Cheltenham Town FC

A group of Norwegian football fanatics will be making their first visit to the English club they have adopted as their own on Saturday as Cheltenham Town host Northampton Town in Sky Bet League Two.

The 15-strong travelling party are making the long trip to cheer on Mark Yates’ team, having first started to follow the Robins in 1998 – the season they won the FA Trophy and finished runners-up in the Conference under boss Steve Cotterill.

They are not the first bunch from the Scandinavian country to become honorary Robins followers, with an award for Norwegian Player of the Year traditionally presented before the final home game of each season.

One of the group making the visit this weekend, Geir Atle Lima, said: “We are not quite sure why we selected Cheltenham Town, but we wanted to support a team outside the biggest cities and without big money.

“For us Cheltenham is an old and proud club and we all remember when they won the FA Trophy at Wembley.

“We follow the results closely, through the club website and watch the highlights on YouTube and Sky Sports."

The Norwegians are feeling confident of a positive result against the Cobblers, which will help make the journey worthwhile, but they are sure to enjoy themselves, irrespective of the outcome on the pitch.

“We are really looking forward to visiting Whaddon Road to see it and experience the atmosphere,” Geir said.

“We have talked about this for several years and finally we are going to be there – it’ll be great!

“We all feel it will be a home win for the Robins and I think by a scoreline of 3-1.”

The Norwegians’ favourite players are Joe Hanks and Byron Harrison, while they also have a soft spot for former skipper John Finnigan, who played in both the 2002 and 2006 play-off finals for Cheltenham.

They will arrive in Cheltenham on Friday evening and leave on Sunday morning. Everyone at Cheltenham Town hopes they thoroughly enjoy their Whaddon Road experience.