“Icelandic men do not dare go west,” BÍ/Bolungarvík first division football team coach Jörundur Áki Sveinsson said in an interview with Ísafjörður local newspaper Bæjarins Besta.

Seyðisfjörður in the West Fjords, roughly 55 kilometers from Bolungarvík, a breeding ground for the next generation of football players? Photo: Páll Stefánsson/Iceland Review.

“We have a small pool of players and need to strengthen the team but we expect to do this with foreign players. It is difficult to get Icelandic players to play here in Ísafjörður, they think we are too far from Reykjavík.”

Two foreign players are now testing their skills with the team and more players are arriving next week. Jörundur said it is sad that the only way to strengthen the squad is to get players from abroad but some Icelandic players have asked for astronomical fees to relocate to the region.

The team, BÍ/Bolungarvík, managed to cling to its spot in the first division last season after almost dropping out.

PS