FC Santa Claus — a real club based in the capital of Lapland — has its jerseys and other gear sold this year through WorldSoccerShop.com for the first time ever.
Here’s more on the club from the website’s press release:
FC Santa Claus is located in Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland, has a population of 65,000, and is said to be the home of Santa Claus.
Rovaniemi is just six miles south of the Arctic Circle with an annual average temperature of 33F degrees; snow covers the ground 175 days a year, which means soccer cannot be played between the months October and April.
But, the midnight sun can be seen from June 6 to July 7, which means soccer could be played for 768 hours straight in the daylight; the lowest temperature ever recorded in Rovaniemi was minus 54F degrees; the mercury in thermometers freezes at temperatures below minus 40F degrees.
The team gained promotion to the Finnish second division in September. Each July, FC Santa Claus organizes a midnight sun tournament for youth teams called the Santa Claus Cup. In February 2015, they will play in the open snow tournament, the Santa Claus World Cup.