The Kentucky Fried Chicken in London Victoria train station was The Athletic’s base of operations.
The mission? To find Brentford’s captain Pontus Jansson after being tipped off that he would be attending Wednesday night’s Champions League tie between Chelsea and Malmo.
Jansson was born on the outskirts of the Swedish city and retains a strong bond with the club he grew up supporting. The defender started his career with Malmo and he won three league titles before he joined Torino in 2014.
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The Athletic collated intel from a number of sources and learned that the 30-year-old had declined an invite to watch the match in a VIP box at Stamford Bridge as he preferred to sit in the away end.
In February 2019, when Malmo travelled to Chelsea for the second leg of their round-of-32 tie in the Europa League, Jansson led from the front as the fans marched to the ground and rumours were circulating that he might do it again.
We reached out to the club for help but they said it was too late to obtain tickets. The plan was barely a few hours old and it had hit a significant hurdle. Refusing to accept defeat, we contacted Moses and Anders, two supporters who had flown over from Sweden that morning, to see if they could assist.
They were making their way to west London as fans were congregating in three pubs before the match. We agreed to meet up at the Prince of Teck amid a faint glimmer of hope that they might have a spare ticket. After stepping off the tube at Earl’s Court, people in the area seemed to be attracted by the noise coming from inside The Courtfield. Kick-off was hours away, yet the supporters were in a buoyant mood.
Denied entry by the bouncers, The Athletic pressed their face to the window and the source of happiness became apparent. Dressed in all black and with a cap to cover his face, Jansson was soaking up the atmosphere and graciously speaking to everybody who came up to him.
The target had been located, but access was proving difficult.
We headed to the Prince of Teck and were greeted by a sea of light-blue shirts and scarves. Moses pulled out a ticket — one of his friends had been forced to drop out at the last moment. Cash was exchanged and beer was offered as a token of goodwill. Our goal was a step closer to becoming a reality.
![PONTUS-JANSSON-MALMO](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/10/21104310/PONTUS-JANSSON-MALMO-e1634827405701.jpg)
The song “1973” by James Blunt was playing over the speakers and thankfully it was rapidly drowned out by chants. The march to Stamford Bridge was taking place at 6pm which meant that there was time to speak to people about Jansson’s relationship with his hometown.
“There are three main cities in Sweden: Stockholm; Gothenburg and Malmo,” Anders says.
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“Stockholm has three big clubs and Malmo only has one, so everybody in the city is united. Pontus epitomises that. He still supports the team and whenever he comes back to Sweden he watches them play. He’s never forgotten his roots.”
Erika Nielsen brings up a story about a supporter who was the victim of an assault during Jansson’s time with Malmo. The defender spoke out about what had happened and encouraged the club to investigate the incident. In the eyes of the fanbase, Jansson is a local hero who looks out for them.
After a few more drinks, people head for the exit. The march is starting shortly and it represents another opportunity to get closer to Jansson. Within a few moments, he has been spotted, sheepishly nodding his head in acknowledgement as people wildly chant his name. Members of the public in Earl’s Court look on in confusion, recording on their smartphones the sight of hundreds of Malmo supporters striding up the road.
Jansson isn’t leading the march this time, but he is still near the front of the procession. There are hundreds of bodies in between us and it is difficult to work out how to reach him. After losing track of Brentford’s captain for a few minutes, we notice him engaged in a deep conversation with a fan. Except, on closer inspection, it’s his team-mate Kristoffer Ajer. The stakes have been raised.
As we approach Stamford Bridge, the distance to our target has been closed down to a few metres. A row of stewards halts everybody in their tracks and asks for tickets to be presented. This is the chance we’ve been waiting for. The Athletic shuffles forward, taps Jansson on the shoulder and requests a quick photo along with Ajer.
![PONTUS-JANSSON-KRISTOFFER-JAY-HARRIS](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/10/21103235/PONTUS-JANSSON-KRISTOFFER-JAY-HARRIS-e1634826797699.jpg)
We’ve spoken in the past but only over Zoom so, after a brief reintroduction, pleasantries are exchanged and we discuss Brentford’s match against Leicester on Sunday. Jansson is stolen away by Swedish journalists for a series of more in-depth questions, while The Athletic talks to Ajer about how he has settled into life in London after moving from Celtic in the summer. The pair say farewell as they head into the ground and are spotted later on enjoying hot dogs in the concourse.
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Reunited with Moses, Anders and the rest of their friends, Malmo’s starting line-up is analysed and optimism is expressed that their team can escape with a positive result. Andreas Christensen puts Chelsea ahead after nine minutes and Jorginho doubles their lead from the spot shortly afterwards. Moses looks deflated, before he rediscovers his enthusiasm and starts bouncing up and down with the rest of the supporters. Encouraged to get involved, The Athletic tries to sing along despite not knowing how to say a single word in Swedish.
Thomas Tuchel’s team win 4-0, but at full-time the Malmo supporters remain in good spirits. Keen to make the most out of their short trip to England, they want to continue the party. Some of them had visited Brixton Village the night before and there are suggestions to return there. The Athletic is invited to join, but politely declines — our mission already accomplished.
(Photos: Malmo FC Twitter)