On Tuesday, Skånederby was played in the Superettan between Helsingborg and Trelleborg. But for the home team, the match was bigger than “just” a derby when Andreas Granqvist, who put his shoes on the shelf this summer, was to be thanked.
Before the kick-off, “Granen” was hailed with song from the audience and the Helsingborg players wore white shirts with “#TackGranen” on. In addition, he was presented with flowers and gifts from both teams.
– It was a tough decision to quit, they wanted to help the boys get back to the Allsvenskan. But I feel that it was the right decision for both myself and the team, Andreas Granqvist told Discovery + and continued:
– You always want to quit on your own terms, not because of injury. But at the same time I have had an injury hell for two years and have not been able to perform at the level I want and know I can.
It looked for a long time to be the perfect thank-you match for Granqvist and Helsingborg. Benjamin Acquah gave the home team the lead with a quarter left to play and that lead they held for a long time. But in the 89th minute of the match, Mattias Håkansson stayed ahead and equalized to 1-1 for Trelleborg.
The match later ended 1-1 and Granqvist did not get to see Helsingborg take three points. Admittedly, they still lead the Superettan, but Värnamo in shared first place has one match less played and can take over first place if they defeat Jönköpings Södra on Thursday. Trelleborg, in turn, remains in third place.
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