Everyone loves a cinderella story or two, don’t they? Footballing fairytales are one of the more brilliant and unpredictable things about the beautiful game as we know it, especially when it happens for a lesser club at the top level.
Be it Greece winning the 2004 European Championship, Leicester’s Fantastic Foxes making history by winning the Premier League title in 2016, or Iceland going on to qualify for two major international tournaments in a row: these are the moments that a neutral football fan truly lives for.
The latest inclusion to this list is another tale of David overcoming Goliath, hailing from the first division of the Scandinavian footballing country of Norway.
FK Bodo/Glimt, a tiny club from the Arctic Circle in the very north of Norway have created history by winning their first “Eliteserien” title with five games to spare, dethroning Norwegian giants Molde from the top of the division.
Being promoted to the top division only three years ago, the awe-inspiring tale has been applauded not only for the magnitude of the feat: but also for the way that the club has done it.
Bodo/Glimt have played a brash, free-flowing attacking style of football, trampling on opponents in their way. They went unbeaten for the first 21 games of the season, and have emerged as an absolute juggernaut despite being termed as minnows on paper.
🇳🇴 One to keep your eye on later.
— FotMob (@FotMob) July 15, 2020
Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt have already scored a record breaking 30 goals in their first 7 games this season. 🔥
And they go again, against Kristiansund tonight.
🎥: @eliteserien pic.twitter.com/4k0o7RMtcD
The season has already proven to be a record-breaking one for the Norwegian champions-elect, as they look to win one more game to set the record for the most number of wins in the division as well as the highest point tally.
Bodo/Glimt’s sudden rise to success does not involves the catalyst of cash injection, as they have worked their way up to the top flight with only a tenth of the budget of Norway’s top sides and a squad consisting of a majority of homegrown players from the north of Norway.
The club has remained true to their Northern roots, and still encourage promotion of their traditions. Fans like to bring massive yellow toothbrushes to games, as an unofficial mascot of the club who play in canary yellow colours: besides having a larger-than-life salmon at their stadium for a period of time.
The Bodo/Glimt fairytale is immensely special for everything they have stood for on their way to the top, and their success in the Eliteserien this season will count as an awe-inspiring Cinderella Story, and yet another instance of David winning against Goliath in the beautiful game of football.
hi lam a footy fan and had the pleasure of meeting the squad [at the time ] in spain on pre season 3 years ago . since then i call them my team after man u i follow them every week may i say what a pleasure it was to talk to them sat around the pool they conducted themselves very well congratulations on the title win wowwwwwwwwwwwww