Wanderers were delighted to welcome members of the Bolton Wanderers Supporters Club Norway as they celebrated their 30th anniversary.
Sixteen members of the club – which is currently around 130-strong – made their annual visit to watch the Whites in action in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Peterborough United.
The club, an affiliate member of the Bolton Wanderers Supporters Trust, then held its annual meeting at which founding members Ole Peder Østby and Petter Stig Thorvaldsen were honoured for their long service before they step down from their position on the supporters’ club board.
The contribution of the pair – who have followed Wanderers since watching the team on a post-season tour of Norway in 1956 – was recognised by Wanderers through a letter of appreciation from Chairman Sharon Brittan and presentations of replica shirts signed by the current first-team squad by Whites’ legend John McGinlay.
Sharon wrote: “The impression left during that visit (to Norway) planted the seeds for one of our club's most enduring and cherished international friendships.
“It is a credit to your great passion and foresight that you nurtured those seeds and formalised that special connection on 18 May 1995, by founding the Bolton Wanderers Supporters Club Norway. This is a legacy for which we are all immensely grateful.
“As I so often say, we are one club, one community, one town. Your support, spanning generations and crossing borders, is the most powerful expression of that spirit. Through all the recent challenges, please know that the dedicated loyalty of supporters like you provides a source of immense strength and inspiration for everyone here.
“As you both prepare to step down from your board positions after 30 years of dedicated service, our journey will remain steadfast and our ambition to return this great club to where it belongs has never been stronger.
“On behalf of the Board and everyone at Bolton Wanderers, thank-you, from the bottom of my heart, for everything you have done and continue to do for the club you love. The road ahead is an exciting one and we look forward to creating even more amazing moments together.”
At their strongest, the BWSCN boasted around 300 members who watched Wanderers in their Premier League days when among their favourites were former striker McGinlay and ex-team-mate and former BWSCN president Gudni Bergsson, who was also a guest at Saturday’s match and met up with the travelling contingent.
Despite a slight fall in numbers, the Norway-based fans remain passionate and valued supporters who stage a collective trip over each year as well as visits from smaller groups to watch the Whites play.
BWSCN chairman Eirik Hiim Titland is another of the driving forces behind the activities and along with three other club members met Wanderers’ Head Coach Steven Schumacher before Saturday’s game and presented a trophy to their 2024/25 Player of the Year, Aaron Morley.
Eirik said: “It was another fantastic weekend for us – helped by a good win. We are always made to feel very welcome when we visit the Toughsheet Community Stadium and thanks to everyone for the amazing hospitality.
“Also, a big thank-you goes to ‘Super John’ for doing the presentation and to Sharon for those kind words. The gifts and tributes meant a lot to Ole Peder and Petters, who had the shirts on all night!
“It was something they both deserved for the way they have served Bolton Wanderers and the Norwegian supporters in such an amazing way for so long for the benefit of the football club and our members.
“Thank you so much to both of them, BWFC and the help and backing of the Supporters Trust. We will be back next year. Can’t wait!”