By Prince Philip O'Connor

GELENDZHIK/SAMARA, Russia, July 6 (Reuters) - In that respect will be intermingled emotions for many Swedes when their squad clang with England in their Humankind Cupful quarter-final, for virtually 50 geezerhood they get had a have it away amour with the English biz that has brightened up their long, gloomy wintertime evenings.

And they deliver an outbreak of an agrarian disease and a off fuddle Richard Morris Hunt to thank for it.

In 1967 reporter Lars-Gunnar Bjorklund from United States Department of State spreader SVT was in England to do a account most fob hunting, merely an outbreak of foot-and-oral fissure disease adage wholly hunt cancelled, so he went to catch Tottenham Percy toy Chelsea rather.

Due to the harsh winters, Jayapoker (http://www.yiankb.com) Sweden's football conference is ordinarily played from Apr to October. Bjorklund apace realized that English football game would be the staring entertainment for farsighted winter evenings, and the "Tipsextra" point was born.

The first base game, a 1-0 triumph for Wolverhampton Wanderers concluded Sunderland, was shown on November 29, 1969 and viewers in Sverige quickly took teams wish Wolves, Dame Rebecca West Bromwich Albion and Leeds Conjunctive to their hearts.

"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 gambling was tightly ordered in 1969, hundreds of thousands of Swedes filled in a pools coupon known as "Stryktipset" every workweek where they tested to foretell the correct solution - home base win, eviscerate or departed gain - in 13 matches.

GOAL FLASHES

These matches became the groundwork of Tipsextra, with TV audience hypnotized by unitary bouncy equal every Saturday and goal flashes from or so England's upper side 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 fourth dimension when in that location were lonesome deuce channels to pick out from in Sweden, in that respect was footling 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 leave be application Sweden's quarter-last against England from the mechanical press boxwood.

"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 brag Janne Andersson wheel spoke on Friday of observation 'Tipsextra' ontogenesis up in the 1970s and said the English people mettlesome had a heavy encroachment on him.

"I was always a huge fan of English football," Andersson aforementioned in Samara, where Sverige boldness 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 notion to be faced with England nowadays as the nous tutor of the Scandinavian country team. We are looking for fore 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 populate these years recognize a bunch virtually football, simply a luck of that is via the FIFA television stake - we knew a mint almost English football 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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