Almost all EFL clubs go abroad for some sort of pre-season tour. We used to do France and Ireland, but now jet off to Spain for a getaway and a friendly game.
In 1949, it wasn’t quite as common. The Imps weren’t strangers to flying off to play exhibition matches: in 1936 and 1937, they flew over to play the Netherlands B side, and then the full international side, but those games were midseason. World War II put paid to many trips between then and 1949, but upon the cessation of hostilities, the Imps were back out, breaking new ground.
The players didn’t need their shorts for our post-season tour in 1949. Just a month after we finished bottom of the Second Division, slipping out at the first attempt, the players were at the train station, waiting to go on a post-season tour of Iceland. That’s right, Iceland.
It wasn’t headline news as such, but then football rarely was back in the late forties. It did pique the interest of some press, though: the Nottingham Post reported we were flying off, making it something of a quirk. Back in the forties, coverage was sparse, and the Echo didn’t send a reporter.
Iceland may have qualified for the Euros in recent memory, but in 1949, its international side was in its infancy. Founded in 1930, they were unaffiliated with FIFA for their first game, a win against the Faroe Islands. The first match officially recognised by FIFA took place in Reykjavík in July 1946, where they lost 3-0 to Denmark. A year before the Imps rolled up, they grabbed their first win in a game against Finland, with Ríkharður Jónsson grabbing a late brace.
Their domestic league had started in 1912, and was dominated by four teams (although only competed by five). KR had won 12 titles, Fram 16, Valur 10 and Víkingur two. No team from outside Reykjavík had won a title, and that was where the Imps based themselves. The itinerary would see us play KR, winners of the previous two titles, then Valur, and a combination of Fram and Vikingur. Finally, on June 3rd, we’d face a Reykjavík XI, which was effectively the Icelandic national team.
The image above shows the players and officials, at the end of what must have been a chilly May, getting ready to set off by train, and then by plane. Chairman C. W. Applewhite is seen shaking hands with R. S. Giles before leaving Lincoln Station on the first stage of the trip to Iceland. Also pictured are Jack Mann (assistant secretary), B. McClelland (secretary), as well as players Docherty, Emery, Owen, Wright, Hardy, and Stillyards, with Young and Middlemas seated. Alf Young, manager, Bill Anderson, and Mr Godfrey Holmes are also pictured, and such was the occasion that the image appeared on the front page of the Echo.
After that, nothing. No phone calls, no updates, nothing. Going to Iceland in 1949 was a bit like going to Mars in 2026; communication was more or less impossible. Indeed, after the Imps played the first game, there wasn’t even a word sent back to Sincil Bank! City beat Valur 2-0, and that result was noted in the local paper, but it omitted to mention that we’d already beaten the Champions, KR, 2-0 as well. We played them on May 30th, before Ernie Middlemas and Tom Docherty gave us the 2-0 win against Valur on June 1st.
Imps fans then had to wait for almost a week before the Imps touched back down on UK soil. When they did, they seemed to have had a really rough time. The weather changed considerably during City’s stay: the first few days brought snow, but that later gave way to far better conditions for the remainder of the trip. However, with almost constant daylight, games were kicking off at 8:30 pm and not needing floodlights!
As had been reported, just about, we began strongly with those 2-0 victories over KR Football Club and Valur, then followed those results with a 1-0 win against Fram and Vikingr, a temporary merger between two clubs. That left City with three wins from three before the final fixture, but the schedule had already taken its toll. Middlemass, Jack Bickerstaff, Jimmy Grummet and Ramsey all picked up injuries. Icelandic sides didn’t play on grass, put on pitches of ash at the time, which made conditions very tricky.
By Friday, when the Imps faced the biggest match of the tour against the combined Reykjavik side, Anderson had difficulty fielding a full team. Doherty was included, but only while still feeling the effects of a knee injury picked up from earlier in the tour.
Iceland victory
The match itself was broadcast on Icelandic radio and attracted a crowd of 5,000, with admission costing 19 shillings. By my calculations, 19 shillings was around £1, and by today’s money, with inflation, that entrance fee would be almost £30, no small amount. It seems Iceland has always been expensive!
In a tight encounter, Lincoln kept the home side out until half-time, but the combined XI took control after the interval and ran out 4-1 winners. Across the four games, Lincoln’s goals were scored by Finch and Doherty, with two each, and by Middlemass and Stafford.
Back at Sincil Bank this morning, Anderson reflected on a trip that had brought plenty of goodwill, even if it had also placed heavy demands on his players.
