Norwegian Kidderminster Harriers fans explain why they support non-league club
It’s been a common occurrence to see Norwegian supporters passing through the turnstiles at Premier League clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.
One group that has taken a different route is Harriers of Norway, a group of 191 committed football fans spread across the Scandinavian country, who have spent the last two years devoted to Kidderminster Harriers.
The club was formed in Aalesund in 2019 because, as member Lars Vegsund puts it, they were looking to reconnect with football away from the corporate world.
And now a number of the Norwegian fans are flying over to experience a taste of FA Cup magic as the Harriers take on West Ham United.
He said: “We were all supporters of big clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and, for myself, Nottingham Forest, and we’d been to all the big stadiums, but had started to feel like they’d lost touch with their communities and were just money-orientated.
“Myself and my brother-in-law Torsten were sitting and discussing this and we thought about how much we’d like to go to a lower league club and meet some fans at a totally different level.”
Lars said the link to Kidderminster began when they joined the Scandinavian Supporter Association on LinkedIn and found that there couldn’t be than one supporters association and after dismissing the Football League clubs as options, they began looking at the National League.
He said: “We were looking at the non-league clubs when we found a YouTube link to a video of a Danish player called Bo Henriksen, where he was interviewed in the dressing room and then walked out straight into the pub.
“That was the catalyst for us and we started to follow the club from there, with games like Player manager really helping us to get to know the club better.”
The group are able to watch matches which are sent to them on DVD by the club, playing them on their specially-constructed 'Aggborough Aalesund', a full spectator room complete with terracing and replica shirts.
As well as being devoted supporters in Norway, the club have also made several trips to Kidderminster to see the Harriers play at Aggborough, with Lars smiling as he remembered the reception from fans at the club.
He said: “It was absolutely amazing and the official supporters group got in touch with us beforehand, so we got to meet the local supporters and really enjoyed ourselves at the games we’ve been to.
“We haven’t been able to come over in the last two years due to Covid, but we always support the club from afar and I think the job Russ Penn and Jimmy O’Connor are doing is tremendous.”
The close links between the Harriers of Norway and the club has proved strong and has seen the club provide eight tickets to members of the group travelling over for the fourth round FA Cup game against West Ham United.
Lars said it would be an ideal opportunity to see the town and make sure they enjoy the full experience while they are there.
He said: “We fly in on the Thursday before and go back on the Monday, so we have a lot of time while we are there and it’s the first time I’ve been able to travel in two years.
“We aim to watch the players training and see the women’s team and youth team play before we get to the game for the cup match.
“It’s just wonderful to be able to be there and cheer the team on in such a big match and I’m really hoping we can get a result on the day.”
To find out more about Harriers of Norway, go to facebook.com/groups/381805182400905/.
