Football in the Faroe Islands

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Logo of the Faroese Football Association Fótbóltssamband Føroya
The regional football field of Vágur in the middle of a typical Faroese landscape.

The Football in the Faroe Islands is internationally by the Faroese national football team represents. The national association is called Fótbóltssamband Føroya (FSF), the FIFA abbreviation is FRO . The Faroese national football team is less well known internationally .

The FSF was founded on January 13, 1979 and joined FIFA in 1988 . On April 18, 1990 he was accepted into UEFA . Teams from the Faroe Islands have been playing in UEFA's European club competitions since 1992. Only England , Gibraltar , Northern Ireland , Scotland and Wales , alongside the Faroe Islands, enjoy the right to be members of UEFA despite a lack of state sovereignty.

The FSF is also a member of the Faroese Sports Federation ( Ítróttasamband Føroya - ÍSF) and the National Olympic Committee of the Faroe Islands ( Olympiska Nevnd Føroya - ONF).

The 1st division of men has been called Betrideildin since 2018 , as is the 1st division of women .

At the end of the 2017/18 European Cup season, the Faroe Islands were ranked 51st out of 55 nations in the UEFA five-year standings and 39th out of 49 for women.

Member clubs of the FSF

The FSF has 20 active Faroese clubs, including the following top division clubs (as of 2018):

Men:

Women:

Most clubs have B, C or D teams that play in the lower leagues. The promotion of a second team is possible up to the second division, provided that the first team plays in the highest division.

prehistory

First documented Faroese football match between HB Tórshavn and TB Tvøroyri (1909).

According to historians, Faroese football was founded in 1889 by the student Poul Effersøe when he returned to the Faroe Islands after completing his studies in Denmark with a football in his luggage. In 1892 TB Tvøroyri was founded on his initiative . The two eternal rivals in the first division, HB Tórshavn and KÍ Klaksvík , were founded in 1904, only in 2009 KÍ relegated to the second division for the first time. The founding of MB Miðvágur , SÍ Sørvágur and VB Vágur , 1906 SÍF Sandavágur , 1913 EB Eiði , 1923 Royn Hvalba , 1926 GÍ Gøta , 1928 LÍF Leirvík , 1936 B36 Tórshavn , 1940 SÍ Sumba followed as early as 1905 . From 1930 there were "international matches" against the neighboring islands of Iceland , Shetlands and the Orkney Islands.

Faroese championships have been held since 1942. Before that, the games had the character of friendly games at folk festivals and the like. There has been a national women's league since 1985 . The 1st and 2nd men's league now employs professional coaches. The players themselves are semi-professionals and are considered amateurs.

The following associations were founded after the Second World War : 1946 ÍF Fuglafjørður , 1957 NSÍ Runavík , 1965 Skála ÍF , 1962/68 B68 Toftir , 1968 NÍF Nólsoy (since 2010 as FF Giza ), 1970/71 B71 Sandur , 1973 AB Argir , 1975 Fram Tórshavn (from 2009 as FC Hoyvík ), 2004 FS Vágar (from 2007 07 Vestur ), 2006 Undrið FF (until 2009 as Undri FF) and 2009 Ravnur FC.

Myth of the FIFA exception rule

For a long time the story has been around that in the Faroe Islands a third player can come to the aid of a penalty kick in order to hold the ball so that it remains on the penalty spot in high winds. This has now been refuted.

referee

Usually local referees lead the games. Since 2005, individual games for the men have been refereed by foreign referees, who come exclusively from the Nordic countries . As for Denmark, this was the case at the start of the league. Referees from other European countries are also on duty in the lower leagues.

Alex Troleis has been the official FIFA referee since 2015 , Kári á Høvdanum since 2018. Other referees at FIFA level were Lassin Isaksen (1996 to 2006) and Petur Reinert (2007 to 2017).

Known players

There are only a few Faroese players who have made the leap into foreign leagues and thus gained greater prominence. The main destination for most is initially Denmark, to whose kingdom the Faroe Islands belong. Some players like Christian Holst , Daniel Udsen , Johan Byrial Hansen or Claus Bech Jørgensen were born in Denmark and only played there at the beginning of their careers. An exception is striker Todi Jónsson , former record goal scorer of the national team, who was born in Denmark but initially played football in the Faroe Islands. But goalkeeper Jákup Mikkelsen , who was born in the Faroe Islands, was also able to gain a foothold in the Danish Super League .

In recent years, some players have also attracted the interest of English clubs, with most of them not getting beyond the role of trial contracts. As one of the few Jóan Símun Edmundsson received a professional contract with Newcastle United , played on loan to another club, however, exclusively lower class. Goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen made his debut for Manchester City in the Premier League in 2010 as the first Faroese player ever . Edmundsson has played for the second division Arminia Bielefeld since the 2018/19 season and thus became the first Faroese in German professional football.

Other destinations for Faroese players were, besides Scotland, mainly Norway and Iceland. While goalkeeper Jens Martin Knudsen played in Scotland and Iceland, among others, Julian S. Johnsson and Rógvi Jacobsen , the national team's record scorers, were active in Norway and Iceland. Record national player Fróði Benjaminsen also played in Iceland for a year.

The women also moved to Denmark. However, the first to receive goalkeeper and then record national sparlin Randi Wardum in 2008 was a first division contract in Iceland with Valur Reykjavík . Mona Breckman was the first player to receive a contract from a continental European club and played for Karlsruher SC in 2010 . The most successful goalscorer is Rannvá Andreasen , who together with Wardum and Malena Josephsen was also a record national player.

