Prince Williams Visit to sweden brought bandyns homeland to life

The suspended red shirts hanging neatly in a row along with the blue shorts and the blue helmets. At first glance, takes bandyögat for granted that it is London who is on a visit for another meeting with Hammarby at Zinkensdamm, but this decemberdagen is more historic than that. If a time, the Uk's newly formed national team, stepping out on the ice as a last rehearsal before the B-world CUP in Sweden about a month or so.

"it All really started last autumn when I became aware that the british crown prince couple, prince William and Kate, would come to Sweden," says Anders Gidrup when he settles down in the office at Zinkensdamm.

in Hammarby Bandy IF and a member of the Swedish bandyförbundets tävlingskommitté, but in the past year, he has taken on an additional assignment – to bring an old bandynation to life after 105 years of sleep.

" I have a good relationship with the british embassy through my regular work and my previous work life, and I had some thoughts on what you would arrange for them, so I suggested that we would play bandy and show the sport for them. It raised a few question marks, but I explained the link.

That the crown prince would know what was going on outside of Bluntisham in the county of Cambridgeshire in the east of England in the 1800s was less likely, virtually no brits make it.

where both the river next to the gräsfältet Bury Fen greater and the winters colder. So almost every autumn, which started with the creek overflowed and as the cold weather swept in over the islands, the creation of an isfält, who got the residents in the area to lace up their skates.

Already in the 1700s to the villagers availed themselves of the large amounts of videträd that grows around fields and broken by the twigs, the curved root at the end, turned out to be made for to chase a ball. Areas like gräsfältet Bury Fen was gone if in the area, but according to the first documents from 1813, was the village law, the Bury Fen Bandy Club, swept the track with the opponents and went undefeated in a hundred years.

It was on the ice on the flooded gräsfältet Bury Fen in southern England bandysporten occurred during the 1700-century. Photo: Geoffrey Robinson/REX

until 1882, when one of the most prominent players in the club, Charles Tebbutt, wrote down the first set the rules of bandy. In the years that followed was formed the English bandy association and Tebbutt devoted his time to spreading the sport, including a visit in Sweden. But what he didn't know was that the in the near future would be a thing of the past in the british isles.

When the first world war broke out in 1914, became a big part of bandyfolket men. Many had fallen and when the war was well was a fact, had not the sport, that was not as established as football and cricket, survived.

" They were curious simply, says Anders Girup.

" And when I told him that queen Victoria's husband, prince Albert was in goal in a bandymatch, so thought the british royal court that Prince William might be able to do the same.

it is not, with over a hundred media on the spot was the event in the Park in January attracted more than a bandy-world CHAMPIONSHIP have ever done, and the british court did not want to invite a fall. The solution was a safer play without skates, but at the side of the stunt was something far greater behind – the-scenes feature of the british bandy.

"It was in a conversation with prince William, and the president of the british bandy association as we talked about the possibilities to form a uk national team again," says Anders Girup, who took on the role of manager.

bandystraffar Prince William hit the Park in January 2018 was the starting point for the production of the british bandylandslag that has been fallow for over 100 years. Photo: Bildbyrån

the , Great Britain Bandy Federation, was formed just a few years ago and has its head office in Cambridgeshire. But a national team has not been as easy to get to, the lowlands of The Fens do not get to the ice 150 years ago and a few full-scale bandyplaner there are whatsoever not.

" In my searching it turned out that there are a lot of players in Sweden who have british ancestry or dual citizenship, and then you have the opportunity to play for the Uk. So the team was a mix of established Swedish may with british ancestry spiced with british hockey player, " says Anders Girup.

the slightly sprawling, the squad finished with two highly qualified coaches in the old Bollnäsprofilerna Patrik Larsson and Hans Åström, and in the middle of August was a piece of bandyhistoria. Then stepped a british team out on the ice for the first time in 105 years, in an exhibition match against away against Villa Lidköping. The loss with the 9-1 was expected, but the actress was meeting expectations", says Anders Girup.

– the Goal is to create a product that we can hand over to the English, as the latter can manage themselves. It is important to broaden the bandyfamiljen to bandy in the long run, to be able to become an OLYMPIC sport, and then I think England are a very important partner in this, " he says and looks at the clock.

Time for the match against Hammarbys U20-team. Photo: Lisa Mattisson, Lisa Mattisson

to take a step back to the locker room. The british ambassador David Cairns is on the way and get on the full football jerseys before he takes the step out on the ice to take the rejection in today's world CUP dress rehearsal against Hammarbys U20-team.

" I practiced a little in the Park yesterday, reveals David Cairns when he snörar on skates.

the Mood among the players is relaxed, perhaps the explanation is that the british hockey - and rinkbandyspelarna not been able to get here for today's rehearsal. The locker room is only filled with svenskättade may, where the mix consists of everything from ungdomsspelaren Oliver Corcoran, 14 years from Lidköping, to the captain of the team Martin Deacon, resident in them Tellus.

– My dad is from Swindon so when I heard about the plans so I thought it sounded exciting. This match is mostly a fun thing, but when it comes to the B-world CUP will do anything to win, " says Martin Deacon.

sweeping across the Lodge just in time for the british national team, stepping out to find his lost winter sports feel the symbolism is obvious. Ambassador David Cairns can handle the rejection without the crash and take some cuts out on the ice before he signs a replacement, but it should not be too long before the Uk takes the lead on the corner. It would be the start of an unlikely målkalas and when the referee blows of the world CUP-dress rehearsal stand it 11-0.

" It's a little difficult to know where one stands in that we've never played together before, but it has really gone beyond our expectations. They are a little more established players may be the centre of the pillar, but I'm a little surprised myself that we could keep it together so well both during the camp in Lidköping and in this match, says coach Patrik Larsson.

Britain's ambassador in Sweden, David Cairns, moving on to do the rejection at the Zinkensdamms IP. Photo: Lisa Mattisson

the newly formed british national team with a royal bandytillställning in the Park. But for Patrik Larsson and Hans Astrom, it is important that there is a serious approach to the new mission they have chosen to do voluntary work.

– I and His have known each other for years and we liked the project, we felt that we wanted to give something back to the bandy, and hopefully a good result at the world CUP get the sport to grow over here again.

That bandy would get a new life around the Bury Fen feels possibly distant, and, perhaps, is the attempt to revive a sleeping bandynation a mission impossible. But closer than this, they have not been in 105 years.