The Icelandic women’s national football team is playing in the fourth European Championship in its history. The country emphasizes equality in all activities, and the federation and clubs do not have a separate strategy for girls, even if one is part of Fifa’s requirements.
11:01AM•Updated 11:13AM
The sensational story of the Icelandic men’s national football team on the green of the European Championship 2016 impressed the entire football world. The small and tiny Nordic country made it to the men’s EC final tournament as the smallest country in history – and made its debut at the World Cup level two years later.
However, Iceland’s A national team was seen in prestigious competitions as early as 2009, when the women’s national team played in the competitions hosted by Finland. In 2015, Arnar Gunnarsson, the director of training at the Icelandic Football Association, told Urheilu that the men’s national team had learned valuable lessons from the women’s national team.
– Icelandic football is very egalitarian. No club has only women’s or men’s teams, Gunnarsson commented at the time.
The same is confirmed by the PhD candidate at Reykjavík University Dadi Rafnsson, who has studied the development of women’s football in the country.
The action has not always been equal, admits Rafnsson, who interviewed five actors who influenced the development of the country’s football in his research.
– They noticed that things were not quite balanced. Women did not have the same opportunities as men and boys. They thought why wait for someone to tell us. We know this is wrong, so let’s change it!
One of the interviewees became the first female president of her club. He immediately drew attention to the differences between the women’s and men’s teams.
– Women did not have the same facilities, for example changing rooms. The men had their own dressing room, their own masseuse and someone cooked after training. They decided that women would get the same. If the men flew to an away match, the women also flew, Rafnsson says.
– It was about the fact that the experience must be the same for all players. The only thing where equality may not be fully realized yet is in terms of pay, but it also depends on sponsorships and things like that.
“Iceland is a football country”
But back to the topic: how on earth can such a small country have such successful football teams?
In 2018, there were a total of 23,000 hobbyists in the country, of which 15,000 were boys and men and 8,000 were women and girls. For comparison: at the end of 2021, football in Finland had slightly more than 141,000 registered players, of which a record 37,000 were girls and women.
The question amuses Rafnsson.
– Iceland is a football country. Football is like part of our DNA. I think people underestimate the extent of our soccer culture. Most people have a favorite team that they identify with. In addition, we closely follow European football, Rafnsson explains.
According to the researcher, success for women is based on converging opportunities.
– The career path is the same. If my younger daughter starts playing soccer, the experience will be the same for her as it was for my son. Girls have the same opportunities to realize their dreams. In my opinion, offering consistent opportunities instead of not allowing some to participate in the activity increases the activity. There is a greater chance that more and more people will stay involved in the activity until adulthood. I think that’s the secret of the operation: as many players as possible for as long as possible.
Rafnsson also illustrates the situation with numbers.
– We currently have 32 players playing in different European countries and a hundred players in the American university leagues.
The international football association Fifa requires each member country to have a strategy for women’s football, or risk losing support money. However, there is no separate women’s football strategy in Iceland – and there won’t be.
– The association does not have a separate strategy for women, and neither do most of the clubs. Let’s just talk about football strategy. The same procedures apply to everyone. If women’s soccer has its own strategy, it is possible that the sport will be taken further away from the men’s game. We talk about different sports and perhaps use excuses as to why women cannot be offered the same. Therefore, it is useful to use the same strategy, Rafnsson opens.
– Clubs are trying to get trained, good coaches for girls and boys. In many cases, the coach who coaches the under-14 boys’ team also coaches, say, the under-10 girls’ team. Girls and boys are taught exactly the same things.
Small stadiums speak volumes
The popularity of the men’s national team may be at rock bottom, but the women’s national team still enjoys Icelandic popularity. The popularity is so great that not all willing supporters will probably be able to follow the country’s performances in the European Championships.
Iceland national team player Sara Björk Gunnardsdottir raised the Games match arenas too small for discussion below (you will switch to another service). Iceland will play their two opening group matches at the home stadium of Manchester City’s women’s team, which can only hold 4,700 spectators due to Uefa regulations. At the previous European Championships in Holland, more than 3,000 Icelandic fans traveled to the venue.
– Many Icelanders have opposed playing games there. We believe that more fans would have gone this year than in the previous games, but Uefa doesn’t have tickets to offer, Rafnsson regrets.