The United Kingdom and Norway have always had their shared interests in the past, the countries have always been quite close to each other in terms of culture and economic development.
In fact, it could be said that Norway is the UK’s best friend in Scandinavia, and will be the best friend in Europe if Brexit happens in the near future.
The bridge between these cultures has always been trading and relative proximity to each other. For example, whenever Norwegian traders, migrants or simple explorers wanted to cross the Atlantic Ocean on their way to the Americas, they always had to cross through the British Isles, and in most cases, they would visit Liverpool.
That is actually where the term “Scouse” comes from. It’s a native Norwegian dish called Lapskaus and was quite popular back in the day. Over the years, it was adopted as Scouse to refer to somebody who has some kind of positive relations with Liverpool.
How did the football club gain so many fans in Norway?
English football has always been on the top tiers of global championships and leagues. Nearly every country has heard of or supported an English football club in the past, but in Norway, you get that on a much higher scale.
For example, if you were to ask a Norwegian football fan who their favourite team is they would almost instantly name an English club first and follow it up with a local one. However, Liverpool manages to stand out from most of them, and it all started in the 80s and 90s when the nationalized TV channels got deals from British media outlets to feature Premier Leagues and allow Norwegians to watch every single match live.
Thanks to the fact that the 80s and 90s were pretty much the glory days of Liverpool, many Norwegians quickly got attached to the team as they kept on delivering on their promises and not wasting the fans’ support.
From father to son
Soon enough, new generations started to become interested in the English football scene, and they had their parents there who would showcase Liverpool to them, suggest that they support the team and watch their newest games.
Although the glory days were in the past, Liverpool delivered a stunning victory this year, which will spark even more popularity in Norway, regardless of the fact if the traction had been decreasing in the past couple of years.
Norwegians are not the only people that are so attracted to Liverpool actually. As claimed by popular Norwegian news online source, nearly all of Scandinavia deems the team as their favourite, especially after some local football players got accepted in the team.
If Liverpool ever visits a Scandinavian country for a match against a local team, one can expect at least 80% of the flags and shirts worn by the fans will be in Liverpool colours.
Local pick-ups grab younger fans
Naturally, becoming a Liverpool fan wasn’t as common in the 2000s and 2010s compared to the 80s and 90s, but the younger generation still managed to follow their parents’ footsteps in supporting the English football club.
Most Norwegian fans designate that support to when Liverpool picked up Riise in 2001. Many are saying that having a Norwegian player taken in by such a beloved team was sensational for a country’s population that had a very limited football scene.
The same stories can be heard from Danish and Swedish fans, who are now considering their local players who’ve played in Liverpool as national heroes.
Overall, the cultural affiliation in the past, the introduction of English football leagues in the 80s and 90s and the assignment of local football players in Liverpool managed to drive the attention towards the club to a point that can one day rival even local support in the UK.
One of my favourite teachers when I was at school was a miss Newton, Ironically she taught English and she was Norwegian, she looked like the little fat black haired one, who wore glasses in Scooby doo!!
Always rated the Nords.