Matt McGinn traces the development of the team and the football culture which transfixed the continent of Europe with their performances at Euro 2016 in France. Iceland with a population of around 350,000 people living on a volcanic outcrop possibly with one of the most inhospitable climates to the playing of the beautiful game not only reached a major championships for the first time but showed their European counterparts and later the world at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, that it could more than hold it’s own against sides like a Modric led Croatia or a Messi charged assault for Argentina. Though McGinn seeks to direct our attention to the less well-known aspects of the history and the development of the game of this country that sits on the edge of the Artic circle. The author undertakes his study in the form of a travelogue combined with a thematic investigation of not only Iceland’s football culture but also to examine its wider Nordic culture and society. Supported by the use of 50 exclusive interviews McGinn looks at the key moments from those European and World Cup tournaments; exploring subjects such as the ‘Viking’ mentality, the advantages of smallness and whether the experiment in Iceland can be replicated further afield.

For this reader, the three stand-out chapters in this incredibly engaging read were entitled chapter 6 - ‘Joining the network’, chapter 7 - ‘Size matters’ and chapter 11 - ‘Our girls’. The former looked at the Icelandic tradition of being an ‘outward-looking country’ with it’s original settlers having a sense of ‘adventure and curiosity’ while forming part of Viking Europe linked it to a global trade network (p. 104). Though the country was far from isolated in a remote part of the world it’s football did not enjoy the same interconnectedness as it’s European counterparts. Though McGinn suggests that Iceland finally entered this European knowledge network in the early ‘90s by entering the European Economic Area (EEA) in 1994 and the impact of the Bosman ruling allowed Icelandic footballers to exercise the adventure and curiosity of their ancestors. ‘Joining the network’ (pp. 103-22) with access to such a large labour market and its afforded opportunities, McGinn has set the scene for the most informative chapter of his whole study. By looking at the issue of ‘size’ in chapter 7, he uses the example of the Icelandic music scene to elucidate the progress of football in the country.

Firstly, he notes that that ‘local authorities subsidise young people to pursue music and sport’ (p. 125). The similarities between music and football has been behind both respective successes which is a small scene that is ‘conducive to the swift exchange of knowledge’ (p. 126).This ‘Village-like’ system which is further illuminated by the opinions of Icelandic handball player Ólafur Stefánsson about role models and being able to relate to success. This is applicable whether you were looking to emulate Bjork or an Olympic handball medallist being a small community means that you are closer to such greatness. Though McGinn balances the presentation of such positives with his interview with former Bolton Wanderers full-back Grétar Steinsson who notes that in a small community that a forthright comment can be misconstrued as a personal insult (p. 133). McGinn rightly notes that it was the Icelandic women’s national team who showed their male counterparts the way to success by qualifying for the 2009 European Championships in Finland. The ‘Stelpurnar okkar’ (meaning ‘Our girls’ from which chapter 12 gets it’s heading) has benefitted from a strong domestic league that serves as a platform for local talent combined with the country’s tradition as a progressive society electing both the first female president in the world and the first gay prime minister, that we see Iceland as the best place in the world to be a woman (pp. 119-20).

There is an appetite there for the domestic women’s game to receive more than token support and that better marketing to create new habits which in 2018 saw 9,000 spectators at Laugardalsvöllur watch the women’s national team play Germany. Increased professionalisation has seen further improvement but again things are far from perfect. Though Iceland is very much at the forefront and is the lesson that should be followed. Such a well-balanced book with meticulous interviews conducted comes from Matt McGinn a PhD researcher at the University of Nottingham whose particular interests lie in the relationship between sport, national identity and memory. He has previously been published by ESPN and the Guardian. McGinn’s first book Against the Elements is a wonderful weaving of culture, sociology and football knowledge to explore a soccer nation which became very much everyone’s second team since those Euros in France. The fact that McGinn just doesn’t stick to the popular narrative surrounding the men’s team is most welcome and deserves a thunderous ‘Viking clap’ in itself.