'I did the Viking row on the streets of Yorkshire'

As Norway prepare to take on England in the World Cup quarter-finals, you may think Norweigans who moved to this green and pleasant land would have split loyalties.

Not so for former footballer Monica Simmons, who moved from her hometown of Naerboe 19 years ago and now lives with her family in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.

Her beloved national team has already made history by reaching this stage in the competition for the first time - and are hoping to go even further.

"They're just celebrating like they won the World Cup already. It is a massive achievement what they have done so far, so I'm just kind of enjoying it and taking it all in," she said

Does she feel torn ahead of the match? Not at all.

"I must say I am 100% on the Norwegian side, it's very clear," she said.

"If you speak to any other Norwegian, I think it's fair to say that we're very proud of the country and the heritage.

"I still very much sway towards the Norway side, which is why it's making it very difficult ahead of Saturday's massive, massive game where, you know, all of my friends here in the UK are supporting England.

"The phone has been going wild for the last few weeks, but particularly after the weekend [when the fixture was confirmed]."

Monica lives with her husband, a Brit who has little interest in football, and her son Jake, a six-year-old obsessed with Norwegian legend and Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.

He said: "I just love Haaland, he's my favourite footballer ever and I love his celebrations."

Jake was out doing the famous Viking row in the street after Norway's 2-1 win against Brazil - and has promised to do the same if they secure a win against England.

The row has been performed by Norwegian fans all over the world as a celebration, including one led by Haaland himself at the New York New Jersey Stadium.

The celebration has also been seen on the streets of Ilkley, when Monica celebrated a previous victory with a neighbour, and has vowed to do so again.

"One of my neighbours saw that me and my son were rowing here earlier on in the week and decided that if Brazil got beaten on Saturday, then I would come out in the street after the game and do the row with him," she said.

"So, of course, I'm a woman of my word, so I stuck to that.

"We were there at 11:15 on Saturday with our saucepans and Norwegian flags and rowing, while his wife was in her dressing gown, videoing us from the bedroom.

"So yep, that caused a little bit of excitement on the streets and I think we're going to have to definitely carry that on again if we were to win on Saturday!"

Norway have only qualified for the World Cup finals on four occasions - in 1938, 1994, 1998, and 2026.

Much of their success is credited to Haaland - who also uses his mother's maiden name Braut on his team shirt - who scored 16 goals in qualifying.

And he is not short of fans in West Yorkshire, as his father Alf-Inge "Alfie" Haaland played for Leeds United from 1997 to 2000, and he was born in the city before moving back to Norway.

Speaking ahead of the match, Svend Karlsen from the Leeds United Supporters Club of Scandinavia (LUSCOS) said, "anything can happen".

He said Haaland "has been putting his mark on football since he was 13 or 14 years old."

"Both teams have a lot of good players, but he is the standout man," he said.

Monica, whose own father is a Leeds fan because of the Haaland link, said: "Football has been a massive part of my life ever since I was five years old, and I was very fortunate to play football for the top level in Norway for women.

"I was also lucky to represent Norway for the national team when I was under 17 to under 20. So yeah, football has been a really big part of our whole family for a very long time and still is now."

Back then, she even trained in the same sports hall as Haaland, Jaerhallen in Byrne.

Now, she is settled in the UK where she works as a personal trainer, and draws parallels between Ilkley and the Norweigan landscape, climate and people.

"I am 39 now, so next year I've lived half of my life in the UK.

"We will be hitting that benchmark next year, 20 years in each country."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.