| Saint Stephen's Day bandy Anndandagsbandy | |
|---|---|
 2004 Saint Stephen's Day game between Bollnäs GoIF and Edsbyns IF. | |
| Status | active |
| Genre | sporting event |
| Date(s) | 26 December |
| Frequency | annual |
| Inaugurated | 1930's |
Saint Stephen's Day bandy (Swedish : annandagsbandy) is a Swedish sporting event in which elite bandy matches are played on Saint Stephen's Day (December 26th). During the 20th century, it became a Christmas tradition in Sweden. [1]
The tradition dates to the 1930s, when the two clubs IF Göta and Slottsbrons IF took to playing a Saint Stephen's Day Exhibition game. Despite initial objections by the Church of Sweden to scheduling the game on the Saint Stephen's Day, the event grew in popularity thereafter. [2]
Historically, only a few instances of the Saint Stephen's Day match marked the season opener for Elitserien, Sweden’s top division. Prior to 1957, Saint Stephen's Day was the date of the final friendly match, after which the season usually started on New Year's Day. In 1957, the top division in Sweden resumed in December, and the Saint Stephen's Day marked the first day of seasons between 1957 and 1961, (the 1962 season began on December 31). From 1963–64 onwards the season began earlier in December, and since the 1966–67 season games have started in November.
Until 1999, Saint Stephen's Day bandy was the only major sports event over Christmas in Sweden. Starting in the year 2000, its popularity led other sports to follow, such as handball and ice hockey. Now people sometimes instead talk of "Saint Stephen's Day sports" (Swedish : Annandagsidrott). [3]
Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide. Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to poor people, today Boxing Day forms part of Christmas celebrations, with many people choosing to take advantage of Boxing Day sales. It originated in Great Britain and is celebrated in several countries that previously formed part of the British Empire. The attached bank holiday or public holiday may take place on 28 December if necessary to ensure it falls on a weekday. Boxing Day is also concurrent with the Christian festival Saint Stephen's Day.
Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. It is played indoors with 96–115.5 cm-long (37.8–45.5 in) sticks and a 70–72 mm-diameter (2.76–2.83 in) plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. The sport of bandy also played a role in the game's development.
Sports in Japan are a significant part of Japanese culture. Both traditional sports such as sumo and martial arts, and Western imports like baseball, association football, basketball and tennis are popular with both participants and spectators.
Saint Stephen's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Stephen, is a Christian saint's day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr, celebrated on 26 December in Western Christianity and 27 December in Eastern Christianity. The Eastern Orthodox churches that adhere to the Julian calendar mark Saint Stephen's Day on 27 December according to that calendar, which places it on 9 January of the Gregorian calendar used in secular contexts. In Latin Christian denominations, Saint Stephen's Day marks the second day of Christmastide.
Saint Lucy's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Lucy, is a Christian feast day observed on 13 December. The observance commemorates Lucia of Syracuse, an early-fourth-century virgin martyr under the Diocletianic Persecution, who according to legend brought food and aid to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs, wearing a candle lit wreath on her head to light her way and leave her hands free to carry as much food as possible. Her feast day, which coincided with the shortest day of the year prior to calendar reforms, is widely celebrated as a festival of light. Falling within the Advent season, Saint Lucy's Day is viewed as a precursor of Christmastide, pointing to the arrival of the Light of Christ in the calendar on Christmas Day.
Sport is considered a national pastime in Sweden, and about half of the population actively takes part in sports activities. The most important all-embracing organisations for sports in Sweden are the Swedish Sports Confederation, and the Swedish Olympic Committee. In total over 2 million people are members of a sports club.
Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad or HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and approved membership in the Swedish Sports Confederation on 6 March the same year. The club competes in the highest tier of Swedish football, Allsvenskan, and has won four national championship titles and one national cup title. HBK is a member-controlled club.
IS Halmia is a football club, located in Halmstad, Sweden.
