Koetzer

Winter 2030/31 Transfers in Benjamin Henriksen – after two unsuccessful years in Sweden (11 games with average rating around 6.7) he was transfer-listed and returned to our club. Not sure so far if I would use him as a right-back or will try to change into a back three formation with him, Kosonen and Hansen playing together. Rogvi Andreasen – a promising midfielder who will need to improve physically. And Jacobsen’s transfer was already agreed in summer. Transfers out Didn’t lose anyone from the first team. Our third youth intake looks really promising! I’ve read somewhere that the academy improvements start making difference after three years, guess this might happen here.

November-December 2030 Two wins at home let us leave the bottom place, actually even the top half isn’t too far away but I doubt that we would make this miracle again. Just getting enough points in the relegation group will be our realistic goal. The year ended with two cup games, and we had a chance to beat Midtjylland after equalizing from 1-3 at home, but they scored a late winning goal from corner to reach the semi-final. National team Goalkeeper Steinholm gets his first callup, he is actually the second choice now but I didn’t want to weaken the U21 team in qualifying games. Conceded a late goal against Iceland, but the other game result kept us safe from relegation (not sure what would have been if Belarus and Luxembourg drew their match and all three teams finished with five points). FIFA ranking – 140th ( 2) U21: 6-0 (H) vs Liechtenstein, 0-4 (A) vs Scotland in friendlies. U19: 1-1 (A) vs Poland, 2-3 (N) vs Luxembourg, 0-1 (N) in Croatia in Euro qualifiers B – finished fourth. U18: 0-0 (H) vs Romania, 2-0 (H) in Israel, 6-1 (H) vs Estonia in Euro preliminary B – promoted to group A. HB’s European adventure ended with six heavy losses and the only goal scored (against Grasshoppers at home), still it was a great achievement for Faroese football.

October 2030 Dropped to the last place, but actually had a very tough schedule this month (Brøndby and Silkeborg had a disappointing start, still remaining much stronger teams) and our quality of play was encouraging at times, so hopefully we’ll be able to improve later. We also repeated our best cup performance, reaching quarter-final, and will face Midtjylland there. National team We may have missed our chances against Luxembourg at home, but took them just perfectly on the road! All four shots on target in the first half ended with goals, and they only could get some consolation after half-time. Lukas Danielsen was the hat-trick hero, and I’m looking closely at his expiring contract at København, maybe it will be possible to sign him in winter. We will be safe from relegation with an away draw against Belarus, other way it will be decided on the last matchday against already promoted Iceland. FIFA ranking – 138th ( 4) U21: 0-6 (A) vs Germany, 0-0 (H) vs Lithuania in Euro qualifiers – finished 5th with 9 points. U19: 0-0 (A) vs Switzerland, 3-1 (A) vs San Marino in friendlies. Betrideildin: that was really unexpected, 07 Vestur have just promoted to the top tier and now won the league with 14 points margin!

September 2030 We are getting points despite struggling to score, but this is not enough to move away from relegation spots. Though everything can change with a single game so far. The cup started later this season (I guess top six teams enter in the third round), and we avoided other Superliga teams in the next round draw. National team Ten players from our club are selected this time. Can’t be happy with a home draw, we must win these games to avoid finishing bottom. Belarus has no points so far, but I think they would be harder to beat. FIFA ranking – 142nd ( 2) U21: 0-1 (A) vs Serbia, 1-1 (A) vs Wales in Euro qualifiers. U19: 3-1 (H) vs Azerbaijan, 3-0 (A) vs Gibraltar in friendlies.

July-August 2030 Finally we managed to sign the biggest star of Faroese league and actually the best player we could afford – winger Poul Kallsberg. A very tough start, we lost to the teams which qualified to Europe last season and could only save a draw against OB with a late penalty, but finally snapped this bad run defeating Lyngby. That was Kallsberg’s debut for us, and though he had a poor game, I guess the overall squad improvement made the difference. And anyway it’s going to be a much harder season than the previous one We also improved our youth recruitment after a long negotiation with the chairman. Islands news Champions League: HB – 1QR win vs Lincoln (2-0, 2-1), 2QR loss vs CFR Cluj (0-1, 0-1) Europa League: HB – 3QR loss vs Shakhter Soligorsk (1-1, 1-2) Conference League: HB – 4QR win vs Lechia (2-1, 1-1) Vikingur – 1QR win vs Paide LM (4-1, 1-1), 2QR loss vs Velez (1-3, 1-1) EB/Streymur – 1QR win vs Inter d’Escaldes (1-0, 2-0), 2QR loss vs Qaisar (0-3, 0-2) KI – 1QR loss vs Sabail (1-3, 0-3) Overall points – 2.000+ (1.000 in 29/30). For the first time ever a Faroese team will play in the group stage! HB was drawn against Fiorentina, Grasshoppers and Djurgardens, getting at least a point there will be even a greater success.

