If you support football, you've probably known what the pain and anguish of a relegation looks like. Some may even know what it feels like (hello, Wigan fans). But never have we seen the bizarre scenes we saw earlier today in Sweden, with a Helsingborg player attacked by the fans.
They were involved in the second leg of a relegation playoff with Halmstads this afternoon. Locked at 1-1 from the first leg, Helsingborg had home advantage. They're managed by Celtic legend Henrik Larsson and it was his son Jordan that gave them the lead.
Unfortunately for Henrik, they conceded twice in the final five minutes and were subsequently relegated to the second tier. Having only won the Allsvenskan five short years ago, this could be considered a surprise. The last time they were relegated they didn't return for another 24 seasons.
At full-time, things turned quite ugly. A group of Helsingborgs 'fans' in masks storm the pitch and attempt to literally strip Jordan Larsson of his shirt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=49&v=f9EVIpqvSg4
That's a 19-year-old being shoved around and stripped by five or six masked men. Now, relegation is hard to take. You would think that fans might blame the defender who gave away the equalizing penalty, or indeed the defence in general for conceding twice in five minutes.
Nope. They went for the striker who had given them the lead. You can see just how angry Henrik is through his ice cold stare towards the end of the video.
Remind us to never mess around with Swedish ultras.
Update: We've just come across this clip, showing Larsson spoiling for a fight afterwards.
Henke redo att slåss. #helsinborg #henriklarsson pic.twitter.com/sfXgyekwt9
— Mio | Stil & Kaos (@AroundEven) November 20, 2016
Some Larsson quotes have emerged, too:
Henrik Larsson re the attack on his son: "I didn't see that they attacked Jordan, but if I had I would have gone in there & started hitting"
— Alexandra Jonson (@AlexandraJonson) November 20, 2016
Also said "Will look over my shoulder a bit more, not walk alone in the city" & "if they want to come, come, we got lots of dogs at home"
— Alexandra Jonson (@AlexandraJonson) November 20, 2016
