The Harriers of Norway: Welcome to Kidderminster's most unlikely supporters club

On the west coast of Norway, spread over the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Nørvøya and Uksenøya, at the mouth of the Geirangerfjord, is Ålesund.It is not a big city, or by in Norwegian, but it is a very attractive place. Once razed to the ground at the beginning of the 20th century by a devastating fire, it was rebuilt not in wood but in stone by the best Norwegian and German architects of the time. /p>

From its colorful townhouses and their turrets and towers, to its harbor promenades where the streets shake hands with the sea, Ålesund attracts thousands of visitors every year. Amidst its myriad of cobbled boulevards, one road in particular harbors a special feature.

At the crossroads where Kaiser Wilhems Gate meets Harald Torviks Plass, you will find the Brooklyn Bar. With its glimmering glass facade, there's nothing wrong with this New York-themed establishment, but step inside and you'll find, tucked away in a not-so-quiet corner decked in red and white, Norway's only group of supporters. dedicated to the English National North Side league, Kidderminster Harriers.

In order to find out how a town nearly 800 miles from Worcestershire became home to the Harriers of Norway, These Football Times spoke to the group's founder, Lars Andreas Vegsund. "It started as a funny thing when our old boys team needed an English club that didn't have a supporters club in Scandinavia because we wanted to attend the annual supporters cup in 2019."

Given the popularity of English football in Norway, the Supporters Cup is an important fixture on the calendar. Organized by Supporterunionen for Britisk Fotball (British Football Supporters Union), the knockout tournament takes place every year in Oslo and is contested by the different supporter groups of British football teams. Thousands of players and dozens of fan groups are involved, with the 2022 edition seeing Ipswich claim the title for a third time.

Lars explains: "We just started going through the different leagues on our phones and looking for a team that would stand out. When my buddy yelled 'Kidderminster', I yelled 'Harriers' and that was it. I had played with the Harriers on different football management games over the years and it seemed fair."

This Saturday night decision between two friends started out as a lonely affair but quickly escalated. The following week, the duo found five other Norwegians interested in starting the Harriers of Norway supporters club and then held their first board meeting in the familiar surroundings of the Brooklyn Bar.

Three years later, Harriers Norway has 191 members across the country in locations as diverse as Bergen, Trondheim, Halden, Mo i Rana and, of course, the capital Oslo. And the common thread unites them all: their affection for an English football club that was last in the Football League in 2005.

But, as Lars is keen to impress, supporting the Harriers is part of a bigger program. "It's become this rebellion against world football. We love going back to the roots of English football and connecting with real English football fans, which has been an absolutely mind-blowing experience for us so far. It's surpassed all our expectations."

As the Harriers of Norway grew, so did their ambition. With Kidderminster struggling to escape the clutches of National League North, opportunities for their Norwegian fans to watch live games are few and far between. As a result, they rely primarily on BBC Hereford and Worcestershire radio commentary to capture the 3 p.m. kick-off before later projecting YouTube highlights onto the basement wall of a former factory. in which they built a replica of the terrace...