Pre-season 2030/31 Transfers in Heini Sørensen – the player we could sign seven years ago, while playing in fourth tier, is finally here and still will be a regular starter in Superliga. Jakup Andrias Zachariassen – another player with several unsuccessful tries to sign, can cover the whole right side. Poul Jacobsen – our best goalscorer of 25/26 season is back on a half-season loan, and we already agreed a free transfer in January. Jakup Pauli Poulsen – the national team’s record breaker also joins us for this season. Transfers out Not all last season transfers really worked, Geyti and Reginsson weren’t justifying their wages and I only could loan them out. And surprisingly the reserve team defender Thomsen became the most expensive player ever sold by our club Still the same odds. A nice improvement in ticket sales, hopefully we'll manage to fill our stadium soon. Islands news UEFA club ranking – 49th (=). No national team games were scheduled this summer.

May-June 2030 At least we scored some goals, and anyway 5th place wouldn’t give us a European place as Randers won the cup. Actually even 4th placed Silkeborg had to play against lower group winners to get the last Conference League spot. That’s quite funny, we actually got the same points as relegated Nordsjælland (though surely would have more if played in the bottom group). Davidsen was selected into the team of the year, and he’s not the only Faroese player there – Patrik Vang won the title with København and became the best left-back. Squad stats None of the outfield first team players had an average rating over 7, not too surprising after one win in last 13 games. Øregaard was the closest, and that makes sense too – he has the best assessed ability in our squad and is a regular starter for the national team. Third part of the prize money made our finances a lot more secure, though we’ll need more for another round of improvements.

April 2030 Could do nothing with top four teams, but defeated Vejle to overtake them in the table. European football is still possible for us! Youth intake Actually we got two attacking midfielders with decent potential – Rødgaard and Ferja, not bad for our setup.

February-March 2030 Started with a comeback against Esbjerg, and the winning goal was made by two new players – Solheim scored from Dahl-Olsen’s cross. One more win over Lyngby made our advantage over 7th place a lot more comfortable, and despite losing all three remaining games no one could catch us, so we are certainly staying up! Next two months can be played without any pressure, but actually getting one point more than Vejle in the final stage and København winning the cup (the only remaining team from top four in semifinals) will take us to Conference League. Of course that wouldn't be possible without Midtjylland (predicted 2nd) and Nordsjælland (5th) awful performance, but... not our problem And yes, we got one more million in the bank to use it for another youth facilities and coaching upgrade. National team Dahl-Olsen gets his debut callup immediately, and now we have seven Føroyar players in the national team (mostly as backup options, but still). Unfortunate loss at home, but we managed to turn it over in away game. Solheim, who wasn’t in the original squad and replaced injured Knudsen, scored his first international goal and it let us stay in the group C! FIFA ranking – 140th (=) U21: 1-1 (H) vs Slovakia, 1-0 (H) vs Switzerland in friendlies. U19: 1-1 (H) vs Russia, 3-0 (H) vs Estonia in friendlies. U18: 1-1 (N) vs Macedonia, 1-1 (A) vs Malta, 5-4 (N) vs Gibraltar in Euro preliminary C – won the group and promoted.

Winter 2029/30 Transfers in Hansen’s loan spell wasn’t too successful due to injury, but I signed him for a full contract anyway. Teitur Dahl-Olsen – just turned 16, but already looks good enough for our first team! And he's professional so hopefully will develop into a real star for the nation. Simun Solheim – occasional national team player, will strengthen our wings. Uni Ragnarsson and Jakup Mikkelsen – two young wingers for future. Heðin Klakstein and Jakup Poulsen – free loans to improve squad depth (yes, Poulsen is the player poached from us before the season). Transfers out All these players had no place in squad after incoming transfers (also released Hans Hansen whose contract expired). Youth preview Prediction is poor, but this A-rated midfielder can be promising. Davidsen won the best goalkeeper award, totally deserved it.

