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Fictional History of SFL (AFA Universe) 1975: The SFL will return in November 2016


FFWally

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LOVE it...that'll provide QUITE a complement to ferry-ride rival Malmö as well as a nice contrast to the SFAF's other non-Swedish team Oslo...Ånder displays the Hamlets' (both king and prince's) warrior spirit and deliberation, while Drager displays the Fortinbras' (also both king and prince's) aggression and putting their full energy into defeating their opponents.

Have I told you lately how awesome this league is?

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With the New Stadium opening for 1969, as well as a team looking to contend for its 3rd Odin's Cup Victory, and 4th Championship game, Ownership, including the newly departed Johnny Rosenberger (AFA Seattle Grizzlies) set out to create a clean, modern uniform befitting a championship caliber program.

Gone is the Julbacken from the helmet, replaced by a stylized goats horn.

Also missing from the uniforms is the Yellow third color carried since the teams inception. and the Blue has been standardized with Navy, as the Jets join the league with their royal Gavle felt a much darker blue was important.

The Club Logo remains the Julbocken, but a simplified version with 2 stars representing the two championships carried on all print media as well as a patch on the upper left chest.

SFL-Gavle-Goats-1969_zps5tiazqdo.png

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After Linköping lost out on their expansion bid, owners SAAB AB made the strategic decision to move on of the original 6 to their Jet Factory home of Linköping, and pull support from Lund.

(Lund will continue in Ligan Två)

With the move, and SAAB's desire to grow their international aircraft business, the Linköping team stayed with Jets, leaving Gripen to Lund, but without the use of the SAAB Griffen.

Linkoping wanted a sleek, clean Uniform, one that would stand up to time, and at the same time be adaptable as the aircraft world changed.

SFL-Linkoping-Jets-1969_zpslxtpd4yb.png

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Much has been written about Copenhagen's enterence into the league and the precarious position of their team after infighting nearly tore the team apart.

The Dansk AFK logo was crude, and part of the agreement with Lego's Christiensen, was to allow LEGO designers to clean up the design. One ready for primetime.

A Stylized K was added to the logo, and colors were standardized with Cyan and Plum becoming the official colors for the "Spirits"

SFL-Koblhavn-Ander-1969_zpss7tygfq2.png

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OSLO has been at work since the day bids were announced for the 1969 teams, and have put together a unique look, one that ties directly to the Northmen's heritage. The Drager represents the fierce Dragons that adorned the prow's of Viking war ships. The Drager are the third Viking related team name in the league, and befitting Norway's first entry.

SFL-OSLO-DRAGER-1969_zps219llh3u.png

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i was looking forward to a green jersey for olso :shocked:

I'm happy with the color contrast (different enough from Stockholm's jersey).

But I bet that a third jersey would be green (maybe even gold!)

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There will be a third jersey... but it is a tossup between green and gold... I did both and just didn't get them where I was happy.

Stockholm has green jerseys, and red is the least used color in the league. And with Lund moving there is even less Red, so the crimson in OSLO will be a primary... the logo just looked best on a green helmet.

I would expect Green secondary pants

Here is what I had as the secondary... after looking at it again, I kind of like both

Oslo-secondary_zpszae7i2jx.png

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With the new alignment, and a now 12 game season there was, at least for one season a changing of the guard at the top of the East, as Uppsala and a surprising Eskilstuna team playing without the great Jon Stark continued to play crushing defense and won a team record 8 games before falling to a resurgent Uppsala in the East Divisional Championship. #9 Gus Torstonsson

In the West Helsingborg rode to the top once again, in an incredibly competitive division and downed fellow 1967 expansion team Malmö in the West Division Championship behind Zak Wahlström's league record 446 yards passing and 3 touchdowns, and rookie running back #28 Freddie Johansson raced to 121 yards and a rushing touchdown to lead the Berzerkers on the day.

In what would be the last Odin's Cup in Stockholm for at least 10 years, the Berzerkers won their first title in a game for the ages.

After a brutal game with the Steelmen and they "Black och Blu" Defense, the Hammers were less than explosive and many on the team questioned how a defense missing its biggest player could actually improve after his move to the AFA. Starting QB #9 Gus Torstonsson, the first Swedish QB to start a championship game, looked shaky in the first half as he threw for 1 TD, but accounted for 3 turnovers.

