Långholmen Football Club went into the 2009 season expected to be a mid- table finisher by the end of the season in October. With a couple of new additions to the squad the black and white striped men opened the season with a derby match at Zinkensdamn IP. Reymersholm were the opposition and put up little resistance as the Stripes cruised to a 3-0 victory. Goals from Kenny, Allen and new signing Mattias Larsson securing the points in front of a large noisy away crowd.
Some of the crowd versus Reymersholm
Consistency was the name of the game and the 3 goal tally was kept up for the games against Järla and Stuvsta, both matches finished 3-1 and saw Långholmen share top berth with Ängby with a maximum nine points.
Goal from Stuvsta game here
The next two games were against two teams who were considered to be title favourites before the season started. First up were Ekerö and they were able to leave Stora Essinge with all three points thanks to a first half penalty miss by captain Robbie Graham. The following Sunday night Långholmen faced Mariebergs and were totally outclassed as the home team romped home 4-1 and sent Långholmen plummeting to fifth place in the league.
Another derby match loomed and one of the biggest crowds of the season as the Stripes travelled to Zinkens once more, to face LoScudetto/Krukan. Chris Allen sealed the points with a three minute strike in a close match. Boo and Ängby were next up and both fell at Essinge as Långholmen started to cement their place at the top of Div 4.
The two final games before the break saw a heated affair with Olympiacos in which the Stripes controlled throughout and a very wet away match to Skå which saw the lowest home attendance of the sesaon for our opponents. The thirty odd Stripes supporters got drenched but sang the whole game and urged their team onto a 2-0 victory.
The second half of the season saw Långholmen sit proudly at the top of the table, not bad for a team that according to some would be fighting relegation.
Olympiacos requested to change the opening fixture to later in the season, so Skå were the first visitors to Essinge in August and put on a great performance to win 3-1 against an out of sorts Långholmen side. Mattias Larsson who had been so important in the middle of the park picked up a serious injury prior to kick off in this game, an injury that saw him miss the remainder of the season. The trip to Boo that followed produced a 2-2 draw in a match that Långholmen really should of won.
Långholmens bad start to the second part of the season continued and a defeat away to Ängby made a few people wonder if Långholmen had what it took to get back on track. From now on they could not afford to drop many more points if winning the league was a realistic prospect.
Lo Scudetto/Krukan came calling and were promptly sent packing after a double by Billy Harkness and one from Andy O’Sullivan saw Långholmen chase league leaders at Mariebergs at the top.
The scene was set for a real battle on the fifth of September when Mariebergs were to visit the Stripes on their home patch. A 2-1 victory put Långholmen one point clear at the top again in a very exciting run in.
Ekerö had previously beaten the Stripes earlier in the season but were no match for Långholmen as some good finishing made the scoreline 5-2 and at the same time Marieberg could only draw with Ängby, thus giving Långholmen a little breathing space at the top.
With a game less played they could control their own destiny. That game, against Olympiacos, at Spånga Ip produced a fine 4-1 victory.
There always was a feeling that quite possibly goal difference could play a part in where the title went at the end of the season and Långholmen took the chance to bolster their goals for tally with a crushing 10-1 victory over already relegated Stuvsta, striker Andy O’Sullivan grabbed no less than five goals in this encounter.
Two games left and the Friday night trip away to Järla should have been more or less a formality, however the home team had different ideas and dented Långholmens chances by winning 2-1. It would go down to the very last game of the season a derby match against Reymersholm at home
Mariebergs and Långholmen had the same points but the first named had a plus one goal difference, so if both teams were to win their final games Långholmen would have to score two more goals than Mariebergs to secure the title.
A large crowd on a cold rainy day at Essinge saw Reymers go in at half time with a 1 goal lead and news that Mariebergs were winning should of dampened, this was not the case as Långholmen came out and blasted in 3 goals in a ten minute period to put them in the driving seat.
News filtered through at the end of the game that Mariebergs had won their match, this information however was false as they could only manage a draw against Boo and sparked wild celebrations.
Tense last few minutes here
The picture says a thousand words
Långholmen Football Club had written another chapter in it’s short but amazing history and step into the unknown realms of division 3 football.
How the table finished Oct 2009
| Långholmen | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 67 | - | 30 | 37 | 49 |
| Marieberg | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 63 | - | 27 | 36 | 47 |
| Ekerö | 22 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 58 | - | 31 | 27 | 45 |
| Ängby | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 65 | - | 33 | 32 | 43 |
| Boo FF | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 49 | - | 42 | 7 | 35 |
| Reymersholm | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 53 | - | 39 | 14 | 34 |
| Skå | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 42 | - | 33 | 9 | 33 |
| Järla | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 39 | - | 56 | -17 | 31 |
| FCK/LS | 22 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 43 | - | 46 | -3 | 27 |
| Olympiacos | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 50 | - | 55 | -5 | 26 |
| Stuvsta | 22 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 40 | - | 87 | -47 | 10 |
| Bromsten | 22 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 24 | - | 114 | -90 | 2 |
Follow the fortunes of the club next season. More info at www.langholmenfootball.com
Scot James match reporter and proud supporter of Långholmen FC
Some of the images supplied by Per Hägglund