November 2029 No chances against the teams from top three, but we defeated Viborg thanks to Hendriksson’s free kick and this result let us stay fifth. Still not too far from relegation spots. National team Our last qualifying game was decent, but Albanians gifted three points to their neighbours and left us on 5th place. At least we did well in a friendly. FIFA ranking – 140th ( 2) U21: 0-2 (H) vs Germany, 2-2 (H) vs Cyprus in Euro qualifiers. U19: 0-1 (H) vs Denmark, 0-0 (H) vs Ireland, 4-2 (H) vs Luxembourg in Euro qualifiers B – finished second. U18: 0-1 (N) vs Bosnia, 0-2 (N) vs Slovenia, 2-0 (A) vs Finland in Euro preliminary B – relegated to group C.

October 2029 A decent result for a month of road trips, though it hurts to lose a game after leading 2-0 (Midtjylland deserved to end this unlucky run against us, to be honest). We are bottom on xG points, but thanks to Davidsen conceded ten goals less than expected and remained in the top half. Like in a division below, the prize money are given here after 11 games, and this allowed us to start another training upgrade! National team Davidsen deserved the place in squad with his league performance. Quite a respectable result against Portugal and awful against Kosovo (could have easily been a heavier loss), so we certainly won’t finish higher than 4th. FIFA ranking – 142nd ( 4) U21: 1-0 (H) vs Wales, 0-2 (A) vs Lithuania in Euro qualifiers. U19: 5-0 (H) vs Estonia, 3-3 (H) vs Russia in friendlies. Betrideildin: HB claimed the title back after three years of Vikingur domination.

September 2029 Hansen suffered an injury and will be out for two months, so I replaced him with another loaned center-back – Heri Simonsen from B36. After four league losses in a row we managed to stop the league leaders Brøndby and then mounted a comeback over Nordsjælland (a real rollercoaster, scoring immediately after their goal was disallowed for offside was the highlight)! I kept the tactical tweaks from second half (like playing with AM instead of DM) for the next game, and with some bit of luck this worked. Two teams can overtake us with postponed games, but this is certainly a better result than could be predicted at this point. Davidsen again was included into the team of the month. Our academy is working for just a year, but we already have one player poached (not too good and probably not Faroese, so nothing to worry about). National team Heri Simonsen replaced Hansen in the national squad as well. I didn’t expect anything good from this Balkan trip. The game in Croatia ended with a predicted battering, Albania was much better in the first half and scored just after half-time, but then we managed to recover. Two great passes from Poul Kallsberg gave us a surprising away win over a 63rd team in the world! We actually have a chance to finish third here, this will mostly depend on our and Albanian results against Kosovo. FIFA ranking – 138th ( 5) U21: 2-3 (A) vs Cyprus, 3-1 (H) vs Serbia in Euro qualifiers. U19: 0-0 (H) vs Scotland, 2-2 (A) vs Cyprus in friendlies.

July-August 2029 Our pre-season work paid off in the first game, new wingers made the debut goal at top flight and Heinesen assisted to returned Mouritsen for the second. After a great start we lost to Viborg, but then returned home to face our favourite opponents Midtjylland… and again defeated them 1-0! Though this time it wasn’t a pure luck, we actually had slightly better chances in this equal game. The real miracle happened in the next match where Nordsjælland had much better stats but couldn’t beat Davidsen, and this was our first away win! This start was encouraging, but I feel that our true level is reflected by two last games. Attack is useless, Davidsen was selected as the best goalkeeper of the month but he can’t save everything, so relegation is the most realistic outcome anyway. We sold almost four times more season tickets than a year before! Islands news Champions League: Vikingur – 1QR loss vs Shkendija (3-2, 0-2) Conference League: Vikingur – 2QR win vs Prishtina (3-1, 1-2), 3QR loss vs Sloboda Tuzla (0-1, 1-2) HB – 1QR win vs Teuta (2-1, 2-1), 2QR loss vs Mladost (0-2, 0-3) KI – 1QR loss vs Derry City (1-4, 0-2) AB – 1QR loss vs Neftci (0-4, 0-2) Overall points – 1.000 (0.500 in 28/29). A small improvement, though could be better if Vikingur could keep the lead after winning in Macedonia and qualify for Europa League.

