Teams emotional journey to ‘most beautiful football pitch’

For more than a decade, James Palmer-Bullock organised Thursday-night football for his group of friends. Once a week, taking joy in the sport he loved, he provided them with togetherness and community.

James was the heartbeat. A presence of positivity. He knew that football was the glue that kept a group of men with ever-changing lives in touch.

Until one Thursday last September James died from a brain haemorrhage, aged 45.

“He was just an incredible man,” explains lifelong friend and Portsmouth fan Joe Hepworth, “incredibly loving, creative and caring”.

“We played football together on the Thursday night, I spoke to him on the Friday and Saturday and unfortunately he had the haemorrhage on the Sunday.

“He died four days later.”

Before he died, James had a dream to one day play on arguably the world’s most picturesque pitch, located in the northern reaches of Norway.

It is a dream that 18 friends from his Bognor-based football team in West Sussex are now going to fulfil in James’s honour.

“We’d seen the photo of this gorgeous pitch in Henningsvaer and thought this is a trip we’ve got to do,” said Mr Hepworth.

“This is legacy. This is what James started and we have to carry it on.”

A 2,000-mile trip is now under way, using only public transport, to follow a route that will travel through Brussels, Hamburg, Copenhagen and Stockholm, before heading into the Arctic Circle.

The group are raising money for two charities by playing five football matches in five countries over five days along the way.

“It’s going to be hilarious,” said lifelong friend Doug Ross.

“Seeing a bunch of old men with broken backs and twisted, sore knees doing this and going on 16-hour bus journeys and 10-hour coach rides – it’s going to be crazy.

“I think we’re all going to be exhausted, but it will help having James’ spirit with us. It’s going to be an extremely emotional trip I think.”

While football has always been the unifying bond between this group, this trip will serve as an opportunity to remember the good times shared with James.

“The person I wanted to call when I was feeling really upset about James dying was James,” said friend Mark Oliver.

“The person I wanted to sit and hang out with was James.

“I imagined us being old men together – being in the pub watching the football, talking about life, our grandkids, our careers – so for him to not be here just doesn’t make any sense.”

The team have adopted James’ mantra in life as their motto – “The blossom always returns.”

A quote that provides a further insight into James’ positive outlook provided during a talk in his local church just weeks before he died.

The group is expected to complete their epic trip by running out on to the pitch in Henningsvaer on Tuesday 26 August.

“I think it’s going to be incredibly emotional,” added Mr Hepworth.

“It’s the completion of something that you’d like to have done before with someone else.

“But, to do it with 18 guys that I call teammates is a testament to James. I really hope this gives people the drive to chase their dreams, to not leave it.

“There’s a cliche to live every day like it’s your last, but, the reality is – and we’ve learnt the hard way – that sometimes it is.

“To have the opportunity to do something like this in honour of James with this group is truly special.”