No, it will not be true what Tellus saw in front of him when the small Stockholm club receives AIK in Gubbängshallen in the classic second-day bandy.
Just a week earlier, they were set for folk festivals and large audiences in the usual order. But after Tuesday’s announcement from the government and the Public Health Agency about new restrictions to combat the growing spread of infection, there will instead be a limited number of visitors with strict instructions.
– Had it come a week earlier, we could have watched playing out instead. But it was too short of time to try to achieve it with TV production and security in general, says Daniel Eiderbäck, board member of Tellus with audience responsibility for the second day.
– As we play indoors, we have now limited ourselves to 500 people. We will request covid passes and direct people to a temporary marking of places inside the arena where people can sit. Then we have expanded with more audience hosts, he continues.
How many visitors would you have expected otherwise?
– We had hoped for significantly more. The second day is a special day for bandy. So we had really hoped for 1,000-1,500, so it will be a real loss financially.
Sitting down and watching bandy may not be part of the tradition, but that’s what applies to indoor audiences from now on according to the new directives.
– There are wooden stands, so it is possible to sit, and we will encourage people to bring something to sit on. You can sit where you usually stand, says Daniel Eiderbäck.
For Hammarby, it is not the same regulations because Södermalmsklubben receives Sirius outdoors on Zinkensdamm. On the other hand, the organizer’s traditional serving in the tent that normally attracts large numbers of hammarbyers is affected.
– We have a tent where we conduct refreshments. It will of course be indoors and then we will have to adapt, says Magnus Alfredsson, event manager for Hammarby, and continues:
– Then it is seating that applies, which will be a break for us. We may only get half of as many as the tent takes when they are all to sit down. Of course, they must have covidpass when they enter the tent as well.
Hammarby is also coming put efforts on audience hosts, that people keep their distance and take care of themselves. In combination with how the Zinc Tent is affected, Magnus Alfredsson believes that this will help people refrain from going to the second day bandy this year.
– We will get pretty bad with the audience, I have a feeling. But we can hope for the best. We had been incredibly charged for the party itself. Around 5,000 people would have been a minimum level, but now it might be half if we are lucky, says Magnus Alfredsson.
– It is incredibly difficult for us. Bandy is not a giant sport that is on the rise, it is the opposite and we need every penny. It is tedious.
– Hammarby fears that the latest corona restrictions will mean bad for the audience at Zinkensdamm in the meeting with Sirius on the second day.
Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
Daniel Eiderbäck in Tellus had wanted an earlier message from the government.
– We fully understand that you have to make certain restrictions given how the spread of infection is. We have full respect for that, and we do not have the whole picture ready for us either, but if you had come up with this a few days earlier, we would have had the opportunity to play outdoors, make a good event of it and get some extra money. We are already suffering badly as it is after suites from the last pandemic year.
Does the party around the second day band get a thorn in the side because of this?
– Yes, I think so. Above all, people get a little cautious. It becomes a bit of a “mood killer” that it becomes like this. It is important that people keep their distance and take care of themselves, but it becomes like a wet blanket over the whole thing. This is one of the best days of the year for us and now it gets a little thorny, you can not stick it under a chair with, says Daniel Eiderbäck.