Describing this latest trip to support The Hoops abroad as a salvage mission is probably being kind, given that we lost 3-1 at home last week to a side who took six off Mourinho’s Roma in an unbeaten run through the group stages. Shades of heading to Turin three goals down with my daughter a decade ago or to the Camp Nou 3-2 behind even further back. But I’ve convinced myself that this is when Celtic really need my support so we’re all off to the Bodo in the snow, in the snow.
But only after a lengthy delay. The planned 6am departure has long since passed and the captain has emerged to announce to his disgruntled audience that the runway is closed due to the continuing snowfall. It’s approaching 8am and we’ve been sitting on the plane for the best part of a couple of hours before we finally get the nod that the prep work can start to allow us to leave. It’s going to be lunchtime when we arrive in Norway. The omens are not good. No Table 45 and now this, and into the bargain my phone is playing up and seems to be running out of charge as quickly as it powers up. Travelling into the Arctic Circle during a blizzard on my Jack Jones with a dodgy mobile was not really how this was supposed to pan out.
IMAGO / Bildbyran
The story of Bodo Glimt is a remarkable one. Founded in 1916 in the Arctic town of Bodo, FK Glimt (translating as flash or lightning) was one of a number of clubs from the Nordland region who were denied access to the southern-dominated National League until the early 1970s. Their history at the top level of football is therefore restricted to half a century with their Norwegian Cup success of 1975 over fellow second-tier outfit SK Vard Haugesund at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo the club’s first national honour.
The following season, Glimt came through the convoluted Norwegian play-off system to gain promotion to the top division for the first time in their history. And in 1977 they reached the cup final for a second time before losing to champions Lillestrom thanks to a late goal from star Norwegian striker Tom Lund.
Those early cup final appearances led to Glimt’s first excursions into European football, both in the Cup Winners’ Cup. First opponents were Napoli, with the Norwegians losing narrowly home and away, and two years later it was again powerful Italian opposition who knocked Glimt out, Inter Milan cruising through on a 7-1 aggregate after Union Luxembourg had been overcome 4-2 in the opening round.
Glimt’s next great side was that which was narrowly pipped by Rosenborg to the Tippeligaen but which won the Norwegian Cup for a second time in October 1993 by beating Stromgodset in the Ullevaal. That line-up featured club legend Runar Berg in midfield and a certain Harald Brattbakk in attack. Ironically, 10 years later, Harald would be part of a Rosenborg team which beat Runar’s Glimt in the cup final in Oslo’s national stadium, together with Runar’s brother Orjan and two other names familiar to Celtic supporters, Stale Stensaas and Vidar Riseth. Back in October 1996, both Berg siblings were in the Glimt team beaten 2-1 by fellow northerners Tromso in the Norwegian Cup final in Oslo, with Runar opening the scoring for the Bodo-based outfit.
The 1993 cup success saw Glimt enter European football again in August of the following year. Qualifying round opponents Olimpija Riga were blown away by a devastating performance in the Aspmyra Stadion, a 6-0 win followed by a goalless draw in Latvia. That set up a first-round clash with yet more Italian opposition, this time Coppa Italia holders Sampdoria. Glimpt’s best result to date saw Sven-Goran Eriksson’s star-studded side beaten 3-2 in the Ullevaal.
Two weeks later, David Platt added to his Oslo strike by scoring in Genoa before the wonderful Attilio Lombardo settled the tie before the interval. Incidentally, on the same night another Scandinavian legend Henrik Larsson added to his first leg strike as Feyenoord eliminated Lithuanians Zalgiris Vilnius in Rotterdam in the same competition. He would better that with four in the next round, including a hat-trick in Bremen, as the Dutch eliminated Werder 5-3.
Sadly, his first-half strike in the quarter-final first leg in Rotterdam – the last of his magnificent seven in the competition that season – would be cancelled in the Spanish return by eventual tournament winners Real Zaragoza. The Spaniards beat Arsenal 2-1 in the Paris final, despite an equaliser from Henrik’s future Celtic teammate John Hartson. Big Bad John had also converted a shootout penalty in the semi-final in Genoa as the Gunners overcame Sampdoria.
