Tag: sport

Norway's football team dressed as Vikings lined up in front of a longship in a Norwegian fjord

The Vikings are coming! How to watch the battle

by Kevin Burden, posted in News

The national teams of Wales and Norway square up to meet in Cardiff on Thursday 1 October in their first matches in Group D of the group stages of the Nations League. It has the potential to be an interesting game, with Norway experiencing a slightly stronger run of form.

Join fellow fans for the build-up: The Norwegian FA is hosting a fan event at Depot Cardiff leading up to the match, with room for 1,500 fans. It promises to be a fantastic opportunity to meet fellow Norwegians and soak up some of the Norwegian football fever. Food will be available. There’ll be sing-alongs and competitions with national team jerseys as prizes. Fans of all ages are welcome. Doors open at 12:30 and close at 18:00, making this a great way to gear up whether you’re heading to Cardiff City Stadium or watching the game at a pub. Tickets cost 250 NOK (around £20) each and include a drink voucher.

Buy tickets direct from NFF, the Norwegian FA, at: https://billett.fotball.no/selection/event/date?productId=10229835544358&advantageId=10229944444975

Watch the match in person at Cardiff City Stadium: tickets are now on open sale, meaning you don’t have to belong to a national supporters’ club to buy them. Seats are available for as little as £35 each. Buy here: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/fawtickets-english/EDP/Event/Index/588

Watch on TV: The BBC haven’t confirmed whether they’ll be showing the game live on BBC One or Two, but will broadcast it live on the iPlayer and via the BBC Sport website. S4C will show the game with Welsh commentary, and you can also access this through S4C Clic and the iPlayer.

Listen in: BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru will carry live commentary on air and on BBC Sounds.

The return fixture will be played in Oslo on Saturday 14 November.

Norway's football manager Egil Olsen - aka Drillo - celebrates victory at the 1994 World Cup

A figure of fun – or a man who changed a nation’s feeling about itself? A film about Norway’s most successful football manager screens in Cardiff

by Kevin Burden, posted in News

Gŵyl Wal Goch is the leading festival of football culture and is held in Wrexham, the spiritual home of Welsh football. On the eve of the Nations League clash between the Cymru and Norway in Cardiff, the group has arranged a screening of the film Alt For Norge in Cardiff in the company of Welsh and Norwegian fans and delegates from the Welsh and Icelandic football associations. Gŵyl Wal Goch founder Russell Todd explains more:

There is a train of thought that when Cymru broke its 58 year qualifying duck at Euro 2016 in France, it changed not just Welsh football but the whole nation. But looking back, we were not alone. A football film being screened in Cardiff suggests Norway went on a similar football-influenced journey a couple of decades earlier than Wales when the unexpected success of national team coach Egil ‘Drillo’ Olsen in the 1990s had a huge influence on Norwegian national identity.

Taking inspiration from Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia’s sports documentaries Senna and Diego Maradona, filmmaker duo Jo Vemund Svendsen and Daniel Høglund let the story  from the 1990s speak for itself in their captivating film Alt for Norge.

Egil 'Drillo' Olsen, as featured in Alt for Norge

Co-director Daniel Høglund said: “We are thrilled to be bringing Alt For Norge to Cardiff to warm up for the match between our nations. For many years Norwegian football was better known for a commentator’s unbridled on-air joy at Norway beating England than for any success on the pitch.”

The memorable quote was screamed over the radio, ‘Lord Nelson! Winston Churchill! Maggie Thatcher! Lady Diana! Your boys took one hell of a beating tonight.’ 

But Høglund says after that victory they were minnows no more.

“It all changed in the 1990s under Egil Olsen but his impact stretched beyond the pitch. It really did change our small nation and our self-confidence forever.”

Gŵyl Wal Goch’s Russell Todd said: “To many who remember football in the 1990s, Egil Olsen in his wellies is an indelible image. His idiosyncrasies may have made him a figure of fun but they hid an astute brain, both for football and politics. Alt For Norge is a fascinating portrayal of how football can change a small nation for the better, something we in Cymru know all too well after that wonderful summer in France a decade ago. So why not come and join us for a great night out before the big match?”

Mark Hinge from the Welsh Norwegian Society said, “How fitting that on the eve of a sporting-clash of two small nations – both equally, with big hearts – that this film will be screened in Wales as an example of Welsh ‘Hiraeth’ and Norwegian ‘Begjær’.  It will be wonderful to watch the historic rise of Norway as a sporting nation and for all of Wales to share in that rise of success and their joy.”

Alt for Norge! shows at The Canopi on Tudor Street on Wednesday 30 September Tickets are available from the Gŵyl Wal Goch website: https://www.footballfansfestival.com/the-silver-screen-loyw