Brothers in Arms

As Silkeborg and Greenland stepped out for a friendly at the impress JSVK stadium in Silkeborg, it might have largely flown under the radar, but this was a poignant brothers in arms moment. It was also one of the best stadiums the visitors had ever played in. It was about to inspire.

My goodness, other lands do exist, not just Italy! Like bookends to a season of Calcio, where I notched up 35 games in 6 visits, ‘24/25 started in The Netherlands, and ended in Denmark. It seems I only ever do friendly matches across the North Sea in Scandinavia’s most southerly land. Albeit after an 18-year hiatus since my team Inverness Caledonian Thistle trotted out at Nykobing Falster one balmy pre-season summer’s eve.

Back in 2007, it was the first ever time ICT had played outside the UK, and it was a proud moment for me to be amongst the travelling 5 who journeyed south from the Danish capital, even if we lost 2-1. When Inverness then headed for Romania for our one and only competitive Euro outing in 2015, ten years ago this summer, none of the other Nykobing gang were on the banks of the Danube at Giurgiu to watch. It handed me a wee morsel of unique club history, as the only fan to have seen the first friendly and European outings overseas.

This summer break might have seen me headed to my family homeland of Orkney, who were proudly hosting the Island Games for the first time. The lack of seeing Greenland amongst the football sides was the moment I decided, even if I could easily get accommodation, it wasn’t for me. Then, just as the season was coming to an end, I noticed from my loyal following of the Greenland International football team on social media, that they were headed for a weeks training camp and matches in Motherland Denmark. Given the highly topical nature of Greenland presently in the political sense, as well as an application to join CONCACAF (The North and Central American) football federation), I wanted to find out more. 

The Greenlanders, and by virtue, me as well, were headed for Silkeborg. It is a name I had come across in league perusal or European fixtures, but I would not have been able to pinpoint it on a map. It is plonked right in the middle of the biggest Danish land mass, Jutland, and not an island like Sjaelland, for example, where you’ll find Copenhagen.

The more I read, the greater the intrigue, with the town famous for being the Danish outdoor pursuits capital with a wealth of water around it, giving it the moniker, the lake district. Unlike the Cumbrian equivalent, this area of Jutland is almost flat, with no mountain backdrops. Silkeborg has a population of just over 50,000 (just 7,000 less than the entire Greenland population!) which is relatively small for a successful top flight club, but chapeau to the area as it is home to a Danish Superliga outfit, and a fantastic 10,000 seater stadium, where Greenland would step out to take on the Silkeborg U19’s. 

Whether fielding a younger team was originally the plan is uncertain, but I think given the potential chasm in ability between a professional Superliga outfit, and the amateur Greenlanders, the first team would have been too strong. What also might have clouded the judgement from a Silkeborg perspective was that the first team had reached the Danish Cup Final, and that was just days before the planned friendly. This was a match that got away from them right from the off, conceding an early goal. FC Copenhagen eventually won 3-0, meaning Silkeborg had to hand over the trophy they had proudly won for the second time in the clubs history just a year earlier, beating near neighbours AGF Aarhus 1-0. In 2000/01 they won their first Danish Cup, but perhaps the biggest prize the club has achieved came in 1993/94 when they won the Danish Superliga for the only time in the club’s now 108 year history.

Silkeborg have had a great number of European adventures, the majority in a giddy period from 1991 to 2001/02, which included ”winning” (there were three winners and no trophy) the Intertoto in 1996 having come through against six sides, albeit requiring that old chestnut, the away goals rule to get by Uralmash from Russia in the semi-final and Croatia’s Segesta Sisak in the final, but going out versus Spartak Moscow upon entry into the UEFA Cup that season.

Following a 20-year hiatus, Silkeborg have been back in Europe twice since, where Europa League failure on the first occasion, seeing them in a Conference League group with West Ham, Anderlecht, and Steau Bucharest. While they lost all four games to the first two clubs mentioned, they absolutely hammered FCSB as Steau are officially known 5-0 both home and away, but needless to say, it wasn’t enough to progress. Last season, they started from a round earlier, losing 4-5 on aggregate to Molde in the Europa, then Gent by the same score in the Conference to end their European campaign.

However, despite losing to Copenhagen in the Cup Final and finishing 7th, top of the bottom 6 essentially, they entered into a European playoff with Randers just three days after the cup final and two before Greenland came calling. It had been a tough conclusion to the 24/25 campaign, but they were rewarded with another crack at European football, beating Randers 3-1 to enter the Conference League qualifiers. A victory that seems to have caused Drogheda United from the Republic of Ireland to miss out, in another scenario of a business owning multiple teams. Walsall bizarrely come under the same umbrella! It all became even more understandable that they chose to give their star players a rest for the visit of the world’s largest island team. Just how good are Greenland? It would remain to be seen.

