Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

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KR
Full name Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur
Nickname(s) KR-ingar
Founded February 16, 1899
Ground KR-völlur,
Reykjavík, Iceland
(Capacity 6,000 (2,000 seated))
Chairman Flag of Iceland Magnús Ingimundarson
Manager Flag of Iceland Logi Ólafsson
League Landsbankadeild
2007 Landsbankadeild, 8th
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away colours

Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, (Icelandic for "Reykjavík Football Club"), for short KR or KR Reykjavík, is an Icelandic athletic club based in the capital, Reykjavík. KR is the oldest and most successful club in Icelandic football and has won the Icelandic league four times in the last seven years.

Contents

[edit] History

KR was established on February 16, 1899, making it the oldest of its kind in Iceland. KR was the only football club in Reykjavík for a decade but as soon as other clubs were established there were plans for competitions. KR won the inaugural championship in 1912 after a play-off with Fram.

After winning the title the club chose to wear the colors of the English champions of that year, whoever they might be, and have since then worn the black and white stripes of Newcastle United. They won the first title after the Icelandic league was divided into two division in 1955, and in 1959 when the 1st Division was played on a home-and-away basis for the first time. KR also won the first Cup competition in 1960. KR was the first Icelandic club to play in European competition, facing Liverpool in 1964 (The game was also Liverpool's first European game). KR’s women's team was also the first Icelandic contender in Europe, entering the inaugural European Competition in 2001.

Recent success has made decades of waiting for major trophies look like the distant past. When KR won their twentieth title in 1968, it was regarded as yet another title. No one could have foreseen that the club would have to wait for 31 years until its next success. Relegation to the Second Division in 1977 and heart-breaking near misses in 1990, 1996 and 1998, when KR lost out in the title race on the final day, only seemed to strengthen the solidarity within the club.

KR heimilið (The KR home), the housing of KR.
KR heimilið (The KR home), the housing of KR.

In KR’s centenary year in 1999 the men's team ended its long quest for glory in the most spectacular manner. The team had not won the league title for 31 years but nothing could stop them that year. They clinched the title with a 4-0 win over Víkingur in the penultimate round and then beat ÍA 3-1 in the cup final in front of a capacity crowd at the national stadium. The women's team was equally successful, winning the league and the cup, and KR celebrated its centenary year with an unprecedented double-double.

In total, the men's team has won the league title 24 times and the cup ten times and during the last decade the women's team has won six league titles and twice won the cup. The men's team has three times won the double, in 1961, 1963 and in 1999.

After the season of 2006, KR introduced their new jerseys for the year of 2007. They will be playing in Nike jerseys.

[edit] Jersey

KR play, as previously stated, in the black and white stripes of Newcastle United. The current sponsor of KR is the oil company Shell. The company is well known in Iceland. Above the club badge on the shirt, although not featured in sold shirts, there are four stars. Each star represents 5 league titles. KR currently have 24 titles and only need one more title if they want to add one more star above the badge. On October 20 2006, KR introduced a new deal with sport equipment manufacturer Nike and will KR wear products from Nike for the 2007 season.

The KR shorts are black and wHite and only carry the logo of Shell,Nike and the squad number of the player.

The KR socks are black and white and are without a club badge

www.kr.is/knattspyrna

[edit] Sports played

KR won the Icelandic basketball league the 2007 season, their 10th overall title.
KR won the Icelandic basketball league the 2007 season, their 10th overall title.

Besides football (soccer), which is the original sport for which the club was founded, KR today also practices basketball, badminton, table tennis, bowling, darts, team handball, skiing, Icelandic wrestling and swimming.

[edit] Grounds

KR has been playing at their own ground, KR-völlur in the west-end of Reykjavík, since 1984, having previously played at the national stadium (Laugardalsvöllur) and the old municipal stadium (Melavöllur). KR has had the highest attendances for the last nine years. Only 376 attended the first match at KR-völlur in 1984 but in the centenary year an average crowd of 2,501 saw KR’s home matches. KR lost the attendance record to FH's stadium, Kaplakriki in the year of 2005 but has retained the record attendance, according to recent attending numbers. These may not be the attendances seen at Old Trafford but not many clubs get close to 1% of the nation to their home matches!

