Iceland (Away & Third 2014-17)

Let’s stay north, but go even further west and a tad up and look back at some recent Iceland shirts. As with the home jersey, I want to go back a bit further here, since I have not written anything about Iceland before.

In many ways, Iceland will be everyone’s second favorite team. What is not to like? Smallest nation by population, grim looking dudes, Viking chants and the lure of the upset. Even I was in the end happy that Iceland pulled the upset at the hands of my beloved Dutch and my home country. And of course, I was giddy as hell when England got eliminated.

So, let’s look at the alternate Iceland shirts, which are as expected mainly white with blue:

Well, this version that was worn during EURO qualifying is more or less the white version of the home kit, but thanks to the blue collar and the blue outline around the red/white band make it stand on its own and it has in a way more personality. I really like the separate collar on here. and even the band looks better here now that it looks a bit more complex. The fact that the font used for names and numbers is very plain and well legible is just icing on the cake. Now, if we could do something about the crest. Still, this one is better than the home version although basically the same shirt in white.

My rating: 8/10 stars.

Now, at EURO 2016 Iceland issued two alternate shirts with the white one worn against France and the black one mainly by the goal keeper – although it was issued as a field player shirt:

Now, in many ways I can describe these jerseys the same way as I did above: a white and a black version of the home jersey, but the red stripe is now flanked by an additional blue one which adds a little bit of complexity. But now, the collar does not stand out as much and in the case of the white kit, we are (vertical stripe apart) just switching colors. But oddly enough, here I like the blue version better than both the white and the black. Looking at the white, I do like how the vertical striping stands out, but it looks a bit too much like Costa Rica than Iceland in my mind. Still, not too bad:

My rating: 7/10 stars.

Now, the black version is not too different, but the blue is barely visible and also the fade does not look as nice here as on either the blue or the white one. Also, the white on the collar creates a bit too much contrast for my liking, making this one the worst of the crop.

My rating: 6/10 stars.

How would you rate these shirts?

Iceland (Home 2014-17)

So, I really want to avoid a long string of Nike posts complaining about their templates. For now you do get the idea that I do not particularly like it, but as we will see there are some examples where it works OK. But in order to break the mold a bit and do something different, let’s look at Iceland. Their World Cup jersey is already released, but I want to first get a picture of their font used for names and numbers before writing about it.

Iceland surely is THE story over the past four if not six years in European football. One of the smallest nations in terms of population is mixing it up with the big boys. While making it to the playoffs for the 2014 World Cup may have looked like a fluke, qualifying for EURO 2016 in a very tough group AND eliminating/humiliating the Netherlands in the process surely made heads turn and proved that Iceland is for real. Any doubters were surely put int heir place when they beat Austria to make it to the knock-out stages at EURO 2016 and then managed to (deservedly!!!) knock out England before succumbing to France. After that, the Viking chants were heard around the world and even made it to the NFL! But that’s not all: direct qualification to the 2018 World Cup (a tougher task than qualification for EURO 2016) and being placed in League A in the new UEFA Nations League followed and only a fool will think that Iceland are roll-overs. Don’t be surprised if they make it out of their group despite an incredibly tough draw! Iceland is here to stay!

Now, while I have often had the intention to write about an Iceland shirt during the European qualifiers in 2015, I never actually got around to do so and for that reasonm I want to go back even a little bit further and look at the jersey that really put Iceland on the map by beating the Netherlands a few months after they finished third at the World Cup:

Well, first off I am not only covering a new team, but also a new supplier: Errea! The small Italian brand is equipping Iceland since 2002 and produced quite a nice kit: simple and yet nicely incorporating national elements. The shirt is mainly blue but has a red band bordered by thinner white bands running across the chest – a clear reference to the Icelandic flag. Above the band, we see the manufacturer logo on the proper right and the Iceland FA logo on the proper left. It would be an understatement to say that I dislike the logo, but then you have to work with what is given to you. But anything featuring essentially a clip-art soccer ball is bound to not perceived highly by me. The collar however is remarkable and looks actually better than I first thought. I also thoroughly like the no-nonsense font for names and numbers. It fits very well with the team and still manages to look great. There are two further things that makes not everything click for me is the shade of blue as I wish it was a bit deeper. Also the horizontal band is a little boring. Some slight fading or a vertical band reminding us of the flag could have made it more interesting. But then again, it is a no-nonsense look for a no-nonsense team and thus very fitting.

My rating: 6/10 stars.

Now to the jersey that made history in France, the one that beat both Austria (personally, a blow for me but it caused this awesome video to be made, so I got quickly over it) and England (one of the very few highlights of the tournament).

At first sight this one looks a lot sharper! The blue jersey uses a much deeper blue tone and making the stripe run down vertically on the left side really adds personality. And I am just a sucker for this design feature. Also look how clever it is: the stripe slightly fades out in order to not drown out the still not good FA logo. But it also makes it far less visible and not as distracting as before. Simple change producing an absolute winner! Well, the collar is on the other side trying to be too much. V-neck with an inset and a standing collar at once. I think a fully outlined V-neck (white with red?) would have worked better here. But to be fair, it does not ruin the jersey at all – just adds an odd twist. The cuffs also are white which gives the jersey a bit more personality. Maybe some red could have found its way there, too, but not a biggie. The backside is plain as the previous shirt, but now we have Iceland’s flag there. And I am happy to report that name and number font have not been altered and still look very good. And I love the numbers centered on the front.

I really would like to own this one – it was among the best shirts at EURO 2016 and really made a mark there. It is not all perfect, but nearly so.

My rating: 9/10 stars.

How do you rate these shirts?