FYI
Meet Bodo/Glimt - Man Utd’s Europa League opponents from inside the Arctic Circle
Bodo is north. Really north.
Any further into the Arctic tundra from here will take you into the home of polar bears and seals - it’s hardly the place for a footballing fairytale.
This is the land of the midnight sun and the polar night, where braving the elements is as much a task as putting the kettle on. “They thought we were primitives up here,” Orjan Berg told FourFourTwo back in 2019.
"We were direct, we spoke our minds, but not primitive. They used to advertise flats for rent in Oslo, but say no people for the north of Norway on them. We were bullied. They thought we were only farmers and fishermen. Some people still think we are.
“We weren’t allowed to play in the national league until 1971 because they felt we couldn’t compete with team from the south of Norway.”
Bodo, located 200 miles above the Arctic Circle and home to a NATO air base, was never supposed to home to Norwegian football’s preeminent force. They were put a footnote in the league system until 2019 - when everything changed.
A second-place finish in 2019, on year after securing promotion to the big time under boss Kjetil Knutsen, has been followed by three titles in four years. A fourth title looks set to be wrapped up next weekend if they can beat Lillestrøm SK.
It’s here, under the Northern Lights, that a team of stars have emerged - many of whom are local lads. Patrick Berg, their captain, comes from footballing royalty.
Berg, who is also a Manchester United fan and once ran a fishing channel on YouTube, is the latest in his family to wear the famous yellow jersey. Orjan Berg, Patrick’s father, and his dad, Harald both played for Glimt, so too did Patrick’s uncle.
When Norwegian newspaper VG ranked the greatest players to come from the frozen north of Norway they occupied four of the top five spots - the only player near them was a certain Morten Gamst Pedersen, a Tromso lad.
Tromso are Glimt’s local rivals - local meaning they’re the only team within a few hundred miles. It’s a 10-hour bus journey between to the two settlements, but that doesn’t mean it’s a tame rivalry.
Bodo’s harbourmaster once prevented Tromso fans from docking because it deemed it unsafe - it was perfectly fine. On another occasion Glimt fans placed rotting fish heads on the window sills of the hotel where the Tromso players were staying.
When Tromso were leading Glimt in 1995, the Tromso manger feigned an injury to try and waste time - it was only once he got to the local hospital did he reveal it was all a ruse.
It was a couple of years later, Chelsea would learn just how tough it is to win in these parts as they drew with Tromso
However, any legacy Tromso have left in Europe has quickly been put to the sword by Glimt.
Glimt, with their style of football that has been branded as “kamikadze”, have pulled up trees on the biggest stage - smashing six past Roma during the 21/22 season.
Manchester United are now the latest team in their crosshairs.
