Bookshelf: Against the Elements (Chapter 3)

 

Against the Elements: The Eruption of Icelandic Football (Matt McGinn)

Chapter 3: Facilities

McGinn opens the chapter in the Arctic Circle with the club Bodø/Glimt, one of the first clubs to build a full-sized indoor facility in 1991. That facility helped propel the club from Norway's third division to European competition in only a few years, and served as inspiration for Iceland's own construction spree years later.

As of 2018, Iceland's 23,000 registered players could play on 179 full-sized fields (i.e., grass, turf, indoors, and outdoors) and 154 small-sided fields built near schools and other public places. The national federation under the longtime leadership of Geir Thorsteinsson is credited with making these public-private investments an opportunity, and these numerous playing facilities are considered to be one of the 3-legged stools that have enabled Iceland to punch above its weight on and off the soccer field.