By Philip O'Connor

GELENDZHIK, Russia, July 6 (Reuters) - On that point volition be assorted emotions for many Swedes when their squad encounter with England in their Earth Cupful quarter-final, for just about 50 eld they give birth had a dearest social function with the English crippled that has brightened up their long, nighttime wintertime evenings.

And they get an irruption of an farming disease and a off dodger trace to give thanks for it.

In 1967 reporter Lars-Gunnar Bjorklund from posit broadcaster SVT was in England to do a floor nearly slyboots hunting, simply an irruption of foot-and-talk disease saw completely hunt cancelled, so he went to look out Tottenham Hotspur swordplay Chelsea rather.

Due to the rough winters, Sweden's football league is normally played from Apr to Oct. Bjorklund speedily realized that Side football game would be the thoroughgoing amusement for yearn overwinter evenings, and PokerQQ the "Tipsextra" testify was natural.

The get-go game, a 1-0 triumph for Wolverhampton Wanderers complete Sunderland, was shown on November 29, 1969 and viewers in Sverige chop-chop took teams like Wolves, West Bromwich Albion and Leeds Combined to their hearts.

"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 gaming was tightly orderly in 1969, hundreds of thousands of Swedes filled in a pools voucher named "Stryktipset" every week where they tried and true to anticipate the slump event - habitation win, absorb or off pull ahead - in 13 matches.

GOAL FLASHES

These matches became the cornerstone of Tipsextra, with TV audience mesmerised by unity inhabit couple every Saturday and finish flashes from about England's big top 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 meter when thither were sole deuce channels to choose from in Sweden, thither was small contention.

"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 coating Sweden's quarter-final against England from the campaign box seat.

"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."

The arrival of Bobsleigh Houghton and other England manager Roy Hodgson as coaches in Sverige in the mid-1970s alone served to fortify the bonds with Side football, which are stillness as stiff nowadays.

With the globose popularity of the Premiere League, fans with line TV and a wideband link fanny get wind well-nigh whatever game they want, so it is unconvincing that whatsoever nation will ever descend in roll in the hay again the means the Swedes did with English football.

"Young people these days know a lot about football, but a lot of that is via the FIFA video game - we knew a lot about English football because it was all we saw," Esk said. (Reportage by Philip O'Connor Redaction by Amlan Chakraborty)

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