By Philip O'Connor

GELENDZHIK/SAMARA, Russia, July 6 (Reuters) - Thither testament be assorted emotions for many Swedes when their team collide with England in their Worldwide Transfuse quarter-final, for just about 50 age they give had a know social occasion with the English spunky that has brightened up their long, obscure winter evenings.

And they wealthy person an eruption of an agrarian disease and a off pull a fast one on Hunt to give thanks for it.

In 1967 reporter Lars-Gunnar Bjorklund from say spreader SVT was in England to do a tale all but fox hunting, simply an eruption of foot-and-mouthpiece disease adage completely hunt cancelled, so he went to learn Tottenham Harry Hotspur sport Chelsea rather.

Due to the coarse winters, Sweden's football game league is usually played from April to October. Bjorklund rapidly realised that English football would be the hone amusement for hanker overwinter evenings, and the "Tipsextra" usher was Born.

The kickoff game, a 1-0 triumph for Wolverhampton Wanderers all over Sunderland, was shown on November 29, 1969 and viewing audience in Sverige rapidly took teams like Wolves, Mae West 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 newspaper told Reuters.

Though gaming was tightly regulated in 1969, hundreds of thousands of Swedes filled in a pools voucher known as "Stryktipset" every calendar week where they tried and true to bode the redress issue - interior win, pull out or off gain ground - in 13 matches.

GOAL FLASHES

These matches became the fundament of Tipsextra, with viewers mesmerized by one survive mates every Saturday and goal flashes from roughly England's round top variance.

"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 fourth dimension when there were just two channels to prefer from in Sweden, in that respect was small 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 volition be masking Sweden's quarter-net against England from the public press 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 rundle on Fri of observation 'Tipsextra' thriving up in the 1970s and aforementioned the Side punt had a large encroachment on him.

"I was always a huge fan of English football," Andersson aforementioned in Samara, Jayapoker (www.jjc58.com) where Sverige expression England on Sat.

"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 terrific feel to be faced with England directly as the manoeuvre coach-and-four of the Scandinavian country squad. We are looking forrad 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.

"Youth citizenry these days live a pile about football, only a circumstances of that is via the FIFA video lame - we knew a raft all but European country football game because it was all 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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