LIVE STREAM: Great Britain’s Ouse Valley Exiles @ Reykjavik Einherjar, Sat. Sept. 16 – 8p (10p CEST, 4p EDT)

AFI | American Football | 09/16/2017

Iceland’s Reykjavik Einherjar American football team will be facing perhaps their stiffest test yet when they play the Ouse Valley Exiles from Great Britain Saturday, September 16 in Reykjavik , Iceland.

The Exiles, who play in the British American Football Association National League (BAFANL) SFC1 Central Conference, have made the trip to Iceland to take on the Einherjar. The 54 man roster is made up of 18 players from Ouse Valley but also contains six members of the London Warriors including Great Britain national team running back Dwayne Watson as well as four players from the East Kilbride Pirates along with players from a handful of other teams.

Einherjar always looking for games

Arranging games like this is not always easy for the Einherjar, the only football team in Iceland. This island nation, located 1,200 miles north of London, England is home to the Reykjavik Einherjar who spend most of the year practicing. They have to look far and wide – literally – to find opponents. Earlier this year they took on Germany’s Starnberg Argonauts (Division 5), beating them 48-14. Late last year, they lost narrowly to Norway’s Eidsvoll 1814s. Quarterback Bergbör Phillip Pálsson has been the driving force and has been contacted by teams as far away as the United Arab Emirates. This time it was the Ouse Valley Exiles.

In addition to its Icelandic players the Einherjar will have a sprinkling of foreign players including Canadian Jason Robert South.

With a population of only 300,000, Iceland is famous for its glaciers (10% of the land surface is covered), volcanoes, banking system and national soccer team although not always in that order.

Reykjavik is located on the 66th parallel just 150 miles from the Arctic Circle.

The soccer team famously reached the 2016 European Championship quarterfinals defeating Austria, the Netherlands and England before succumbing to the host French.