End of Season: Iceland – 2013 Úrvalsdeild
1 KR Reykjavík 22 23 52
2 Hafnarfjördur 22 25 47
3 UMF Stjarnan 22 9 43
4 Breidablik 22 10 39
5 Valur 22 14 33
6 Vestmannaeyja 22 -2 29
7 Fylkir 22 0 26
8 Thór 22 -13 24
9 Keflavík ÍF 22 -14 24
10 Fram Reykjavík 22 -11 22
11 Víkingur Ó. 22 -14 17
12 ÍA Akranes 22 -27 11
Champions League: KR Reykjavík (Champion)
Europa League: FH Hafnarfjördur, UMF Stjarnan, Fram Reykjavík (Cup Winner)
Relegated to 1.delid: Vikingur, IA Akranes
Top Scorers:
1. Atli Vidar Björnsson - FH Hafnarfjördur -13 goals (19 matches)
1. Gary Martin (ENG) – KR Reykjavík - 13 (22)
1. Vidar Örn Kjartansson Fylkir Reykjavík – 13 (22)
4. Chukwudi Chijindu (USA) - Thór Akureyri – 10 (18)
5. Hólmbert Aron Fridjónsson - Fram Reykjavík – 10 (21)
When the most famous European football Championships have just started, in few Countries the season is already over. Iceland is one of this countries, and its League is one of the shortest in the world, only 22 games per team, but its level isn’t that bad. Several players that had and are still having more than decent carrers in the best European leagues started playing in Pepsidelid, and Icelandic football is having a relatively Golden Age, because in November the National Team will face Croatia to go to Brazil next year to play WC2014, and Icelandic club teams had a relatively good campaign last Summer in Champions League and Europa League qualifyng rounds (FH defeated FK Ekranas in CL Round 2, narrowly lost to Austria Vienna (1-0 in Austria and 0-0 at home in CL Round 3 and lost to Genk in EL Playoffs, and in EL Breidablik was eliminated in Round 3 by FK Aktobe only after penalty kicks, after kicking out SK Sturm Graz in Round 2, while both KR and IB Vestmannaeyja overcame the first round and lost al the second one respectively to Standard Liege and Red Star Beograd).
This Season KR Reykjavík confirmed itseld as the oldest and most successful club in Icelandic football, having won the Úrvalsdeilid (Pepsidelid for sponsorship reasons) championship 26 times, including the first edition, and had been on the top of the table since the third matchday, and only FH, title holder, sometimes tried to threaten its leadership.
FH and UMF Stjarnan comfortably qualified for Europa League, thanks to bad performances at the end of the Seasons from Breidablik, that had been a serious contender for those places at the beginning.
Looking at the bottom of the table, IA Akranes, an historical Icelandic team, that has won won the Úrvalsdeilib Championship 18 times so far, and Vikingur were relegated to 1.delid, and next season they’ll be replaced from two teams from Reykjavík, Fjölnir and (another) Vikingur.
Fram Reykjavík won the Icelandic Cup and got an Europa League spot, defeating UMF Stjarnan after penalty kicks. Stjarnan, a team famous for their goal celebrations that probably will deserve a proper post in the future, looks like very unlucky, because they lost both the last two Cup finals after PKs, but at least next year they’ll enjoy their first Europa League partecipation, and their female team won the Championship.
The average attendance for an “average” team usually is 1.000 per game, KR and FH, the biggest teams, can have an average attendance of 1.500, and around 3.000 fans usually go to the steadium to see the derby between these teams. Not bad, considering that Iceland has a little bit mor than 317.000 inhabitants and that handball is at least as popoulas as football.
KR – FH pre-match:
The biggest part of the players playing in this League are almost unknown to the Readers of this post, anyway there are some players that came back to Iceland to end their careers at home after playing in good European Championships:
Bjarni Gudjónsson (34, KR captain, former Newcastle United, Racing Genk, Stoke City, VfL Bochum and Coventry City midfielder)
Brynjar Gunnarsson (38, KR, former Stoke City, Nottingham Forest, Watford and, most of all, Reading midfielder)
Hermann Hreidarsson (39, IB Vestmannaeyja, former Ispwich Town, Charlton Athletic and Portsmouth defender)
Helgi Sigurdsson (39, Fram, former Stuttgart, Panathinaikos e Aarhus GF striker)
Jóhann Birnir Gudmundsson (35, Keflavik IF, former Watford striker)
Joey Gudjónsson (33, IA Akranes, captain, former Racing Genk, RKC, Real Betis, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton, Leicester City, AZ, and Burnley midfielder)
Veigar Páll Gunnarsson (33, Stjarnan, former Nancy and Stabaek striker), and several other players had performed in other Scandinavian Leagues.
But maybe the best players are the ones that are now being capped for NT, such as:
Hannes Thór Halldórsson (29, KR GK)
Jóhann Laxdal (27, Stjarnan, defender)
Kristinn Jónsson (23, Breidablik left back)
Gunnleifur Vignir Gunnleifsson (38, Breidablik GK)
Tonny Mawejje (IB Vestmannaeyja, midfielder, Ugandian internetional)
Matarr Jobe (21, Valur, defender, Under 20 Gambiam International)
Maksims Rafalskis (29, IA Akranes, midfielder, former Latvian International).
In Pepsidelid there are players from all over the world, 15 are from England, 7 from Danemark and Spain, 5 from Norway and Scotland and 4 from Slovenia. There are also players from Serbia, Latvia, USA, Uganda, Gambia, Holland, Svitzerland, Togo and Faroe Islands.
And in IB Vestmannaeyja there is an Englisman, a certain David James, he’s 43, the oldest player in the League, and he is a GK: have you ever heard about him ?
It’s him, he is the original David “Calamity” James, capped 53 times for England (the last in 2010 at WC in South Africa), who sometimes has been the nightmare of the supporters of Liverpool (7 seasons), Aston Villa, Manchester City, West Ham United, and Portsmouth. After playing a couple of seasons in the English lower Leagues, he decided to make a new life experience and to play again for titles and cups, to increase his palmares, and also made four appearances in Europa League qualifying rounds, where he faced Red Star at the historical stadium “Marakana” of Beograd, in front of more than 30.000 people.
Well done David ! THIS IS THE FOOTBALL WE LIKE !
David James interview (bad audio):
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