Football Association of Greenland

Greenland. It’s been in the news a bit lately. But away from the rantings and ravings of unhinged world leaders, the local people – currently a population of 56,000 – have a fascinating past and, by the sounds of it, a pretty exciting future too. In and amongst all of this is the story of its national football team.

While Greenland operates in a similar fashion to the Faroe Islands, in that it is an autonomous territory within Denmark, it is not – like the Faroe Islands are – registered with FIFA and therefore does not compete at national level. This is a bitter shame, and I feel if Gibraltar and co. can compete with the big boys, seeing Greenland in European qualifiers would do a lot to raise awareness of their nation and identity. Which may become more important going forward… So instead, they have had to make do with playing a series of unofficial friendlies against Danish and Swedish teams, and other nations without FIFA standing. In 2003 they pummeled the Channel Island of Sark 16–0, although the British Isles got their revenge in 2017 when the Isle of Man defeated the Greenlanders 6–0.

But onto the badge – and their unfortunately named Football Association (Kalaallit Arsaattartut Kattuffiat) – or KAK for short… and perhaps more encouragingly, their absolute beauty of a home shirt made by Hummel.

So, let’s give ourselves a bit of context. Greenland: 80% covered by (rapidly melting) ice sheets. It has seen various waves of migrants arrive on its shores and have a good go at eking out a living amongst the extreme cold and harsh climate – most failed. The earliest settlements date back four and a half thousand years. The more modern visitors came from the Vikings, when Gunnbjörn Ulfsson is said to have been blown off course while sailing back from Iceland and ended up on its shores. Greenland’s highest mountain is today called Gunnbjørn Fjeld in his honour. Upon returning to Norway he told tales of his discovery, and in 982 Erik the Red set off to settle the place. He tried several times, with dozens of ships being lost in the process. He is credited with coining the name “Greenland” in a bid to drum up interest in launching future journeys there – a nice bit of early boosterism for the island that has stuck. Erik’s son, Leif Erikson, would later go on to become the first European to set foot in the Americas when he established a settlement in what is today Newfoundland, Canada.

Alas, the Vikings’ settlements did not last more than a few generations and in around 1200, peoples from North America arrived from the opposite direction and settled the island more permanently. These people, known as the Inuit, became the long-term residents of the island.

They survived through small-scale farming and seasonal hunting parties into the north of the island. They would return with tusks and hides from caribou, narwhals and polar bears. Fats, meats, ivory and furs were exported from their growing capital, Nuuk.

During this time, the Danish mostly forgot about their Greenland colony of Norsemen – who had largely died out by this point anyway. As the northern hemisphere entered its ‘Little Ice Age’ between roughly 1400–1800, the seas leading to Greenland became too littered with icebergs to make exploration safe. A fire in the Copenhagen record office also destroyed many of the records relating to Greenland, so their possessions there slipped into myth and folklore.

Yet in the 1700s, the Danish sent out missions led by churchman Hans Egede to reconnect with their former colonists. Upon arrival, they were disappointed to find their Norse cousins had not survived and had been replaced by the Inuit. Not to be put off, the Danish stayed, converted the locals, and brought the island back into Denmark’s sphere of influence.

So – with that brief run-down of Greenland’s history, let’s move onto that beautiful home shirt.

The red and white flag of Greenland represents the island’s icy landscape and surrounding sea. The white stands for the ice cap, the red for the ocean, and the circle shows the sun over the horizon, while the colours also reflect Greenland’s historic link with Denmark.

And so red is the colour of the Greenland national team. Etched into the fabric and sleeves is a pattern featuring three key elements of Greenland and Inuit culture: tupilaks, tuukkaqer spearheads and avittar patterns.

The tupilaks – those slightly spooky, head-like figures – are small carvings made from bone, antler or driftwood. They were once created for spiritual or protective purposes, and today their bold designs still carry that sense of Arctic mystery.

The tuukkaqer – the arrow-shaped forms – are traditional spearheads used by Inuit hunters in harsh Arctic conditions. Hunting walruses across shifting ice sheets is not for the faint-hearted, and having a tuukkaqer by your side would have been essential.

The whole shirt takes these two icons and weaves them into a repeating avittar pattern, the name for the traditional woven designs found in Greenland’s national dress.

It is, I think you’ll agree, a thing of rare beauty – and someone soon needs to give Greenland the funding it needs to build and maintain a FIFA-level playing surface to get this ancient, proud and hardy people competing with the big boys of Europe.

Before they stick you with a tuukkaqer.