After travelling all the way from Norway, Per Gunnar almost didn't make it inside Elland Road - but he was left beaming by the end of the day
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
05:00, 30 Oct 2025
Per Gunnar on his first visit to Elland Road
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Per Gunnar on his first visit to Elland Road(Image: Bianca Sørstrand)
Lifelong Leeds United fan and Norwegian native Per Gunnar Sørstrand was told he had two weeks to live after being diagnosed with a brain tumour in April.
More than six months on, the 58-year-old fulfilled his lifelong dream and stepped into Elland Road on a matchday for the first time last Friday. This journey might have been prompted by recent events but in reality, it had been half-a-century in the making.
Per Gunnar, a sailor of 40 years, has supported Leeds since he was six years old. Elland Road is 746 miles away from his current residence in Smøla, a small island off the north-west coast of Norway - but it’s always been close to his heart.
“It really is a very special place for him,” wife Bianca - who organised the visit - tells Leeds Live. “He always dreamed of going there. I'm so glad his health has held up on the trip.
“In April, we were told he had two weeks to live, up to six months at the most. Now he's already living in extra time.
“For me, seeing the joy in his eyes [upon being told of the visit] was almost as moving as actually going on the trip. He smiled like a little child receiving the Christmas present he had waited for all his life.”
This dream, though, was almost didn't come to pass. After making the flight over and checking into their hotel, the couple made their way to Elland Road decked in Leeds attire.
“I almost had tears in my eyes just from the atmosphere - music, laughter, people singing, the smell of fries and football,” Bianca wrote on social media when recounting the journey to the stadium.
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However, things threatened to quickly turn south. When Bianca went to scan the digital tickets at the turnstile, an error message came up. And again. And a third time. She felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.
"I stood there staring at the machine. Per Gunnar stood behind me, completely silent, as if he was considering running back to the hotel,” Bianca remembers.
“‘Uh… what now?’ he asked cautiously. ‘I don’t know!” I said - and then the show began. We ran to the ticket office. And what do we hear? That the tickets didn’t exist. We had been scammed. I tried to breathe - not well.”
Bianca says others around her, some of whom were also Norwegian, looked similarly desperate. The tickets had been acquired from a third-party website in Germany and so Bianca rang up the company, furious. “Let’s just say that call was not calm.”
After minutes of panic, the company managed to send her two valid tickets that scanned through fine. Bianca added: “When we reached the top [of the East Stand], saw the green pitch, and heard Marching On Together - I broke down. I sobbed."
Per Gunnar and Bianca
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Per Gunnar and Bianca(Image: Bianca Sørstrand)
A surprise - this time a positive one - was yet to come. After being given wristbands and asking those nearby, the couple found out they had been upgraded to hospitality seats.
And to boot, they watched their heroes secure a 2-1 win over West Ham United. “He grinned like a 10-year-old at a carnival,” Bianca said of husband Per Gunnar.
“After the match we stayed for the celebration, met incredibly kind people, and in the end, Per Gunnar even got a tie and Leeds pins from club officials! And the club even arranged private transport home because not a single taxi was left.
“All in all, this was a weekend we will never forget. I made his dream come true.
"Thank you so much to my dear husband for bringing me here and showing me that football isn’t just 11 idiots running after a ball. Leeds - we’ll see you again! This was magical.”
A spokesperson for Leeds United said: “We encourage all supporters to purchase tickets only through official club channels in order for them to get tickets at face value and to avoid situations of having invalid tickets.
“On this occasion, given the supporter’s terminal illness we were delighted they were able to have a great day.”
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