Pre-season 2029/30 Transfers in Promotion raised our reputation and now much better players from the Faroese league are interested, but unfortunately the best of them (usual starters for the national team) are asking for wages we couldn’t afford. Still I found some decent options for the first team. Joannes Davidsen – a slight improvement in goal (actually I didn’t plan to sign him immediately, but Mørk’s injury in training left no other choices). Aksel Heinesen – he had a good 23/24 season for us on loan, and now returns for a full contract. Oli Ellefsen – will be our rotation right-back option. Oddfríður Hansen – a half-season loan with a potential chance to sign the international player for free. Elmar Geyti and Danjal Reginsson – will be our starting wingers. Reginsson is so far the most expensive player in the club history, we paid 7750 euros to Vikingur Jonas Mouritsen – not a new transfer, but he had an impressive season on loan and is going to be first choice at front. Transfers out The most disappointing departure was Jakup Poulsen. As well as Mouritsen, he had a good season on loan, I planned to use him as a rotation striker and offered a full-time contract, but Fredericia poached him using that part-time bug Quite predictable odds We also moved to a bigger stadium (shared with AB) and had much better sponsorship and TV deals. National team Missing two best left defenders due to injuries, a chance to impress for Tughushi and our new transfer Heinesen. Poulsen is our new superstar, he scored the quickest goal in the nation history on 17th second and then assisted to Hendriksson to give us the first win in the World Cup qualifiers in twelve years! A great start for a player who have just turned 17. FIFA ranking – 143rd ( 5) U21: 2-0 (H) vs Belarus, 0-2 (A) vs Bosnia in friendlies. U19: 2-2 (A) vs Wales, 3-3 (A) vs Northern Ireland in friendlies. UEFA club ranking – 49th ( 1)

May 2029 I rested most of our key players in the final game and even gave the last appearance to retiring Rogvi Joensen, the only player remained from our starting squad (though there are a few others who were signed during the first season and made all the way from 5th tier to Superliga). Mørk set the new division record in clean sheets, great achievement for him that must be shared with our defenders, especially Kosonen and strangely departed Hermansen. Squad stats Our defensive stats were good, but offense really struggled – 7 goals and 6 assists are the best numbers of this season. That’s where we must get some improvement in pre-season, I hope the national players will be ready to join us as a professional top division team. The finances are quite good. Of course we’ll need to spend more in Superliga, but even finishing bottom will give us 640K and it doesn’t include TV money, better (I hope) gate receipts and sponsorship.

April 2029 What the hell? Hermansen had a contract until December without any release clauses. He didn’t want to sign a new deal so I could expect him leaving next season, but somehow Swedes signed him for free… I don't think that is the way part-time contracts should work Of course, losing the best defender weakened the team, we kept the clean sheet only once after he left but did what was needed in these games. We spoiled the unbeaten season for Randers (already crowned as champions) at their stadium, and then Hendriksson’s first goal actually ended Horsens hopes to catch us. A draw in the next game was enough to secure the unbelievable promotion to Superliga! Youth intake Not much to be expected from the minimal youth setup, but we got one really promising player – striker Markus Heinason who doesn’t look much worse than our first team options. Fun fact – his native village has population of… ten people! And we upgraded the recruitment to the next level.

March 2029 Only draws, mostly disappointing but the last one actually let us keep the gap from third place. National team The strongest squad available. The first half against Albania ended 1-1, but then their better players made the result. Also we lost Kallsberg with injury, so I selected 16 year-old Jakup Pauli Poulsen as a replacement… and he scored on his debut in Portugal (yes, we were 0-7 behind at that moment but still what a game for the youngster)! Poulsen actually became the youngest player and goalscorer in the history of Faroese team and World Cup European qualifiers. Unfortunately we don’t have sixth team in the group again, so probably our only real chance to get points will be in the next game against Kosovo. FIFA ranking – 148th ( 2) U21: 1-0 (H) vs Hungary, 0-1 (A) vs Gibraltar in friendlies. U19: 2-1 (N) vs Russia, 1-6 (N) vs Czech Republic, 0-4 (A) vs Italy in Euro qualifiers A – finished third. U18: 0-2 (H) vs Slovenia, 2-1 (H) vs Israel, 1-1 (H) vs Kosovo in Euro preliminary B – finished third.

February 2029 Good start of the year, and we extended our lead to eleven points. All three remaining games in the preliminary stage will be against bottom half teams, so hopefully we’ll improve our position even more.

Winter 2028/29 Transfers in Two internationals became available and we sign them both! Our midfield was already quite strong, but Gullbrandur Øregaard and Brandur Hendriksson are a lot better, being regular starters for the national team. Transfers out Poulsen and Skipanes had no place in the squad after new signings, and we needed to offload some wages. Our first ever intake is predicted to bring good goalkeeper and striker.