Rumors after the East Championship Game had Gus playing with a cracked scapula suffered on a crushing sack by Swedish born, but American raised LB Jack Bergström. The team denied any injuries, but Torstonsson did not look like the QB who led the team to the playoffs.

The Berzerker's Wahlström on the other hand looked sharp from the opening snap, and made all the passes vital to the victory, while avoiding the turnovers that had plagued his first two championship games.

What was a chess match early turned into a slugfest in the late third quarter, as the Berzerkers took their third lead of the game and stuffed Uppsala's late game bid to take the lead.

The game was never more than a TD apart and it was not until Wahlstrom threw his 6th TD of the playoffs that sealed the Hammers fate, but while that score was the games last, it was not without excitement, as Uppsala and their bruised and batterd young QB seemingly willed the Hammers down the field and into position for a game tying FG inside the last minute. But for whatever reason, OC Charlie Brown opted for one last shot at the endzone, and Safety Johan Ekström made an incredible play on a ball that looked like the game winner, intercepting it before falling out of bounds at the 5 yard line with :08 on the clock.

Wahlström came out for one last kneel, and the Berzerkers celebrated their first championship.

Several First's for the league in 1969, including:

  • First Swedish Born QB to start a Playoff Game - Uppsala
  • First 400 yard passing game - Helsingborg
  • First Overtime game - Oslo v Copenhagen
  • First Scandinavian Head Coach - Copenhagen
  • First team to not fill out its compliment of American players - Copenhagen
  • First team to average 28 points a game - Helsingborg
  • First Football only Stadium - Gavle

No new additions for 1970, and only one team has requested permission to adjust their uniforms.

After Gavle's new stadium debut in 1969, Malmö, Göteburg and Uppsala have stadiums in the works. Only Göteburg looks to be ready by the 1970 season.

In one interesting piece of news, both London and Helsinki have inquired about expansion opportunities, with the London delegation spending a considerable amount of time in both Oslo and Copenhagen during the season.

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London? If they come on board, this could change the ENTIRE focus of the league.

Helsinki makes a LOT of sense though...Sweden, Norway and Denmark are already covered, so why not Finland?

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Anders Bergström earned a History Degree in England, with a focus on Viking and Norse History, so his vision for the league expands beyond just Sweden, and into the areas where Vikings not only raided, but were instrumental in the areas history. England, Scotland and Ireland, as well as Russia, Northern France, and Northern Germany ALL have a lot ov Viking bloodlines.

The Danes until Alfred the Great were very close to turning England into a Danish country, and as England became a country many of the settlers blended into the English culture, but not without leaving their mark on the country. England very much plays into Bergström's sense of Scandinavian pride. The capital of England and Great Britain, coming under a Scandinavian influence once again has great meaning to the Swede.

Dublin, York, Leningrad (St.Petersburg), Hamburg, Antwerpen, York, all possible expansion sites... Basically countries on the Baltic and North Sea's as well as the Northern Atlantic were all under Viking control at one point or another during the Viking Age.

And yes a realignment would have to take place if this happens, but if you look at the land area, its still smaller than the USA, and a flight from London or Amsterdam to Stockholm is only about 2 hours, so roughly Dallas to Chicago, or Seattle to San Francisco.

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Iceland... I cant see a Scandinavian league completely full without an Icelandic team... a flight from Helsinki to Reykjavik is still only about 5-6 hours, like a flight to Seattle from Miami.

That would have to come with a division consisting of hypothetically, say Dublin, Edinborough, York, and Edinburgh...

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Edinburgh, yes, brain was on phonetics today!

Glascow is a possibility, but first we need to get the Brits to even recognize American Football. I guess we are roughly a decade from seeing widespread expansion in England... there is a possibility of what has happened in Denmark and Norway happening in England, and unaffiliated leagues popping up that could be absorbed ala the ABA in real world basketball. a Merger that is more of a hostile takeover, pilfering only the strongest franchises.

My vision keeps a relegation system intact for the foreseeable future. And as Denmark, Norway, Finland, etc come on board, an even more complicated play in... possibly a playoff between English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, etc... meaning the second divisions get stronger and deeper, and the top division gets stronger, as the teams playing in will be solid, having been the top team not only in Sweden, but of all the countries leagues.

The Second Division will be to the SFL what D1 colleges are to the AFA.

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