Words: Christian Thuesen // @Norlink86
When I was asked to write a few words about my teams’ season, I had to have a serious think about where to start.
Because god damn. What a year we had.
We are off to Norway’s second tier and to my dear Moss FK. I wanna start with us securing the spot to play in this years league.
It’s 12 November 2023, and Moss FK have just defeated Kongsvinger to secure the spot to play in next years Obos-league. On the stand, crying in joy, is me and my old man. We’ve gone to the Moss games since I was 10 years old. How I managed to keep my duties as fan-photographer, I really don’t know. Before falling down the pyramid and almost going bust a few times, we used to be something more. To secure this spot was massive.
We were on the right track back to where we belong.
Photo Credit: Christian Thuesen
Fast forward to 5 January 2024. Moss FK start to train for the new season. I must admit I was wondering; where as a club do we go next? We were still on the second smallest budget in the league and some much bigger teams proclaimed they were going for it this year. Where was our place in all of this? It got worse before it got better. with us selling our top scorer to a rival in the division too.
The season started with a visit from high flying Lyn from Oslo. Boom. 3-0 win. And the last goal was scored by a youngster who has ties to Lyn’s rivals. Looking back I think it started a chain reaction in the kid. If Bo Hegeland is playing for Moss in 2 years time, I’ll be very surprised.
After that we did trip a bit though, with ugly losses against clubs we should have got points against. And as an odd low moment of the year, we bombed out of the cup in the second round after an embarrassing loss against local club Råde. Oh well. At least we won in the stands.
Photo Credit: Christian Thuesen
After doing this for 28 years, I firmly believe every season has one or more moments when something happens that shapes the outcome of things. And ours was on Matchday 7 against Stabæk. We were 3-0 down after 60 minutes and what looked like a desperate substitute turned out to be a stroke of magic. It ended 3-3, and if we’d had 10 more minutes I think we would have won. The face on Stabæk coach Bob Bradley was very, very odd. Such a manager of character and experience did not seem to understand what happened.
But was this a one-off?
The answer is no. Some of the tactical moves Moss executed against Stabæk set the foundation for the next round of games.
Suddenly, we had won 7 games in 8, the only loss coming against Vålerenga. But that loss wasn’t terrible and weirdly, is one of my highlights of the season. Because, for the first time in history, we managed to gather 1100 fans together for a non-crucial game. For comparison, our average home attendance is 1500-1700.
As a board member of the fan association and having worked many, many hours for free for many years to keep the fan culture alive during our time in the lower division I must admit I started crying on the train home from the game. The shitty years were worth it for this. We lost, but fan culture won that day. Our fan culture. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t just dreaming.
Photo Credit: Jon Hernes
Suddenly we were up there and the media was talking. “Moss are back and going for promotion”, a thought I refused to back as technically next seasons spot in the division was not secured yet. When you’ve got 30+ point It’s defensive and stupid to say. But I have been around this club for a long time. I don’t believe it before I see it.
And in all of this we sold our left back and suddenly people started to lose faith. He had been instrumental in many wins, so maybe it wasn’t odd that suddenly the team entered a phase of losing and drawing.
But, during this spell were two massive wins against the two teams that were later relegated; Levanger and Sandnes Ulf. The win against Sandnes Ulf was actually mental. 3 years ago they were pushing for promotion to the top flight and beat us 1-7 in a cup game, which was embarrassing. 5 of the same players beat them 6-1 and more or less sent them down to level 3. Football is deeply odd sometimes. How quickly things can turn never ceases to amaze me.
Photo Credit: Christian Thuesen
Now, we’re nearing the end of the season. Moss are 3rd in the table. Then, we face second-placed Bryne. A banana skin, and we fall flat on our faces. It’s obvious that we won’t be directly promoted. So the question becomes what spot will we get? 6th meets 5th ,winner meets 4th , winner meets 3rd. That’s the system. That’s what we know will happen.
And in the middle of our small dip in form, you could begin to see Lyn making a late push for 3rd. And what game was the last normal round of the year? Lyn-Moss.
Sometimes in football you do get help from others. When Lyn lost against Åsane on Matchday 29, we suddenly could go to Oslo with a 4 point gap, knowing we had secured 3rd and a qualifying game.
The match was played at KFUM Oslo (YMCA Oslo)’s arena, which is famous for it’s awful artificial pitch. We quick understood why. The ball had to go along the plastic grass. Even the goalies had huge trouble lifting the ball up in the air. The game looked like it would end 1-1. Lyn were happy with this as it meant one less match in the playoff qualifying run. Then, Lyn’s left back manages to mess up in the 89th minute. Do you remember Bo Hegeland from the Lyn game at home? He smells the mistake and sets up his teammate who scores. The temporary stand in Oslo almost collapses with the energy being given off by the Moss. An insane moment to top off what had been a season none of us could have dreamed of.
