[FM22] Færeyinga saga

[Koetzer]

After seeing this post by @OlivierL in FMCU discussion I noticed a team that might be interesting to manage. Ítróttarfelagið Føroyar, the club founded by Faroe Islanders living in Copenhagen, is playing in 6th Danish tier and potentially can boost the national team.

I couldn’t find a database for 6th level in Denmark, so had to modify Riddler’s file from workshop, swapping Føroyar with the lowest reputation team based in Copenhagen (also added relegation from the 5th level, geographical borders for the divisions and set the league length to 27 games instead of 18, as they have it IRL). Seems to be working well after several testing seasons.

In addition to Danish and Faroese leagues, I enabled those where I’ve seen Faroese newgens before.

Because who else? The man who scored the most famous goal in the islands history and played for the national team in two sports – football and… chess!

I’m planning to sign only Faroese players, so this club culture is totally suitable (though it’s not hardcoded, and in the test run AI signed a full squad of Danish players). Also I hope to get a youth academy soon (so far we don’t have any) and develop our own youth which should be much better than it could be in Faroese league (I did some experiments creating teams from low rating nations in the top leagues, and they were able to produce some top level newgens, so I guess the league where the team plays is more important than its real location in terms of youth rating).

The best eleven, where two players clearly stand out – right-back Gestur Dam (who is also an assistant manager of our reserve team) and midfielder Rogvi Joensen. I hope they won’t be poached by higher division teams soon. And with an average age of 29 we certainly will need some refreshment from the islands.

Despite having a much lower reputation than other teams in this division we are predicted to finish mid-table, which is really encouraging. Dam and Joensen are assessed as the best players on their positions.

Speaking of the national team, I'm not going to manage it from the start but certainly will apply for the vacant job when our players in the club become good enough to be selected.

[OlivierL]

Good luck and will follow for sure ! Love the idea.

[Koetzer]

August 2021

The season started with a hard test, as the cup draw put us against B93, nine times Danish champions (last one in 1946 though) playing in the third tier now. The game was quite boring but we got our chance when a substitute striker Jakup Joensen seized on a poor backpass by defender and scored the winning goal! The next opposition will be Karslunde, a mid-table side from 4th tier.

The league form is perfect so far, poacher Jacobsen (4+3) and mezzala Justinussen (5+1) formed an excellent link upfront while Rogvi Joensen is leading the division with 4 assists.

 Islands news

Champions League:

HB – 1QR loss vs  Lincoln (1-1, 0-2)

Conference League:

HB – 2QR win vs  Inter d’Escaldes (2-1, 3-0), 3QR loss vs  Buducnost (0-3, 2-1)

Vikingur – 1QR win vs  Racing (1-2, 3-2 pen), 2QR loss vs  Olimpija (1-2, 0-4)

KI – 1QR loss vs  RFS (0-2, 1-2)

NSI – 1QR loss vs  Honka (0-1, 2-1 pen)

Overall points – 1.375 (2.750 in 20/21)

In other news, our fans… don’t exist  

[6499red]

awesome!

[Koetzer]

September 2021

A huge overhaul you don’t usually expect in September, but I selected ‘disable first transfer window’ option thinking that it only sets all budgets to zero and doesn't affect amateur clubs. So the window closed and only now we could sign free agents, and the advantage of being amateurs is that you can sign anyone not worrying about money  Also as I said, we don’t have proper youth intakes for now, but… there were newgens in the U19 national team, some of them were good enough for being starters here! 

DC Henriksen, AMR Reidar Hansen (he has Faroese second nationality) and ST Jakup Hansen go straight to the first team. DL Olsen, MC Helt (luckily has a middle name, because he actually was second Jakup Hansen we signed on the same day ), AMR Petersen and ST Ingi Dam will be rotation options. 

Two players left, Jakup Joensen wasn't a good striker but his winning goal against B93 remains a landmark for us, and Leifsson was a backup goalkeeper.

One of the August heroes, Teitur Justinussen started the new month with a red card, still we managed to score twice while playing shorthanded against a higher seeded team and face another 4th tier side next! Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on our side against Dalum, too many shots missed in regulation time and Gestur Dam hit the bar in shootout. Other way we would have hosted a Superliga team OB in the next round.

Two draws allowed Ishøj to catch us, so this final September game became a battle for the top spot. It certainly wasn’t the most entertaining game to watch, but at least we kept the lead on better goal difference.

 Islands news

National team: 0-2 (H) vs Denmark, 0-3 (H) vs Austria, 1-3 (A) vs Scotland in Euro qualifiers. At least they scored a goal.

FIFA ranking – 120th ( 7)

U21: 0-3 (H) vs Spain, 1-0 (A) vs Estonia in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 2-0 (A) vs Lithuania, 2-1 (A) vs Armenia in friendlies. The most successful and the most interesting team for us, as we signed 8 of its players.

Edited July 6, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

October 2021

More youngsters added, and Ovi Høgnesen is actually the best left winger in our squad now! Andrias Poulsen is the only experienced player joined, and he will be a starting DM.

 

Some reserve players left for the lower division teams.

Ingi Dam had a nice goalscoring debut against Brønshøj but suffered an injury in the same game and will miss over a month. Though apart of this goal, we still depend more on those players who were here at start, young talents need time to blend into the squad.

Despite only winning twice we still had a better month than Ishøj and stayed on top with almost half of the season already played.

 Islands news

National team: 0-3 (A) vs Moldova, 1-3 (H) vs Israel in Euro qualifiers.

FIFA ranking – 131st ( 11)

U21: 0-0 (H) vs Hungary, 0-2 (A) vs Denmark in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 2-2 (A) vs Russia, 3-1 (H) vs Montenegro in friendlies. I think this team can bring some surprises when the competitive games start.

