Fri 05 August 2016, 12:14
Tottenham HotspurOur visit to Oslo for our final pre-season friendly of the summer proved a smash-hit with our large Norwegian fan base.
On Thursday evening, just hours after our arrival in Scandinavia, hundreds of supporters flocked to a specially-arranged evening with legendary former captain and now Club Ambassador Ledley King in the centre of the Norwegian capital.
That was followed this morning (Friday, August 5) by an autograph-signing session with Mauricio Pochettino and the first team squad for members of our Norway Spurs official supporters’ club, who then headed off to Ullevaal Stadion to help lay out 5,000 flags on seats in the Spurs end ahead of our clash with Inter Milan.
At the same time, Ledley made a special guest appearance at the Norway Cup, one of the largest youth football tournaments in the world, before attending a second supporters’ event for families back in the city centre.
“We’ve had a brilliant reception from the moment we landed,” said Ledley. “We know that the club has a massive following in Norway so to be able to come out here and meet everyone has been a real pleasure. It’s great for them to be able to see the team play as well – hopefully they’ll enjoy the game.”
Supporters’ night with Ledley King
Ex-defender Ledley was the star attraction at The Scotsman in central Oslo on Thursday evening.
More than 250 fans, including several members of our Norway Spurs supporters’ club, packed into the venue to hear some fascinating tales from Ledley’s career and have their questions answered as part of an exclusive Q&A.
Our former skipper then spent a large amount of time signing autographs to conclude the evening.
“We have wanted to invite Ledley to Norway for such a long time so to have this opportunity is brilliant,” said Norway Spurs’ vice-chairman Leif Konrad Borsheim, who has been a fan of the club since the late 1980s when his parents returned from a trip to London with a Spurs shirt.
“The turnout has been brilliant and the feedback is that people have enjoyed themselves immensely. There are a lot of Norwegians who travel to White Hart Lane all the time but to have the chance to see Ledley personally – who is obviously one of the club’s big legends – and hear his views on his time at the club is fantastic.”
Autograph-signing session
Mauricio and the squad spent time signing autographs and posing for photos with Norway Spurs members at an Oslo hotel this morning.
Among the supporters was Linn (pictured, above) who is expecting her first child in a week’s time. Along with wife Heidi, she has decided to name her new baby Hugo after a certain goalkeeper!
“I’m a former goalkeeper myself so Hugo Lloris is my number one favourite,” smiled Linn. “I talked to my wife because I wanted to name our baby after Hugo and she’s fine with it so I’m really happy!”
Also at the event was Jon Georg Dale, Minister of Agriculture and Food in Norway, who is a keen supporter of the club and even hung up items of Spurs memorabilia in his office upon his election.
Flagged up!
After the autograph-signing session, 15 of the Norway Spurs members headed to Ullevaal Stadion, the site of our match against Inter, to help set out 5,000 flags on seats in the Spurs end.
Ledley attends Norway Cup
Ledley paid a visit to the Norway Cup in Oslo this morning. He was a keen observer of the youth games taking place as part of the tournament – one of the largest in the world – and met some of the players involved.
Family time with Ledley
A busy day for Ledley continued at lunchtime with another exclusive supporters’ event at The Scotsman.
Again, the venue was packed to the rafters, this time with younger children and their families, who were thrilled with the chance to meet one of our all-time greats.