November 2028 Still solid in defense - our shutout run ended after eight games but it was against Randers, the team that plays way better than others and will surely win promotion this season. Though our attack struggled in November, we only scored on the last minute of third game to keep other teams ten points behind. National team One interesting debutant is Martin Agnarsson, Faroese league’s best player in average rating and younger brother of Hannes from our club. Montenegro defeated Luxembourg, so the last match couldn’t change our position, but still it was really important to get first win in a competitive game! We had a slight advantage for all 90 minutes and finally managed to score a late winner, Agnarsson came as a substitute and proved that he deserves to be selected in future games. Moldova will be our opponents in relegation playoffs, scheduled for March 2030. FIFA ranking – 146th ( 6) U21: 0-3 (H) vs Turkey, 2-1 (A) vs Scotland in friendlies. U19: 2-0 (H) vs Armenia, 1-0 (H) vs Lithuania, 0-1 (H) vs Bulgaria in Euro qualifiers B – promoted from second place! U18: 0-2 (N) vs Wales, 0-1 (A) vs Croatia, 4-0 (N) vs Slovakia in Euro preliminary B – finished third.

October 2028 Seven shutout wins in a row, we certainly managed to find a perfect balance and already have eleven points over 3rd place! It’s not even half of the season played, but we surely can win the promotion if manage to keep this form after the break. National team Knudsen is missing with injury this time, but we have enough depth on the wings to replace him. Our most experienced player Nattestad effectively ended his international career with a red card on 3rd (!) minute against Montenegro We could move from the bottom defeating Luxembourg, but they equalized on 85th minute from a corner (deserved it though). Still we have two home games remaining in November, and probably (if Montenegro won’t defeat Luxembourg) the last matchday will decide our position. FIFA ranking – 152nd ( 2) U21: 2-0 (A) vs Lithuania, 1-2 (H) vs Ireland in Euro qualifiers – 4th place, 12 points. A very successful campaign for our youth. U19: 1-5 (A) vs Bulgaria, 1-0 (H) vs Armenia in friendlies. Betrideildin: Vikingur won three in a row, their rivalry with HB looks like local El Clasico now

September 2028 Couldn’t keep the lead in a cup game and lost in extra time after Kosonen’s red card, but found some great form in the league! Three straight away wins without a single goal conceded let us move up to the second place, only behind unbeaten favorites Randers. It will be important to keep this spot for at least two next games and get the better prize money after first round.

July-August 2028 Our start wasn’t as spectacular as last season but we are getting enough points to stay in the top half and advanced in the cup. Glad to see young striker Guttesen becoming a good rotation player after a season on loan in Portugal, so far he’s one of our top goalscorers. National team Ryggshamar will miss the whole Nations League campaign with injury. A blow to our squad, though I don’t remember any good game from him, he was only collecting cards. Finally a decent result in Europe, after an expected defeat in Dublin we managed to save a draw against Luxembourg at home. Montenegro lost both starting games, and I think we’ll need to beat them for avoiding the relegation playoffs. FIFA ranking – 150th ( 1) U21: 0-3 (H) vs France, 0-3 (A) vs Serbia in Euro qualifiers. U19: 5-2 (A) vs Gibraltar, 1-1 (H) vs Russia in friendlies. Champions League: Vikingur – 1QR loss vs Zrinjski (0-3, 0-2) Conference League: Vikingur – 2QR win vs Dudelange (2-0, 2-2), 3QR loss vs Shakhter Soligorsk (1-2, 1-1) HB – 1QR loss vs Samtredia (1-2, 0-2) Skala – 1QR loss vs Partizan (1-4, 0-4) AB – 1QR loss vs Mura (0-4, 1-3) Overall points – 0.500 (1.250 in 27/28). Back to the poor seasons on club level

Pre-season 2028/29 The only player we added to the first team squad was defensive midfielder Magnus Holm Jacobsen who spent last five seasons in Portuguese lower leagues and sometimes was called up to the national team. John Alberts was loaned out after that to get more playing time and better training. Our reputation finally rose to full 2 stars and now isn’t the lowest in this division! National team Our best midfielder Martin Hansen misses this round of friendlies with injury, and I added some potential debutants from U21 team. Two wins over other small island nations let us improve our rankings a bit. Hopefully we’ll get first competitive points in autumn, drawn against Ireland, Montenegro and Luxembourg in the Nations League. FIFA ranking – 151st ( 2) U21: 1-1 (H) vs Bosnia, 4-1 (H) vs Malta in friendlies. U19: 0-1 (H) vs Hungary, 2-1 (H) vs Poland in friendlies. UEFA club ranking – 50th ( 2)