Latest news with #BryneFK
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Erling Haaland — the miracle of Bryne
Stavanger : The indoor football turf at Bryne FK greets you with a massive picture pasted right behind the goal. Two retired school teachers point to the white text printed in bold in Norwegian. 'Me ska så fotballglede, dryka talent, og hausta mirakler.' The teachers take turns translating it to English, and each voice carries unmistakable heft. 'We will sow joy of football, nurture talent, harvest miracles.' Erling Haaland, the face screaming out of that picture, is the miracle of Bryne. They may not have seen it coming then, but they talk of visual evidence now. Espen Undheim, coach at Bryne FK for 25 years who worked with Haaland from age 8 to 15, brings up two videos saved in his home computer. The first is of a 10-year-old Haaland's run inside the box as 'one of the smallest boys'. Undheim gets flashes of that when he watches some of Haaland's runs now as one of world football's tallest figures and prolific goalscorers. The second is of Undheim speaking to Haaland after a training session that the kid thought did not go well because he could score just one goal. 'But you served your team players,' Undheim recalled the chat. 'He said: that's not good enough. I had to be scoring at least 4-5 goals.' Those two videos encapsulate Undheim's early impressions of a kid who, two decades on, has grown to become among the world's best strikers moving from Bryne to Molde, Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and now Manchester City. 'The clarity to get in the right position at that age, and the mentality to score goals... I haven't seen it since,' Undheim said. So hasn't anyone else in Bryne. About an hour's drive from Stavanger, this small Norwegian town is home to the club that shaped Haaland and, for a few days in the year when he visits his family, to the man itself. It is also an attractive pitstop for thousands of global tourists that visit Norway and for whom the two teachers turn guides. Edge of Norway, Stavanger region's tourism department, runs an official 'Haaland tour'. Haaland's own journey in Bryne began when his father, Alfie, returned to his hometown after a curtailed Premier League career. Undheim had played youth football with Alfie but Erling, who joined Bryne for their after-school programme, had something different. 'He was small then, but clever in finding ways to get in the right position to score goals,' Undheim said. His speed may have been down to genetics — Erling's mother was an athlete — but the mentality to hunt for goals had been moulded. 'He would remember runs that weren't good — that I have to start earlier, be one metre to the left, one meter below,' he said. 'Only special kids think like that when they are 9, 10, 11 years old.' This kid was special, but equally hardworking. Haaland would take notes during training, and often come in on weekends for solo sessions. The indoor arena that now houses his photo had turned home. 'He lived there,' said Undheim. 'Before training sessions, he would go alone for an hour. Sometimes, he got his friends and would shoot and dribble with them. He'd be here four hours on Saturday, and maybe Sunday. His mom would drop by with some food and water.' After playing for the club's age-group and second team, Haaland was bumped up to Bryne's first team at age 15. The teen was in the company of men, yet hardly intimidated. 'He was a player that you could say had a lot of respect, but also didn't really respect anyone,' said Sondre Norheim, Bryne FK's centre back who played with Haaland in the first team. 'When he was in the locker room with older players, he was respectful. But when he stepped on the field, even if someone was 15 years older, he would play how he wanted to and knew to play. Went in, tackled hard, wanted to go past them, wanted to score goals. No fear.' Haaland did not score a goal in his 16 appearances for Bryne, but the talent was on notice. Molde, then coached by Ole Gunnar Solskaer who knew Alfie, signed him at 16. And off went Haaland, growing at every step along the way from Molde to Salzburg to Dortmund to Manchester City where, in his debut season, he broke the record for most goals in a single season. 'The unreal ability to be at the right place and score goals, you can see he still has that. But now, he also has the power. Combining those two has put him in a place where he is unstoppable in front of the goal,' Norheim said. And unmissable each time he plays, at least in Bryne. Undheim, now the club's U-13 head coach, knows what every kid in his club has in mind. 'They are looking at him when City is playing. They are looking at him when the Norwegian team is playing. All of them have a national jersey, or a City jersey.' Haaland is the kids' icon. Haaland is the club's pride. Haaland is Bryne's miracle.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Soccer-Eggs, milk and tractors: Norway's Bryne embrace 'farmer's league' tag
By Tommy Lund (Reuters) -Bryne FK are back in the Norwegian top flight after 22 years and they are gaining even more popularity for sticking to their agricultural roots - be it tractors acting as stands or awarding milk and eggs to the player of the match. Best known as the home of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland's first club, Bryne has a population of around 13,000 people, surrounded by farmland and situated 30 minutes away from Stavanger, Norway's third-largest city. With a stadium that holds barely 5,000 fans, the club are fully embracing their heritage. "Our goal is to forge a farmers' identity and instil pride in both the club and the region," Bryne Marketing Manager Bjorn Hagerup Roeken told Reuters. "Our supporters' union has always celebrated our agricultural roots in their chants, so honouring our heritage holds deep significance for us." VIP tickets include a plush sofa hoisted up by tractors and grain silos, used to store winter feed for livestock, which have been rebuilt with platforms for VAR cameras. One side of the stadium is a large open square where supporters can drive in and park their tractors to watch the game. While most leagues hand the player of the match a small trophy, goalkeeper Jan De Boer received four trays of locally sourced eggs during their first home match of the season. Bryne also gave eggs to their opponents, Kristiansund BK, in their first away match. De Boer used his prize to cook a Dutch omelette for his Norwegian teammates and, in the spirit of the old-school barter system, the remaining eggs were given to a teammate who had lent him his car to pick up his girlfriend from the airport.
