13th July 2024 – Eliteserien – Åråsen Stadion, Lillestrøm, Norway

The Åråsen stadium had been on my radar for years.  On my monthly visits to Oslo for work over a period of three years, the train from the airport would tantalisingly slow down as it approached Lillestrøm station, allowing me a view inside the stadium that hugged the train line just outside of the town centre. 

In the long winter months, you’d see the virgin snow, ready for someone to run on, whilst on a rare occasion they’d be a game on, and you’d hope the train would be delayed long enough to watch some of the action.

But finally, I was alighting off a train to watch a game and not speeding through Lillestrøm.  Due to more train issues I had to rely on a cab to take me the mile from station to stadium to get to the game before kick-off.  Say what you want about alcohol prices here in Norway, but taxis are the real budget buster.  The 0.9-mile ride cost a cool £33.  I declined to tip.

There’s really not a lot around the stadium – a BMW showroom, a supermarket and on the other side of the train tracks, the club’s training facilities which includes an indoor ground which they use for pre-season.

I picked up my pass and headed up to the press seats.  The ground is located close to Kjeller Air Force base which not only means the stands are single tier, uniform in height, but the floodlights are lowered when not in use.  Behind the North stand, where away fans are housed, are two rows of flats, with balconies, adorned with LSK flags and scarves if not fans.  It’s compact and homely, with an average attendance this season 7,600 against a capacity of 12,250.

Despite their reputation as one of the leading teams in Norway, honours have been scarce in recent years, with their last league title in 1989, and were relegated for one season in 2020. But that didn’t stop the fans having hope in their hearts at the start of each season.  That hope often doesn’t last too long into a season as today’s game proved, with the ‘Kanarifugla’ sitting precariously in 12th place just above the relegation zone proved.  This is manager Andreas Georgson’s first gig in the hot seat, having been in the dug outs at Brentford, Arsenal and more recently Southampton as their set piece coach. He must have given one hell of an interview to bag the Lillestrøm job.

As the club’s anthem stopped, the hardcore fans in the block next to me slowly made their way out of the stands, leaving scarves tied to barriers and flags on the floor, and congregated in the concourse area near the entrance, just out of sight of the pitch.  I looked to my right and saw the away fans in the north stand had also done the same, leaving a single banner up saying, “Fuck VAR”. 

I went down to grab a drink and took the opportunity to ask one of the fans what the protest was about but my translation skills from Norwegian to English were a little bit too rusty to determine exactly what it was.  Either it was about the lack of English mustard to put on the hotdogs, or it was about the shortage of charging points for electric bikes at the stadium, but I was then put right by someone whose English as a second (or perhaps third or fourth) language was far better than mine. 

He told me it was a coordinated fan protest across all of the Eliteserien games this weekend about the use of VAR, or the perceived misuse of it.  On the 13th minute mark, they all returned, picking up the tempo and the songs, and had their immediate reward.

Seconds after they had retaken their positions in the stand, Felix Vá burst into the visitor’s penalty area and was brought down.  Penalty Lillestrøm.  There was no need for any VAR checks although the Strømsgodset fans behind the goal, dressed in all white, took the opportunity to raise their “Fuck VAR” banner strategically in full view of the TV cameras.  Thomas Lennie Otter sent the keeper the wrong way to open the scoring.

One became two three minutes later when Eric Kitolano slotted home unmarked in the box. But in the 31st minute the visitors had a lifeline when Logi Tómasson curled the ball home from just inside the box with the outside of his foot and some smart build up play down the left-hand side.

The second half was barely two minutes old before the home side extended their lead, Uba Charles smashing a loose ball home from 18 yards.  That was game over.  Even the fans in the flats behind the goal went in to watch something on TV.  But the Lillestrøm hardcore fans didn’t miss a beat until the final whistle blew and everyone headed off into the early evening sunshine. I had time to stop for a swift half before I headed back to the airport, choosing RePUBlic (see what they did there?) on the basis it had the least bad reviews.  In fact, “Jenny” was positively gushing in praise with her comment of “I really appreciate how clean they keep their bathrooms.” She had me at the full stop.

Of course, the train to the airport was delayed and then sped past the Åråsen, thwarting a final view of the ground.  It had been a tip-top 30-ish hours trip to Oslo, perhaps not your first-choice destination for a weekend of football.  Norway at any time of the year has so much to offer but on the long summer days, with football thrown into the mix it’s a magical, if a tad expensive place.