The man behind Great Dane Football Blog, had an article published on the Holloway Express this week:
Most Londoners know about the capital’s numerous Premier League
football, but few are aware of the Scandinavian derbies taking place in
the city parks.
One of the Scandinavian clubs in London is Team Denmark FC, and as
the name may reveal is a club bringing the Danish Vikings to London’s
5-a-side tournaments. However, according to the team’s coach, Phillip
Sode, other nationalities can join the club.
“The idea with the club was to gather Danes in London, who perhaps do
not have anything to do with Denmark in their everyday life. Our
guideline is Danish speaking, but it is not a must – we are open
minded,” Sode said.
Throughout history, there have been numerous clashes between the
three brother nations; Denmark, Norway and Sweden – both on and off the
pitch. Now, London’s Danish Church has brought the battle to London as
they hold a yearly tournament for teams and organisations from the three
countries.
“There is at least one ‘national team’ from each country, and people
know each other, so there is of course some extra interest in winning
against the other brother nations,” Philip Sode said.
Team Denmark FC was founded in 2004 and has added running and golf to
their sport society. Today, more than 100 Danes have joined TDFC, but
the amount of numbers varies . Ulla Vitting, Chairperson in Team Denmark
FC said:
“We have 85 members shared across football and running, and around
153 members in all. However, it goes up and down as some of the members,
at times, are in Denmark for several months.”
When the football section was started, one of the targets was to be
the all-Danish professional club within five years. However, as time has
gone by the dream has been on a hold as the club has developed to be
more social than professional.
Despite the relaxed atmosphere around the club, Team Denmark FC, at
times, sees some young talented Danes take to the pitch. One of the
TDFC-players, Martin Andersen, is trying to help these talents to a
career in an English club through his company Nordic Football Agency.
“We try and gather some young talents and place them in English
clubs, mainly in London. We are working together with Hummel [Danish
sportswear] and they provide us with player’s clothes and boots,”
Andersen said.
Nordic Football Agency mainly aims to represent Scandinavian players,
which they try and promote by playing 5-a-side tournaments in and
around London.
Team Denmark FC will be meeting a German team at the beginning of
March. Until then, the Danish men and women are training near the
Glouster Gate in Regent’s Park every Saturday at 11 am.