“Lincoln have made a great hit with the Iceland people,” he said. “They were delighted with the sporting way we played. We enjoyed the trip very much but four matches in five days was asking a lot from the players, particularly on the hard ground at the Reykjavik Stadium.
The City manager also praised the way the travelling party had been received during their stay.
“However, the people there gave us a grand reception and did everything they could for us.”
Nowadays, a flight to Iceland would be two hours, but City’s return journey was not straightforward. They left Iceland, travelling by Skymaster plane. Their journey took them to Northolt and included a stop of a couple of hours at Prestwick, before the party arrived after 5 pm and continued on to Lincoln by coach, booked because of concerns that rail traffic back to Lincoln could be disrupted by a strike!
Not the end
That was not the end of Lincoln City’s relationship with Icelandic football: if anything, it was part of the start of English football’s Icelandic relations. England’s history with Icelandic players feels like it started with Guðni Bergsson in the 1990s, but that wouldn’t be accurate. Albert Guðmundsson appeared a couple of times for Arsenal shortly after the war, then went on to play for AC Milan. If Bill Anderson had his way, Lincoln City would have been pioneers, after our tour left us linked with three players.
The first was Halldór Halldórsson, an 18-year-old inside left who later converted to a defender. He agreed to join the Imps, and the Daily Mirror even covered the transfer. It might have been bigger news today: he had appeared for Iceland against Denmark in July 1949, just months after playing against the Imps, and he scored in a 4-1 defeat.
Two other players were also linked: the scorer of those two historic goals against Finland, Ríkharður Jónsson, scorer of the goals in their first-ever international win, was one, and either Hörður Felixson or Hörður Óskarsson was the other. The latter players did not come, but Halldórsson did. He had been linked with Kilmarnock, along with Jónsson, but in the end, City grabbed the youngster and, in 1950, he finally got across to appear in LN5.
Halldór Halldórsson
He arrived in London in January, 1950, flying into Heathrow and spent a night in London before travelling up. It was intended as a short-term trial, and the player was initially due to come to England on a trawler, but decided to fly so he could visit London before coming up to Sincil Bank.
He went straight into training with the squad and began to turn out for the reserves. Back in 1949/50, reserve matches were a big thing, and they’d regularly attract four-figure crowds. Competing in the Midland League, they’d take on the likes of Nottingham Forest Reserves, but also senior sides such as Scunthorpe United and Shrewsbury Town. This was the final season of 88 Football League clubs, and in the summer, both the Iron and Salop were voted into the Third Division North, making them Imps opponents. Basically, the Midland League was like a League Two side putting their reserves in the National League.
None of that mattered to Halldórsson, who made his reserves debut against Nottingham Forest Reserves on February 18th, hitting the underside of the bar during the 0-0 draw with the league leaders. Six more games followed, but his name isn’t mentioned in any more reports. On March 23rd, 1950, the Echo said he’d play his final game before a return to Iceland, against Worksop Town. City lost 2-1, but Halldórsson wrote his name into the Imps bible (Nannestad’s recent statistical record) by scoring our only goal. With that, he was back on a trawler or plane, making the long trip to Reykjavik, where he remained. He turned out 11 times for Iceland between 1949 and 1957, but never plied his trade abroad. He passed away in 2003, aged 72.
While details are sketchy as to why he didn’t remain in the country, it could have been our stricter entry laws. Icelandic players did not have a notable presence in the English Football League during the years that followed. Many of the country’s leading figures from that period, including Ásgeir Sigurvinsson, instead built their careers in continental Europe, with Germany and Belgium proving more accessible routes. At the time, British work permit rules made it difficult for Icelandic players to move to England unless they were already established internationals from recognised full-time professional leagues.
Ríkharður Jónsson, the other player we’re certain City were after, went on to become something of an Icelandic hero. He scored all four goals in a shock 4-3 win against Sweden in 1951, just a year after they’d finished third in the World Cup, and seven before they’d end as runner-up to a Pele-inspired Brazil. He amassed 33 caps and bagged 17 goals, including another against Sweden in 1954, a number that went unmatched until Eidur Gudjohnsen in 2006. His record of 0.52 goals per game makes him the most prolific striker ever for the national team, and he even managed them twice.
Conclusion
This article has fascinated me. I had a Post-it note on a page of a book for about a year, looking to cover the Iceland trip, just as part of pre-season coverage. I never imagined it would lead me to Iceland’s most prolific striker, nor an Icelandic player coming to Sincil Bank, something I wasn’t aware of.
Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed it too.
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