I'm one of those lucky people who has had the good fortune to have travelled, from the States and Canada in one direction to Greece in the other, via such delights as France, Spain and Holland, but this trip to Scandanavia was one I was particularly looking forward to. It was somewhere new, and I was going to watch my team play a football game.
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From the moment I bumped into the three musketeers at Heathrow on Wednesday morning, until I started the lonely trek back to London 48 hours later I had a fantastic time. Yes Oslo was very expensive - £6 per pint (and that's beer, not spirits just in case you were wondering) is testament to that - but it is also a beautiful city, full of beautiful people. It was all too easy to simply sit on Karl Johans Gate and watch the world pass by.
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Wednesday evening was spent in the Belfry, a little bar just off the main street, in the company of a number of Norwegian Man Utd fans who seemed a little perplexed at the sight of us Linfield fans invading their own space. It was refreshing to witness at first hand that Northern Ireland isn't the only country where the local game seems to be overshadowed by the English Premiership.
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Royal Palace, or is it Stormont?
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Thursday morning was spent around the main street - Karl Johans Gate - once more and this provided the first opportunity to meet up with those who had travelled over with the European Supporters Club. For those of you have never been to Oslo, Karl Johans Gate runs from the main train station at the bottom, up to the Royal Palace at the top. It did seem a tad bizarre spending so much money just to see Stormont ;-)
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The appropriately named Onkel Blå (Uncle Blue, in English) was the next stop, a bar a short distance from the Nadderud Stadion where most of the Linfield fans congregated for a pre-match drink and the first chance to meet and chat with our Norwegian hosts.
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Linfield fans gathering outside Onkel Blå
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More fans outside Onkel Blå
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The match itself proved to be the only downside to the whole trip, which was a bit unlucky as that was the reason we were there! I'm not going to criticise the management but playing an away game in European competition without arguably your two strongest defenders and deciding to play with 3 at the back is nothing short of suicidal. The team was torn apart down the left hand side, and it was only at 2-0, when the formation was changed to a more rigid 4-4-2 that the Blues started to look comfortable, and the Norwegians had their success route blocked. The second half saw the Blues the more dominant force, spurred on by half time substitute Stephen Shaw, but in spite of putting the home side under some severe pressue the vital away goal just did not come and two late goals effectively killed the tie. The fact the home fans started booing their own team midway through the half shows that Linfield weren't as bad as a 4-0 scoreline would possibly suggest.
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Stabaek were never 4 goals better than Linfield but four bad mistakes proved costly and 4 goals were conceded and that is the frustrating thing. Being beaten by a team who outclassed the Blues would have been so much easier to take. It's easy to say if Noel Bailie had been playing the 4 goals would have been prevented, but he wasn't and it was up to the rest of the defence to compensate for that. Man of the Match? Personally there was only one contender, and that was Justin McBride, who ran his gonads off for the full 90 minutes. It's a pity we didn't have another couple of players like him on the night, and for me judging by the reception he received both on the pitch at the final whistle, and outside the stadium after the game, this was the night Justy was finally fully accepted as a Blueman.
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After the game, and a chat with a bunch of grateful, if disappointed players, it was back to Oslo, via McDonalds where we chatted to a bunch of Norwegian kids (Stabaek U18 players as it happens). Why would this never happen in Belfast? Could you imagine a group of local kids coming across some foreigners wearing football shirts in Belfast?
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The Belfry again provided us with a home for the bulk of the remainder of the evening and it's at this point I should thank the owner and bar staff of the bar for making us feel so welcome both on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. I also want to pass my thanks onto Oslo Blue who posts on the message board for his assistance with our pre-departure preparations. It was great meeting you at the game and I'm just sorry I didn't get to have a better chat with you.
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In full voice in the Belfry
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To everyone I met in Oslo - Ivan, Gaz, Gett, Stu, Gordy, Del, Paul, Kaz, Willy and Harry, and everyone else too numerous to mention - a big thank you. And to those I don't happen to see before the end of the season, I'll see you all again wherever we end up next summer.
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Spreading the word - 2 newly adopted Linfield fans :-)
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