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'We created a mini Manchester over 1000 miles away from Old Trafford'

· Jack Flintham · 2026-08-07 · nguồn gốc

In England the excitement for the new Premier League season is beginning to build. Manchester United fans are eagerly counting down the days until the first match at Hull, and the following week's home fixture against Ipswich Town. But for David Blomgren, one of the custodians of the Manchester United supporters' club Red Army Gothenburg, Saturday's friendly against Paris-Saint Germain will be one of the highlights of his year. The Reds are in Sweden's second-largest city this weekend to take on Champions League holders PSG. "It is very special because they're often just playing in Asia or America," Blomgren told MEN Sport ahead of the game. "It was 10 years ago [the last time] they were here. Zlatan Ibrahimovic came to Manchester, so that was a big thing for the Swedes. "But now when they are here again, it's [great for] so many people that maybe can't afford or can’t go away to England, they are able to watch them here." Blomgren and his friend Mats Hornlund are Old Trafford season ticket holders. And the 40-year-old knows all too well how expensive it can be to follow the club they love. "Now it's better. Now Ryanair is going directly to Manchester, and if you find a good flight, you can buy it for like £50," he explained. "Often it costs like £150 maybe to return." Like many supporters, Blomgren's love for United started thanks to the excellence of Eric Cantona. Growing up in Sweden, English football was often on television, meaning plenty of fans in Scandinavia support the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Leeds and, of course, United. But while many of those choose to follow a local team, as well as a foreign one, for Blomgren, it has only ever been United. That's why when he and Hornlund were approached to run the Gothenburg fan group around the same time as the Reds were last in the city it was a no-brainer. "I think it's 10 years ago me and Mats got the question, because there was a fan group before, but we got a question if we wanted to keep running it," Blomgren said. "For me, football has always been my life so I was always playing or doing something with football. When I quit playing football, I still wanted to work with football somehow, or do something with it. "So when I got the question to run the supporters club because I'm watching all the games, it was an easy choice. And Mats, who I do it with, we are a really good team. We thought we could start it and do it like a mini version of how we feel, how it is when we are in Manchester. "We started to watch the games together and with friends, every game at the same place - John Scott's pub. It started to be a routine. In the beginning, we were like 10 people, five people, maybe, at the maximum. Now we can be, when it's a big game, we can be around 150 or almost 200. So that's amazing. For a regular game, maybe there is 60, 70 people." "I think we have a really good platform to try to make it as good experience as possible here in Sweden," Blomgren continued. "When we're watching them on TV, we have songs and chants, we have warm-ups, we have quizzes. We have foreign players coming here and they talk about their time in Manchester. "So we are trying to build that information for other followers and supporters." While they are more than a thousand miles away from Old Trafford, Red Army Gothenburg share the same hopes and concerns about United as those who live within touching distance of the stadium. "I think with the ownership, it was more like three or four years ago that was a big issue here," Blomgren said. "I think many people have too high expectations because of the history. Obviously you should have expectations, of course, but I think it's hard to be realistic sometimes." Meanwhile, plans for a new stadium are also at the forefront of the Swedish-based supporters' minds. He explained: "It is sentimental, the history of Old Trafford, because when I go to England, I want to go to Old Trafford because of everything that happened there and all the history. At the same time, I can understand they want to expand or build the new stadium. After it was raining through the roof at Old Trafford, I understand that you need to rebuild it. "When I saw the pictures of how they wanted to do the area where Old Trafford is at the moment, [how] the people can be there watching their away games and everything, I like the idea of it. That people assemble and watch the games together, I think that's good." But for this week at least, the focus is on what happens in Sweden and there is no better way to sell United to new fans than having the team play on their doorstep. Along with the regular pre-match activities, Red Army Gothenburg are welcoming MUTV and Wes Brown to the city for a feature on Friday before making the trip to Ullevi for the clash with PSG. "It's gonna be like a full week of Man United," Blomgren beamed. "I love it because it's another thing we can share with others. It's very easy to talk about it, but now when they are here, it's so much bigger, and it's not often, so it's a privilege. It's also a really big thing in the [Gothenburg] news." "I think so," he concluded when asked whether United should come to Sweden more often. "And it's easy because it's not too far for them to travel here. I know it's a really big fan base here in Scandinavia and for me, I don't have my own kids, but I have nephews and it's very fun to bring them together and to watch them here."