Ville Ijas & Bosse Nielsen
The local pub in Herning, Murphy’s, invited the fans to settle down there and this Irish bar was eventually turned into the Finnish home at VELUX EuroVolley 2013. “We are happy and very thankful that this special place was organized for us. It is my third time at the European Championships, and it’s the first time that fans are coming together in the same place and it was a very good idea” says the leader of the crew.
The words are accompanied by a big smile by one of the many Finnish fans, Ville Ijas, 64, that have showed their blue and white colours in Herning and created a great atmosphere in the hall. The tall Finn has made himself noticeable with Finnish coloured glasses and his beard. “I came here alone, but there are about 400 Finnish fans in Denmark and personally I will be in Denmark for all the matches and I will be in Copenhagen too, because Finland will play in the finals! I think that many will go on to support the guys in Aarhus and Copenhagen, but some have to go home” he says.
The Finns have created a party on the spectator seats and showed their support for other teams as well. “I am getting older but I have partied every night so far and this is the third straight night but it has been no problem so far. There is still a week to go with rest days in between, so no problem. I have met new friends here and have met with the old friends from the previous Championships I attended in 2009 and 2011”.
“The team is playing very well at the moment. It was difficult against Serbia because we had won the group anyway, but they will come back. The team is really happy to get our support and we can talk to them after the matches. We have a good communication with the players during the matches too” Ville Ijas says.
Murphy’s has sold more beer the past three days than usual and has had a very good experience hosting the happy Finns. “We contacted VisitHerning to try and support the fans that were about to come to Herning. We got a contact in the Finnish Federation and invited them to have their base here and they were glad to have that option. Before the matches 10 to 30 fans visited us and then after the matches we have had hundreds. They have been a fantastic group of people to host and have created a really nice and festive atmosphere so it has been a pleasure. The Finns have thanked us for being able to party in our bar” Bosse Nielsen (pictured with Ville Ijas), manager of Murphy’s says.
To read similar news from this competition click on European Championship 2013.
