1950

HIF ha a firm grip on the wide audience, even in the middle of winter. The film from the Far East tour winter 1948-49 has premiere at the concert hall beginning of January 1950. It is a great success and crowded evening after evening.

In May the temperature is raising. Everybody talk about the big game HIF-MFF which will be played the 26:th of May. The seats are sold out in just a few hours and people have queued since four in the morning.
It becomes a fantastic attendance record. Totally comes 25.099 spectators (24 314 paying+ complimentary tickets). 500 persons never get in and 50 that are in wants money back since they don’t see anything of the ground. The small boys however see well since the guards let them lay behind the goals. The match ends 2-2 and and counts as one of the best that has been played at Olympia.

Råå has come up in allsvenskan and the 18:th of August 1950 it is Helsingborg derby at Olympia. 22.937 paing spectators mean a new fantastic attendance! And again a Friday match. Råå has started allsvenskan brilliant and leads after three rounds while HIF has been playing badly. But injuries, slipperiness and lack of experience bring down the favourite Råå which presses in the second half at the standing 1-2. But an unsuccessful back pass when it is five minutes left leads to a third goal for HIF. Besides Råå´s international player Valle Ek is injured and can not make himself justice. How would it have gone otherwise? Helsingborg is more than ever splitted in two camps. At the places of work, in the streets and in the homes it is discussed who is the best.

HIF and Råå agree on raised admission. From the spring 1951 standing ticket costs 2 kronor, open seat 3:25 and seat under roof 4 kronor. At expensive special performances by foreign clubs it will if required be higher prices. The new prices means in fact not an increase but correspond to the index-raise and the increased costs in society.

Late winter 1951 is very snowy. It is said that it is the worst snowy winter within living memory, which don’t say little for them who remembers the war winters in the fourties. The snow threatens the allsvenska spring premiere but at the beginning of April it turns and spring comes to Helsingborg.
The snow-problem is set aside, at least for Olympias part. Instead another threat shows up before the premiere. The countrys municipal workers goes out in strike and as the sports ground caretakers are municipal employees the premiere has to be moved until the conflict is over. For the first time in history a sporting event in Sweden must be cancelled because of strike. The first of April the football association stipulates a contingency plan. Hopefully the allsvenskan can start again the 22:nd of April, but no one can be sure. In any case the schedule will become very compressed. Besides the clubs have economical trouble. Both HIF and Råå are top teams and pulls large audience but the to an ever increasing extent higher compensations to the players creates problems.

Before the spring premiere Råå is second, HIF third in allsvenskan. There is talk about allskånskan (all Scanian) since Malmö FF leads the series in a superior manner. At Olympia it is ready for match between HIF and Jönköping. The rebuilt, open seat stands, section A and E, can be used, but the new seat stand under roof is not ready to use. HIF wins the match with 5-0 and the weather is beautiful.

Friday the 11:th of May it is derby between HIF and Råå. 16.377 paying see a very good match that ends 1-1. It is the first and only (?) time HIF loses an allsvensk point against another team from Helsingborg.

Already at the beginning of April HIF advertises about the match the 20:th of May against Sao Paolo from Brazil.
Unfortunately there is no guest performance by the club Sao Paolo. After many turns Portuguesa from the same town comes instead. The match comes inconvenient since the springs strike has pressed together the allsvenska schedule. During a period of eight days four matches are played.
It is hardly any match, rather a show of artists against amateurs. The Brazilians are leading with 5-1 at pause and admits afterwards that they almost played at full speed. At second half they slow down and HIF is allowed to score two goals. Almost eight thousand see the match and the Brazilians are very impressed by the audience’s objectivity. A phenomenon they are not used to.

There are allsvenska matches at Olympia almost every day. The audience quickly becomes sated and it only comes seven-eight thousand to the matches. Rather bad since HIF and Råå are allsvenska top teams. HIF looses in the last round and ends just fouth, while Råå sensational ends second after MFF.

Friday the 10:th of August is played the third allsvenska derby between HIF and Råå.
HIF wins with 4-1, but it only comes 10.244 spectators in the rain. The victory is far from just. HIF has namely both luck and the referee on its side. This is Råås third straight loss and the way downwards has begun.

At evening, Friday the 12:th of October Bill Pettersson pass away, one of Swedens greatest sports leaders through all times. In HD, Saturday the 13:th of October, he is tributed by a row of famous sports profiles. One of them is the old great player and trainer Harry Lundahl:
”For us was namely Bill altogether naturally from beginning till end our beacon and our example. Everything became as he said and wanted. And became it nevertheless emphatic, as everybody sooner or later found, that exactly what he said and wanted, without exception was the right and real. Otherwise Bill wasn’t so easy to make out for the one that for the first time came close to him. He carried outside his heart of gold a rather harsh surface – which he besides sometimes literally loved to demonstrate – and I remember it so well, that there occured some misunderstandings between us, before I definitely surrendered to him. After that started a friendship that lasted for life - despite that I thru destiny eventually had to leave HIF.”
Sunday the 14:th of October Bill is tribute in connection with the match HIF-Gais. It is beautiful autumnal weather, the flags fly at half-mast and it is a strange and very solemn mood. A place at Olympias grandstand is empty.

