pbruce

As I said last week they are an excellent support and in general I have not met a bad one yet. I like the touch of having them listed as the 12th man on the team sheet every week. Excellent set of supporters; I will be looking out for their results in future as this club is taking off.....

Just hitched a lift over with the Alesund fans on one of their planes and a great bunch they are; very knowledgeable about the 'well and Motherwell in general. They want to enjoy their first european experience and are keen to meet 'real' MFC fans before the game and mix with them etc for the craic. I suggested Jack Daniels where I know some of them intend going to.

I personally hope the Alesund fans get treated as well as I have since I have been in Alesund. Great people and very passionate about their football and the atmosphere at their home games is excellent. The number of locals at the first game who came up and stood and spoke to us and wished for a good game was countless. For my part I have enjoyed the very good nature of their support and they are very noisy but very good natured. I understand approx 200 are coming over and I am sure they will try and make as much noise as the 150 MFC fans who visited the first leg. I for one think we will beat them but I intend to have a beer with them after the match as they are real football supporters and we would be better off meeting their kind every week than some of the 'fans' we meet in the SPL. To me they are a credit to the game and should be welcomed.

Nope, sorry wrong guy as the Thon is one of the few hotels I have not stayed in.

You cannot miss the Rica Parkin; it is in the centre of town and is the big white building in all the photos. It is confusing having another Rica hotel in town but they are not that far apart and really everything is quite tight in the centre so you will not miss it. Alesund have sold over 6000 tickets already by the way. Their is even word of a tent getting set up for the fans. once I have more details I will let you know.

Thanks for the link as we cannot access the home page on the Motherwell web site to read this info from here; it just comes up problem with MFC site. Also, they are selling the tickets at the Rica Parkin for only an hour for two days and in the middle of the days at that? Also, they are not really making it easy for getting tickets for the second game; not everyone can just turn up. Thanks again for the link.

I was home for the home game against Breidablik and my assessment of that game was that we should have had 3 to 4 goals and they had two excellent chances right at the start of the second half. The one on to the post was a sitter and would have changed the first round totally with the away goal rule. But they missed it and we got through. We watched the second game out here with a bad link to Icelandic tv and I could not pass comment too much on that game as the action freezes alot when you get a bad stream and you miss more than you see. We saw the move before the goal and then the celebrations after it but never saw the goal. I just hope wee play half decent on Thursday and have a go....

I agree; last couple of seasons at fir park we had to kick the ball up the park as the ground was so bad. The plastic pitch will at least be flat and the atmosphere will be as good as when you go to Hearts as the sides are so steep and echo the noise back in. In fact during yesterday's game when they put the MFC crest on the video screen I gave it the big 'Come on ye well' which all the Alesund fans clapped to; imagine that happening in Glasgow! As I said very friendly fans....

You have a Bruce guy on another thread trying to make you believe that we are a really bad side, but he is so dead wrong. The Tippeliga is not that bad and the pace of the game is quite fast with hard tackles. Sorry I did'nt say you were a bad side I said the game was Dire! and I mean Dire! it was a terrible game and must be in the class of one of the worst I have seen in twenty years. All the guys at site today (Rangers/Celtic/ Hearts/Hibs etc) all said the same; it was a terrible game. And as for hard tackles; I must have blinked and missed them. the ref gave so many soft fouls he was trying to make it a non contact sport. No honestly I am not running down your club or fans who I have to say are among the best I have ever came across; and so friendly but please spare me; the game was terrible. I am looking forward to a much better game on Thursday and may the best team win.

Sorry if you think I thought this would be an easy match; I was only stating the fact that any time I see Alesund I do not rate them. And being a MFC supporter for years I know their is no such thing as an easy match. And I find it funny that people can have such different views on the same game. To me the best out field player on the park was Jonathan Parr who at a drop of a hat took off up the wing but still got back to do his duties as a full back. I cannot pass comment on your one forward as not once did he jump for the ball and seemed more happy to chest the ball down rather than head it. Lets not even discuss his (none) ability with his passing and for a big lad if anyone went even nearly near him he went down. No, I did not say that this would be an easy match; all I said was in my opinion on what I have seen with my own eyes Alesund are not as good a team as the 'well and we will get through.

We are getting only one small section (two tiers) behind the left hand goal right in to the corner flag. I was sitting in the opposite end of the ground today but in the same area and you get a good view as the stands are like hearts very steep.