Hammarby Idrottsförening, commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby, is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of different sports.
The Bandy World Championship is a competition between bandy-playing nations' men's teams. The tournament is administrated by the Federation of International Bandy. It is distinct from the Bandy World Cup, a club competition, and from the Women's Bandy World Championship. A Youth Bandy World Championship also exists separately from the senior competition and has competitions in both the male and female categories.
Hammarby IF Bandyförening is a Swedish bandy club from Södermalm, Stockholm, a section of the sports club Hammarby IF.
Ringette is a non-contact winter team sport played on ice hockey rinks using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. The sport is among a small number of organized team sports created exclusively for female competitors. Though ice hockey rinks are used, ringette rinks use markings specific to ringette and the sport uses strategic play which more closely resembles basketball than ice hockey.
Sport in England plays a prominent role in English society. Popular teams sports in England include football, field hockey, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, and netball. Major individual sports include badminton, athletics, tennis, boxing, golf, cycling, motorsport, and horseracing. Cricket is regarded as the national summer sport. Association football is the most popular sport, followed by Cricket, Tennis and Rugby. A number of modern sports were codified in England during the nineteenth century, among them cricket, rugby union, rugby league, football, field hockey, bandy, squash, tennis, and badminton. The game of baseball was first described in 18th century England.
Sven Olof Lennart "Svenne Berka" Bergqvist was a Swedish football and ice hockey player, known for representing Hammarby IF in both sports. He also played bandy and handball. Bergqvist is one of only three athletes that has competed in the highest Swedish division in four different sports.
Ice hockey has been played in the United Kingdom since the beginning of the twentieth century, and it was a game between English Army veterans played in Canada that is the first recorded use of a sawed-off ball, which led to the use of the puck in hockey. The Great Britain men's national ice hockey team enjoyed worldwide success through the 1920s and 1930s, achieving bronze at the 1924 Olympics, and gold twelve years later. They also won medals at the World Championships in 1935, 1937 and 1938, though never won the tournament. The national team has struggled since the Second World War, and has not finished better than twelfth in the World Championships since 1962. Ice hockey is played professionally in the United Kingdom in the Elite Ice Hockey League, a ten team league which was founded in 2003.
Malmö Idrottsplats, commonly referred to simply as Malmö IP and sometimes as Gamla IP, is a stadium in Malmö, Sweden, that is primarily used for association football. As of 2015, it is the home of women's association football club FC Rosengård, currently playing in Damallsvenskan; the men's clubs Malmö FF and IFK Malmö have played there in the past. The stadium is the third largest in Malmö behind Malmö Stadion and Stadion, the current home grounds of IFK Malmö and Malmö FF respectively. The Sweden national football team has played at Malmö IP twice, in 1929 and 1949. The stadium's capacity has changed throughout the years with various redevelopments and renovations; it is today 7,600, but was historically much higher. The record attendance at the ground was set on 1 June 1956 when 22,436 people attended an Allsvenskan match between Malmö FF and Helsingborgs IF.
The 2011–12 Elitserien season was the 37th season of Elitserien. The regular season began on 13 September 2011 and ended on 6 March 2012. The following playoffs began on 10 March 2012 and ended on 19 April. Färjestad BK were the defending Swedish Champions. Brynäs IF won their first Swedish Championship title since 1999, as well as their 13th in history, after defeating Skellefteå AIK in six games.
Reymersholms IK is a sports club located in Stockholm and was founded on 1 September 1899. From the 1920s to the 1940s the club was successful in bandy, football and ice hockey. Today football is the only sport in the club. The club is affiliated to Stockholms Fotbollförbund which is a district organisation of the Swedish Football Association.
Kurt Lennart Ingemar Backman is a Swedish former footballer who played as a winger. He made more than 200 Allsvenskan appearances for IFK Norrköping and AIK between 1957 and 1968. A full international between 1958 and 1966, he won 31 caps and scored three goals for the Sweden national team.
