Editing Bandy (section)

===Sweden===
[[File:Clarence von rosen.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Clarence von Rosen]] introduced bandy to Sweden.]]

Bandy as an organized sport was introduced to Sweden in 1895. The [[Swedish royal family]], noblemen and diplomats were among the first players. While the original inspiration mainly came from England, there also were early exchanges with Germany and Russia. Bandy was taken up as one of the sports at the international [[Nordic Games]] held in Sweden semi-annually from 1901. [[List of Swedish bandy champions|Swedish championships]] for men have been played annually since 1907 and Sweden was the first country to have an annual bandy league.

In the 1920s students played the game, then it spread across the country and became a largely middle-class sport. The games could attract huge crowds of spectators in those days. After [[Slottsbrons IF]] won the Swedish championship in 1934 it became popular amongst workers in many smaller industrial towns and villages. Where there was a bandy club the local factory corporation also usually sponsored the club to mutual benefit as a successful team led to good PR for the company. Bandy remains the main sport in many of these places.

In the mid-20th Century, bandy was the most popular spectator sport in Sweden, drawing huge crowds for most events and having bigger audiencess than football or ice hockey. While not having the same numbers now, bandy is inceasing the number of spectators in the 2020s, in contrast to many other sports.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://svenskbandy.se/nyheter/2025/bandy-gar-mot-strommen-publiken-okar-i-elitserien |title= Bandy går mot strömmen – publiken ökar i Elitserien |publisher= Svenska bandyförbundet |date= 7 May 2025 |access-date= 7 May 2025 |language= Swedish}}</ref>

Bandy in Sweden is famous for its "culture" where both playing bandy and being a spectator requires great fortitude and dedication. A "{{ill|bandy briefcase|sv|bandyportfölj|vertical-align=sup}}" is the classic accessory for spectating and is typically made of brown leather, well worn, and contains a warm drink in a thermos and/or a bottle of liquor.<ref name="briefcase">{{cite news | first = Ingrid | last = Sundberg | title = Bandyportföljens tid är här | url = http://www.folket.se/folket/standard_article.php?id=139481&avdelning_1=101&avdelning_2=105&t=1373991006 | work = Folket | date = 10 November 2006 | access-date = 7 January 2007 | language = sv|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928181039/http://www.folket.se/folket/standard_article.php?id=139481&avdelning_1=101&avdelning_2=105&t=1373991006 |archive-date = 28 September 2007}}</ref> Bandy is most often played at outdoor arenas during winter time, so the need for spectators to carry flasks or thermoses of 'warming' liquid like [[glögg]] is a natural effect. With the sport moving indoors in recent decades and the arenas urging for non-alcoholic policies for the audiences, this tradition has partly changed, though not without opposition.

[[File:Bandyfinal2010 hammarby celebration.jpg|thumb|After the 2010 final at [[Studenternas IP|Studenternas Idrottsplats]] in [[Uppsala]], Sweden]]
[[File:VSK Bandy höjer SM bucklan efter finalen 2020.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Västerås SK Bandy (women)|Västerås SK]] raises the Swedish Championship trophy for women after their victory against [[Skutskärs IF|Skutskär]] in 2020.]]

A notable tradition is "[[Saint Stephen's Day bandy|annandagsbandy]]", bandy games played on [[Saint Stephen's Day]] (''annandagen'' = ’the second day [of Christmas]’), which for many [[Swedes]] is an important [[Christmas]] season tradition and always draws bigger crowds than usual. Games traditionally begin at 1:15&nbsp;pm.<ref name="annandagsbandy">{{cite news |first=Berndt |last=Rosqvist |title=Festligt och fullsatt på stora bandydagen |url=https://www.dn.se/sport/festligt-och-fullsatt-pa-stora-bandydagen/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130418064244/http://www.dn.se/sport/festligt-och-fullsatt-pa-stora-bandydagen-1.231109 |url-status = live |archive-date=18 April 2013 |work=Dagens Nyheter |date=22 December 2003 |access-date=4 February 2010 |language=sv}}</ref>

====Swedish Championship====
In Sweden, the [[Elitserien (bandy)|Elitserien]] (literally, the "Elite League") is the highest bandy league in the country for men, while [[Bandyallsvenskan]] is the second division. The Elite League is the top tier of Swedish bandy and is fully professional. At the end of the season, a play-off is made to make out the two teams playing the [[List of Swedish bandy champions|final match for the Swedish Championship]]. The Final is played every year on the third Saturday of March. From 1991 to 2012, it was played at [[Studenternas IP|Studenternas Idrottsplats]] in [[Uppsala]], often drawing crowds in excess of 20,000. One reason the play-off match was set in Uppsala is because of [[IFK Uppsala Bandy|IFK Uppsala]]'s success at the beginning of the 20th century. IFK Uppsala won 11 titles in the Swedish Championships between 1907 and 1920, which made them the most successful bandy club in the entire country (now, however, the record is held by [[Västerås SK Bandy|Västerås SK]]). A contributing factor was also the poor quality of the ice at [[Söderstadion]], where the finals were held from 1967 to 1989.

In 2013 and 2014 the final was played indoors in [[Friends Arena#Tournaments|Friends Arena]], the national stadium for football in [[Solna]], [[Stockholm]], with a retractable roof and a capacity of 50,000. The first final at Friends Arena in 2013 drew a record crowd of 38,474 when [[Hammarby IF Bandy]], after ending up in second place in six finals during the 2000s, won their second title. Due to declining attendance from 2015 through 2017 [[Tele2 Arena]] in southern [[Stockholm]] was chosen as a new venue. However, the new indoor venue failed to attract much more than half of the total capacity. In May 2017 it was announced that the finals will again be held at Studenternas IP in Uppsala from 2018 through at least 2021.

====Svenska Cupen (The Swedish Cup)====
{{Main|Svenska Cupen (bandy)}}
The ''Svenska Cupen'' ({{langx|en|The Swedish Cup}}), ''Svenska Cupen i bandy'', takes place exclusively in [[Sweden]]. It is a [[single-elimination tournament]] competition in Swedish bandy and the second-most prominent bandy competition which is open only to domestic Swedish teams, after the national championship. Its inaugural year was [[2005 Svenska cupen|2005]]. The first women's competition was played in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bandyworld.se/arkiv/41562|title=Västerås SK historiska mästare|publisher=Bandy World|language=Swedish|date=20 October 2019|access-date=14 November 2019|archive-date=14 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114210051/http://www.bandyworld.se/arkiv/41562|url-status=dead}}</ref>