Iceland’s Reykjavik Einherjar searching for opponents
With the worst ravages of the pandemic hopefully behind us, much of the American football world is beginning to return to a semblance of normalcy.
Which means that the sole team in Iceland – the Reykjavik Einherjar – is again searching for teams to play against. As the only American football club on Iceland, with a population of only 300,000, located 1,200 miles north of London, England, opponents are at times hard to come by. So the Einherjar spend most of the year practicing, while trolling the international American football community for games.
This time though, they are also offering opponents the chance to play one of their three teams. They have an A team which plays at a GFL2-3 level, a B team which is made up of players newer to the game and a U21 team.
Despite their remote location, over the past five years the team has hosted teams from Finland, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Germany, the United States and Great Britain, winning nine games and losing five. They lost to Finland’s Kuopio Steelers in 2019 as well as the American semi-pro team the Empire State Wolfpack. Prior to that in 2018, they defeated the Carinthian Lions from Austria while also beating Swedish semifinalists, the Uppsala 86ers 39-27. They traveled to Mallorca in late October 2017 to play the Spanish first division team the Mallorca Voltors. Reykjavík won the game, 21-14.
So now, Reykjavik is looking for an adult team to play the 15th international game in Iceland in the fall of 2021. Teams are not only offered a unique travel experience but also an outstanding football game.
This is what is offered:
- Free bus transport once in Iceland
- Free housing in a gymnasium or an affordable hostel
- Free pizza dinner
- Game in a huge indoor stadium with a large crowd
- A 3 camera TV broadcast
If your team or a team you know of is interested, you are asked to send the club a message on their Facebook page.
Check out the Einherjar’s first win against the Starnberg Argonauts from Germany.