The regiment at Berga shall be shut down and Friday the 9:th of May 1952 K2:s band plays for the last time at Olympia. 19.943 spectators see HIF win over MFF with 1-0, the first victory against Malmö in five years.

Friday the 16:th of May HIF plays against Råå and wins with 4-0 in the last (?) allsvenska derby between two teams from Helsingborg. HIF is good, Råå struggle, but it is not enough. The audience is 14.558 paying. HIF ends third in allsvenskan and Råå is out for good.

The 11:th of July HIF encounter the ” Swedish pro national team”. The pros scores 2-0 in a quarter, then it becomes mostly holiday play and 2-2 at the end. In the second half HIF outplays the so called quarter millionaires, among others Nacka Skoglund, and the pros are saved by their Italian reinforcement, the goalkeeper Costagliola from Fiorentina.

HIF ends fourth in allsvenskan the season 1952-53. It goes well at away ground but the play tie up at Olympia.

In May 1954 all interest is focused on the match at Olympia between HIF that lead allsvenskan, and Malmö FF that is only nineth. Friday the 14:th of May Helsingborg is invaded from all directions. Approximately 10.000 outsiders comes to see the match.
It is a mild evening in May, as made for football at Olympia. Helsingborgs Dagblad: ”That the attendance record would go away at the match yesterday at Olympia was no surprise. The latest weeks there hasn’t been talk about anything else in Scanian football circles then this match. The new record is at 26.154 but in this number are included also complimentary tickets for what reason the payings share is 25.362.”

There are always two attendances, with and without complimentary tickets. Afterwards it is decided that attendance record shall be counted including complimentary tickets. So in the history books it stands 26.154, a attendance record that presumably will stand for all times. The match is considered to be the best that has ever bveen played between HIF and MFF.
HIF takes the lead with 1-0 after half an hours play, thru Sven ”Butti” Espling. MFF equalizes in the halfs next to last minute, and scores two more goals during the first quarter of the second half. Åke Jönsson, who has been moved up in the forward line scores both 2-3 and 3-3. When there is five minutes left Werne Bjärebo hits the post. If that ball had gone in HIF had won allsvenskt gold.

Nine days later the direct series final is played at Olympia. Gais wins with 3-2 and wins allsvenskt gold with HIF at second place. Since the modern allsvenska started autumn 1924 it has been 21 sets of medals which makes HIF Swedens best club thru all times.

Friday the 27:th of May 1955 it is time for derby again at Olympia. HIF is as usual among the top teams, while it goes worse for Malmö FF who is threatened by relegation. But it doesen’t matter. The matches between HIF and MFF have a nearly magic attraction and 23.991 paying are in place. MFF wins with 1-0, and it is HIF:s first loss this spring. The play is not at all in class with last years, but the real football friends can at least be pleased that Malmö with the victory settle the allsvenska contract.

The 15:th of July HIF encounter an international combination at Olympia. It consists of players from SSU:s international Öresunds camp that has gathered 2.000 participants from the whole world. And it is not a bad gang that is gathered. Three Swedish international players are in the SSU-team: Kurt Hamrin, Gösta ”Knivsta” Sandberg and Östen Ståhl. HIF wins with 6-4, but the match is unique for another reason. For the first time it is namely TV- broadcasting from a football match in Sweden. It is Danish TV that trains before the autumns international match Danmark-Sverige in Copenhagen.

Spring 1957 a decission is made about the new playing order for allsvenskan. Henceforth it will be played spring - autumn, instead of autumn - spring. To be able to change playing order the next allsvenska starts autumn 1957 and ends late autumn 58. All teams shall encounter one another three times. The new order carries out despite resistance from all the allsvenska clubs.

1957 HIF has its 50:th birthday and celebrates with ending third in allsvenskan. In connection with the jubilee celebration in the concert hall Malmö FF among others thanks for all the money they have earned on the exchange with HIF through the years. For HIF 1957 is a good year economically. And not one öre needs to be toched of the 20.000 kronor that has been reserved for the jubilee celebration.

If 1957 was a good year for HIF economically, 1958 becomes nevertheless worse. The attendance drops seriously after the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. The end match home in the record long allsvenskan 57-58 is played against Motala. HIF wins with 6-1 but it only comes 2.168 persons. It is beneath contempt for an allsvensk match at Olympia. Sportsly it goes a little better with a fifth place in the marathon allsvenska. The year afte, 1959, HIF ends eigth. After many years as a top team in allsvenskan it starts going downwards.