SOCCER fan Mark Jarrett scored an away win while he was trying to learn Norwegian -- after discovering his favourite team has a supporters club in Norway!

Now Mark, 42, is "over the moon" and practising his language skills with new friends in Scandinavia as they share their common interests in Blackburn Rovers and football in general.

"I've been to Norway three times and on the second visit I decided I wanted to pick up the language," said Mark, of Jacks Key Drive, Darwen. "I logged onto the Rovers site on the internet and spotted they had a fans chat site and there was a Norwegian supporters club mentioned.

"I e-mailed them and it's just gone on from there. I write to them in Norwegian and it helps me brush up my skills."

Mark, who works at Darwen vehicle dismantlers Walsh & Dearden, is hoping to cement his friendship with his Norwegian friends when they come over to Ewood Park for Rovers' game against Barnsley on February 3.

"There's four of them coming over and I'll be meeting them at Manchester Airport," said Mark, a season ticket holder at Ewood. "We've never met before but I feel like I already know them and we're all big Rovers fans.

"The Norwegian supporters club has more than 200 members. They can all speak English and they're really clued up about Rovers. It's not just a passing interest, they know everything about the club. They log on to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph site to get the latest news.

"They try to get over to Ewood twice a year at least. They came over for the Wolves game."

Mark first got a taste for Norway when he sailed into the Artic Circle on a friend's boat. "It's a lovely place," he said. "They are really friendly people and they're really keen on British football, especially the northern clubs." Here are some well known football phrases in Norwegian:

1) Dere vet ikke hva driver paa med -- you don't know what you're doing.

2) Hvem var det som spiste all payen -- who ate all the pies?

3) Rovers hvor blir det av dere -- Come on Rovers!

4) Fotball-dommer, jeg tror du trenger briller -- referee, you need glasses.

5) Dette var vel ikke noe maal -- that was never a goal.

6) Skal du spille for Rovers, boer dere ta rev i seillene -- you'll never play for Rovers.