Football – Norway is preparing for a festive day. For many supporters, TiVo is the most important thing – NRK Rogaland – local news, TV and radio

– There has been tremendous development with us in recent years, And we get positive feedback. Many people come to a match wondering if there's something special happening today, says Vikinghordene's Roar Åkerlund.

The word “tifo” comes from the Italian word typhouswhich means supporter.

In the context of football, tifo means stand events carried out by fans.

This is mainly done during the entrance of the players before the match.

Tifo can consist of banners, fireworks, flags, confetti or balloons.

Now the use of this has become widespread among Norwegian supporter groups.

In an abandoned industrial building outside Stavanger, legions of Vikings prepare for a May 16 match against Lillestrom.

Through a volunteer-based rotating shift system, the Vikings Supporters Club prepares the tifo that will fly over the home team's supporters' field.

It takes a lot of effort to take down projects.

– The Tifo that we won in the cup final in 2019 was the beginning of what we are doing now. Then we did something bigger than we actually had the capacity to do, because we spent up to 500 hours on it. It takes a lot of time and resources, Akerlund says.

-Creates something extra

The Viking Legions are one of the supporting groups that are constantly looking for improvement in their tifo production.

– We have a separate grandstand group that manages everything that happens at the grandstand. For our typhus, we use banners, mosaics, smoke or torches. “We try to make the most out of as little as possible, because we want it to look huge,” Akerlund says.

He himself is clear about what he values ​​most in the group's work, before and during matches.

– It is not commercial, fake and contrived. Here, it is the supporters themselves who help create something extra, and we see that more and more people want to be part of it.

Developed in Norway

Planned, detailed and comprehensive projects have become a normal sight in Norwegian football arenas.

For many, tifo with banners, flares, smoke bombs and flashing lights adds something extra to the football experience.

– An incredible amount of work, time and effort goes into it. Right now, there are fans across the country hard at work with typhus on National Football Day, says Anders Kjellvold.

He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Norsk Supporterallianse (NSA), an association that works for supporter clubs.

They look favorably on the growing trend in Norwegian supporter culture.

– “It creates a great atmosphere around Norwegian football matches, adding color and atmosphere to the events,” says Kylvold.

It is believed that inspiration from the continent's football culture helps strengthen Norwegian football's positions.

– It's one of the things that makes watching Norwegian football fun, which means spectator numbers have increased in recent years.

One must have something to look at. He believes that not only on the field, but also in the stands.

“Many people want to help create this atmosphere, and many apply to organized supportive communities,” he says.

Challenges too

However, implementing the new culture was not without problems.

In particular, the use of fireworks and flares has led to numerous untoward incidents resulting in personal injuries and interruptions of matches.

Kilfold realizes that these incidents need to be taken seriously.

For regular fans, the use of fireworks in the stands is prohibited. However, collaboration between clubs and certain supporter groups has been opened up so you can use torches in more controlled ways.

– Almost all organized supportive communities want this to happen in a safe environment. Kilfold says they want to use it in safe, well-regulated ways.

Clubs, associations and fans are now working together to reduce the number of unwanted incidents and ensure safe stands.

This also means working to fulfill the wishes of the major clubs to allow gas burning within reasonable limits.

– Unfair treatment

The May 16 round is the day when most spectators find their way to Norwegian football stadiums.

As a result, many arenas across the country will be full.

Kylvold hopes that this day will create a lot of good advertising for Norwegian football, both off and on the pitch.

– There is a lot of focus on the negative aspects of the growing stand-up culture and all that it entails, but it must be said that there is an incredible amount of good happening in fan circles, he says.