Small fan-based clubs must be a blueprint for the future

Manchester United and Spurs can learn from their tiny Europa League semi-final opponents, writes Miguel Delaney

- Miguel Delaney

When Bodo/Glimt prepare for a game like Tottenham Hotspur, one policy is to try not to look at the names. The tiny Norwegian club has plenty of experience there, having faced Lazio, Arsenal, Manchester United and Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic during their recent rise.

The aim is to just see players as units, and their various strengths and weaknesses. It is a very rational way to look at something that could otherwise involve a lot of emotion, particularly for an Arctic Circle town that has a population of just 55,000 – almost 8,000 less than the 62,850 capacity of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“We only think it’s funny to show we can be as good as any name in the world,” says defender Odin Bjortuft.

The general perception of these four Europa League semifinalists, and how they view football, is going to hugely frame the outlook of these ties.

On either side of both semi-finals – Bodo/Glimt vs Tottenham Hotspur and Athletic Club vs Manchester United – there are two fan-owned clubs who organically built on what they’ve got.

Bodo are authentically one of the great stories of modern football. Their run to become the first Norwegian club to reach a semi-final is not just something that shouldn’t be possible. It is all the more impressive since it has been achieved after years of sustained progress. This is no one-off. They are a model of diligently building on what you have, and being “smarter” about it.

“If you go back 10 years, the club was nearly bankrupt,” says director of football Havard Sakariassen. “Nobody has given us money outside of prize money or us doing well. There is no owner here. Nothing like that.”