PUBLISHED MAY 2021

Twinned with Reykjavik: Stoke City FC: the Icelandic Years 1999-2006

£16.99

Hardcover

Viking Invasion
How Iceland Changed Stoke City Forever

In the autumn of 1999, while most football supporters fretted about the impending millennium bug, Stoke City fans found themselves caught in an unexpected Nordic saga. The arrival of Guðjón Þórðarson and his Icelandic consortium marked the beginning of what would become one of the most peculiar chapters in English football history.
Perched high above Stoke-on-Trent like a concrete colossus, the Britannia Stadium had experienced its share of drama. But nothing quite prepared the Potteries for the cultural collision that was about to unfold. Picture, if you will, the scene: traditional oatcakes meeting Icelandic dried fish, local ale alongside Brennivín, and the Boothen End learning to pronounce names that looked like elaborate Scrabble hands.
Þórðarson, with his Viking-like presence and tactical acumen, brought more than just his homeland's investment—he carried with him a vision of transformation. The club, languishing in the lower divisions without direction, unexpectedly experienced a surge of Nordic ambition. Players arrived from Reykjavík with unpronounceable names and remarkable talent, whereas local lads found themselves adapting to training methods that seemed exotic by Staffordshire standards.
The author, Liam Bullock, captures this period with the precision of his geological background and the passion of a true Potter. His narrative weaves between the boardroom drama and terrace tales, offering readers an intimate glimpse into a time when Stoke City became Britain's most northerly Icelandic outpost. Through meticulous research and first-hand accounts, Bullock reconstructs the era's defining moments—from cup triumphs that had supporters dreaming of glory to the inevitable culture clashes that occurred when Icelandic pragmatism met Potteries pride.
What makes Bullock's account particularly compelling is his ability to balance scholarly rigour with supportive sentiment. His background in geological writing lends itself surprisingly well to football history, as he excavates layer upon layer of this fascinating period, revealing the complex strata of relationships, decisions and consequences that shaped the club's future.
The tale of Stoke City's Icelandic years reads like a footballing saga worthy of the mediaeval Norse storytellers. There were heroes and villains; triumphs and disasters; moments of sublime skill; and comical mishaps. Through it all, the Potters faithful watched, sometimes in delight, occasionally in despair, as their club became an unlikely bridge between the industrial heartland of England and the land of fire and ice.
ROYAL MAIL TRACKED 48
Published: May 31, 2021
Price: £16.99
Hardcover: 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1785317806
ISBN-13: 978-1785317804
Dimensions: 139 × 215 (mm)

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