Betrideildin: Vikingur defeated KI on the last matchday to clinch their third title.

Edited July 6, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

November 2021

Won’t post everyone who joined, but we managed to sign a good left-back Bergur Gregersen (obviously going to be a starter) and another promising left winger Heðin Christiansen.

That’s the first notable departure, Jacobsen had a great start with us and still remains the best goalscorer, but he’s not actually so good to keep him.

Greve ended our unbeaten run which lasted from the start, but we bounced back with two away wins over 3rd and 2nd placed teams! Reidar Hansen scored both winning goals and Ingi Dam got a hat-trick, our youth is taking the lead 

Seven points with ten games to go is not a guarantee, but a really solid advantage that we should keep to take the only promotion spot. Just hope that we won’t lose any valuable squad members during the long winter break.

 Islands news

National team: 1-1 (H) vs Scotland, 0-5 (A) vs Denmark in Euro qualifiers. The second point for the Faroes in this group (there was also 0-0 against Moldova in March).

FIFA ranking – 127th ( 4)

U21: 0-3 (A) vs Ukraine, 0-4 (A) vs Spain in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 0-4 (A) vs Iceland, 4-0 (A) vs Kosovo in friendlies.

U18: 2-1 (H) vs Luxembourg, 2-1 (H) vs Cyprus, 3-0 (H) vs Azerbaijan in Euro preliminary round. I don’t understand how this new system with U18/19 Euros works now, but Faroes promoted to the Group B (guess Group A means the Euro itself?)

Faroese Cup: HB defeated KI in the final, a very disappointing season ending for the Klaksvik team.

Edited July 6, 2022 by Koetzer

[Sheriff7]

On 28/06/2022 at 14:15, Koetzer said:

August 2021

The season started with a hard test, as the cup draw put us against B93, nine times Danish champions (last one in 1946 though) playing in the third tier now. The game was quite boring but we got our chance when a substitute striker Jakup Joensen seized on a poor backpass by defender and scored the winning goal! The next opposition will be Karslunde, a mid-table side from 4th tier.

The league form is perfect so far, poacher Jacobsen (4+3) and mezzala Justinussen (5+1) formed an excellent link upfront while Rogvi Joensen is leading the division with 4 assists.

 Islands news

Champions League:

HB – 1QR loss vs  Lincoln (1-1, 0-2)

Conference League:

HB – 2QR win vs  Inter d’Escaldes (2-1, 3-0), 3QR loss vs  Buducnost (0-3, 2-1)

Vikingur – 1QR win vs  Racing (1-2, 3-2 pen), 2QR loss vs  Olimpija (1-2, 0-4)

KI – 1QR loss vs  RFS (0-2, 1-2)

NSI – 1QR loss vs  Honka (0-1, 2-1 pen)

Overall points – 1.375 (2.750 in 20/21)

In other news, our fans… don’t exist  

You should have buy one mate, to make the start. 

[Mordurette]

Good luck mate, tough challenge!

[Koetzer]

Winter 2021/22

As Faroese season ends in December, winter transfer window gives us a chance to sign better players whose contracts run out.

Poul Nolsøe Mikkelsen – a top defender for this level without any missing key attributes, strange that he actually spent two years without a team.

Isak Simonsen – was Faroese champion in 2019 with KI, will mostly play as a left winger.

Hannes Agnarsson – released from B36, where he scored 5 goals in 22 games last season. I will use him as a right inverted winger.

Levi Hanssen – the most experienced player in our squad now, three caps for the national team and four league titles.

Samal Joensen – an interesting player, physical numbers are awful but he has everything a playmaker needs.

Ellington Guiste – will be a third choice striker, but has a good potential and a very interesting nationality mix – Faroes/Dominica! (there’s also a Faroese/Ethiopian but he has more chances to play for Ethiopia than for our first team ) 

And we lost one of our key players to Faroese top division Not that he really played so well (average rating below 7), but still would be hard to replace. Young Jannik Poulsen will be a starter now. Also Greve, the only team that could beat us so far, tried to poach our first choice keeper Lindholm, luckily he preferred to accept our offer. 

Fun fact – when I needed to submit squad numbers for the new signings, it turned out that we had exactly 99 players  

[Koetzer]

March 2022

The promotion is getting closer with nine points advantage! Winter transfers really boosted our performance, and Ingi Dam became a consistent goalscorer.

 Islands news

National team: 0-1 (H) vs Gibraltar, 1-0 (A) vs Liechtenstein in friendlies.

FIFA ranking – 126th ( 1)

U21: 3-0 (H) vs Gibraltar, 3-0 (A) vs Liechtenstein in friendlies.

U19: 2-1 (N) vs Croatia, 0-1 (A) vs Russia, 2-2 (N) vs Turkey in Euro qualifiers – 3rd place.

U18: 1-3 (N) vs Czech Republic, 2-1 (A) vs Latvia, 1-1 (N) vs Ukraine in Euro preliminary round – 2nd place.

Edited July 6, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

April 2022

13-0 in three games, what a way to secure the title! And guess we were celebrating all the week before a trip to BK Union  

May 2022

Three final games which we played without any motivation, but still wanted to win (and with such a schedule there wasn’t any need in rotation as well).

Our new wingers became the league’s two best players, and Dam almost won the best goalscorer title despite only playing half of the season.

Squad stats

Only two players remained in the first eleven during the whole season – Rogvi Joensen (well, that could be predicted) and goalkeeper Ragnar Lindholm (he actually did well, but I think we’ll need to find someone better to play in a higher division).

So, preparing for the fourth tier now. Judging from the cup results (confident win over 10th placed team, a draw against 3rd, and that’s before the winter transfers), we should be competitive there.

