September 20 – When professional football teams emerge from the tunnel, usually the mascots are young kids who dream of being on the same pitch as their heroes. But 11-time Swedish champions AIK went for the opposite age group before last weekend’s home game against against Gefle IF, handing the honour to 12 senior citizens aged between 81 and 96.
Among them was a prominent and much recognised figure, former UEFA president Lennart Johansson who has supported the Stockholm club all his life and is its honorary president.
The elderly fans appeared arm in arm with the home players, receiving a standing ovation from the 13,000 crowd in the Friends Arena.
“It’s a lovely gesture,” said 96-year-old Ake Jigstedt, the oldest of the supporters. “I’ve been a member since 1936 and I think this is something extra special.”
AIK chief Mikael Ahlerup said: “Our family section has for a long time been the biggest in Sweden and it is very important for us to get children and teenagers to the club but we can never forget about the generation that made this club to what it is. That’s why this initiative felt like an obvious thing to do.”
Johansson, who was in Athens last week to attend the UEFA presidential election, uses a wheelchair to get around these days and came on to the field to a rapturous reception.
“There are a lot of us who have lived with AIK all of our lives but who can’t, for various reasons, get to the stadium these days,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that we care less about the club. Maybe just that we have a little bit more difficulty travelling and moving around.”
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