FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Europa League - Group A - Bodo/Glimt v Arsenal - Aspmyra Stadion, Bodo, Norway - October 13, 2022 General view inside the stadium before the match Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine/File Photo
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - It's do-or-die for the clubs remaining in the Europa League knockout phase playoffs this Thursday, but Norwegians Bodo/Glimt will once again be focusing on performance rather than the result as they continue their fairytale run in the competition.
Since the club made a conscious decision to prioritise an attacking, entertaining brand of football over individual results in 2018, they have won four Norwegian league titles in five years and thrashed Serie A side AS Roma 6-1 at home.
"Everyone in the club is very happy when we win, everyone is thinking it's crap when we lose, but either way, the thing is to put it behind you and look forward, and the players and the coaches here are really good at this," sporting director Orjan Berg told Reuters.
His club will be seeking to overturn a 2-1 deficit to reach the Europa League last 16 when they face Dutch side FC Twente in their second leg at home on Thursday.
However, Berg played down the importance of individual games and instead highlighted how the club was creating a sense of civic pride for northern Norway.
"If someone from Bodo or north Norway went to Oslo in the 1970s, they had to change their accent - they couldn't speak with their own accent, because the people in Oslo would think, 'what is this?'" Berg explained.
"With Bodo/Glimt winning the Norwegian Cup in 1975, it made the people feel more proud, it gave them more confidence and kind of changed the mentality in the north. So that was really, really important - and now we're doing it in Europe."
Thanks to their European exploits, the club are attracting fans from far beyond Norway's shores.
"I think it's because we're kind of a fairytale club, you know - coming from above the Arctic Circle, we are playing really good football. I think it's really fun to watch Bodo/Glimt play offensive, good technical football," Berg said.
"Sometimes we beat Roma and we beat big clubs, and that's a good story all over the world anytime, and football is the biggest sport in the world."
COMMUNITY HUB
There cannot be too many venues in European competition where fans can walk from the international airport to the ground in 15 minutes, but such is the case with Bodo's Aspmyra Stadium.
Many of the neat detached houses and apartments they pass along the way proudly fly small flags in the club's yellow and black on their facades.
The stadium, which can hold little more than 8,000 fans, also serves as the club's training ground and a community hub. Every morning while the team are training, former players gather at what is reverentially known as the "coffee table" to observe.
"They're kind of just that heart and soul of the club, they're the history, so it's good to have them there," Berg said.
The 56-year-old's family history is closely entwined with that of the club - a statue of his father Harald "Dutte" Berg, a cup winner in 1975, stands outside the main entrance, and Orjan followed in his footsteps by serving in the team's midfield during the 80s and 90s.
The lineage continues to current club captain Patrick Berg, whose proud father missed his opening goal in a 2-1 defeat by Azerbaijan's Qarabag earlier in the Europa League for family reasons - Orjan was at home minding Patrick's daughter.
For Orjan and the rest of Bodo, which enjoys a warmer climate than inland in the Arctic Circle thanks to its position on the coast, the important thing is to stay true to the community and the club's principles, no matter what the result on the field or their position in the table.
"So many people that are really proud of coming from North Norway or from Bodo, and they can go with pride and say 'Bodo/Glimt is my club'. So it is really important," Berg said before heading off to join his father Harald and other former players at the coffee table.
"Now all of a sudden, if you say 'I support Bodo/Glimt', people know who you're talking about."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