I flew into Copenhagen in the early evening of the day prior to the match and decided to stay the night in the capital. The game wasn’t kicking off until 18.30, and with a near 4 hour trek back across Denmark, I deemed the additional travel on the night likely to be stressful should my plane be late. Ironically, on a clear afternoon, high in the sky, we flew over Silkeborg and arrived early!

I have been in the Danish capital twice previously and loved it both times. This time, upon arrival, I threw my bag in my room, and knew exactly where I wanted to head in the city. I was off down to Nyhavn, the coolest harbour area in the world.

Danes are, by their very nature, a contented bunch, although Scandi Noir dramas would paint an alternative vision. Every annual survey of happiness seems to point towards one of the Scandinavian lands as the annual winner. It must be a nice situation to be in, where they are all competing for the accolade of the happiest country. 

No country is without its issues, but positivity and upbeat natured people are more my world. I often get so depressed when I am waiting for my flight home from wherever, and invariably encounter English speakers for the first time in days, complete with the moaning and the mumping before we even get on the plane. It is a mindset that sadly seems endemic in the UK, but that is just my personal thoughts. The contrast can be encapsulated by this observation: where a few lads carrying a crate of beer here would look potentially troublesome, the sight of such groups carrying their evenings entertainment down to the harbours edge in Copenhagen can make such an activity seem chic!       

I recollect getting into this debate in Nyhavn previously with a couple of Brondby fans, and having explained what you read above to these chaps, they smiled and immediately replied, “the difference is, here we will be your best friend after a few beers, across in UK, it’s more likely someone will want to stick the head on you”! That was in 2007, has that perspective changed a jot? I suspect not. I was suitably embarrassed, but that’s the image we portray from overseas, sadly.

It was an early start for the train journey back west across a large swath the country and two sizeable waterways negotiated, jumping from island to island to mainland, Jutland. Silkeborg is a clean and tidy place, as you would expect of any Danish city, but aside from its lakeland views and walks, it’s not a place worthy of a lengthy stay. If you are familiar with Mantova in Italy (here he goes again!), the surrounded by water gig is very similar, even if the history of the Lombardian city trumps Silkeborg.

Whilst in the world of contrast and reflection, crossing the road is an everyday right for us all. In Italy, though, even on an official crossing point, you can’t relax. It still requires taking your life in your own hands. By contrast, in Denmark, the car has slowed and stopped before you even realised you were wanting to cross the road!

It’s the cyclists that are the silent gang that needs to be watched here. Come the school run, or post work, a veritable Tour de France peleton of bikes can come charging around the corner, and as well organised as the paths are, the weather has washed away in places the demarcation of where is safe for walking. It seems, in general, if there are no markings, it’s a bike lane!

The JYSk stadium is a leisurely 40-minute walk from the centre, one of those new, edge of town affairs. A basketball arena (could also be handball-big in these parts) is right beside the stadium. Inside the JYSK, no seat will give you a bad view, with the majority housed on the upper level. In the main stand and along that entire lower side, it seems that the seats are exclusively for a stand-up buffet/quaffing hospitality brigade. This was the area open for the friendly, but alas, without the snacks or beer. Indeed, rather shabbily, no catering was open at all.

Greenland’s badge has the year 1971 on it. The football association was formed 8 years before the Faroe Islands, both Danish dependencies with quasi-self rule. The contrast between the two is now stark, given the Faroes entered UEFA before FIFA shut the door on entry for non fully independent lands soon after.

Greenland also has the issue of weather to contend with, even more than on the Faroe Islands, making all year round hosting of games impossible. Indoor football, especially futsal, is very popular up there, and as I was to discover after the match, many of the players come from that code.

This might have just been a run of the mill friendly for Silkeborg, but for Greenland, it was a big deal. They only played one match in 2024, in Antalya, Turkey, bizarrely against Turkmenistan. They were beaten 5-0, but I discovered that they only landed on the day of the game, and the temperature swing was minus 6 to 40 plus! They held out for an hour at 0-0, but then the heat took over. A lesson for sure going forward for the need to acclimatise should the CONCACAF application finally be accepted.

The side had been in Denmark for two days of training before this game, even welcoming local school children to the training, a cracking PR plus. A poor crowd was on hand to welcome the sides onto the pitch at the JYSK, with two-thirds of the mere 150 present cheering for the visitors.

Right from the kick-off, I was amazed just how calm, controlled, and skilful the Greenlanders were in possession. The youthful Silkeborg side perhaps hadn’t expected such a well organised opponent. I am sure we have all seen a San Marino-esque performance where 11 strategically placed dustbins do nothing but frustrate. Maybe I am being unkind to the promoted Nation’s League outfit from hillock Italy, but you catch my drift. The point is that Greenland were nothing like that. They were passing through the channels and creating openings themselves, with midfielder Thomas Hoegh an early stand-out performer. A well worked move sent him scampering clear, and he had the confidence to round the keeper before finishing superbly. Fifteen minutes in, the visitors led, cue unrestrained joy, and rightly so.