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2022/23

Our key midfielder received some offers from semi-pro 3rd tier teams, but preferred to stay! And actually the first team remained unchanged from the last season, apart from a backup left defender Gunnarsson who decided to retire.

We are predicted to go down, which isn’t a surprise as we still have reputation lower than most of the 5th tier teams. Though Agnarsson and Joenson are selected among the top players of this division.

 Islands news

National team: 1-5 (H) vs Bulgaria, 0-3 (A) vs Northern Ireland, 1-2 (H) vs Belarus, 0-2 (A) vs Bulgaria in Nations League C. Hopeless so far.

FIFA ranking – 136th ( 10)

U21: 1-1 (H) vs Estonia, 0-2 (A) vs Hungary in friendlies.

UEFA club ranking – 45th ( 2)

Edited July 6, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

July-August 2022

OB could become our cup opponents last season if we won that shootout against Dalum, and now we finally met. They relegated from the top tier but obviously were a much better team, still we were ready to face them and scored in a counter just before half-time! Second half was much harder, OB were sitting on our goal, finally equalized and scored twice more, both times disallowed for offsides. In extra time all our key players were extremely tired, somehow we withstood the pressure. The last substitution I’ve made was a ‘van Gaal move’ – Lindholm had a good game and saved us several times but I felt that Sonni Højgaard, who is 10 cm higher, could have a better chance in shootout. And that worked, he saved the seventh shot to give us a surprising win over a professional team! Unfortunately, this all was useless as then we again faced Dalum and were awful in front of goal with almost 4 xG  

The league started well, we are unbeaten so far and should at least qualify for the promotion stage (after 22 games the league splits in half, teams in both of them play each other twice more).

 Islands news

Champions League:

Vikingur – 1QR loss vs  HJK (1-2, 1-4)

Conference League:

Vikingur – 2QR win  Flora (2-2, 1-0), 3QR loss vs  Shamrock Rovers (1-3, 1-0)

HB – 1QR win vs  Birkirkara (3-0, 2-0), 2QR win vs  Lincoln (2-0, 1-2), 3QR loss vs  Levski (2-1, 0-1 pen)

KI – 1QR win vs  Warrenpoint (3-1, 4-0), 2QR loss vs  Bohemians (1-1, 2-2 pen)

B36 – 1QR win vs  Differdange (4-0, 1-2), 2QR loss vs  Vaduz (0-3, 1-3)

Overall points – 2.625 (1.375 in 21/22). A much better season with all four teams winning at least one round.

And we sold our first season tickets!

[Koetzer]

September 2022

First loss in the league was fully deserved, Næsby outplayed us and could score more than one free kick. Two draws extended our winless run to four games, before we finally snapped it against Holbæk, the team that promoted from another 5th tier group but was predicted to finish much higher. Levi Hanssen, our most experienced player scored twice to secure this long-awaited win.

So far we see a breakaway leader, three outsiders without a single victory and all other teams which most likely will contest the remaining five places in the top group.

 Islands news

National team: 1-3 (H) vs Northern Ireland, 0-4 (A) vs Belarus in Nations League C – finished last with 0 points, will play in relegation playoffs next year.

FIFA ranking – 136th (=)

U21: 0-1 (H) vs Ukraine, 0-2 (H) vs Denmark in Euro qualifiers – finished 5th with 5 points (ahead of Estonia).

U19: 2-1 (H) vs Turkey, 4-1 (A) vs Kosovo in friendlies.

[Koetzer]

October 2022

After a mediocre September we found an excellent form, winning all five games! That included the first defeat handed to the league leaders, on their stadium and after conceding first. Levi Hanssen was the hero again, equalizing just before half-time, and then our defenders scored twice from Rogvi Joensen’s set pieces.

That defeat against us actually hit Vanløse so hard, that they couldn’t win a single game after and we took the top spot!

 Islands news

Betrideildin: HB won the record 25th title, KI finished second once again. B68 relegated with Gestur Dam in their squad, probably we’ll be able to bring him back.

The first job interview from abroad – FH which finished 6th in Icelandic league.

[Koetzer]

November 2022

Before the last game of the year we signed a great right-back for this level – Joannes Danielsen, capped 9 times for the Faroes, who was a free agent since summer but didn’t want to play for an amateur team until now.

Three home fixtures were a chance to continue our winning run, but Brabrand managed to stop us. The final game before winter break was against Dalum, the team we couldn’t beat three times already, and this match could go the same way – they took the lead twice, but our young strikers turned things around in just 7 minutes! And Danielsen made an immediate impact, assisting to the winning goal.

Six points over the closest pursuers and a close group behind them, the battle in promotion group should be very interesting.

 Islands news

U18: 2-0 (H) vs Montenegro, 2-1 (H) vs Latvia, 0-3 (H) vs Romania in Euro preliminary group B – could actually win this group with a draw on the last matchday!

[Koetzer]

Winter 2022/23

We lost our best player, and what’s even worse – he preferred to join our division rivals (also an amateur team) despite having an offer from Faroese semi-pro side 

As usual, a lot of players were signed after new year, but actually only two of them are worth noticing: Bjarti Vitalis Mørk – our new first choice in goal, and Kristoffur Jakobsen – veteran midfielder, unlikely to become a regular starter, but as a model citizen he can help in mentoring our youngsters.

[Koetzer]

February-March 2023

Agnarsson’s departure caused us some problems in attack, but nothing too serious so far. Reidar Hansen, his direct replacement on the right wing, scored twice to win the first game of 2023 for us. An away draw against 5th placed Roskilde was a good result as we played shorthanded from 15th minute, and finally Ingi Dam had his best game of the season to secure a big win over the league's bottom team.

The gap is now seven points, but with two games against each team in the top six it’s not a huge advantage at all.

