In this series, Finnish football journalist Juhavaltteri Salminen recalls occasions on which Nordic teams proved to be a match – and sometimes more than that – for some of the most famous clubs in Europe. Chelsea had no idea what they were in for in October 1997…
Cup Winners' Cup 1997/98: Tromsø IL 3–2 Chelsea FC
One or two Chelsea representatives could be forgiven for having to get their atlases out. It was early October 1997 and the Blues had just beaten Slovan Bratislava in the first round of the Cup Winners' Cup without breaking too much of a sweat. The second round draw pitted them against Tromsø IL.
From a British perspective, any trip to Norway is surely considered a Northern adventure. But again, you could forgive Chelsea if they were in shock after finding the right pages on said atlases. They could probably expect a journey to the north, but maybe not that much to the north.
Tromsø is located on an island on the shores of the Norwegian Sea, 350 kilometres above of the Artic Circle. It is the third largest urban area north of the Arctic Circle behind the Russian cities of Murmansk and Norilsk. And in one regard, Tromsø are number one as far as Northern population centres are concerned.
Tromso Norway pic.twitter.com/mj6o5miMtE
— Rekey (@rekeyk) January 10, 2019
The city's biggest football club Tromsø IL, founded in 1920, had first appeared in the Norwegian top flight in 1986. In doing so, they became the northernmost top division team in the entire world. TIL have been relegated a couple of times since, most recently last year, but they remain holders of this record with no challengers in sight.
The 80s and 90s were an exciting time in Tromsø. Following that first-ever promotion, TIL won the Norwegian Cup in their first ever year in the highest division in 1986. It was followed by third and second-place league finishes in the following two years, still the club's highest positions ever. The early 90's saw Tromsø consolidate their position in the top division, much to the annoyance of Southern Norwegian teams. A side from Oslo, for example, would need to travel more than 1,700 kilometres one way to get to Tromsø, roughly the distance between London and Madrid.
While being a solid mid-table side in the league, Tromsø also announced themselves as a quality cup team. After some good cup runs in the early 90s, they lifted the trophy again in 1996. The title meant Tromsø would witness European football for a fourth time in 1997. An extra-time win against NK Zagreb in the first round set up the Chelsea tie.
There was absolutely nothing that suggested Tromsø could get a result. The 1997 season had been the club's worst in their 11-year top-flight history. On the Sunday before the Chelsea game, TIL suffered a horrendous 0–4 defeat against the already relegated Oslo side Lyn. They were facing a relegation play-off. Hardly an ideal situation before facing a classy Premier League side the following Thursday.
It was before the Roman Abramovich days and Chelsea were still a mid-table Premiership side, but you could see building blocks were in place for a bright future. The 1996/97 season had been the club's best in years and been crowned by an FA Cup title. The side Ruud Gullit brought to Norway was very exciting indeed: Celestine Babayaro, Frank Leboeuf, Roberto Di Matteo, Dennis Wise, Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola…
Tromso v Chelsea pic.twitter.com/4Rz3rsqwAF
— The League Magazine (@Theleaguemag) April 4, 2014
But they were all in for a shock. It was snowy on the Wednesday before the game when Chelsea's charter flight landed at Tromsø airport. Mark Hughes brushed it off, literally and figuratively. Chelsea were used to poor weather in England, he said. It would be no problem. Little did they know at that point.
The average October temperature in Tromsø is about 3°C. You can expect about an hour and a half of daylight during the day. And snow. Lots of snow. Blizzards followed one another on the day of the game, and there was actually a chance the match would be called off.
The pitch at the 6,500-capacity Alfheim Stadion was not great either. Local groundsmen knew how to deal with the conditions, but even they could not defy nature. Despite the warming effect of the Gulf Stream, the growing season in the Arctic is short and professional football takes its toll on a grass pitch. Artificial turfs were mostly a thing of the future.
"Just like cows***", was Gullit's famous remark upon inspecting the pitch on the eve of the game.
But when the game kicked off, it was actually relatively playable. The snowstorms had ceased for a while. It had all the makings of a great night in front of a capacity crowd. And the Norwegians, for whom baring the cold was second nature, were ecstatic just six minutes into the game.
Following a free-kick routine, defender Steinar Nielsen launched a fine shot into the bottom corner. Frode Fermann added another 13 minutes later, courtesy of not only a fine TIL move but also a howler from Chelsea 'keeper Ed De Goey. Just like that, Tromsø had taken a convincing 2–0 lead into the break. Chelsea should have been happy with even that, so underwhelming was their performance.