Silkeborg couldn’t find a way through, and when they did, the tallest left back I have ever seen, Angutivik Gudel-Collin was on the line to head clear, and the goalkeeper was more than competent. Greenland led at half-time, and the smiles all around me told you a lot.

Not quite the same as in Antalya, but after an hour or so, where Greenland were giving as good as they got, the legs just started to tire, and Silkeborg smelt a route back, bringing on impact subs that clearly were making a difference. The goalkeeper, Brian Rusting-Kleist, was magnificent, and while the defence was under strain, it was marshalled by a fine number 3 in central defence, Patrick Otiri Fredriksen, easily the man of the match. Despite the pressure, he always played with calmness and a smile on his face. A few of these lads could easily play at a higher level, Otiri would have any scout interested. Greenland stood firm until 20 minutes from time, when neat footwork in the box created an opening, and Silkeborg thrashed it home.

Even if Greenland had lost, they would have taken so many positives from this workout, but they dug deep and held on for a fine draw. The celebrations afterwards were a joy to behold. The manager sent them across to greet the fans and then invite some of them onto the pitch for a wonderful photo. The smiles, the pride, you could see it all around. Football at the top end has lost its soul, but here, in a nutshell is why we should all celebrate football.

I was keen to get Greenlandic perspective on things and had been in touch with their social media man. Understandably, he wasn’t so sure of his English, but he must have told the manager about me. I say that because I told the media guy I would be wearing my Orkney football top. As the teams were warming up, a chap on the field came over to talk, recognising my shirt that screams ‘Orkney’ on its front advertisement. It was the manager! If I could stay after the game, he would answer my questions, I was very grateful.

Morten Rutkjaer has been in charge of Greenland for a number of years. Indeed, at the last Island Games in Guernsey in 2023, he took charge as Orkney battled out a 2-2 draw with them. I wanted to understand why Greenland hadn’t entered the Orkney Island Games this summer, and it basically boiled down to logistics and finance. Oddly, Guernsey was easier to get to than Kirkwall. Greenland to Denmark to Edinburgh and then more flying or boat from Aberdeen to Orkney. It was going to cost around one million Danish Kroner (£113K), and the FA just didn’t have that sort of money, so a 10-day spell in Denmark was considered better value. Getting the opportunity to play at a venue like JYSK wouldn’t be available in Orkney either.

They followed the Silkeborg draw with a stirring come from behind 4-3 win in Engelsby playing South Schleswig, basically southern jutland now, but once part of Germany, who are fellow Non Fifa members. The organisation and growing confidence were on display, as Greenland kicked on after Silkeborg.

You might have read that Greenland have submitted an application to join CONCACAF, sent more than a year ago now. After 8 months of hearing nothing, Morten and his colleague from KAK (Greenlandic initials for Greenland Football Association) were invited to go to Miami to meet the men at the top. Things have progressed very slowly since, but maybe, just maybe, by the time this is published, Greenland will be involved with the smaller Caribbean sides in the Nations League and Gold Cup qualifying.

They do have facilities to accommodate International football on the island, albeit an indoor arena. They haven’t played a match against anyone worthy of note on Greenland, ever! If necessary, they would happily play in Iceland.

I asked about the players, do any of them play professionally or even semi-professionally anywhere. The answer was none. Every one of them is amateur, and as mentioned, a lot of them come from a futsal background. The artificial surface was to their liking as similar bounce to an indoor arena, and coming from futsal, tight, quick thinking skills have been honed. The level of skill has improved immeasurably since that 2-2 draw with Orkney two years ago.

I was also looking to understand the domestic league situation. It has long been fable that the entire season lasts just one week. That is the finals competition! Basically, due to a lack of road infrastructure, four separate areas play their own mini tournament, with the top 2 from each then congregating on that iconic pitch by the waters edge, complete with iceberg background to play a round-robin of games against each other day after day for a week!

Given, when the Greenland team set off in late May for Denmark, the island had a fresh blanket of significant snow, you can understand the precarious nature of outdoor football up there.

I thanked Morten for his time and took great delight in telling him how much I enjoyed not only the way they played but also how they did it with a refreshing smile on their faces. It has to be said that the enthusiasm Morten has for his job and the pride in his players is evident in every word he uses to describe them. It takes a man of courage and passion to uproot and head for Greenland, but he lives it, and he loves it.

The news that no one wanted to hear arrived days after my trip, where CONCACAF rejected the Greenlandic application. Quite how a collective can reject a land wishing to better itself is frustrating. An invitation to Greenland was extended, and while International games with Curacao, Aruba or St Kitts and Nevis might not be happening, I am deeply invested in promoting their cause, and I will headed that way no matter what.