Talk about perfect timing. Just as the Super League project finally died this month, a tiny Norwegian fishing town's football club is showing the world what makes football beautiful.
Bodø/Glimt stood at the Champions League draw on Friday as one of the 16 teams left in Europe's biggest competition. Their reward? A knockout tie against Sporting Lisbon that could send them into the quarterfinals.
Let that sink in for a moment. Five years ago, this club had never played in the Champions League. They employed just 40 people total, including the players. Their entire budget was around $5 million.
Now they've just beaten Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, and Inter Milan twice in a stunning run of four straight wins. Since that victory at San Siro on Tuesday, their Instagram followers have doubled to over 400,000.
The Anti-Super League Champions
"For modern football I think it's important that a club like ours are a bigger part of this," said Bodø/Glimt CEO Frode Thomassen. He's got a point.
While Real Madrid and Manchester City face each other for the fifth straight season and the 13th time in six years, Bodø/Glimt represents something different. They're proof that football isn't just about billions in transfer budgets.
In April 2021, when the Super League clubs tried their breakaway, Bodø/Glimt was nowhere near the European elite. They were playing in the Europa Conference League qualifying rounds.
The journey from there to here reads like a movie script. Their first Champions League attempt in July 2021 ended in defeat to Legia Warsaw. They dropped into the Conference League and made it to the quarterfinals before losing to José Mourinho's Roma.
Built on Heart, Not Money
"It's not always about money, it's about the people and what kind of effort you put into it," Thomassen explained. The club has kept the same core group since 2017 when both he and coach Kjetil Knutsen arrived.
Thomassen laughs when people compare them to Leicester's 2016 Premier League miracle. "Leicester had a lot bigger organization than we have," he said. "We are a small group of people but it's a lot of heart and passion."
That team-first mentality helped them turn their Champions League campaign around. After starting with no wins in six matches through December, they've become the competition's feel-good story.
The prize money is adding up fast too. They earned over $30 million last season and are approaching the $72 million that Club Brugge made reaching the last 16 last year. Beat Sporting and they'll pocket another $14.8 million for making the quarterfinals.
For punters who've been backing this Cinderella story, the returns have been incredible. Their odds were astronomical before this Champions League run began, and anyone brave enough to back them has been handsomely rewarded.
A new 10,000-seat stadium is being built on the edge of town. The Arctic Arena will be a fitting home for a club that's conquered Europe while staying grounded.
"For the game of football it's kind of beautiful that a club like ours can be among the 16 last clubs left in the Champions League," Thomassen said. Beautiful indeed. And the story might not be over yet.
