"I have waited so long for this day, and it's great that it has finally come." How fitting those words were in Stockholm on Saturday, as Hammarby fans commended their re-visitation of Allsvenskan, Sweden's top division, after five long seasons away.
Those words come from a tune named "Just Idag Ar Jag Stark" ("Today I am solid"), performed by Kenta Gustafsson, which has for some time been set up as the club's hymn. Hammarby fans relate to it totally. It's normal to see the tune's verses inked on allies.
Kenta, a tremendous Hammarby fan himself, passed on in 2003 at 54 years old, however, his inheritance lives on. The song of devotion is performed before every single Hammarby game, sung with enthusiasm by the entire group in a presentation that can undoubtedly measure up to "You'll Never Walk Alone" at Anfield. Simply tune in to the climate at the pristine Tele2 Arena in front of last season's last installation against Jonkoping in the video beneath.
The arena was full that day, and an outsider couldn't have ever speculated that the game occurred in Superettan, Sweden's subsequent division. Unfathomably, Hammarby pulled in higher normal attendances than any Swedish first-class club in 2014. Their normal group remained at 20,451, contrasted with 16,446 for city rivals AIK and only 14,090 for champions Malmo.
That summarizes Hammarby - the club is about allies, the ideal group for football sentimental people to begin to look all starry-eyed at. Established 100 years prior, they were just delegated support once in their set of experiences, taking the title despite everything in 2001 under mentor Soren Cratz, who turned into a remarkable individual.
"To this day, that triumph feels strange," Peter Stempel, an intense Hammarby ally, revealed to ESPN FC. They are not used to winning and have adjusted to simply having some good times and getting a charge out existing apart from everything else. As their idiom goes: "We couldn't care less about the table, Bajen are the best in any case." Nobody knows precisely why they call themselves "Bajen," incidentally, yet that is the moniker.
Hammarby are the club where Nacka Skoglund, the energy player for whom engaging was consistently the main thing and whose exhibitions got the creative mind of Inter fans during the 1950s, grew up. Hammarby's fans were the first in Sweden to begin singing in the arena during the '70s, enlivened by English football. A couple of years after the fact, they even carried some Brazilian contacts to Scandinavia, with a samba ensemble playing in the stands of the old Soderstadion during matches.
The club's fans were additionally quick to walk through the roads of Stockholm on the primary day of the period. That custom carried on for a long time and has become something of a fascination. On Saturday, in any event, 10,000 fans in green and white went for a part in the stroll, as a portion of the primary courses must be shut to traffic. It was shot by an inquisitive Stockholm occupant, who isn't a Hammarby ally yet needed to observe the occasion known as Bajentaget.
Hammarby have never been a triumphant group yet are probably the greatest club in the country and a fundamental piece of Allsvenskan. That is the reason their transfer in 2009, for the most part, because of helpless administration, was a stun. Obviously, the fans remained faithful to the players in any event, when they greatly failed to meet expectations. It is uncommon to see overwhelming applause to the group that has quite recently gone down, yet that is actually what Bajen fans gave their group after they lost in their last home installation and completed the season absolute bottom.
They were not the principal significant club to get consigned, but rather while others like AIK and Malmo got back to the first class promptly, Hammarby's emergency just developed after the drop. Without a triumphant mindset was significant in Superettan also, and in 2011 fiasco lingered as the group went distressingly near being consigned once more.
Hammarby expected to succeed at advancement hopefuls Angelholm on the most recent day of the 2011 season to try not to drop into the third division, and that end up being an exceptionally intense errand. Five minutes into injury time, when all expectation was lost, Sebastian Bojassen scored with the last kick of the game. Bajen were saved, Bojassen - who had to resign in no time a short time later with a back physical issue - will be affectionately recalled for eternity.
"That Angelholm game provided the worst and the best moments of my entire life," says Gustav Gelin, a Hammarby blogger who used to fill in as VP of the Bajen fans' affiliation.
At that point, exactly when they apparently arrived at the absolute bottom possible, their most noteworthy icon returned. Kennedy Bakircioglu, quite possibly the main players when Hammarby won their title in 2001, had a momentous profession that took him to FC Twente and Ajax in the Netherlands and Racing Santander in Spain. In the mid-year of 2012, the intemperate child returned, and fans jumped on the rooftop just to have a brief look at him marking the agreement.
Fittingly, it was Kennedy who scored the absolute last objective at the darling Soderstadion, which was deserted in the mid-year of 2013 for the new arena that Hammarby currently shares with Stockholm rivals Djurgarden. That day was very passionate for all concerned, however, there was likewise trust noticeable all around. Amusingly, Bajen fans consider Tele2 Arena the new Soderstadion, declining to allow the past to go while beginning the new experience.
The new home, which empowered more fans to visit home games and altogether expanded the club's incomes, featured the way that Hammarby were a dormant beast. Their latent capacity is enormous, and that persuaded Nanne Bergstrand, perhaps the most regarded and proficient mentors in Sweden, to assume the test of dealing with the club in the start of 2014. Begstrand prefers long-haul projects, having gone through 12 years at Kalmar, where he won a thrilling title with the threesome of Elm siblings in 2008. Then, the 58-year-old needed to copy that accomplishment at a significantly more well-known club.
Nanne's appearance carried a ton of confidence to Bajen. The crew was totally redesigned and, driven forward by amazing attendances, Hammarby conquered a temperamental beginning to end the top of Superettan in a tight fight. They expected to beat Jonkoping on the most recent day, and whipped them 5-0 after a staggering interpretation of "Just Idag Ar Jag Stark."
Thus, following five difficult and memorable years, Bajen are back where they should be. On Saturday, their game was the absolute first installation of the new season in Sweden, and they won 2-0 against Hacken. Kennedy, the 34-year-old going bald chief, scored the main objective of Allsvenskan in 2015.
There is presently wary idealism that Hammarby could be the unexpected bundle in the top portion of the table. They will not win anything, obviously, in light of the fact that that isn't their propensity, yet they are sure to engage.
"Hammarby are a club where love is the most important thing," Kristopher Karlsson, who works for the Aftonbladet paper, says. "They like a back-heel pass, a beer and a cheeky chant." But aren't those the most awesome parts of the game?
Football isn't just about Cristiano Ronaldo breaking scoring records - it is for the most part about fans who support their group through various difficulties. It is around a huge number of Bajen allies going on their yearly walk, murmuring the melody composed by Aapo Saask, a Hammarby ally, and performed by his companion Kenta, who is dead yet godlike.
"I look forward to the glorious times," the lyrics go. Let them be glorious.
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