The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Icelanders take on Granite City teams
More than 40 Icelandic football veterans are set to star in a tournament at Aberdeen’s Cormack Park training complex.
Throttur Reykjavik Old Boys have jetted in from the Icelandic capital for the eight-team Lava Cup.
Aberdeen side Football Fans in Training (FFIT) will enter two teams for the tournament which runs today from 3-6pm.
FFIT offers a platform for supporters aged between 35-65 to get fit and active.
The Lava Cup is a pilot event with the hope the format can be expanded to include more international teams in future years.
The tournament will also include other SPFL Trust FFIT-aligned teams Livingston and Raith Rovers.
Throttur Reykjavik Old Boys boast Magnus Dan Bardarson in their ranks.
The 71-year-old played for Vikingur Reykjavik against Legia Warsaw in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972.
Lava Cup organiser and Throttur Reykjavik UK coordinator Marc Boal said: “There are more than 40 Icelandic players coming over.
“I have already had a phone call from a guy in Spain who is talking about putting across a team.
“We also have contacts in England and Denmark.
“There is a possibility to expand this and make it an 11s tournament and run it over two or three days in a city in Scotland each year.
“I spoke to the guys at Aberdeen FFIT, who are affiliated with the SPFL Trust through Aberdeen.
“They have decided they want to do a return leg in Iceland at some point.”
FFIT is currently being delivered to more than 25 clubs across Scotland.
Thousands of football fans across Europe have also benefitted from the healthy lifestyle programme, powered by clubs in a host of countries.
Open to both men and women, FFIT provides football fans with an opportunity to become fitter and healthier.
Throttur Reykjavik Old Boys had initially planned to compete in Scotland in May 2020, but the trip was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Boal said: “We have trophies commissioned in Iceland that have been brought over.
“The players are really excited. International games are huge for them. “Magnus Dan Bardarson, who will be 72 in July, is Throttur’s oldest player.
“He played against Legia Warsaw in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972.
“He played in few big European games and just wants to keep kicking a ball.”
Boal has had connections with Iceland since 1986 and has since forged footballing links between the north-east and the Scandinavian nation.
He recently penned a book on Icelandic football, Sixty Four Degrees North.
Boal became the first non-native to win an Icelandic media award for the book.
He said: “I travelled the country in 2015, it was a four-year project and I wrote about that.
“My book won an award from the Icelandic FA.”
The Old Boys have been travelling to Scotland since 2018 to play games.
Having had their scheduled 2020 trip cancelled due to Covid, the team have waited two years to return.
In anticipation, they have been watching reruns of past matches... and sometimes wear kilts!
Old Boys committee member Otthar Edvardsson said: “It has been a long overdue wait for this trip.
“We have tried to make the time pass by replaying the videos of past matches we have played in Scotland.
“Every chance we get we always put on our kilts on.
“Finally, we will travel to the Granite City on this tour for an eight-team competition.
“We may also look at hosting future T8 tournaments in Aberdeen with teams from England, Spain, Scotland and Denmark.”
Edvardsson reveals his love of Scotland stems from listening to Rod Stewart and his father’s trip to Wembley with the Tartan Army in the 1970s.
Such is Edvardsson’s love of the nation, he even has a Scotland tattoo on his arm.
He said: “Long before our first tour, many of the Throttur committee had a long-standing admiration for Scotland.
“Gudberg Jonsson, our chairman, studied in Aberdeen.
“My father loves Scotland, I was brought up with a deep devotion about everything Scottish – listening to Rod Stewart.
“I love everything about Scotland – I even got a Scottish tattoo on my arm during our last tour.”