 Islands news

National team: 1-1 (A) vs Ireland, 2-0 (H) vs Greece in Euro qualifiers. Amazing start of the group, three goals from striker Klæmint Andresson Olsen (32 years, plays in Swedish top tier) sent Faroes to the provisional 2nd place!

FIFA ranking – 129th ( 7)

U21: 0-6 (A) vs Sweden, 1-3 (H) vs Montenegro in friendlies.

U19: 1-0 (H) vs Georgia, 1-1 (N) vs North Macedonia in friendlies.

U18: 1-2 (N) vs Ireland, 2-2 (N) vs Finland, 1-1 (A) vs Israel in Euro preliminary group B – finished last and relegated to group C.

Edited July 6, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

April 2023

A comeback win over Vanløse let us finish the first stage with 10 points advantage! The promotion stage had a lot more condensed schedule (especially comparing to previous months, when we had two weeks between league games) and without much room for rotation I feared that we wouldn’t be so fresh and productive. But instead our opponents had a lot more troubles, and in first three games we gained five more points over them, which actually meant… that if we defeat either Brabrand or Vanløse, we won’t finish lower than second place and so will win promotion to the third tier. Well, mathematically we needed four points and did it anyway. The unexpected hero of the month was Gilli Roason, who played for reserves until March but proved to be a better right-wing choice than Hansen.

And one really important news item we’ve got:

So our key players won’t be poached so easily, but at the same time that may bring some financial concerns as our income is way too small now.

[Koetzer]

May 2023

Played without any motivation, but still finished this part of the season unbeaten!

Brabrand promoted together with us. Agnarsson wasn’t as impressive as he was in our squad (2+2 and 6.89 average rating), but still helped them.

Squad stats

Surprisingly only one our player was selected into the team of the year, and that was… Levi Hanssen. I agree, he had a good season despite the age, but we surely had better candidates to be included. Though this award doesn’t seem to be very logical, 5 of 11 players are from bottom six teams, and top five players in average rating are not selected.

Our stadium is getting expanded, but with average attendance of 156 that isn’t really useful for us now.

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2023/24

Turning semi-pro didn’t give us a broader choice of players to sign, the only first team transfer was agreed when we were still amateurs – Heri Hjalt Mohr, released from HB after winning the Faroese league (he was really useful that season, 2+5 and 7.16 rating) and spent half a year on free transfer before joining us. Will mostly play as a right winger.

We signed part-time contracts with most of the team members, regular starters got from 85 to 400 euros per week, and all others agreed to… 1 euro Actually they wanted an amateur contracts, but this trick protects them from free bids. Also our veteran defender Roi Danielsen wanted to become a player/scout, and his staff attributes appeared to be really great (too bad that we can't send scouts to the Faroes yet)! 

Development loans also became possible with part-time contracts for our youth. All these teams have much better facilities, and our players will have first team practice there.

Levi Hanssen decided to retire, and that’s actually a blow for us as we couldn’t find a decent central midfielder to replace him.

Predicted last, and our key players are rated worst in the division as well. So a tough battle for survival is expected.

 Islands news

National team: 0-1 (H) vs Wales, 2-1 (A) vs Liechtenstein in Euro qualifiers. Still going second!

FIFA ranking – 130th ( 1)

U21: 5-1 (H) vs Latvia, 2-1 (H) vs Iceland in friendlies.

U19: 1-2 (A) vs Armenia, 2-0 (A) vs Hungary in friendlies.

UEFA club ranking – 41st ( 4)

[Koetzer]

August 2023

Shortly before the deadline we loaned a left-back Aksel Heinesen from Randers (they also have a Faroese center-back who would have been a starter, but refused to join us).

We were 0-3 behind against Middelfart after conceding two penalties but had an encouraging ending, and that form was fully transferred to the next game! 6-0 against a team predicted third – that’s certainly not what I could expect from our first game at home! Though we are very inconsistent so far, lost to Frem after missing too many chances and only saved a draw against Hillerød which we must defeat to stay clear of relegation.

The cup started with a win over lower division amateurs, and then we’ll face our first ever Superliga opponents – Helsingør.

 Islands news

Champions League:

HB – 1QR loss vs  CSKA Sofia (1-2, 0-2)

Conference League:

HB – 2QR win  TNS (2-0, 3-0), 3QR loss vs  Lech (0-2, 1-2)

Vikingur – 1QR win vs  Sfintul Gheorghe (0-1, 3-1), 2QR loss vs  Boavista (0-4, 1-3)

KI – 1QR loss vs  Rukh Brest (0-2, 2-2)

EB/Streymur – 1QR loss vs  Sabail (1-2, 0-3)

Overall points – 0.875 (2.625 in 22/23). Much worse than the previous season, but the draws were harder as well.

24 new fans joined us after second promotion.

[Koetzer]

September 2023

September was a difficult month for us last year, but this time it was just perfect. Five out of five in the league, and our first ever meeting with an elite division team (they are bottom of the league, but still) ended with a huge success! Ingi Dam scored a hat-trick, and Heinesen made his first assist for our team just after half-time. Next opponents were even stronger, currently 6th in Superliga, and we scored immediately to take the lead. Unfortunately, they soon equalized from a free kick, and our goalkeeper’s bad pass became decisive here, but we really played well against these giants.

And instead of trying to avoid the relegation we are leading the table now! Everything may change for sure, and I don’t see us winning third straight promotion to be honest, but who knows. Dam leads the scoring chart with 9 goals in the league (13 overall).

 Islands news

National team: 0-2 (H) vs Czech Republic, 0-2 (H) vs Ireland in Euro qualifiers. The fairytale is predictably over.

