Northern Ireland v Norway: Late-night ferry has made visitors ‘stronger’

It wasn’t quite planes, trains and automobiles for Norway to reach Northern Ireland, but it wasn’t far off.

The team had planned to fly from Leeds, where they had been based, to Belfast but heavy fog on Wednesday night meant their flight was cancelled.

After some quick thinking, Gemma Grainger and her star-studded squad were on the ferry from Liverpool, and they reached their team base just outside Larne in the early hours of the morning.

“It was some unexpected team bonding, for sure,” Grainger told BBC Sport NI ahead of Friday’s first leg of their Euro 2025 play-off at Inver Park.

“Sleeping on a ferry was a bit of a surprise for us, but we’re here now. Bunk beds and sharing with staff wasn’t on the agenda but everyone really made the most of it.”

“It was a late night, but good for the team and we had a lot of laughs.”

Norway captain Maren Mjelde went as far as saying the unexpected travel plans “were like a holiday”.

“We had to get here. Of course we would prefer to fly but I found it easy,” said the 35-year-old former Chelsea defender, who has won more than 170 caps.

“I travel on these boats every summer so it was a holiday feeling. We had good fun and we had to make the best out of it.

“We’ve a good team and it’s been a positive atmosphere no matter what happens. I think it makes us stronger, to be honest.”