How Kidderminster Harriers hit it big in a Norwegian coastal town

2023-02-16 - Josh Butler

On the west coast of Norway, spread across the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Nørvøya and Uksenøya, lies the town of Ålesund. It is not a large place, but it brims with appeal. Once razed to the ground at the turn of the 20th century by a devastating fire, it was rebuilt in stone by the finest Norwegian and German architects of the era. Ålesund’s colourful townhouses and harbourside promenades, where the streets shake hands with the sea, attract thousands of visitors every year. One spot is particularly intriguing to football fans.

At the junction where Kaiser Wilhem’s Gate meets Harald Torviks Plass stands the Brooklyn Bar. From the outside there is nothing unexpected about this New York-themed establishment, but go inside and you will find, tucked away in a not-soquiet corner that is festooned in red and white, the only supporters’ club in Norway that is dedicated to English National League North side Kidderminster Harriers.

To find out how a town nearly 800 miles from Worcestershire became home to The Harriers of Norway, I spoke to the group’s founder, Lars Andreas Vegsund. “It started off 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 yearly Supporters Cup in 2019.”

Given the popularity of English football in Norway, the Supporters Cup is an important fixture in the calendar. Organised by the Supporters Union of British Football, the tournament takes place every year in Oslo and is contested by the various supporters’ groups of British football teams. Thousands of players are involved, with the 2022 edition seeing Ipswich take the title for the third occasion.

“We started going down the different leagues on our phones and looked for a team that would stand out,” says Lars. “When my mate called out ‘Kidderminster’, I shouted ‘Harriers’ and that was it. I’d played with the Harriers on different football management games through the years and it just seemed right.”

Their plan gathered momentum quickly. The two friends found five more members within a week and held their first board meeting in the Brooklyn Bar. Three years later, the Harriers of Norway boast 191 members in locations as diverse as Bergen, Trondheim, Halden, Mo i Rana and Oslo.

Their decision to support a club that has not played in the Football League since 2005 is also an act of defiance. “It has become this rebellion against global football,” says Lars. “We enjoy getting back to the roots of English football and getting in touch with proper English football fans, which has been an absolutely mind-blowing experience. It has surpassed all our expectations.”

As the Harriers of Norway grew in size, so did their ambition. With Kidderminster struggling to escape the clutches of the National League North, opportunities for their Norwegian fans to watch live matches are scarce. Therefore, they rely primarily on BBC Hereford and Worcestershire radio commentary to catch the 3pm kick-off before later projecting the YouTube highlights on to the basement wall of an old factory where they have constructed a replica of Aggborough Stadium.

They have dubbed their mini ground the “Ålesund Aggborough”. There is Harriers memorabilia everywhere and a near-identical imitation of the North Stand (save for the welcome addition of a well stocked bar in one corner, of course). Members lean against red railings, pints in hand, bedecked in replica shirts of years gone by, and watch an enormous projection of the latest match on the whitewashed wall.

It is a worthy substitute, but doesn’t quite hold the same allure as the real experience – one that many members have sampled for themselves over the years. “We have been four times so far and it would have been more but for Covid,” says Lars. “We are looking to get back two more times this season. We really want to get an away game.”

Kidderminster have been extraordinarily accommodating of their new Norwegian fans, even arranging a Q&A session with manager Russell Penn, which he hosted from his own kitchen. When the fans visited last year, they were invited to watch a training session and captain Shane Byrne presented them with a kit signed by the entire squad. Local fans have also been generous, taking their Norwegian visitors to a cricket match last year when Kidderminster’s fixture was postponed after the Queen died.

When it comes to a hypothetical fixture between Kidderminster and his local club in Norway, Lars has no doubts about where his loyalties lie. “The Harriers. No question,” he says. “This club and their fans have shown us the true meaning of support and brought us back to our childhood feelings of supporting our ‘own’ team. It has truly been an absolutely amazing experience and I can’t wait to see how far this will take us all.”

Perhaps one day, they will see their beloved English club return to the Football League, evoking memories of the early 2000s, when the deep pockets of retail magnate Lionel Newton finally lifted Kidderminster out of non-league for the first time. Jan Mølby managed the club in that spell and he brought in fellow Danes, Bo Henriksen and Thomas Skovbjerg. “There have been three Danish players,” Lars says. “But to have a Norwegian play for Harriers would be a dream come true for us. We can definitely be Harriers’ eyes and ears here in Norway if the right talent shows up.”

Kidderminster have no Scandinavians, let alone Norwegians, on their books at the minute and are firmly ensconced in the National League North. But that won’t stop the Harriers of Norway from filling the stands of the Ålesund Aggborough each weekend or taking the short flight across the North Sea when the opportunity arises. Who knows, maybe one day Kidderminster Harriers will find success on the pitches of the National League – and on the artificial turf in Oslo in the Supporters Cup.

• This article is from These Football Times• Find These Football Times and Josh Butler on Twitter

preposterous pressure-patter that Football Daily is inadvertently adding to by writing this.

The good news for the new man is that the Chelsea board are reportedly all in on Potterball for the long haul, even if this transitional phase lasts longer than feels strictly comfortable. And in any case, should Dortmund do a number on them, chances are that’d be because Jude Bellingham is rather good, and reports suggest Mr Todd has plans to cough another £100m-plus to land him in the summer anyway. So whatever happens, all appears rosy going forward. Will this new patient process pay off for Chelsea? We’ll have to wait and see. Providing Chelsea do, of course.

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