Prior to 1983, the day was celebrated as Svenska flaggans dag ( Swedish flag day ).

Prior to 1818, the Swedish Royal Family was the House of Holstein-Gottorp, a cadet branch of the Oldenburg dynasty which ruled Sweden from 1457 to 1521 ( then intermittently ) and from 1751 until 1818.

Prior to 1809, the Åland Islands were located within the boundaries of the Swedish realm.

Prior to the Swedish general election in 2006 Hägglund's Christian Democrats formed a closer alliance with the three other centre-right parties in Sweden, under the name Alliance for Sweden.

Prior to 1944 it was for centuries populated by ethnic Swedes and traditional Swedish law was used.

Prior to her appointment in 2002, she worked as the head of the Swedish Competition Authority.

Prior to her appointment as commissioner, she had served as a Member of the European Parliament 1999 – 2006 and as Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs 2006 – 2010.

Prior to the negotiation of the Versailles accords, Bullitt, along with journalist Lincoln Steffens and Swedish Communist Karl Kilbom, undertook a special mission to Soviet Russia to negotiate diplomatic relations between the US and the Bolshevik regime.

Prior to Salming, the consensus in North American hockey circles was that European players lacked the toughness to play North American hockey, with those from Sweden even being referred to as " Swedish Chickens ".

Prior to the 1970-71 season, Charlie O. Finley, the flamboyant owner of baseball's Oakland Athletics, purchased the Seals.

Prior to its transition to the NCAA Division II, the college competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ) as a member of the Heart of America Conference.

Prior to joining the NCAA, Cedarville competed as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ) in the American Mideast Conference ( AMC ).

Prior to competing in the NCAA, the university was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ).

Prior to that, the school was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and competed in the Smoky Mountain Athletic Conference ( 1929 – 61 ) and Volunteer State / Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference ( 1946 – 89 ).

Prior to joining Canada West, the Lady Bobcats were members of the Great Plains Athletics Conference from 1978-1999.

Prior to gaining NCAA Division I status, the university enjoyed memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ) and NCAA Division 2.

Prior to the 2009 season, the team changed its name to the Chatham Anglers due to Major League Baseball Properties ' trademark of " Athletics and A's ".

Prior to purchasing the Athletics, Shibe and his sons worked for A. J.

Prior to 1947, the only definition of first-class cricket had been one in Great Britain that dated from a meeting at Lord's in May 1894 between the Marylebone Cricket Club ( MCC ) committee and the secretaries of the clubs involved in the official County Championship, which had begun in 1890.

Prior to 2005, the LPGA Championship had a " professionals only " rule.

Prior to its inclusion in the World Championship it was held at a multitude of venues in every state of Australia.

Prior to the year 2006, the game was known as the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship.

Prior to joining the NBA, Abdur-Rahim was the USA's leading scorer and rebounder at the 1994 COPABA Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament held in Santa Rosa, Argentina.

Prior to the establishment of the men's World Open, a tournament called the World Amateur Individual Championship was held in the late-1960s and 1970s.

Prior to the introduction of the Impreza into World Rally Championship racing in 1993, the Subaru World Rally Team had fielded its larger mid-size Legacy.

Prior to the 1982 World Championship Spencer beat Alex Higgins ( who would win the world title a few weeks later ) 6 – 0 in the semi-final of the Highland Masters in Inverness.

Prior to 2008, from when it has been awarded to the Canadian Championship winners, the men's title was decided on regular-season matches between Canada's USL First Division sides.

Prior to the inception of the Formula 1 World Championship, the first instance of grid positions being determined by qualifying times was in the 1934 Monaco Grand Prix.

Prior to becoming a coach, Trotz played for the WHL's Regina Pats from 1979 to 1982 winning the WHL Championship in 1980.

Prior to his release, Lawler was scheduled to take part in a Battle Royal for the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, but he was replaced by Maven.

He also took part in the final two matches of England's time in the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship, replacing the injured Matt Prior.

Prior to playing for the senior team, he played on the under-17 team that finished runners-up to Switzerland at the 2002 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

Prior to his 2002 move to the United States, Diffey commented on the Superbike World Championship and presented coverage of the World Rally Championship for the BBC in the United Kingdom.

Prior to that, it was called the " Oregon Classic " or the " State Championship Game.

Prior to the 2008 AFC Championship game against the Chargers, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belicheck said, " I hate that song.

Prior to Rock City, the building was called The Heart of the Midlands, which hosted variety acts including the inaugural World Professional Darts Championship in 1978.

Prior to formation of the IRC, clubs from the eight Ivy League schools had competed in the Ivy Rugby Championship Tournament since 1969.

Prior to the introduction of the Rally Japan, the location had already hosted the Rally Hokkaido, which has been part of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship since 2002.

Prior to 2007, the Volvo Masters was held one week before the Tour Championship to allow golfers who are members of both the European and PGA Tours to participate, but this changed after the PGA Tour rescheduled their event to mid-September.

Prior to the match, however, Skyfire was attacked by Charles " The Hammer " Evans, with whom Skyfire had also been feuding, and was replaced in the match by Chet Jablonski ( Chet the Jet ) who pinned Punk to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.

Prior to its first participation in the 1982 World Rally Championship season, 200 road-going models were built to comply with Group B regulations.