[edit] Current squad

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Iceland GK Kristján Finnbogason
2 Flag of Iceland DF Grétar Sigfinnur Sigurðsson
4 Flag of Iceland DF Gunnlaugur Jónsson (c)
5 Flag of Iceland MF Kristinn Jóhannes Magnússon
6 Flag of Iceland MF Jónas Guðni Sævarsson
7 Flag of Iceland FW Guðjón Baldvinsson
8 Flag of Iceland MF Atli Jóhannsson
10 Flag of Iceland FW Björgólfur Hideaki Takefusa
11 Flag of Iceland FW Grétar Ólafur Hjartarson
12 Flag of Iceland MF Ingimundur Níels Óskarsson
13 Flag of Iceland DF Pétur Hafliði Marteinsson
14 Flag of Iceland MF Gunnar Örn Jónsson
15 Flag of Iceland MF Skúli Jón Friðgeirsson
16 Flag of Iceland GK Atli Jónasson (on loan to Haukar)
17 Flag of Iceland FW Ásgeir Örn Ólafsson
18 Flag of Iceland MF Óskar Örn Hauksson
19 Flag of Iceland FW Brynjar Orri Bjarnason
No. Position Player
20 Flag of Iceland DF Tómas Agnarsson (on loan to Reynir Sandgerði)
21 Flag of Iceland MF Guðmundur Reynir Gunnarsson
22 Flag of Iceland GK Stefán Logi Magnússon
23 Flag of Iceland Einar Darri Vilhjálmsson
24 Flag of Iceland FW Guðmundur Pétursson
25 Flag of Iceland DF Eggert Rafn Einarsson
26 Flag of Iceland MF Skúli Jónsson
27 Flag of Iceland FW Pétur Már Harðarson
28 Flag of Iceland FW Einar Bjarni Omarsson
29 Flag of Iceland MF Dofri Snorrason
30 Flag of Portugal MF Jordao Diogo
31 Flag of Iceland MF Halldór Ágústsson
32 Flag of Iceland MF Jón Kári Ívarsson
33 Flag of Iceland FW Björn Ívar Björnsson
Flag of Iceland MF Viktor Bjarki Arnarsson (on loan from Lillestrøm)
Flag of Iceland DF Sölvi Sturluson (on loan to Fjölnir)
Flag of Iceland MF Bjarnólfur Lárusson (out of contract)

[edit] Transfers 2007-2008

In

|- | style="text-align: right;" | 2 | style="text-align: center;" | Flag of Portugal | style="text-align: center;" | MF |Jordao da EncarnacaO Tackey Diogo (from Lewes FC)

|- | style="text-align: right;" | 2 | style="text-align: center;" | Flag of Iceland | style="text-align: center;" | DF |Grétar Sigfinnur Sigurðsson (from Víkingur)

|- | style="text-align: right;" | 7 | style="text-align: center;" | Flag of Iceland | style="text-align: center;" | FW |Guðjón Baldvinsson (from Stjarnan)

|- | style="text-align: right;" | 6 | style="text-align: center;" | Flag of Iceland | style="text-align: center;" | MF |Jónas Guðni Sævarsson (from Keflavík)

|- | style="text-align: right;" | 14 | style="text-align: center;" | Flag of Iceland | style="text-align: center;" | MF |Gunnar Örn Jónsson (from Breiðablik)

|- | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: center;" | Flag of Iceland | style="text-align: center;" | MF |Viktor Bjarki Arnarsson (on loan from Lillestrøm) |}

Out

12 Flag of Iceland MF Rúnar Kristinsson (Retired)
2 Flag of Iceland DF Sigþór Júlíusson (Retired)
14 Flag of Iceland MF Sigmundur Kristjánsson (To Þróttur)
7 Flag of Iceland MF Ágúst Þór Gylfason (to Fjölnir)
21 Flag of Iceland DF Vigfús Arnar Jósepsson (to Leiknir)
3 Flag of Iceland DF Tryggvi Sveinn Bjarnason (to Stjarnan)
9 Flag of Iceland FW Jóhann Þórhallsson (to Fylkir)
Flag of Iceland DF Henning Eyþór Jónasson (to Selfoss)

[edit] Selected former players

[edit] Fixtures 2007

Fixture Opponent Venue Date Result TV
League Keflavík KR-völlur Home May 14th 1-2 Sýn[1]
League ' 'Breiðablik KR-völlur Home May 20th 1-1
League Valur Laugardalsvöllur Away May 24th 1-2 Sýn[2]
League Víkingur KR-völlur Home May 28th 1-2
League ' 'ÍA Akranesvöllur Away June 10th 1-3 Sýn[3]
League FH KR-völlur Home June 14th 0-2 Sýn[4]
League ' 'HK Kópavogsvöllur Away June 20th 0-2
League ' 'Fram KR-völlur Home June 28th 2-1
League ' 'Fylkir Fylkisvöllur Away July 4th 0-0
League Keflavík Keflavíkurvöllur Away July 15th 1-1
League ' 'Breiðablik Kópavogsvöllur Away July 25th 1-1
League Valur KR-völlur Home August 8th
League Víkingur Víkin Away August 16th
League ' 'ÍA KR-völlur Home August 26th
League FH Kaplakriki Away August 30th
League ' 'HK KR-völlur Home September 16th
League ' 'Fram Laugardalsvöllur Away September 23th
League ' 'Fylkir KR-völlur Home September 29th

[edit] Club Honours

[edit] Famous Supporters

Bubbi Morthens at a KR game
Bubbi Morthens at a KR game

Amongst famous supporters of KR there are: Björgólfur Guðmundsson, Björgólfur Thor, Bubbi Morthens, Gísli Marteinn Baldursson, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Bogi Ágústsson, Þröstur Emilsson, Mörður Árnason, Egill Helgason, Haukur Hólm, Geir Haarde, Óli Björn Kárason, Gunnar Smári Egilsson and Bjarni Felixson.

[edit] References

[edit] External links