They have allocated section G to MFC and you have to get the tickets from fir park so phone on monday and they should send you them down once you pay for it I guess. I say guess as I contacted Fir Park by email from here to get the guys tickets out here and you guess it I have heard hee haw from them (good PR that eh). Well with time moving on and the mail between Scotland and Norway not the best time wise I guess that me and the guys (approx 25 are going to the game) will just get our tickets here and get them in an adjacent section. price is 250Nok. They may let us move in I do not know as I said earlier the fans and club are excellent and very pro football unlike some clubs I could mention. As for a bus yes, they will be some from Vigra to Alesund and the drivers drop you off where you want you just say where you are staying and they drop you at the door. They are that friendly over all here; first class people in general. The bus sits right outside the exit door where you will land and is approx 100-130Nok if I remember correctly. Best book a hotel if you are staying over night as bed space really is at a premium over here at present. Need to know anything else just ask.

I know what you are saying but really they are that bad. They played in a local derby a couple of weeks ago and this was a derby mind you and I thought that was poor with not even a tackle in it. I am only worried about this as they cannot be that bad again. Here is hoping. Just meet a couple of die hard Celtic guys from site who watched the game in the pub and they both say a good junior team would have beat the two of them today which shows I am not watching this through tinted specs.

Went to the game with a couple of die hard jambos even though it was live on local TV and I know they won 1-nil but it was the worst game I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot in my time) and Alesund stole it in the first minute of injury time when their keeper under no real pressure dropped the ball at the guys feet from a corner and he popped it in. Honestly it was day light robbery as they should have been well beaten. Even the two jambo said that the ‘well will win out here by a couple of goals. It took Alesund until the 57th minute just to get a shot at goal! Alesunds goalie won man of the match and it was deserved as he saved a few but also cause the rest of them was mince with one exception. The stadium is cracking and everyone goes in more than half an hour before kick off for the pre game wind up of the crowd. You have guys walking over the pitch with giant 12 foot Alesund flags while wee kids do the same with little flags. They have a mascot which looks like a seahorse who walks around the pitch flinging out sweet to all the kids. Then on the big screens as every player’s photo is shown the announcer says his first name and the crowd sing his second. Then the guy leads the crowd in singing and the whole place is jumping; it really is a good feeling. It is really impressive and a great atmosphere. The fans are first class and even when they found out I was a MFC fan they were very friendly; a credit to their club. But then the game started and it was really bad and I am not just saying that, really bad. I would not worry about the big centre in the slightest he is that bad. I don’t want to get everyone’s hopes up but any of the ex-pats (Rangers/Celtic/Hibs fans) I met on the way back to the centre said we will win out the park and I have to say I agree with them. If they play like that on Thursday we will win it is as simple as that.

If it is nice weather then I would suggest The Metz bar which is in the centre of Alesund and is 15-20minutes walk to the ground. The Metz bar has an outside beer garden where you can have a scoop. If it is raining (and when it rains here it chucks it down) I would go to The Post Bar (underneath the Post office) which is affectionately known to the ex-pats as ‘Jakies 1’. Jakes 1 is approx 15minutes to the ground it is also the most football orientated pub with the cheapest beer in Alesund at about 6 quid a pint.

Gents I am a season ticket holder at Fir park....perhaps I never made that clear and you all hear me at any game I attend.

I have been working in Alesund for over a year and they are nothing to worry about. The reason they got into Europe was the biggest in justice when they beat Mode in the cup final. Any fair minded person would have said that Mode was robbed. Mode were leading 2-1 and the ref turned down two cast iron penalties which would have won them the game as they were all over Alesund. As it was Alesund scored another to make it 2-2 and took it to penalties which they won and even then their keeper was a mile off his line at every penalty. Even though they are a fit lot it is in some ways like watching a poor first division game in Scotland as they charge up and down the park a lot. The midfielder from Stoke; Philips can play a bit and tries to put his foot on the ball and the other midfielder Herrera only plays if no one kicks him if you know what I mean. One hard tackle and he disappears. And of course there is that lump of wood at centre; yes he is big but that is it. The normal route to get there is at least two flights but it is normally 3; Cimber Air only flies on a Monday and Friday but it is the quickest way here; you leave Edinburgh atr 8.35am and after a short stop in Copenhagen lands at Vigra at 1.15pm Scottish time (2.15pm Norwegian time). Don’t know the price as the work pays it sorry. The park is a very tidy wee park which holds approx 11 thousand and behind the goals they have big TV screens which they play back every incident as it happens and the pitch is artificial. Normally the home games are mostly sold out and they have sold over 6000 already for our game. They have allocated two sections of the ground in one corner behind the goals for the Motherwell fans. The price of everything here is unreal; from a pizza for 30 quid to just under a pint of beer from anything from 6 quid to a tenner. Don’t go for a curry or a meal unless you have a credit card. Everybody pays for everything here by credit card; if it is a taxi to even buying a pint in the pub. Taxi from the airport to the park is approx 50 quid. If you need to know anything I can probably give you some guidance on it if you want. Fags are just under a tenner a packet. I think we will win both home and away games. The Alesund fans are very passionate about their football and are in general very friendly people who watch UK football all the time. Most pubs have big screens for the football. Should be a good night. Mon the 'well.