RASUNDA

During 2012 the final chapters of my homage to the Råsunda Fotbollstadion was written. On the 22 November the stadium’s main tenants, Swedish league team AIK Stockholm, said farewell to their home of 75 years with a Europa League tie against Napoli; a game that showed almost every spectra of the game we love, including a last-minute goal which meant AIK lost 2-1.

For the international audience Råsunda was the National football stadium of Sweden. It was here that Brazil with the young Pele won their first World Cup in 1958.  It was here that Terry Butcher became “Captain Blood”.  It was here Sweden kept beating England just for fun, not to mention a few other international highlights.

But first and foremost Råsunda was the home of AIK.

I was given the opportunity to capture the last AIK season ever at Råsunda with my camera which lead to a book named, roughly translated, “This is where we used to play”. The first edition was sold-out in less than fourteen days.

The purpose of the project was to document not just the stadium itself and its colourful crowd, but to really capture the heart and passion of Råsunda; all those emotions that are so difficult to describe but gives our lives as football fans a meaning.

At my webpage you can find more photos from Råsunda: www.kullberger.se

So what’s happening with Råsunda now? At this very moment it’s being demolished. Yet another soul-less plastic bowl has been built to take its place. There seems to be no place for an old and rusty football ground full of character in modern football. A pity. 

​You can see Henrik's Råsunda Gallery for IBWM by clicking here.