When Chelsea took on Tromso in an Arctic blizzard…. pic.twitter.com/J7rrvJcXSW
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) September 7, 2019
Things surely could not get worse for Gullit's men. But they did. At half-time the polar heavens opened up again. The snow came down so thick and fast you could hardly see. Chelsea were expecting the game to be abandoned. But what's a little snow for a Northern man? It was just another day in the Arctic for the Norwegians who were well prepared. Somebody produced an orange ball and out they went again.
The second half was a bizarre sight. Just watching the highlights today is hilarious. For the optimist, it was a sign of how the world's most beloved sport could overcome all kinds of conditions. For the pessimist, to call it football at all was an insult to anybody who had ever played the beautiful game.
Gullit certainly belonged in the latter category. He was ballistic.
"That was just a farce. This had nothing to do with football", he vented after the game, according to BBC.
"In the second half we could not see because the snow was coming into our faces. I love football but for football to be played you need to have conditions that make it possible. We did not have that. There is no way that this game should have been played to a finish", Gullit went on.
So did the game, although it did have to be stopped a few times for the pitch to be cleared. To plough the entire field was not an option amid the relentless snowfall, so they would do just enough to make the lines reappear.
On this day: 1997 – @chelseafc played Norwegian side Tromso on a snow covered pitch. #CFC #Chelsea pic.twitter.com/Ee3AvOlQ0V
— Chad (@ChelseaChadder) October 23, 2014
For all Gullit's irritation, it all seemed to work in Chelsea's favour. Having been comprehensively outplayed in the second half, they were now a match to their hosts. But just when Vialli though he had saved his side some blushes by getting a goal back in the 85th minute, Ole Martin Årst finished the very next attack and made it 3–1.
In a dramatic end, Vialli still managed to score another. He displayed fine footwork in doing so, but equally important was the fact that two Tromsø players basically slipped in the snow while trying to defend him.
Neither dressing room was happy after the final whistle. Vialli had at least restored some pride, but Chelsea had still lost to the third-worst side of the Norwegian league. And Tromsø had recorded a famous win, but had not made the most of it.
"Given how the game turned out, we could have won 3–0 or 4–0", Tromsø's Swedish coach Håkan Sandberg told Norwegian state broadcaster NRK in 2017.
"We played worse after the weather changed. Sandberg was not the only one who was angry after the game", added Nielsen, who moved to AC Milan shortly afterwards.
It turned out they were right to rue all the missed chances. Gullit may have focused on all the wrong things in Norway, but he converted all his bitterness into energy ahead of the second leg. They had lost a game he thought should have been abandoned, and he was out for vengeance.
"We could have been eliminated because of that game, so ahead of the home game I told my players I did not want them to win. I wanted them to demolish them. I wanted to bring Tromsø back down to Earth because they were arrogant. They were laughing at us", Gullit told Norwegian TV2 in 2018.
It turned out TIL would have needed the fourth and fifth goals they had chances for in the first leg. A revengeful Chelsea stormed (pun not intended) to a 7–1 win at Stamford Bridge. They made short work of it too. Scoring was already finished by the 54th minute. Chelsea eventually won the entire competition, beating VfB Stuttgart in the final.
2nd round 2nd Leg
Chelsea 7-1 Tromso
Chelsea goals- @LucaVialli x3 Dan Petrescu x2 Gianfranco Zola and Frank Leboeuf penalty
Tromso consolation- Johansen#CFC #CupWinnersCup pic.twitter.com/PDtTEkAayx
— James (@1JamesCHELSEA) April 20, 2020
"We could instantly see they were really up for it. We went into the game with real hopes of advancing, but they were so turned on they swept us off the pitch", admitted star striker Ole Martin Årst.
But it did not make the Arctic blizzard any less memorable. For Tromsø, it was their finest hour. And for even the travelling Chelsea fans, the farcical night under the polar skies is surely an unforgettable memory from a great European run.
Sources: NRK, TV2, BBC, Dagbladet, The Set Pieces.com, Chelsea's official website
Nordic Glory 1: When Nottingham Forest spoiled Malmö's European Cup dream
Nordic Glory 2: Sven Goran Eriksson's IFK Göteborg shock "arrogant" German giants
Nordic Glory 3: All-conquering Liverpool suffer embarrassing defeat in freezing Helsinki
Nordic Glory 4: Swedish elation and Scottish disappointment in an unlikely European final
Nordic Glory 5: 'Miracle in Milan' as amateur Finnish side TPS shock Inter at the San Siro
Nordic Glory 6: One last hurrah for European greats IFK Göteborg at Manchester United's expense
Nordic Glory 7: Rosenborg humiliate AC Milan as Norwegian football emerges from darkness
Nordic Glory 8: "This is the f****** Champions League" – Stuart Baxter fumes as ref helps Barcelona beat AIK
Nordic Glory 9: Chelsea come undone on a "farcical" polar night in Norway as Ruud Gullit fumes
