Former Leeds United player ready to play football in front of crowds in Sweden

Few English footballers will be able to contemplate playing in front of crowds at stadiums when the game emerges from its lockdown, but he and a handful of team-mates at Swedish outfit Ostersunds FK are doing just that.

The Yorkshireman, who started his career at Leeds United before moving into non-league circles with Guiseley, is in training and preparing for the football season in Sweden.

The country’s top two leagues – the Allsvenskan and Superettan – have pencilled in June 14 as a starting date, with spectators in attendance. It had originally been earmarked to start in April before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Given the fact that most leagues which resume across the rest of Europe will stage games behind closed doors in summer, it will make for a strange sight.

Purver told The Yorkshire Post: “A lot like the lower leagues in England, teams here rely on gates rather than TV money like the Premier League do.

“They need those gate receipts to come in so they can be sustainable. That is why there is a big push to get crowds in – as long as its safe.

“We average close to five or six thousand and it is a massive source of income.

“It is probably moreso for the clubs in Stockholm, such as Hammarby and AIK, who get 20 to 25 thousand. They are really reliant on that kind of money coming in.”

Players at Ostersunds – managed by an Englishman in former Leeds United and Bradford City academy coach Ian Burchnall – have been back in training for the past week.

Across Europe, the situation is somewhat different. The French and Dutch seasons are over, with French Prime Minister Edouard Phillipe having ruled that team sports are outlawed until September.

FIFA’s chief Dr Michael D’Hooghe has also stated that he does not want football to return before that time.

But in Sweden, a country whose low-scale lockdown strategy has seen bars, restaurants and schools for younger children remain open throughout the coronavirus crisis, life is continuing as normal – albeit with some social distancing measures.

Rather than bringing in bans, Sweden has instead relied on voluntary measures emphasising social distancing and good hygiene, with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, urging people to behave “as adults”.

That sensible advice has also extended to sporting organisations.

Purver, 24, added: “We were training in small groups of three and four before starting back in training fully.

“The changing rooms and the club’s gym were shut (before) and all closed off. But you could get on the pitch and it was left open for players to get onto.

“We were given running sessions and football-specific drills and stuff like that.

“(Public) Gyms are open still. But you are just advised not to go. It really is different to the full lockdown back home.

“The club told us to stay away from the gyms and take kettle- bells and dumbbells home from our gym to our flats. It is probably better to stay out of the gyms at the moment.

“It has really been an eye-opener to see the trust that the people have with the government and the advice and the guidelines and how the government trusts people to listen and follow the guidelines rather than having to impose lockdowns.

“Gatherings are limited to 50 people. When you go to the supermarkets, there are spots on the ground where you have to keep your distance and I think it is pretty similar to back home.

“It has been interesting to see how over here, they trust people to follow the guidelines a lot more and people in general have a lot more trust in the government than maybe we do back home.”

With the main urban centres of Stockholm and Gothenburg being 350 and 390 miles away, respectively, Ostersund – marketed as the ‘Winter City’ in Sweden –recently emerged from its winter hibernation and is coming into bloom.

In comparison to those cities, rural Sweden is also seeing relatively few cases of coronavirus and life is pretty normal.

People are moving about relatively freely and the joys of Spring are certainly more pronounced than across much of the rest of Europe.

Pubs and restaurants are open, but most inhabitants choose not to frequent them much anyway.

For many, simply being able to see family and friends and appreciate the glorious countryside of Sweden’s beautiful interior is more than enough.

Purver continued: “Me and my girlfriend have been kind of keeping to ourselves and all we do is really go out and walk, to be honest. There is not tons to do in Osterlund anyway.

“You are almost socially distancing already. Although you do see a few other lads in the team and stuff like that.

“We first came out here at the start of January and we were all saying it was going to be the longest pre-season in history.

“In the last few weeks, it has just started to clear up so that is one thing and it is starting to get really light again and that will be fun heading to the summer.

“The (Swedish) population is so concentrated to Stockholm and Gothenburg, it is like London, but worse in terms of it (Covid-19) being really focused down there.

“For us up here, we are maybe fortunate to be a bit out of it in that respect.

“I have really loved it so far in all aspects (in Sweden) – the football, way of life and everything like that.

“It has been brilliant so far and let’s hope we get the season started and then we will see from there.”