Reuters
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Eggs, milk and tractors: Norway's Bryne embrace 'farmer's league' tag
April 8 (Reuters) - Bryne FK are back in the Norwegian top flight after 22 years and they are gaining even more popularity for sticking to their agricultural roots - be it tractors acting as stands or awarding milk and eggs to the player of the match. Best known as the home of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland's first club, Bryne has a population of around 13,000 people, surrounded by farmland and situated 30 minutes away from Stavanger, Norway's third-largest city. With a stadium that holds barely 5,000 fans, the club are fully embracing their heritage. "Our goal is to forge a farmers' identity and instil pride in both the club and the region," Bryne Marketing Manager Bjorn Hagerup Roeken told Reuters. "Our supporters' union has always celebrated our agricultural roots in their chants, so honouring our heritage holds deep significance for us." VIP tickets include a plush sofa hoisted up by tractors and grain silos, used to store winter feed for livestock, which have been rebuilt with platforms for VAR cameras. One side of the stadium is a large open square where supporters can drive in and park their tractors to watch the game. While most leagues hand the player of the match a small trophy, goalkeeper Jan De Boer received four trays of locally sourced eggs during their first home match of the season. Bryne also gave eggs to their opponents, Kristiansund BK, in their first away match. De Boer used his prize to cook a Dutch omelette for his Norwegian teammates and, in the spirit of the old-school barter system, the remaining eggs were given to a teammate who had lent him his car to pick up his girlfriend from the airport.
BBC News
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Eggs-elent prizes: What is the strangest thing you have ever won?
Winning a prize is ALWAYS good fun, whether it be a trophy, a medal or just football goalkeeper Jan de Boer, who won man of the match, his prize was something a little was rewarded for his eggs-elent play, not with a trophy or medal, but instead with four trays of eggs. So, we want to know what strange prizes you have won? In a games, in a match, or maybe for doing something else - let us know in the comments below. The prize is an approach from Norwegian club Bryne FK where where Manchester City forward Erling Haaland started his career. The man-of-the-match was awarded four trays of eggs as a nod to the club's ties to local farming. Supporters are often heard chanting "we are farmers and we are proud of it" at matches, and there are 'VIP' tickets on sale for fans to watch games from a pitch-side tractor. But for future Byrne players hoping to win man-of-the-match they best not get their hopes up for eggs. The club has said that the prize for their player of the match in the next game will instead be given cartons of local over eggs, there's a new prize in town.
BBC News
31-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Man-of-match rewarded for 'eggs-ellent' display
It was once customary for Premier League players to be gifted a bottle of champagne as reward for winning man of the have moved on since then, with players now receiving a small trophy in recognition for their Norwegian club Bryne FK - where Manchester City forward Erling Haaland started his career - have come up with a novel approach by awarding eggs to their player of the club, based in the south-west of Norway close to the city of Stavanger, were promoted back to the top-flight last season for the first time since were beaten 1-0 by Europa League quarter-finalists Bodo/Glimt in their first fixture back in the top division on they were kept in the match by goalkeeper Jan de Boer, who pulled off a string of fine stops and saved a second-half penalty. The Dutchman's reward? Four trays of eggs, of course. The prize is a nod to the club's ties with local agriculture, which is dominated by meat and dairy production. Such is the association with farming, supporters are often heard chanting: "We are farmers and we are proud of it" at matches and there are 'VIP' tickets on sale for fans to watch games from a pitchside tractor. But any Bryne player hoping to get their hands on eggs next week will be disappointed because the club say their player of the match against Kristiansund on 6 April will be given cartons of local milk.