National competitions

The Faroe Islands, with around 48,000 inhabitants, have around 5,000 active footballers. Accordingly, there are many competitions:

Championships trophies
Men Women Men Women
Effodeildin 1. Deild 1st - 4th Deild 1st + 2nd Deild
1. Deild 2. Deild U-19 "Unglingar" U-17 "Gentur"
2. Deild U-17 "Gentur" U-16 "Dreingir" U-14 "Smágentur"
3. Deild U-14 "Smágentur" U-14 "Smádreingir"
Seniors U-12 "Gentur 10-12"
U-19 "Unglingar" U-10 "Pinkur"
U-16 "Dreingir"
U-14 "Smádreingir"
U-12 "Piltar"
U-10 "Smápiltar"

championship

level Division
1 Faroese Football Championship
10 clubs
1–2 relegated
2 1. Deild
10 clubs
1–2 promoted
2 relegated teams
3 2. Deild
10 clubs
2 promoted
2 relegated
4th 3. Deild Bólkur A
7 clubs
0–2 promoted
3. Deild Bólkur B
7 clubs
0–2 promoted
3. Deild Bólkur C
7 clubs
0–2 promoted

The Faroese championship has been played out for the men since 1942, the league was gradually increased, meanwhile ten teams regularly play for the title, usually between March and October of a calendar year, each meeting three times. The record champion is HB Tórshavn with 23 wins ahead of KÍ Klaksvík with 17 wins. In the second division, ten teams have also been playing against each other three times a season since 2006, and only twice in the third division. The fourth league is divided into three seasons, with the promoted players being determined in an additional round.

The women's championship has only been held since 1985. In contrast to the men, the number of participants was reduced over the years until it was increased to ten teams in 2012. However, only six teams are now represented. These usually play against each other four times between April and September of each calendar year. KÍ Klaksvík is the record winner with 18 titles ahead of HB Tórshavn with seven successes. The second division was played with eight teams in 2018, including three B teams.

National cup

The men have been playing for the Faroese Cup since 1955. The mode changed several times and initially only first division clubs were allowed to participate. Since 2005, the cup has only been played in the pure knockout system among all registered teams. The record winner is HB Tórshavn with 26 titles, ahead of GÍ Gøta , KÍ Klaksvík and B36 Tórshavn with six titles each.

The women determined the cup winner for the first time in 1990 and, like the men, play them in a pure knockout system. From 1996 to 1998 there was also a brief group stage. KÍ Klaksvík has won the title 14 times and B36 Tórshavn six times.

Supercup

Since 2007, the men's Supercup has been held between the cup winners and the champions in a single game with extra time and penalty shoot-outs. This usually takes place at the beginning of the season before all other cup and league games. Víkingur Gøta won the cup five times, EB / Streymur three times.

International competitions

National team

The Faroese men's national team played their first unofficial international matches as early as 1930, and the first official matches followed in 1988 after joining FIFA. The Island Games could be won twice, but the greatest success was the 1-0 victory in the European Championship qualification against Austria in 1990 . A qualification for European or World Championships, however, never succeeded. In the junior division, the U-17 qualified for the 2017 U-17 European Championship .

The women's first unofficial games were held in 1986. After a long break until 1995, the first win this year with a 1-0 against Wales . At the European Championships, the national team never got beyond the qualification, the qualification for the World Cup was first participated in 2013.

European Cup

The Faroese men's clubs have also played in international competitions since the 1992/93 European Cup season, with B36 Tórshavn reaching the first point in the opening season with a 1-1 draw against FC Avenir Beggen in the European Cup Winners' Cup . All in all, there are only a few successes. HB Tórshavn was the first team to advance to the main round of this competition in 1993/94 , but also benefited from the non-appearance of the opponent RAF Jelgava in the second leg. In the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League , Víkingur Gøta became the first Faroese club to reach the third qualifying round after beating FC Daugava Daugavpils and Tromsø IL . EB / Streymur achieved the highest victory in 2013/14 with a 5-1 win against FC Lusitanos in the Champions League qualification. HB Tórshavn suffered the biggest defeat in 1995 with 0:10 against Tromsø IL in the UI Cup .

In the women's category, serial champion KÍ Klaksvík international was the only European club to take part in all the UEFA Women's Champions League from 2001/02 to 2017/18; EB / Streymur / Skála were represented for the first time in the 2018/19 season . In the first season 2001/02 KÍ Klaksvík succeeded with a 2-1 against USC Landhaus Wien in the UEFA Women's Cup the first victory. Against UMF Stjarnan there was the highest defeat in 2017/18 with a 0: 9, in 2012/13 the highest victory was achieved with an 11: 1 against KS Ada .

Atlantic Cup

In 1998, a friendly match between the reigning Faroese and Icelandic champions was played for the first time . Due to the positive response, the two masters met annually from 2002 onwards. The games were alternately played in the Faroe Islands and Iceland and always took place in April. In 2007 the match had to be canceled due to financial problems, the last official game took place in 2008. There were always different winners in the seven games that took place. From the Faroe Islands, HB Tórshavn (2004) and B36 Tórshavn (2006) won the competition, the Icelandic representative was successful five times.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Football in the Faroe Islands is developing , January 5th, 2010.
  2. country coefficients
  3. Women's Association Club Coefficients
  4. Extra Fifa rule is a duck Blick.ch, June 9, 2017
  5. ^ Goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen becomes first ever Faroese in the Premier League (English), April 24, 2010. Accessed April 25, 2010.
  6. Bielefeld makes Edmundsson transfer official: First Faroese in the 2nd division , April 30, 2018. Accessed November 20, 2018.
  7. Faroese players abroad - professionals
  8. ^ Breckmann makes history with Karlsruhe move (English), March 1, 2010. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  9. How the Atlantic Cup started (English)
  10. ^ Atlantic Cup on rsssf.com
  11. Is Atlantic Cup History? (English), February 28, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2011.