In 2010 we felt we had seen them all…

Nou Camp, San Siro and a lot of other arenas in England, Germany, Holland, Belgium and the rest of Europe. Around ten Swedish gentlemen travelling around, watching football and trying to learn about other countries. But there was one problem. We all supported different teams in England, our favourite destination.

To get away from all the banter, we tried to find a team that we could all support. A place where we could cheer and cry together. A place for joy and solidarity.

After a huge research, an endless browsing through sites in football leagues we didn´t even know existed, a pearl was rolling across the screen. Everything was there! Placed high enough in the league system to provide good football. A new stadium, built less than ten years earlier. The club also seemed ambitious and well-managed and was furthermore situated only fifteen minutes away from Heathrow.

We found Staines Town Football Club!

A game vs Braintree at the end of November fulfilled all our expectations, eight goals in a 4-4 draw. There was also an article, a whole page in fact, about us in the match programme, we were asked to pick MOTM and we were invited to tea and sandwiches in the break.

We also had the privilege of meeting Alan Boon, Mr Staines Town, who had been running the club for decades. He was kind enough to give us a signed club pennant. This proud moment for us, can be seen on the photo in our home page. We were very sorry to learn that he passed away, just before the start of the season, the year after. His son Matthew, who took over the chairmanship, left it after a few years in charge.

Back in Sweden we established “The Swedish Massive” in Dec 16th 2010, with the obvious purpose to support Staines Town Football Club, (The Swans). “The Massive” was at that time the name of the supporter club in Staines and I asked Alan Boon if it was OK if we put “Swedish” into that name. He had no objections, but was in fact rather amused about the club getting an international fan club, probably the only one in that league.

Twelve years later, we have made more than 20 trips to Staines with a various number of participants. Under the tab “Resor” (Travels) you can read about most of them.

2022 - A new phase in the history of Swedish Massive

The summer of 2022 has meant a new direction for our association. We swap Staines Town FC for newly formed Staines&Lammas, Middlesex FC. We trade Wheatsheaf Park for Laleham Recreation Ground and Joe Dixon we trade for anything.

There is still our interest in Non-League football and our now quite large network of contacts in Staines-upon-Thames, both around football and in the city in general.

We embrace the situation and look forward to upcoming battles in the city by the river.