One had not had time to flush the confetti off Torgallmenningen after Sunday’s celebration of Brann’s untimely NM triumph before it was finally ready for a proper cup match, i.e. one of those that is part of the continuous series of decisive matches that end in the fascinating final a Sunday in December – same year. Dreams and drama in Follo Early on Monday evening, 200 spectators had turned up at the Follo stadium southeast of the capital to welcome the first regular cup in four years on the men’s side. And got in return all the excitement they could hope for in a 1st round match. THAT TIME: Follo experienced a rare cup adventure in 2010. Here, the then first division team has just beaten Rosenborg 3-2 after extra time in the semi-final. Strømsgodset won the final 2-0. Photo: NTB The home team, which tops its pool in the 3rd division, took on the Oslo team Kjelsås from the division above. A gap in quality that for a long time seemed greater. Kjelsås led 2–0 and seemed to have full control of the promotion. But with two goals in three minutes in the second half, Follo equalized and took the match to extra time and eventually a penalty shootout. Here Kjelsås nevertheless emerged victorious and was able to return to Oslo with the dream just as intact. The one about meeting Vålerenga or Lillestrøm at home in the next round and creating one of the sensations that the cup’s unique magic is built on. In 2010, Follo was full of cups. Here is Christian Bwamyi in action against Lillestrøm. Follo won the match 4–2 and made it all the way to the final, where they lost against Strømsgodset. Photo: Morten Holm / NTB The pandemic’s pause button The magic that has partially disappeared. Not only because the pandemic irreverently changed all term lists. The cup had been struggling with declining enthusiasm for quite some time before that time. Especially among the top clubs. But the pandemic provided an opportunity both they and the Norwegian Football Association found a little too tempting. Because while the women’s cup was arranged more or less as planned, among the men it was the cup that was sacrificed when the term list was to go up, after football’s involuntary break through the spring and summer of 2020. The battle for the King’s Cup did not start again until 24 July 2021 The cup final took place on 1 May 2022. That is, the one for 2021. And here it is actually more than permissible to be confused. But even Norway’s two best teams, Molde and Bodø/Glimt, failed to attract more than 19,500 spectators to Ullevaal in the sun. Nevertheless, discussions began as to whether this was not a better solution for the cup and not least Norwegian football in the long term. Norwegian teams are going out and conquering Europe, and then decisive cup rounds in the autumn are a bit too much of a foreign element. For the best teams. In addition, the elite teams need qualified matching in the spring until the start of the series. Here, an intensified period of cup matches will be useful. Erling Moe and his support staff unleashed the jubilation when Molde beat Bodø/Glimt 1–0 in the cup final. Photo: Svein Ove Ekornesvåg / NTB An enchanting football party It was also not possible to make a better argument for moving the entire tournament to the spring than what was experienced last weekend. It was a continuous football party throughout the hot summer weekend – and in Norway’s two largest cities. It was a commitment on a level we haven’t seen since, yes, Brann was last in the final. In the middle of supporters singing, tens of thousands on the train up to Ullevaal and just as many celebrating at Torgallmenningen, a football match was also played. Brann deservedly won it 2–0 over a somewhat disappointing Lillestrøm team. Brann provides euphoria in Bergen when they beat Lillestrøm in the cup final on 20 May. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB But it was much smoother in the stands. Norway’s two probably most committed and engaging supporter groups knew very well how to celebrate Norwegian football’s own feast day – the one for the 2022 season. Only now has the cup clock finally stopped. The big chance But something was not quite as it should be – or – at least as it usually is. It was 20 degrees, and it was Saturday. It was all too colorful, too comfortable. Too generic. Too bad. Cup should be anything but comfortable. Cup is a top team visiting in front of old wooden stands, an ash heap that sensationally wins on an incorrectly judged penalty kick and finally a final shrouded in the frosty smoke from 25,000 polluted throats sometime in Advent. With the king present. The cup is the big dream. For all those who don’t have much else to dream about. For the careers that came to an abrupt halt at level 4. Until Rosenborg came to visit and gave them the one big chance you only get in the cup to still experience the feeling of greatness. Back to stay? Now there are strong forces that want to turn the tournament into what most of all resembles a formalized round of training matches for the elite in the spring where the smaller clubs are in reality deprived of the opportunity to get a unique chance to take part in the real adventure. And with that give the pandemic a lasting impression it has in no way deserved. So far, clubs and supporters have prevailed in their desire to return to the original format with the final in late autumn. As long as it lasts. An election led by Brede Hangeland will look at the entire Norwegian season set-up. With the aim of improving Norwegian competitiveness in the increasingly attractive European Cups. Then the match program in the autumn can again be used as an argument for moving the cup, despite a greater breadth in the squads of the best teams than probably ever before. But it certainly shouldn’t be the same. Because the cup should be allowed to be what it has always been. Which has made it something different in Norway and England than almost every other country in the world. It might sound overly romantic. But if there is something that modern football is on the way to losing completely, it is precisely the feeling of something truly authentic. In 2012, Hødd ended up with a real cup feat when they beat Tromsø in the final at Ullevaal. Photo: Vegard Wivestad Grøtt / NTB That’s the feeling the Norwegian champions for 2022, Sportsklubben Brann from Bergen, will feel when they start the fastest title defense in history. Four days after the cup triumph, captain Sivert Heltne Nilsen leads his team onto the artificial turf at Varden Amfi. Opponents in the cup’s first round are the 3rd division team who have been waiting since they knocked out Bremnes in the second qualifying round at the end of March for this chance. Out there in Fyllingsdalen, the Brann players can sing Nystemten as loudly as they want before the match. Because the real cup is back. And it should be allowed to continue to be.
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