Drama in Norwegian football tonight.
One of the regular top division clubs in Norway, SK Brann, who were league champions as recent as 2007, have been relegated after losing a two-legged playoff against Mjøndalen IF, who haven't been in the top flight since 1992 and were on tier four as recently as 2006. The first leg, at Brann's home ground, ended 1-1. Tonight Mjøndalen won 3-0. When they scored their third goal, some Brann fans threw flares on the pitch. An older fan, who obviously didn't find this acceptable, attacked the young sods who had thrown the flare.
Personally I am torn between schadenfreude and sympathy. Schadenfreude, because Brann fans see themselves as one of the natural top teams despite their 2007 title being a rare exception - they are usually a mid-table team and have only won the league three times in their history. They seem to think Norwegian football revolves around them. Even in the build-up to this game, talking about how much the Norwegian premier league would lose out if they went down. Sympathy, because I know just how they feel. And the fans are passionate about their club. Bergen is one of the few cities in Norway where everyone has an opinion about the football team.
But the whole season, the "we're too good to be relegated" attitude has been there, so they ultimately had it coming.