The real reason why Man Utd's Europa League opponents Bodo/Glimt are forced to have a forward slash in their name

Bodo/Glimt were forced to change their name in the 1980s to avoid confusion.

The Norwegian side, who currently sit top of the Eliteserien, will face Manchester United in the Europa League on Thursday night – a game that will go down as one of the biggest in their 108-year history.

Ahead of kick-off, the club's sporting director Havard Sakariassen opened up on their remarkable rise.

"If you go back to the year in 2009-2011, the club was struggling really hard financially," he told BBC Sport. "I had my last season in 2011 as a player. In mid-season that year I quit. I was old and not any good. I left the changing room and went upstairs.

"At that time the club was in such bad conditions that we didn't have a kit manager. We washed our training gear at home and came to training already dressed. That was the situation at Bodo/Glimt in 2011."

He added: "We had one person working for the A team that autumn. That was me. I was the kit man."

Known as 'fish hippies' because of Bodo's cod fishing industry, the club have a number of unusual traditions.

Fans often bring large yellow toothbrushes to their games, which is a long-standing tradition dating back to the 1970s. In fact, some supporters will direct the singing with those toothbrushes.

As well as their traditions, the club has an interesting history. They initially changed their name to Fotballklubben Bodo-Glimt in 1948 because an older club from Trøndelag had the same name.

But in the 1980s, the hyphen in between Bodo and Glimt was gradually changed to avoid confusion as hyphens were often used to separate teams on betting coupons and in result tables in newspapers.

Image credit: Getty

Ahead of Thursday's game, Bodo-Glimt goalkeeper Nikita Haikin revealed his excitement at coming up against United at Old Trafford.

“I don’t want to show disrespect to Arsenal and AC Milan, but this will definitely be right up there," he told Dagbladet.

"When it comes to history and football tradition, it is big for a club from northern Norway [to face Manchester United].”

He added: “It will be an exciting match. This is a big game for us. It is a privilege to be here and meet one of the biggest teams and organizations in the world of football. We will go out there, do our best, stick to the plan and enjoy it.”