Five Football Matches in Five Days: A Journey to the Arctic to Honor a Friend

Five football matches in five countries in five days. That was the mission for Joe Hepworth and the rest of the Pink Pub to the Arctic Circle friendship group – a journey they've just completed in honor of their teammate James Palmer-Bullock.

James Palmer-Bullock, who led the group's weekly Thursday training sessions, tragically passed away last September following a sudden brain hemorrhage. Now his friends have fulfilled the dream he never got to realize.

A Dream Born in a Pub

"It was an idea that came about when James and I just sat in a pub and saw the photo of Henningsvær football pitch in Norway and just fell in love instantly," explains Joe Hepworth, who organised the trip. "It was sort of two years of us chatting about it, and it's one of those things that we just ended up not doing. Sadly, we lost James very suddenly to a brain hemorrhage in September last year. It was sort of our mission as a football group to complete this, complete this dream, and make this a reality."

The journey began in Brussels against BX Bruxelles, and continued to Hamburg, where the team, after their match against St. Pauli, was invited to watch the Bundesliga clash between the hosts and Borussia Dortmund. From there, they traveled to Copenhagen for a match against B.93, then to Stockholm for an 8-2 victory over Hammarby, and finally the grueling 18-hour train journey to Henningsvær in Norway.

The Destination: The World's Most Beautiful Pitch

Henningsvær stadium, dubbed by many as "the most beautiful pitch in the world," sits picturesquely within the Arctic Circle. Here, James's dream would finally be realized – and the friendship group would become the first social football club from England to play inside the Arctic Circle.

"This is the best way we can think of to remember our friend," says Joe Hepworth thoughtfully. "To lose someone is always horrible, to lose someone who is perfectly fit and well and healthy at such a young age – it's just even worse. And the sudden nature of it, you know, we played football together on Thursday, we spoke on Friday and Saturday, and Sunday he collapsed."

"We needed something as bold as he was to mark his life and celebrate his life in this way, and doing something creative like this would have been something I know he just would have loved to have done with us."

Community Support

Before the trip, the team secured several sponsorships to help cover expenses. They also chose to use the tour to raise money for two charities: Children on the Edge and The Sussex Snowdrop Trust, with all funds raised split equally between them.

"The community in general has been so supportive," Joe Hepworth explains. "From local individuals, obviously, family and friends watching all the games live back at home. But also the sponsors. Companies have really thrown their weight behind it, and I think once we've sat down and spoken to people, it's been incredible to just be able to spread that love and positivity as much as we possibly can."

The team also leveraged Veo camera footage from their weekly training sessions to build excitement and attract additional followers for the ambitious journey, sharing clips that showcased both their football skills and the camaraderie that made this tribute to James so meaningful.

The five matches were streamed live via Veo cameras – making Henningsvær the first location in the Arctic Circle to feature Veo technology. The high-quality footage not only allowed family and friends back home to follow the journey in real-time, but also provided the team with memorable clips from each match, ultimately capturing their historic moment of becoming the first English social football club to play inside the Arctic Circle.

"It keeps us in touch with everybody at base. There are 18 guys out here, that's 18 families and lots of kids that are all excited to see their dads get beat on a football pitch," Joe Hepworth says with a laugh.

When asked what he was most looking forward to on the trip, his response becomes earnest: "Doing this as a collective, remembering James. The most obvious thing is getting to that pitch in Henningsvær, completing that as a mission and a challenge altogether. That's definitely what I'm most looking forward to."

A journey that began as a dream in a pub ended as a tribute to friendship, courage, and love. James Palmer-Bullock's spirit will forever live on at that beautiful pitch in Henningsvær.