Bodo/Glimt began their warm-up for their Europa League clash at Arsenal a little earlier than expected on Thursday when their team bus failed them on the approach to the stadium.
After the coach managed to get stuck on a particularly tight corner in the north London streets surrounding the Emirates, the Norwegian side were forced to alight and walk the final stage of their journey.
“The bus was driving in a narrow street where we met another car,” club captain Ulrik Saltnes told Dagbladet. “The question was: who would give way? Unfortunately, our man withdrew.”
In taking his diversion, the driver steered his vehicle down a side street that was too tight to traverse at the angle he had entered it.
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Bodo/Glimt posted clips on social media of their players and staff filing out of the stranded bus and away along the pavements of North London, about a kilometre shy of their actual destination.
“The bus got stuck in the narrow back streets and we use our legs for the last hundred metres,” the club wrote in their post.
Bussen satt seg fast i de trange bakgatene og vi tar beina fatt de siste hundre meterne 🚶 pic.twitter.com/fbV2Re9gb8
— FK Bodø/Glimt (@Glimt) October 6, 2022
“We are probably the first team to come strolling to the Emirates,” Saltnes added. “But that’s typically us. A lot of strange things have happened when we have been on European tours!”
A second video showing the group walking toward the stadium in among the hordes of Arsenal fans, who were seemingly unaware that they were walking side by side with that evening’s opposition, was accompanied by the caption: “Club on tour.”
Storklubben pĂĄ tur pic.twitter.com/Amjnb4Ftgf
— FK Bodø/Glimt (@Glimt) October 6, 2022
“It was a bit strange but personally I think it was a bit funny too,” Bodo head coach Kjetil Knutsen told reporters after the game.
“It’s classic Bodo/Glimt. Here we had to get off the bus and go to the stadium. It was special. The driver simply got stuck. But we arrived in good time.”
Unfortunately things didn’t get much better for Knutsen’s side as the evening progressed as the reigning Eliteserien champions found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-0 defeat.
Goals from Eddie Nketiah, Rob Holding and Fabio Vieira sealed a comfortable win for Arsenal, who sit top of Group A having overseen a perfect start to their European campaign.
