‘Only Walsall fan in Sweden’ in Bescot pilgrimage
It is a trip more than 20 years in the making, and tomorrow will see the ‘Swedish Saddler’ finally watch his beloved Walsall at Bescot.
Per Stener saw his passion for the Saddlers start in the late 1990s through playing the classic computer game Championship Manager.
And the 44-year-old is making a long-awaited trip over from Gavle, Sweden – around two hours north of Stockholm – for the clash with Swindon.
“I’m excited, of course, and very nervous,” said Stener, whose only other journey to see the Saddlers in the flesh was for the 2015 Football League Trophy final at Wembley.
“I’m looking forward to coming over as I’ve been a fan for over 20 years. It’s been a long wait to get a chance to come.”
Stener regularly writes blogs on swedishsaddler.com, and he has also developed relationships with fellow fans through Twitter.
It goes to show the power of the internet as Stener believes he is the only Walsall fan in Sweden.
“I didn’t have the internet when I first started following the club, so I had to find all the information I could from Sweden, which wasn’t easy,” he said.
“Teletext had tables and results, so I could follow those. I then got access to the internet, and there still wasn’t much information about Walsall, so I created my website to gather information about the club and players.
“It made me come in contact with a few people who I still speak to now. I’m the only fan in Sweden, so it’s good to have contact with mates in England and over parts of the world.”
Stener was due to land today and having followed the season closely, streaming games from Sweden, he is keeping his fingers crossed for an enjoyable Walsall win.
“It’d be great to finish off with a victory,” added Stener.
“Swindon are in the play-off places, and we could knock them out of those, so that would be nice.”
