“… It is the first weekend of Norway’s football season and, inside the stadium of Oslo’s biggest club, the stand where Valerenga’s most boisterous supporters congregate is completely empty as the game kicks off. Thousands remain outside, refusing to enter until the 15-minute mark as part of a series of co-ordinated protests involving fans from every club in Norway’s top flight, the Eliteserien, as well as others from the division below. It is a different scene in the away end, where the supporters of Viking are using another tactic to signal their hostility towards the video assistant referee system (VAR), which uses an official watching television replays away from the stadium to review significant on-field decisions. Viking fans take their seats but remain completely silent for the first 15 minutes. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

“Early morning Basque sunshine is threatening to break through. Take the first turning off the main road and you will come across Real Union’s bar, tucked into the corner of their stadium. Inside, gentle music is playing as a couple of locals enjoy a coffee. The artificial pitch used for training is opposite and Real Union’s first-team players have started to trickle out for today’s session. It is here, in the province of Gipuzkoa, where Aston Villa manager Unai Emery’s footballing foundations were formed. Real Union play in Irun, a sovereign community of just over 60,000 in the Basque Country, about a 25-minute drive east of San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa’s capital, and four kilometres from Emery’s family home in Hondarribia. …”
NY Times/The Athletic