Football In Greenland
How can it be that the world’s largest island has a footballing history and culture that next to nobody knows anything about? Greenland, unlike the name suggests, is not very green, in fact the island is snow covered and consistently exists with extremely cold weather conditions. The island in fact was only called Greenland as a ploy from Icelandic murderer Erik the Red in an attempt to attract settlers to the island after he was exiled there. Greenland is located east of Canada and is geographically part of the North American continent, however the island has been an autonomous region within the Kingdom of Denmark since 1721. The island, since 2009, has the opportunity for independence, public view is leaning towards independence however the concerns over strategies to become self-sustained, particularly with budgeting issues, the region remains a part of the Kingdom of Denmark to this day.
The Greenlandic football system is unique to the region and one which many may not have heard before, one that is often mislabelled as a ‘week-long season’. This has been publicised many times and it seems sports news websites, including RedBull.com themselves, run with this narrative in an attempt to attract the reader. Unfortunately for those looking to make a story out of a small one-week season, it simply is not true. The Greenlandic football system is divided into regional areas, this is to combat against the size of the region and minimises long distant travel through such a treacherous landscape. This become more apparent when you discover there are no roads linking cities and settlements together, therefore air is the alternative travel solution, albeit very expensive.
Travelling through the region is so dangerous that away days can become deadly. In 2004 a handful of players went missing travelling back towards the mainland after a game on one of the smaller islands. Authorities went on the search only to find the players on Hareoe island, all dead.
The regional competitions are played mainly during the summer months with eight teams ultimately earning their place to participate in the national championship. This is where the so called ‘one-week’ football season is introduced. Eight teams from over the autonomous region travel to a set location (changes every year) to participate in the tournament where a champion is decided.
The most successful team in Greenland is B-67 Nuuk, from the capital city of Nuuk. The club takes the bragging rights on the island with a record 14 league titles, with eight of these coming since 2010. Considering roughly a quarter of the region’s population lives in Nuuk it may come as a surprise that the competition has been won by teams from all over the island. Kissaviarsuk-33 have won eight titles themselves and are located in Southern Greenland, Tupilak-41 are located in Western Greenland, and even G-44 Qeqertarsuaq have been crowned champions, a club located off from the mainland on Disko Island in the west.
So, what about the national team? Greenland is not a member of FIFA and therefore cannot play in FIFA affiliated competitions. Based in North America Greenland are prohibited to play in CONCACAF without FIFA affiliation (An application to join CONCACAF has been submitted with an answer expected by 2025-2027). As they are a region claimed by Denmark, Greenland also could qualify for UEFA membership but again without FIFA affiliation the region is prohibited from entering.
The obvious issue residing over the region is finding a suitable and reliable playing surface to host games. Greenland is prone to permafrost condemning many football pitches to unplayable conditions. The national team stadium, Nuuk Stadium, has since laid artificial turf, something now accepted by FIFA, similar to the Faroe Islands Torshavn Stadium. Unlike Torshavn though, Nuuk Stadium still lacks other required features to be a FIFA standard stadium.
So, without FIFA affiliation who can Greenland play against? Since 1989 the region has been participating in the Island games (only missing the 2007 edition). The Island Games a biennial international sports event, teams that enter this competition are all island communities from the IIGA (International Island Games Association). To be accepted into the IIGA regions must meet several guidelines, the main guidelines being that all members must have populations less than 125,000 and be island territories. Other members include Jersey, Åland, Menorca and Shetland. Although Greenland have participated in all but one of these games, they are yet to host them, again this is down to the weather conditions and the lack of reliable playing surfaces. Greenland have threatened to be competitive in these games on several occasions, most notably in 2017 in which they came runners up to the Isle of Man after a 6-0 thrashing in the final.
Progressions are being made in the region to enable football to become more accessible to people interested in playing the sport. FIFA’s Goal Program are assisting with the construction of artificial pitches around the region to allow as much year-round football as possible. A number of indoor facilities are being built in the region which will allow football to be played every day, including in the permafrost winters the region suffers from.
Greenland currently has a number of players playing European football, Adam Ejler is playing in the Danish third division for Holbæk B&I. Rene Eriksen Petersen finds himself in the Faroe Islands playing for current champions Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag. The region’s most notable export would be Jesper Grønkjær, although Jesper represented Denmark throughout his youth career and represented the first team on 80 occasions he was born in Godthåd (Now Nuuk), Greenland. Jesper played for many big clubs in Europe, he won the KNVB in the Netherlands for Ajax, joined Chelsea for £7.8 million. He also represented the likes of Copenhagen and Atlético Madrid.
What next for the footballing culture in Greenland? The main focus will be on being granted affiliation to either UEFA or more likely CONCACAF. FIFA inject more funding into their member nations which will hugely benefit the region, more facilities will bring more interest and accessibility to the sport. Greenland is not just a snow-covered island where two thirds of the region lay within the Arctic circle. Greenland is a place with a footballing culture as strong as any others, the dedication to play through adverse weather conditions shows the love for the sport. Hopefully one day we can see a FIFA affiliated Greenland and hopefully the best Greenlandic players opt against playing for Denmark and instead represent Greenland.
Written and Researched by BSc Cavan Campbell