FIFA ranking – 131st ( 1)

U21: 2-3 (A) vs Finland, 0-1 (A) vs Austria in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 2-1 (H) vs Switzerland in friendly.

[Koetzer]

October 2023

A draw against Hvidovre allowed Næstved to regain the lead before our head-to-head game, but we won it and returned to the top spot! Ingi Dam made the first goal with a through pass to Mohr and then scored from a free kick, the opponents could only get a late consolation.

Could be even better if we scored against Middelfart, but that’s fine too Qualifying for the top six is getting much closer now. 

 Islands news

National team: 0-3 (H) vs Greece, 0-4 (A) vs Wales in Euro qualifiers.

FIFA ranking – 133rd ( 2)

U21: 4-0 (H) vs Lithuania, 2-2 (H) vs Serbia in Euro qualifiers. Heinesen was our only player selected here and played both games. 

U19: 1-1 (H) vs Albania, 2-0 (H) vs Slovenia in friendlies.

Betrideldin: HB defended the title.

[Koetzer]

November 2023

That was extremely boring to watch, we only scored from set pieces but our defense is simply unbreakable and Mørk haven’t conceded for six straight games!

Déjà vu, it’s almost the same disposition that we had a year before! Six points over the second place and six teams in a tight group behind us. Can we make the spring part as easy as it was last season?

 Islands news

National team: 0-5 (A) vs Czech Republic, 6-1 (H) vs Liechtenstein in Euro qualifiers. Two national records beaten at once – biggest win (previous was 5-1 against Liechtenstein as well) and most points in a single campaign (10, previous was 9 in 2018). 

FIFA ranking – 131st ( 2)

U21: 2-3 (A) vs Netherlands, 0-1 (H) vs Finland in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 1-0 (A) vs Lithuania, 1-1 (A) vs Kazakhstan in friendlies.

U18: 1-0 (A) vs Latvia, 3-0 (N) vs Kosovo, 1-0 (N) vs Albania in Euro preliminary group C – promoted to group B.

[Koetzer]

Winter 2023/24

We signed two players for the senior squad – goalkeeper Peter Bergmann from 5th tier team Vejgaard (needed a backup as Lindholm left the team) and experienced central midfielder/defender Heðin Hansen with 5 caps for the national team (6+5 for B68 in Faroese 2nd tier last season).

Actually Hansen was our second choice for midfield, the first one was Heini Sørensen, released from Midtjylland. But somehow he preferred an amateur contract with a team currently sitting 8th in a division below ours! Their reputation is still slightly better, but really... should that be the only factor affecting the player's decision? 

[Koetzer]

February-March 2024

Quite an easy schedule to resume the season (though we lost one game), and the spot in promotion group is now secured. Now the real challenge starts – all next games will be against the teams from top half.

 Islands news

National team: 3-0 (H), 1-1 (A) vs Gibraltar in Nations League C relegation playoffs.

FIFA ranking – 131st (=)

U21: 0-4 (A) vs Turkey in friendly.

U19: 3-0 (A) vs Cyprus in friendly.

U18: 1-1 (H) vs Switzerland, 2-1 (H) vs Montenegro, 0-0 (H) vs Czech Republic in Euro preliminary group B – promoted to group A!

Edited July 8, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

April 2024

Five games without winning, and our advantage almost disappeared. Luckily, all other teams in the top group take points from each other so our gap from third place remains quite solid, but AB almost caught us before the game where we finally could end this poor run. Should have won it more confidently though, but our attacking players couldn’t hit an open net sometimes!

Hopefully we’ll find the goalscoring form in May and will be able to stay in the top two.

[Koetzer]

May-June 2024

Ingi Dam finally ended his drought to save us against Skive when we were 0-2 behind at half-time. The next game was very boring until 94th minute, when veteran Jacobsen scored a long shot… but Hvidovre equalized from kick-off immediately, and still we could get a win – Roason hit the post on the last second  

The first big win since September allowed us to keep a reasonable gap before three final games, all against teams from 2nd to 4th. Basically three draws would have been enough to win promotion, and a trip to Næstved was close to end 0-0 when Dam won the race for a long ball against goalkeeper and scored into the empty net! So with five points advantage above third place our promotion could be secured against AB. And we did it with the only goal from Mohr who joined us before this season!

Another great season for Ingi Dam, who won the best goalscorer and best player awards! Also he was selected into the team of the year along with goalkeeper Mørk and center-back Henriksen.

Squad stats

Finances became a big concern after turning semi-pro, and I hope we’ll find some income sources in the second tier. Moving to the larger stadium (which we will share with another Nordicbet team Fremad Amager) isn’t going to help us, I hardly can imagine our games having attendances higher than we could get at Kløvermarken (this season we had 367 average attendance from 1700 possible).

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2024/25

Danielsen played only a few games last season and remained in the club as chief scout, Jakobsen was a more useful rotation player, but the most valuable departure was left-back Heinesen – Randers didn’t want to extend his loan.

Speaking of arrivals… there was no one to improve our first eleven (could sign a striker slightly better than Dam, but he chose Aarhus from a division below), we only signed three players for the bench – left-back Jakup Vanthamar Olsen, winger Ari Olsen and striker Oli Poulsen.

We are obviously predicted last, and with our squad being even weaker than in previous season that’s going to be really hard (yes, I said it last year too but here we’ll have much stronger opponents, eight of them are fully professional).

Also we have an U19 team now, but it’s only for playing in a junior league, still no recruitment.

 Islands news

National team: 0-1 (H) vs Malta, 1-5 (A) vs Luxembourg in friendlies.

FIFA ranking – 134th ( 3)

U21: 2-0 (H) vs Malta, 1-1 (A) vs Luxembourg in friendlies.

