Tipsextra, with TV audience mesmerized by unrivaled live pit every Saturday and finish flashes from around England's top sectionalization.

"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 metre when on that point were lonesome deuce channels to choose from in Sweden, in that respect was brief contest.

"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 wish be screening Sweden's quarter-last against England from the push 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 gaffer Janne Andersson rung on Fri of observation 'Tipsextra' development up in the 1970s and aforesaid the English language bet on had a bighearted affect on him.

"I was always a huge fan of English football," Andersson aforesaid in Samara, where Sweden typeface 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 wondrous intuitive feeling to be faced with England at present as the point motorcoach of the Swedish squad. We are looking at 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.

"Unseasoned multitude these days acknowledge a flock more or less football, only a destiny of that is via the FIFA telecasting punt - we knew a great deal roughly English people football because it was totally 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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