The Evjen family is very much tied to Bodo/Glimt. Hakon’s father, Andreas, played over 150 games in the yellow and black and even captained the team.
Hakon himself already celebrated an Eliteserien title in Bodo and now can help the club reach the Champions League. In many ways, he has his father to thank for this success, too.
“When I was 15 or 16, there were other clubs I could have gone to. But my father played here, had great contacts in Bodo/Glimt, it only made sense to play here,” Hakon Evjen tells Flashscore, fresh off a training session at the team’s Aspmyra Staidum.
Bodo/Glimt are a club that many people describe as unique. Located in a town of 55 thousand people, 200 km above the Arctic Circle, they are the underdogs in the world of football.
Still, over the last seven years, they have risen from relegation threatened to four titles in five years, beating European giants on the way to a Europa League semi-final. So, what’s the secret?
“Everybody is on the same page; it’s a tightly knit group from players all the way to club management. It’s always about progression, continuous improvement.
"We don’t even think much about the result, but rather about how we play each game,” Evjen explains.
A big part of the team’s success is Kjetil Knudsen. He joined Bodo/Glimt as an assistant coach in 2017 and was promoted to head coach a year later. The club stuck with him during a time when they nearly got relegated, and he thanked them for it with a historic run of four championships in five seasons.
“Kjetil is a coach who really knows what he wants,” Evjen tells us.
“He ensures everybody is on the same starting line, everybody knows exactly what they are doing, and that makes it easier for the team to work together.”
Much like other members of the team, Hakon tasted life outside of the Norwegian Eliteserien, but ultimately returned home to help the club to further glory. At just 20, he transferred to AZ in the Dutch Eredivisie, but the COVID pandemic hampered his time there.
“But I learned a lot about the culture and the league. Eredivisie develops young talents well, and it’s one of the leagues where you can play with freedom, it’s not much about duels and set pieces,” he recalls.
“But it was a no-brainer for me to come home,” he adds quickly.
“I really enjoy the football here, exactly like I did when I was younger. The opportunity to play in Europe was a big factor too, and now we will hopefully have the chance to play the Champions League as well.
Austrian champions Sturm Graz are the only team that stands in the way of Bodo/Glimt reaching UEFA’s top competition.
“When I saw the teams we could have been drawn against, I thought Sturm Graz were one of the toughest opponents,” Evjen says.
“It's a good league, full of good teams, and the fact they beat Salzburg to the title two years in a row says a lot about them.
"I think we are the underdog in this tie, actually, and we'll need to be at our absolute best to be able to make it to the Champions League.”