U19: 3-0 (H) vs Malta, 3-1 (A) vs Luxembourg in friendlies.

U18: 3-1 (H) vs Malta, 2-0 (A) vs Luxembourg in friendlies. Youngsters are surely doing better  

UEFA club ranking – 44th ( 3)

[Koetzer]

July-August 2024

We signed the first player directly from Faroese club – central midfielder Margeir Høj, and I really like his mental attributes!

The opening game against Horsens ended with a narrow loss, but wasn’t really one-sided and this was an encouraging sign. Next game was our first on the new home stadium against the league favourites, and there we made a massive upset! Lyngby obviously had more chances, but thanks to Mørk’s confident performance we kept our goal safe, and then a substitute midfielder Jakup Helt (he spent last season on loan which really helped him) scored with our first shot on target! And it seems that I underestimated the effect from stadium move, we already set records in attendance and gate receipts. The cup started with a confident win, and the next opposition will be the 5th tier amateurs so we must advance further.

Still early to predict anything, but we certainly can survive here.

 Islands news

Champions League:

HB – 1QR loss vs  Qarabag (1-3, 0-3)

Conference League:

HB – 2QR loss vs  Astana (1-4, 0-1)

EB/Streymur – 1QR win vs  Shkupi (2-0, 2-2), 2QR loss vs  Borac BL (2-2, 1-3)

KI – 1QR loss vs  HIFK (1-2, 1-4)

Vikingur – 1QR loss vs  Sumqayit (0-2, 1-2)

Overall points – 0.500 (0.875 in 22/23). Awful season with the only win for all.

[Koetzer]

September 2024

Two 89th minute winning goals, both scored by left wingers, were extremely important as we played against the teams which are going to be our rivals in this survival battle. We easily defeated amateurs in the cup, were drawn against a Superliga side Vejle and lost with a reasonable quality of play. In the final September game we had a trip to leading Esbjerg and I didn’t expect anything good, especially as several first team players weren’t fully fit. The first half wasn’t any surprise, we conceded from a penalty and that wasn’t the worst outcome we could have, but everything changed after half-time. Mohr and Dam, our two attacking leaders who had an unimpressive start of the season, equalized twice and then Dam scored the winning goal from a free kick (again on 89th minute)!

This unexpected win allowed us to enter the top six for now. We are highly overperforming though, the xG table puts us to 11th place but Mørk (currently the league’s best player in average rating!) let us fly much higher.

 Islands news

National team: 0-3 (H) vs Ukraine, 1-4 (A) vs Montenegro in Nations League C.

FIFA ranking – 136th ( 2)

U21: 0-4 (H) vs Austria, 0-5 (H) vs Netherlands in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 3-0 (A) vs San Marino, 1-1 (A) vs Slovakia in friendlies.

[Koetzer]

October 2024

I expected that our results would decline, but certainly not this way. Conceding five from a team that we’ve beaten last season is a disgrace. Top half still isn’t far from us, but so is 11th place now and we have to improve before the winter break.

But there was one positive surprise – in this division you get prize money after 11 (and I guess, 22) games! This was enough to cover our current debts.

 Islands news

National team: 0-0 (A) vs Kosovo, 3-6 (A) vs Ukraine in Nations League C.

FIFA ranking – 138th ( 2)

U21: 3-0 (A) vs Lithuania, 2-3 (A) vs Austria in Euro qualifiers – finished 5th with 7 points.

U19: 0-3 (A) vs Turkey, 2-0 (A) vs Latvia in friendlies.

Betrideildin: third title in a row for HB.

[Koetzer]

November-December 2024

After six defeats in a row with only one goal scored we finally snapped this run. Simonsen opened the scoring with a header and then added two assists from corners (which didn’t work for us either for a long time). At least we are going to the winter break outside the relegation zone, hopefully will be able to find some reinforcements from the islands in winter or it’s going to be very tough to survive.

 Islands news

National team: 1-3 (H) vs Montenegro, 1-5 (H) vs Kosovo in Nations League C – finished last.

FIFA ranking – 142nd ( 4)

U21: 1-0 (A) vs Kazakhstan, 7-0 (H) vs San Marino in friendlies.

U19: 0-3 (A) vs Italy, 0-3 (N) vs Portugal, 1-2 (N) vs Northern Ireland in Euro qualifying A – relegated.

U19: 0-2 (N) vs Slovakia, 1-0 (N) vs Bosnia, 1-2 (A) vs Austria in Euro preliminary group A – 3rd place.

[Koetzer]

Winter 2024/25

We found some new players for the first team, they won't take us to a completely new level but so far it isn’t needed, just have to keep the team in this league.

Magnus Heinason – with all respect to Ingi Dam who led us to three straight promotion, Magnus will be our first choice at front now. Scored 9 goals in second Faroese division last season.

Aron Skipanes – young central midfielder, quite a risky transfer in terms of wage but I liked the attributes that were visible.

Eetu Kosonen – Finnish/Faroese center-back, played for Vikingur and both U21 national teams before. Going to be a backup so far.

Poul Jacobsen – a deadline loan signing from København, unfortunately other teams with young islanders didn’t want to send them here.

Also we sold the first player for money, Toki Thorsteinsson went to Lyngby for 1100 euros. I don’t see him being as good as he was assessed.

The second foreign job offer, this time it was one of the biggest Norwegian teams which finished 6th last season.

[Koetzer]

February-May 2025

We fought until the end, but simply weren’t good enough to stay  And since we were predicted dead last, the board is actually pleased with our results. Will try to bounce back next season. 

Squad stats

The only player deserving to be highlighted is Bjarti Vitalis Mørk, who was selected as the league’s best goalkeeper!

Our finances are better now after getting prize money, but likely to go back below zero in the 3rd tier.

