Esten Grøtte Hoffmann | My Football Story

By train and bus from Trondheim to Faro

Esten Grøtte Hoffmann is not like all other supporters, at least he is not intimidated by long journeys.

I am a bit adventurous and love to travel, he tells The Atlantic Cup, but quickly adds that there were some who thought he should rather visit his GP instead of a really long train ride to a training match.

The trip started in Trondheim at midday on Saturday and on Thursday evening he arrived in Faro in good time for Friday’s match against Brøndby. By then, the man, who is originally from Rena, had taken the train to Copenhagen, a bus to Hamburg, a train to Cologne, Lierse, Luxembourg and so on to Paris.

In the French capital, the plan was to take the high-speed train to Barcelona but it was full and so instead he went to Biarritz, the beautiful city on the Bay of Biscay. From here, the journey continued by night bus to Madrid, another train ride to Seville and then by bus to Faro, where he finally arrived just over 5 days after his departure.

I grew up with a grandfather who was central to Rosenborg’s barracks* for decades and I love the club, during the season I rarely miss a match, either away or at home, he says enthusiastically.

Esten also emphasizes that combining such a trip with seeing Rosenborg in action in Portugal is almost the perfect experience, since he works digitally, it doesn’t affect his work either.

We have our chat next door to Rosenborg’s dressing room at the mighty Estadio Algarve and now he is looking forward to seeing his heroes in action on Portuguese soil.

*The barracks is Rosenborg’s famous clubhouse that dates back to World War II. The club is known for its openness and here you could meet players, coaches and managers daily. The barracks is in many ways a trademark of what Rosenborg stands for as a club.