Bodo/Glimt’s historic run in this season’s Europa League semifinals has not happened by chance after an extraordinary success story that has been years in doing.

On Thursday, the club from only to the north of the Arctic circle will become the first Norwegian team to play in the semifinals of a major European competition when they take over Tottenham hotspur on the first leg of their last fourth tie.

It is a stunning achievement for one side from a city with a population of 50,000 located almost 1,200 kilometers, or 16 hours, by road north of the capital of Norway Oslo.

What should be a frozen football water is firmly placed on the map thanks to the shows of KnutsenTeam during the last half dozen.

On April 17, They will/glymth – “Glimt” means “flash” in Norway – attracted their most stunning result still beating Lazio in Rome in their Europa League quarterfinals.

They won 2-0 at home in the first game a week ago thanks to two goals by Ulrik Saltnes, though only after the snow from a blizzard was cleaned from the field at their stadium as a capacity of 8.200.

Then they threw the storm in the field in Italy on the return of progress in the sale shooting and placed a tie against Tottenham.

Spurs are a weak Premier League giant and were the world’s ninth richest club last year with revenue of 615m euros ($ 702 million) according to Deloitte analysts.

Bodo/Glimt, meanwhile, without revenues to reach 60m euros ($ 68 million) last year, from a budget of 4.2m euros in 2017, the CEO of Fode Thomassen told the Calcio and Finanza website.

“The club has gone from being a small team of the Second Division in Norway to have perhaps the strongest financial platform in the country in the last seven years,“He said.

In 2017 they were promoted at the high level of Norway, Eliteerien, a competition that had been dominated by Rosenborg for three decades.

Stability but without stars

Bodo/Glimt were runners in 2019 before winning their first title in 2020. They have now won four of the last five local championships.

This form has seen them become regulations in Europe under Knutsen, which led them to the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League in 2022, especially defeating Jose Mourinho Roma 6-1 in a group game and eliminating Celtic.

They have had three failed attempts to go beyond the Champions League qualifying rounds, but have had fascinating links against Arsenal, Ajax and Manchester United.

Now, reaching a semifinal means that they have eclipsed Rosenborg, who reached the Champions League quarter -final in 1997.

“I do not believe in miracles, I believe in our journey,“Knutsen said after choosing Lazio.

Knutsen, 56, took over in early 2018, promoted from his role as an assistant, so he has been there for a stunning seven years of success.

Star players in the current team include Danish striker Kasper Hogh and experienced midfielder Saltnes, who has spent his entire career in the club.

Others have returned, like the Norwegian international wing Jens-Petter Houge, who went to AC Milan in 2020 and won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, but returned home last year.

Midfielder Patrick Berg, whose father and uncles played for Bodo/Glimt, also returned after a spell in Lens in France in 2022.

It’s not a team of stars, but they have enjoyed success by keeping their team together and holding their coach.

“Our main focus is on performance than player sales“, Thomassen told football and finance.

“This has been made possible thanks to financial support from UEFA races … which have become essential for the long -term growth of the club“

This season’s European run has already been worth about 20m euros in front of the price for a club that is currently planning to move to a new 10,000 -seat stadium, Arctic Arena, in 2027.

The future looks bright, and so does the present, with the 3,000 Bodo/Glimet supporters set to support their team against Tottenham in London on Thursday.