 Islands news

National team: 0-2 (A) vs Finland, 0-6 (H) vs Austria in World Cup qualifiers.

FIFA ranking – 144th ( 2)

U21: 4-0 (H) vs Latvia, 3-1 (H) vs Albania in friendlies.

U19: 0-1 (A) vs Cyprus, 0-3 (H) vs Turkey in friendlies.

U18: 0-3 (N) vs France, 0-2 (N) vs Ireland, 2-2 (A) vs Portugal in Euro preliminary group A – relegated.

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2025/26

Again no reinforcements for the first team, though we managed to extend Poul Jacobsen’s loan for one more season and signed a new backup goalkeeper Marius Kruse. Could also sign left-back Aksel Heinesen who was on loan here two seasons ago and already had 2 caps for the national team, but he chose another club from our division.

I didn’t offer a new contract to our starting left-back Gregersen, he had a long-term injury while earning 140 p/w and other options are not much worse. Our previous backup goalie Bergmann and left winger Ari Olsen moved back to the islands.

Our reputation increased to 1,5 stars despite the relegation, still it’s the lowest in this division.

 Islands news

National team: 0-2 (H), 2-3 (A) vs Wales in World Cup qualifiers.

FIFA ranking – 145th ( 1)

U21: 2-2 (A) vs Montenegro, 7-0 (H) vs San Marino in friendlies.

U19: 3-0 (A) vs Lithuania, 2-1 (H) vs Kazakhstan in friendlies.

UEFA club ranking – 46th ( 2)

[Koetzer]

August 2025

We lost the survival battle to Nykøbing by a single point last season, so knocking them out of the cup was especially pleasing. The league form is good so far, we only lost to the favourites Helsingør after missing a lot of own chances and certainly should be promotion contenders.

 Islands news

Champions League:

HB – 1QR win vs  Sutjeska (2-0, 2-0), 2QR loss vs  Ferencvaros (0-2, 0-4)

Europa League:

HB – 3QR loss vs  Astana (0-1, 0-1)

Conference League:

HB – 4QR loss vs  RFS (1-2, 1-2)

Vikingur – 1QR win vs  Telavi (1-1, 2-2 pen), 2QR loss vs  Atromitos (0-2, 0-2)

B36 – 1QR loss vs  Vllaznia (1-3, 0-3)

EB/Streymur – 1QR loss vs  Vaduz (0-4, 0-2)

Overall points – 0.750 (0.500 in 24/25). HB reached the final qualifying stage this time, but overall result wasn’t much better than before.

[Koetzer]

September 2025

We loaned defender Hjalgrim Klettskarð from a Scottish Premiership side Hamilton on a deadline day, but he’s unlikely to get much playing time. At least we don’t pay anything in this deal.

Got another familiar team in the cup, and this game almost went into a shootout… though eventually it was decided by penalties – Mørk saved a shot on 82nd minute, and then Heinason scored the winning goal on the last seconds of extra time. We’ll face Midtjylland in the next round, hardly can hope to beat them but at least should get a decent attendance.

We also moved to the first place in the league after defeating Kolding, but then lost twice in a row despite having a lot of chances in both games. Still going second behind breakaway Helsingør.

 Islands news

National team: 0-2 (A) vs Lithuania in friendly, 0-2 (A) vs Spain in World Cup qualifiers.

FIFA ranking – 145th (=)

U21: 1-3 (H) vs Czech Republic, 0-4 (H) vs Turkey in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 1-0 (A) vs Lithuania, 2-0 (A) vs San Marino in friendlies.

U18: 2-0 (A) vs Lithuania in friendly.

[Koetzer]

October 2025

After a tough and very important win over Middelfart (a boring game decided by an unexpected forward run from our defensive midfielder) we faced the defending cup holders Midtjylland. And thanks to an exceptional performance from Vitalis Mørk (12 saves including a penalty and 9.6 rating), lots of luck (they hit woodwork three times) and a confident finish for our only promising attack we knocked them out! Of course, it was hard to have that kind of luck for two rounds in a row, and despite a decent quality of play against Silkeborg we lost, setting our best cup result anyway.

Helsingør’s advantage disappeared and now we are leading the table, but three other teams are only within a point behind and even a top six place isn’t secured yet.

 Islands news

National team: 1-3 (H) vs Finland, 1-9 (A) vs Austria in World Cup qualifiers. The biggest defeat in 40 years  

FIFA ranking – 146th ( 1)

U21: 0-2 (A) vs Greece, 0-2 (A) vs Montenegro in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 2-0 (H) vs Bosnia, 2-1 (H) vs Iceland in friendlies.

Betrideildin: HB won the fourth straight title.

Edited July 19, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

November 2025

Four points from trips to Roskilde and Helsingør let us finish the year on top, though the race is still very tight and actually any of the teams in top eight can seriously think about promotion now.

And that’s our first ever senior international call! Stopping Midtjylland in the cup was surely noticed by Håkan Ericson who is still in charge of national team. Though I doubt that Bjarti would actually play for the Faroes, still it’s a landmark for our club.

 Islands news

National team: 0-5 (H) vs Spain in World Cup qualifiers. Zero points, and Ericson’s job is insecure now. Mørk stayed on the bench as expected.

FIFA ranking – 147th ( 1)

U21: 0-2 (H) vs Belgium, 0-2 (A) vs Czech Republic in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 1-2 (A) vs Romania, 2-0 (N) vs Lithuania, 1-1 (N) vs Bosnia in Euro qualifiers B – finished second.

U18: 1-1 (N) vs Belarus, 1-0 (N) vs Estonia, 1-0 (A) vs Ukraine in Euro preliminary B – won the group and promoted.

