Soccer-Eggs, milk and tractors: Norway's Bryne embrace 'farmer's league' tag

By Tommy Lund

(Reuters) -Bryne FK are back in the Norwegian top flight after 22 years and they are gaining even more popularity for sticking to their agricultural roots - be it tractors acting as stands or awarding milk and eggs to the player of the match.

Best known as the home of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland's first club, Bryne has a population of around 13,000 people, surrounded by farmland and situated 30 minutes away from Stavanger, Norway's third-largest city.

With a stadium that holds barely 5,000 fans, the club are fully embracing their heritage.

"Our goal is to forge a farmers' identity and instil pride in both the club and the region," Bryne Marketing Manager Bjorn Hagerup Roeken told Reuters.

"Our supporters' union has always celebrated our agricultural roots in their chants, so honouring our heritage holds deep significance for us."

VIP tickets include a plush sofa hoisted up by tractors and grain silos, used to store winter feed for livestock, which have been rebuilt with platforms for VAR cameras.

One side of the stadium is a large open square where supporters can drive in and park their tractors to watch the game.

While most leagues hand the player of the match a small trophy, goalkeeper Jan De Boer received four trays of locally sourced eggs during their first home match of the season.

Bryne also gave eggs to their opponents, Kristiansund BK, in their first away match.

De Boer used his prize to cook a Dutch omelette for his Norwegian teammates and, in the spirit of the old-school barter system, the remaining eggs were given to a teammate who had lent him his car to pick up his girlfriend from the airport.

(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Ed Osmond)