This summer, Iceland and WTAMU will have more in common than most people would expect. Last year, Tindastoll – a professional soccer team in Iceland – signed and played former Buff Theo Furness during their summer league. WT announced last week that this year, Tindastoll will be fielding two more players as well as Furness.
Former Buff Ben Everson played at WT for four years before graduating in 2010. Everson has attended Texas-Permian Basin for graduate school since graduating. While playing for the Buffs, Everson was a two-time Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Year in addition to being a letter-winner during his time with the Buffs.Theo Furness’ older brother Sebastian Furness will join Furness and Everson in Iceland as well. Sebastian played as goaltender for WT from 2008-2011 and is WT’s all-time career leader in saves with 209 during his four years in net. Sebastian will be returning to WT after the summer season to continue his schooling. However, since his sports’ eligibility is over, he will not be returning as an active player on the WT pitch.“[Iceland’s] the best chance I have to play professional because they don’t have many restrictions on visas for international players while the U.S. has a lot here, which was kind of restricting me from playing professional,” Sebastian said. “The biggest attraction for me to go to Iceland was the chance to play in Europe and build some experience over there.”
All three players are from Middlesbrough, England and have been on the same teams on both sides of the ocean.
“Ben was the one that got us playing at WT and now Ben and I are going back out together and it’s through my younger brother,” Sebastian said. “It’s awesome that we’re doing it together and I’m excited to be with Ben again.”
Tindastoll started their soccer team in 1912 and was promoted to Iceland’s first division last year. Their roster has a lot of younger players so one of the attractions to signing Furness and Everson was their experience on the field.
“We are hoping they can be one of our key players for the coming season,” Tindastoll representative Stefan Arnar Omarsson said. “We have a lot of players at our roster, but we are hoping they can add more strength and quality to our squad. We believe Seb and Ben are the right players for us. We are also looking for strong characters who can cope with the challenges ahead in very good league. We want players who are good role models for our young kids.”
Both players have signed one-year contracts with Tindastoll. The team’s season starts May 12 and both players look to be at the pitch for the opening game.
