The Flo's legend

Sogn og Fjordane is a county in western Norway, which rural population is reduced and scattered. It has Norway’s biggest glacier, the Jostedalsbreen, and deepest lake, the Hornindalsvatnet. At the entrance of the Nordfjord, there’s Stryn, a country with less than 7000 inhabitants where blossom the most colorful flowers. Stryn, one of the 26 kommuner of the county, is a small village, an important crossroad between Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim. Here Miss Torlaug, Andreas’ wife, gave birth to Kjell Rune, Jostein, Jarle and Tore Andre Flo, starting what it may be the greatest dynasty in football’s history. 

Besides the four mentioned brothers, the Flo family hasn’t stopped making discrete footballers like Håvard and Kjetil, Tore Andre’s cousins, and Ulrik and Per Egil, respectively sons of Kjell Rune and Kjetil, and also Frederikstad’s striker and Molde’s defender. A genetic matter or just sacrifice and determination? Probably we’ll never know, but one thing is certain: in Sogn og Fjordane the name Flo means football. Some say that one time the local team played with eleven Flos on the field.

Among all Flo brothers, one in particular has standed out above others, Tore André. A name that recalls Odin son’s and the most bright career among his brothers’. Tore André has been one of the best players in Norway’s history. 543 games and 192 goals, traveling to England, Scotland, Italy and winning a European Supercup. “The life in Stryn isn’t so varying. There are mountains to ski, but as kids we’ve always loved football”, has said Tore André once, “we loved to watch games on tv and then, right after, we played, sometimes with a table tennis ball”.

The first club which believed in him was Sogndal, which signed him and his brothers Jostein and Jarle. At the Alfheim Stadion Tore André has a great impact, scoring 18 goals and getting his first call to the National team, debuting November 10th, 1995 against England. His rising career takes him to Bergen, where is going to play for two years. In Norway’s second-most populated city, Tore André becomes the best striker of the country. He scores a ton of goals, but the supporter doesn’t forgive him for the deal with Chelsea, even if it save the club from a bad financial crisis.

That Norway team was very interesting, with a simple but effective football. With Egil Olsen as coach, they were able to win 46 games of 88, with just 16 defeats. After USA 1994’s early elimination, Norway comes back in 1998, when the World Cup is played in France, in what’s going to be Olsen’s last tournament. The draws with Morocco (2-2) and Scotland (1-1) put the Norwegians in front of the worst possible scenario, having to face elimination against reigning champion Brasil. The last game against the Verdeoro was in 1997, when Tore André got his nickname Flonaldo, thanks to a double which gave Norway the 4-2 win. The Brazilian team gets to score first with Bebeto, but Flo propitiates the comeback with a wonderful goal and a deserved penalty, transformed by Kjetil Rekdal. The Scandinavian dream will be stopped by Italy with a goal scored by Christian Vieri.

Without the World Cup dream, Flo focused on the new experience in London, destined to be the most prolific of his career. With Gullit and Vialli on the bench, Flo scores with a certain regularity (50 goals in 163 games) and wins a UEFA Cup of Winners’ Cup, an FA Cup and a League Cup. Closed by Gudjohnsen and Hasselbaink signings, Flo moved to Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers, where he becomes the most paid player in the history of the club and the entire league. Scotland is just a step in the long British adventure of Tore André. Before him, between 1993 and 1996, also his big brother Jolstein played in England, remembered by Sheffield’s supporters more for his “Flo Flo Flo, who needs Deano” song than for his goals.

“After a vacation, one of my brothers gave me a Birmingham City’s shirt. It was the last one in the shop and from that moment I decided to support that team”, said Tore André, which in his career in England wore Chelsea, Sunderland, Leeds and MK Dons’ shirts. Called to Sunderland to replace the local hero Niall Quinn, the Norwegian striker scores in his debut against Manchester United, but he looses the place when Peter Ried get sacked. The new Black Cats’ manager, Howard Wilkinson, don’t see him and the relegation path the end of the year will force the club to get rid of the most paid players. Flo meets Paolo De Luca, Siena’s owner, who wants a big international name to celebrate the promotion to Serie A. 

It only takes three games to Tore André to score his first Italian goal. First against Empoli and then again with Reggina and Udinese. With Papadopulo on the bench and Chiesa as teammate, the Norwegian scores 8 goals. In his second season, Flo scores and decides the historical win against Fiorentina, but the change of manager (Simoni replaced Papadopulo) changes his status too, as the new coach likes Massimo Maccarone most of the times. The youngest Flo brothers’ career is coming to its end. A year in Norway at Vålerenga, where he almost never played because of injuries. And then Danny Wise’s phone call, his former Chelsea’s teammate who manage Leeds, relegated to Championship and with a disastrous financial situation. Tore André plays 3 games and scores 1 goal before injuring another time and ending the season early. Meanwhile, the club is in bankruptcy, it’s penalized and relegated again to League One. Even with the chance to play in the highest league, Flo stayed at Leeds in the third league, scoring three times and becoming a local hero.

In March 2008 he retired from professional football, but after only few months he came back. He’s called by Milton Keynes Dons, League One’s club, and he can’t refuse, signing a single-year contract, after retiring another time. In 2011, after almost two years without football, he wanted to close his journey coming back to Sogndal. In Norway, he has the time to debut again against Rosenborg and to score twice in the win against Molde, managed by his friend and former teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjær, in Tippeligaen’s last match day.

Today Stryn IL surprisingly haven’t a single Flo in the team, but the dynasty of footballers is far from over: Havard has a son called Fredrik, Jarle has one called Mathias. Kasper and Johan are respectively sons of Jostein and Tore André. They’re all ready to follow their fathers and uncles’ footsteps.