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I am pleased to take this opportunity to thank several people who directly, or indirectly, have contributed to the production of this book.

The generous financial support provided by Kulturministeriets Udvalg for Idrætsforskning is much appreciated.

The stimulus for starting the project came in the 1990s with the inspiration of many researchers. These included: In Denmark, my former colleagues at the Institute for Sport and Physical Education at the University of Southern Denmark at Odense; in Finland, Soile Veijola, Esa Sironen and, especially, Henrik Meinander who many years ago invited me to co-edit an anthology on Nordic sport – a joint project which unfortunately never came to fruition for various reasons. Also the good people at the Renvall Institute, Helsinki University: Henrik Stenius and Lars-Folke Landgren. Special thanks to Henrik Stenius, for not only opening academic, but also social, intellectual and even gastronomic doors in Helsinki, Stockholm and Tallinn.

I enjoyed immensely the good discussions with the Gothenburg researchers Lennart K. Persson (Gothenburg University) and Olof Moen (Municiplan). I appreciated very much Olof’s academic and practical knowledge in track and field, as well as his research in Swedish stadiums and his congenial arranging of seminars. Lennart’s good advice, professorial good humour, and profound knowledge of sport in Sweden – and especially Gothenburg – were also highly appreciated. The same goes without saying for the Nestor of Swedish sports history, Jan Lindroth, who has done so much throughout the years to ‘connect’ the Nordic sports historians in whose research he has shown a keen interest.

Among Danish historians I am indebted to John T. Lauridsen, Head of the Research Department at the Royal Library in Copenhagen. He has been an ever-encouraging and energetic friend who, on numerous occasions, has been prepared to discuss issues of cultural history with me.

Special thanks to Professor John Bale (University of Keele and University of Aarhus) for being an undying source of knowledge in British as well as Nordic sport, among many other things. I have enjoyed his undogmatic inspiration, congeniality and encouragement during more than 15 years of friendship, and our visits to places like Fønsborg on Funen, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Exeter, Goodison Park and Anfield Road, not to mention Manchester City’s fabulous old stadium on Maine Road. Thanks also to John for invitations to various seminars in both Denmark and the UK.

Aarhus University Press and director Claes Hvidbak deserve thanks for an open-minded attitude to what might have seemed a “one off” project. Thanks also to Mary Lund and Stacey Cozart (Aarhus) and Alan Crozier (Södra Sandby) for their effective translations into English.

Last, but far from least, I wish to thank my wife Brita Engelholm for her support and encouragement over the years. She has not only tolerated my enthusiasm for writing about sport and history, but has also tolerated my frequent absence as a spectator at live football matches in Aarhus and handball matches in Hvide Sande. Finally, I want to thank our two sons, Troels and Thue, for being extremely talented football players as children, and for having stopped playing the game when the time was right!

In acknowledging the help of so many, it must also be said that any errors of fact or judgement are my own.

Niels Kayser Nielsen

Aarhus, May 2005