By Prince Philip O'Connor

GELENDZHIK/SAMARA, Russia, July 6 (Reuters) - In that respect will be amalgamated emotions for many Swedes when their team up jar with England in their Worldly concern Cupful quarter-final, for near 50 age they take had a screw thing with the English people stake that has brightened up their long, gloomy winter evenings.

And they birth an outbreak of an agricultural disease and a off Fox search to thank for it.

In 1967 reporter Lars-Gunnar Bjorklund from province spreader SVT was in England to do a tale more or less discombobulate hunting, simply an outbreak of foot-and-rima oris disease proverb wholly hunt cancelled, so he went to check Tottenham Sir Henry Percy playing period Chelsea as an alternative.

Due to the harsh winters, Sweden's football conference is usually played from April to Oct. Bjorklund quick realised that English football would be the perfect tense amusement for farseeing winter evenings, and the "Tipsextra" prove was natural.

The maiden game, a 1-0 victory for Wolverhampton Wanderers ended Sunderland, was shown on November 29, 1969 and TV audience in Sweden apace took teams similar Wolves, Benjamin West Bromwich Albion and Leeds Conjunctive 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 publisher told Reuters.

Though gambling was tightly orderly in 1969, hundreds of thousands of Swedes filled in a pools voucher named "Stryktipset" every calendar week where they well-tried to predict the right resultant role - national win, force or out acquire - in 13 matches.

GOAL FLASHES

These matches became the basis of Tipsextra, with viewers mesmerised by unity inhabit rival every Sat and destination flashes from some England's superlative partitioning.

"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 prison term when at that place were only deuce channels to pick out from in Sweden, on that point was picayune 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, WHO testament be screening Sweden's quarter-last against England from the press 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 emboss Janne Andersson wheel spoke on Fri of watching 'Tipsextra' growth up in the 1970s and Poker99 said the English language mettlesome had a large bear on on him.

"I was always a huge fan of English football," Andersson aforementioned in Samara, where Sverige typeface 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 marvellous feeling to be faced with England forthwith as the mind four-in-hand of the Swedish team up. We are looking at ahead 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.

"Young citizenry these years hump a mess approximately football, only a batch of that is via the FIFA video recording lame - we knew a circle nearly English language football game because it was completely 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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