Photo Credit: Christian Thuesen
KFUM Oslo had the balls to seek compensation from Moss FK even though the stand almost collapsed when Bryne visited two weeks before. If anyone from KFUM reads this they won’t have to read between the lines to understand how much I dislike this joke of a club with no culture and their disgraceful attitude towards visiting fans.
But enough about people like that. In the end, it was Kongsvinger that were to visit Moss to fight for the right to play the 3rd lowest from the top flight. And if you are wondering where are we on the calendar? 1 December 2024. And as we are in Norway, this should be a time with a half meters snow around the stadium in Moss. Thankfully it is one of the mildest winters in a long time. Because if the stadium in Moss couldn’t been played on, we would have had to play in the KFUM Arena in Oslo. Yes, with the temporary stands and dangerous fences. But luckily we got to play in Moss and could say HELL NO to the ridiculous bill from KFUM for their broken stadium. Fix your own shit your hypocritical morons.
I hope it’s the last time I see a Christmas tree and Santa Claus in a game at Moss. It is way too late in the year to play football and it comes with a huge cost physically for the players and financially for the clubs. No one is making a better product with that.
But here we were. In one of the strangest games I have seen in my 26 years on the stand, my dear Moss lifted the town’s spirits to the skies with a game that almost had 3 own goals scored by Kongsvinger. When the gameended 3-2 Moss, you realised you’d witnessed something odd. I must say looking back I’m extremely glad this game didn’t had VAR. It took my dear Moss 19 years in the swamp to give the town such an important game again. We deserved the insane spontaneity this game gave us. The last 10 minutes in that stadium, I can truly say I never heard such a noise level. I actually didn’t manage to join in. I was stunned.
Photo Credit: Christian Thuesen
As a guy pushing 40 I’ve seen a lot of games that you forget quickly. But I remember some games like it was yesterday even though it was 25 years ago. It started last year, but this year we have seen a big rise in young Moss FK fans. They have taken a place in our fan stand and are starting to shape their own culture in the one that’s already there. I’m extremely happy that this new generation got this game, a game they will talk about in the pub in 20 years time. Their honest and direct joy after this game warmed a semi-old git much more than they get today.
So here we were. A double header against FK Haugesund from the Eliteserien. It is 5 December 2024, and it is cold. It’s snowing. I think people in the stadium really had faith that day. You could feel an atmosphere – not odd, but just different. Even if it was a weekday after work, people had a completely different mood than a normal mid-week game. And even though it was snowing, it was warm in a way.
Photo Credit: Christian Thuesen
The game against Haugesund is tight. It ends 0-0, with Haugesund seemingly not taking to the grass in Moss very well. I must say, I suddenly had much more belief. FK Haugesund are struggling financially and a relegation would’ve been a disaster for them. For Moss FK to get promoted on the second lowest budget in the league would be an amazing achievement. The bonus to get promoted is actually higher than our annual budget.
Did I blow the Christmas budget and go to the away game in Haugesund? Of course I did. I had a few spare days off to bring the old man with me to the other side of the country to see our dear Moss FK.
We flew over on Saturday and had a nice day in the town with other Moss fans. The atmosphere spoke for itself. We would give our all. We had nothing to lose.
We had won the party the day before, clearly. But more impressive were the 2 coaches of fans that made the journey. From Moss to Huagesund is about 8 hours each way on the coach. The fact we get 2 coaches and half an airplane to the other side of the country 2 weeks before Christmas is such a proud moment as a fan and volunteer through the foundation. 3years ago I would have laughed of the idea. But here we were.
Photo Credit: Christian Thuesen
It was a game of 2 halves. Moss fell behind early and seemed nervous. At half-time, we’re 2-0 down – one goal a clumsy own goal, and the other a bit lucky.
Moss make a triple substitution like the one mentioned earlier against Stabæk. The formation changes and FK Haugesund become nervous. We shake things up properly, and holy shit do we come close with a header off the crossbar.
We never manage to score in Haugesund. It doesn’t help that we win the Expected goals with 0.87-1.04, had more ball possession and more attempts on goal. But, at the end of the day, scoring goals wins football games.
That’s a wrap. The date is 8 December 2024 and Moss FK’s season is over. So close, but no cigar. The team with an average salary of about £1400 per month weere not far from getting promoted to the topflight. What that says of a team and the hard work these boys put down. Unbelievable.
I was asked to sum up the season in 250 words, and it has become 2000. How to finish. Not sure. It has been a very odd season. Even if we didn’t make promotion I hope this is the start of a revival for the old giant that is Moss FK. To see the younger fans taking their spot on the stands, I’m not so worried about the future anymore.
Like our song says: the crow will yet again rise. We are Moss. We are MFK.
The author, Christian Thuesen, with the signature dish of Moss FK - sausage in waffle.
Photo Credit: Ulrik Motzfeldt
As Fan-photographer, Christian has thousands of photos from following Moss home and away.
Below are a select few from their unprecedented 2024 campaign.
