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 12,000
Chairman Flag of Iceland Magnús Ingimundarson
Manager Flag of Iceland Teitur Þórðarson
League Landsbankadeild
2006 Landsbankadeild, 2nd
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 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 all-black and only carry the logo of Shell and the squad number of the player.

The KR socks are all-black and are without a club badge

[edit] Sports played

Besides football (soccer), which is the original sport for which the club was founded, KR today also practices badminton, table tennis basketball, 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. 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 team squad

Provisional as of November 28th

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Iceland GK Kristján Finnbogason
3 Flag of Iceland DF Tryggvi Sveinn Bjarnason
4 Flag of Iceland DF Gunnlaugur Jónsson (c)
5 Flag of Iceland MF Kristinn Jóhannes Magnússon
6 Flag of Iceland MF Bjarnólfur Lárusson
7 Flag of Iceland MF Ágúst Þór Gylfason
8 Flag of Iceland MF Atli Jóhannsson
9 Flag of Iceland FW Jóhann Þórhallsson
10 Flag of Iceland FW Björgólfur Hideaki Takefusa
11 Flag of Iceland FW Grétar Ólafur Hjartarsson
13 Flag of Iceland DF Pétur Marteinsson
14 Flag of Iceland MF Sigmundur Kristjánsson
15 Flag of Iceland MF Skúli Jón Friðgeirsson
16 Flag of Iceland GK Atli Jónasson
17 Flag of Croatia DF Dalibor Pauletić
No. Position Player
18 Flag of Iceland MF Halldór Ágústsson
19 Flag of Iceland FW Brynjar Orri Bjarnason
20 Flag of Iceland DF Tómas Agnarsson
21 Flag of Iceland DF Vigfús Arnar Jósepsson
23 Flag of Iceland MF Guðmundur Reynir Gunnarsson
24 Flag of Iceland DF Sölvi Sturluson
25 Flag of Iceland DF Eggert Rafn Einarsson
26 Flag of Iceland MF Skúli Jónsson
28 Flag of Iceland FW Björn Ívar Björnsson
31 Flag of Iceland MF Erik Christianson Chaillot
33 Flag of Iceland DF Sigþór Júlíusson
34 Flag of Iceland FW Guðmundur Pétursson
Flag of Iceland MF Óskar Örn Hauksson
Flag of Iceland GK Stefán Logi Magnússon
Flag of Iceland MF Ingimundur Níels Óskarsson

[edit] Transfers 2006-2007

In

Flag of Iceland MF Atli Jóhannsson (from ÍBV)
Flag of Iceland DF Pétur Marteinsson (from Hammarby)
Flag of Iceland MF Óskar Örn Hauksson (from Grindavík)
Flag of Iceland FW Jóhann Þórhallsson (from Grindavík)
Flag of Iceland GK Stefán Logi Magnússon (from KS/Leiftur)
Flag of Iceland MF Ingimundur Níels Óskarsson (from Fjölnir)
34 Flag of Iceland FW Guðmundur Pétursson (from ÍR)

Out

27 Flag of Iceland MF Gunnar Kristjánsson (To Víkingur)
30 Flag of Croatia MF Mario Čižmek (Contract expired)
22 Flag of Iceland DF Ásgeir Aron Ásgeirsson (To Fjölnir)
24 Flag of Iceland DF Sölvi Sturluson (To Fjölnir)
27 Flag of Iceland DF Gunnar Einarsson (To Valur)

[edit] Starting line-up and formation

  • 4-4-2 formation

Their most common starting line up during the 2006 season was the following:

Pauletić
# 17
Gunnlaugur
# 4
Tryggvi
# 3
Čižmek
# 30
Sigmundur
# 14
Bjarnólfur
# 6
Kristinn
# 5
Grétar
# 11

[edit] Selected former players

[edit] Fixtures 2007

Fixture Opponent Venue Date Result TV
League Keflavík KR-völlur Home May 14th
League Breiðablik KR-völlur Home May 20th
League Valur Laugardalsvöllur Away May 24th
League Víkingur KR-völlur Home May 28th
League ÍA Akranesvöllur Away June 10th
League FH KR-völlur Home June 14th
League HK Kópavogsvöllur Away June 20th
League Fram KR-völlur Home June 28th
League Fylkir Fylkisvöllur Away July 4th
League Keflavík Keflavíkurvöllur Away July 15th
League Breiðablik Kópavogsvöllur Away July 25th
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

  • Icelandic Championships: 24
    • 1912, 1919, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1941, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003
  • Icelandic Cups: 10
    • 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1994, 1995, 1999

[edit] Famous Supporters

KR supporters are widely know for being extremely confident people.

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] External links


 
Úrvalsdeild (Landsbankadeildin) 2007 clubs
Flag of Iceland
Breiðablik  • FH Hafnarfjörður  • Fram  • Fylkir  • Keflavík  • HK
ÍA Akranes  • KR Reykjavík  • Valur  • Víkingur Reykjavík