2. Divisjon, Saturday 4 July 2015
Odd 1-2 Valerenga
Tippeligaen, Sunday 5 July 2015
A double header of a weekend. Norway is one of a handful of European countries which season takes place over a calendar year, so it was a rare chance to watch teams in the full swing of a domestic season in summer weather conditions. And there happened to be a heatwave while I was there.
The long road back
My first game was as unplanned as they can get. My plan was to walk up to the Ullevaal Stadion, Norway's national stadium. I happened to walk past the Bislett on my way there, with half an hour to kickoff and happened to notice there was a game on. So I handed over my 100 kroner (about £8) and went in.
Lyn had a disastrous few years at the end of the last decade. Once a top flight club, who boasted the likes of John Obi Mikel, Ali Al-Habsi and Chinedu Obasi, the team from Oslo, typically supported by the better-off, went bust in 2010 and had to start again in the seventh tier. They have since risen up to the third tier, but 2015 has been a shambles. Going into their clash with Senja, a team from the northern island of the same name, they were bottom of the league, having picked up a paltry two points from 11 games.
Now playing at the Bislett Stadium, known mainly as an athletics venue that hosts one of the most prestigious Diamond League meets each year, there was a small but vocal group of Lyn fans. The attendance though, was just 347, with one or two Senja fans (or sympathisers)
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| A rare moment in Lyn's season. They were holding a team to a goalless draw when this photo was took |
They got goals though. Lyn took a shock lead through Mahmod Hejazi in the 20th minute, but that was as good as it got for the home side. Ole-Oscar Ross equalised almost immediately. As Lyn's defence seemed to be carved open at will, particaularly with four second half goals, Ross with another, a hat trick from Christer Johnsgard, and a penalty from Isak Furu Krogstad, made it another sorry Saturday for the home team. Even when Senja missed a shot in the second half, it found the back of the net of a spare goal resting on the running track.
The result kept Senja in mid table, with Lyn a relegation in waiting, even with 14 games still to play.
The cradle of Norwegian Football
Next was the game I had planned in advance. It was another Oslo team, Valerenga, but they were away at Odd, Norway's oldest football club, who play in the southern town of Skien, around two hours' drive from the capital. A club with history, they have more cup wins than any other club in the country, and strive to be a club for the entire county of Telemark. It also happens to be the club a friend from university supports, and he was able to get back from Norway from the match to give me a grand tour of Skien, and then helpfully translate any chants. In return I revealed to him that one of the club's pre match anthems is the Apollo 440 track ITV used for their France '98 opening titles. I can't think of a word to describe that.
The Skagerak Arena seemed a modern facility, with 8,100 there that night out of a possible 13,000. There are three steep, modern stands, with the fans close to the pitch, making for a decent din. The away fans were housed in the older Domino's Tribune, which reminded me a bit of Carlisle United's far too long stand built in the Michael Knighton era. This was because it was once a main stand, before the three new stands were built, and the pitch was turned 90 degrees. Odd were the first club in Norway to use an artificial surface too.
There seems to be an effort from the club to connect with young fans though, with a pre match ceremony involving lots of kids running along the pitch, which was nice.
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| The Skagerak Arena before kickoff |
On the pitch, there were just the three goals. Both sides were in the top half of the table, but off the pace of league leaders and once perennial Champions League participants Rosenborg. Odd had just won their first Europa League qualifier 3-0 at Sheriff Tiraspol. They weren't to win this though. While they looked to play the ball on the floor, they often gave it
away and defended poorly and deep. Valerenga took the lead in the first half through Icelandic forward Elias Omarsson.
Odd were proving a threat from crosses and set pieces though, and had a free header at one stage. Eventually, they levelled in the second half, with Eintracht Frankfurt loanee Olivier Occean heading in from a corner. In the final few minutes though, Valerenga won it, with Omarsson breaking down the left unchallenged, and beating the young goalkeeper at the near post, sending their travelling fans, including the Clan fan group, into raptures, and insulting the hosts as "fucking farmers."
Other stuff
Norway, if you didn't know, is too expensive. You can budget accordingly by eating from the bins at your local Lidl for a month after you come back. However, there is apparently a decent, cheap steakhouse near the parliament building, but I was told this AFTER I came back to the UK.
The fjords are beautiful. You can take a boat tour, like I did, or you can get water taxi type things and visit the different islands just a short hop from Oslo.
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| View from the boat trip |
The national football museum at Ullevaal is apparently only open to groups, so bear this in mind before you walk all the way uphill from the city centre like I did.
An Oslo pass is a good way of getting dicounted and free access to a lot of the city's museums and attractions.
Next Stop
Celtic Park for Celtic v Ross County on August 1