[Koetzer]

Winter 2025/26

We were overspending after extending some first team contracts so actually couldn’t offer any wages to the free agents, but still found some new players.

Kaj Leo I Bartalsstovu – a veteran winger with 28 caps for the national team, still having great technical ability for our level.

Alex Mellemgaard – another veteran who will slightly improve a left-back position.

Simon Holten, Jonas Mouritsen and Bogi Joensen – youngsters with good potential.

Pol Vang – another loan from Scotland, and again unlikely to become a first team player.

 

To fit into the wage budget I loaned out Isak Simonsen until the end of his contract. Still a useful squad member, but getting older and was the easiest to replace.

[Koetzer]

February-March 2026

Great start of the year, and we increased our lead. Bartalsstovu’s signing was a key to this form, he had 2+5 in three games! I hope he won’t retire immediately after this season and will help us in case of promotion.

 Islands news

National team: 0-4 (H), 2-2 (A) vs Azerbaijan in Nations League C playoffs – relegated to group D. Ericson's job status is... stable, guess he won't leave until retirement.

FIFA ranking – 148th ( 1)

U21: 2-3 (A) vs Serbia, 0-0 (H) vs Hungary in friendlies.

U19: 1-1 (H) vs Hungary, 1-1 (A) vs Armenia in friendlies.

U18: 0-1 (N) vs Portugal, 0-2 (A) vs Germany, 1-2 (N) vs Belgium in Euro preliminary A – relegated to group B.

[Sheriff7]

You hit a miracle against Midtjylland .As for Bartalsstorvu he can be a key player for you  for many years. Baldvinsson,Hendriksen,Hansen,Mikkelsen,Meinhard Olsen and Endmundson would be great choices even for the top tier in Denmark.Good luck!

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Sheriff7

[Koetzer]

11 hours ago, Sheriff7 said:

You hit a miracle against Midtjylland .As for Bartalsstorvu he can be a key player for you  for many years. Baldvinsson,Hendriksen,Hansen,Mikkelsen,Meinhard Olsen and Endmundson would be great choices even for the top tier in Denmark.Good luck!

Thanks, yes he's surely a key player now. though won't be for many years (already 34  ). Meihard Olsen and Baldvinsson actually were available in the last transfer window, but we are still semi-pro, low on finances and reputation, so have no chance to sign if there is a bid from Faroe top division or better Danish teams.

 

 

April 2026

After two more wins we started the promotion stage with 12 points advantage over third place! Unfortunately then our form wasn’t so impressive, we lost to Roskilde after conceding three goals in six minutes, scored a late winner in a hard game against B93 and couldn’t break through Helsingør defense, but at least that was enough to keep the gap quite big.

Nine points with seven games to go, including a trip to Helsingør and meeting Middelfart twice. Avoiding defeats there should actually be enough for promotion.

[Koetzer]

May 2026

Defeat in the first game let Roskilde move to the top spot, but we regained it in the next match and then increased the lead with a late free kick winner from Danielsen! Also after this win we needed the only point to secure promotion, but actually got all twelve. The decisive goal was scored by Bartalsstovu, which is totally deserved – he is our best player after arrival in winter. Hopefully our second try to survive in the NordicBet League will be more successful.

Squad stats

Poul Jacobsen became the league’s best player, I hope we’ll be able to keep him for one more season. Bartalsstovu and Mohr were excellent on the wings, Mørk, Danielsen and Hansen were also selected into team of the season.

Squad bonuses hit our finances quite hard in the end, but we’ll get guaranteed prize money next season. Staying in the second tier would be crucial for getting a quality replacement to our aging core.

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2026/27

We couldn’t extend Poul Jacobsen’s loan, but managed to sign several players for the first team.

Hannes Agnarsson – after three and a half seasons in Brabrand he’s back and still remains one of the key players!  

Hilmar Leon Jakobsen – our new first choice at front with a bit of international experience and decent stats in Faroese top division (had 7+ average rating in four straight seasons).

Arni Olsen – not a great player, but will be our starting left-back (really the weakest position in first 11).

Patrick Johannesen – will cover both winger positions for free.

Our odds are exactly the same as two years ago, and for the first time ever we sold more than 100 season tickets.

 Islands news

UEFA club ranking – 48th ( 2). No national team games in summer this time.

Meanwhile in America… A huge surprise by itself, but what made it even more impressive – Haaland missed the tournament with injury!

[Koetzer]

July-August 2026

The schedule was nice to us, playing at home against another promoted team gave a good chance to start with a win, and Jakobsen’s debut goal made it real! Our form in August was quite impressive, we are going in the top half and that’s not an overperformance that was at some point two years ago. All the wins were fully deserved, so survival should be possible this season. Unfortunately, Agnarsson’s return is spoiled by injuries so far, the latest one will keep him out for a month.

 Islands news

Champions League:

HB – 1QR loss vs  CSKA Sofia (0-4, 0-4)

Conference League:

HB – 2QR loss vs  Prishtina (0-1, 1-1)

Vikingur – 1QR loss vs  KA (1-0, 0-2)

B36 – 1QR loss vs  Milsami (0-1, 0-3)

EB/Streymur – 1QR loss vs  Spartaks (2-3, 2-2)

Overall points – 0.500 (0.750 in 25/26). A few close battles, but all were lost.

[Koetzer]

September 2026

A much worse month for our attack, but we kept the mid-table position and advanced in the cup, where will face Midtjylland once again. Time for an annual miracle?  

  Islands news

National team: 3-1 (H) vs San Marino in Nations League D. Finally an opposition they could beat.

FIFA ranking – 145th ( 3)

U21: 1-3 (A) vs Turkey, 0-5 (A) vs Belgium in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 0-2 (A) vs Russia, 3-2 (H) vs Armenia in friendlies.