PAOK welcomes Europa League debutants Brann
PAOK will play hosts for the second consecutive League Phase game, welcoming the Norwegian side Brann for Matchday 5 of the Europa League (27.11, 19:45).
The Toumba Stadium is preparing for a high-intensity European night, against a team that is coming off a goalless draw in Italy with Bologna and has seven points, the same as PAOK. Brann are playing in the Europa League league phase for the first time in their history.
- The club has won the Norwegian championship (Eliteserien) three times, in the 1961–62, 1963 and 2007 seasons. It has also won the Norwegian Cup seven times. The last time it won the Cup was in 2022. In 2023 and 2024 it finished second in the championship.
- PAOK has four wins and two losses against Norwegian teams. In the 2003-04 season (PAOK-Lyn 0-1, Lyn-PAOK 0-3), in the 2009-10 season (Valerenga-PAOK 1-2, PAOK-Valerenga 0-1) and in the 2011-12 season (Valerenga-PAOK 0-2 and PAOK-Valerenga 3-0).
- On 26.09.1908, Kristen Gran gathered nine other young men in a local café in Bergen. Due to dissatisfaction with the state of the local sports clubs, they decided to form a new club. Football and skiing… They called it Ski- og Fodboldklubben Brann (The Ski and Football Club Fire).
- In 1919, with funding from fans and investors, Brann Stadium was opened on land the club had purchased in 1917. The opening match was against the Norway national team (Brann were defeated 6–2).
- Brann’s first official European match was a 2–0 (9–0 aggregate) win over Gżira United in the 1973–74 European Cup Winners’ Cup. The team’s most successful European efforts came in the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, when the team reached the quarter-finals, and in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, when the team reached the «Round 32».
- They have played in the top flight of Norwegian football for 67 of the 80 seasons.
- They play at Brann Stadion with an average attendance of 17,310 spectators.
- They are the largest club in Norway’s second largest city, Bergen.
Their colours are red and black. - The team’s nicknames are Bergens Stolthet (The Pride of Bergen) and Fotballrepublikken (Football Republic).
- On 30.10.2011, Brann midfielder Karl Erik Thorp suffered a cardiac arrest during the Sogdal-Bran match. He collapsed on the pitch and was defibrillated by a doctor in the stands. He survived, but required a defibrillator implant.
- The 2021 season was described as «Brann’s worst year in peacetime» and …Brannus horribilis by local media. It included a controversial extraordinary general meeting, a season-long relegation battle, the departure of a sporting director, a coach and an after-party scandal.
- That year, he played a «final» with Gerv. 4–4 and penalties in the end, with Gerv promoted to the top division for the first time in the club’s history, and Brann relegated. Of course, he comfortably won back to the top division the very next year.
- In 2022, he even returned as he won the Cup (2-0 against Lillestrøm), giving the club its first major trophy since 2007.










