Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar

FH
Full name Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar
Nickname(s) FH-ingar
Short name FH
Founded October 15, 1929
Ground Kaplakriki,
Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
Ground Capacity 6,500 (2,500 seats)
Chairman Jón Rúnar Halldórsson
Manager Heimir Guðjónsson
League Úrvalsdeild
2015 1st
Website Club home page

Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (English: Hafnarfjörður gymnastics club), commonly referred to as FH, is an Icelandic sports club based in Hafnarfjörður. The club competes in football, handball, track and field, and fencing. Its men's football team has been a dominant power since the early 2000 and is the reigning first division champion, after taking the 2015 title, the seventh in its history.

History

Early history

Founded in 1928 as a gymnastics club, FH has since moved into other sports. FH were promoted to the first division in football for the first time in 1979. They avoided relegation by one place and two points in their first season before being relegated in last place in 1981. FH were promoted back to the top-flight in 1984. They spent a single season in the second division in 1988 and were relegated again in 1995.[1]

21st century

After winning the second division in 2000,[2] they came third in the first division in 2001.[3] In 2004 FH won their first national championship, with 37 points to ÍBV's 31.[4]

FH's first European campaign came in the 2004-05 UEFA Cup, in which they defeated Haverfordwest County of Wales in the first qualifying round, and then Scottish side Dunfermline Athletic in the second 4–3 on aggregate. With the second leg in injury time and the aggregate score at 3–3, Dunfermline were set to go through on away goals. However, Tommy Nielsen scored in injury time to send the Icelandic part-timers into the first round proper, where they were defeated by Germany's Alemannia Aachen 5–1 on aggregate with all the goals in the first leg in Aachen.

As Icelandic champion of 2004, FH represented the country in the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League, losing to Neftchi Baku of Azerbaijan by 2–0[5] in the first leg and by 1–2[6] in the second leg [4–1 on aggregate] of the first qualifying round.

The team won the Icelandic championship for the third year in a row in 2006 after winning the division with 36 points out of 54. Tryggvi Guðmundsson became the team top-scorer with eight goals that season. In summer 2006 three of the club's players played for the national team: Daði Lárusson, Sigurvin Ólafsson and Ármann Smári Björnsson. Ármann Smári also joined Norwegian team Brann after a superb spell for the first 15 rounds. Baldur Bett also left the squad at the end of the season and joined rivals Valur on a free transfer.

The club stadium Kaplakriki underwent a major redevelopment: the southern stand expanded, bringing the seating capacity to 3,500. There are further plans to increase the seating capacity to nearly 6,000 which would make the stadium by far the largest in Iceland, excluding the Laugardalsvöllur stadium. Also to be built are some new club houses, an indoor track and field centre and a roof over the stands.

On 20 October 2006 the club signed the Icelandic twins Arnar and Bjarki Gunnlaugsson, who have played for Bolton Wanderers F.C., Stoke City F.C., Feyenoord Rotterdam, 1. FC Nuremberg and Leicester City F.C.. The twins were transferred to their childhood club Íþróttabandalag Akraness in late July 2008. On 1 November 2006 the club signed the 26-year-old Matthías Guðmundsson from Valur.

The 2007 season saw FH finishing second in the premier division behind main rivals Valur, after losing to them in one of the final games of the season. FH won the Visa-bikar with a 2–1 victory over Fjölnir in the cup final which secured them a place in the UEFA Cup qualification round.

In October 2007, Ólafur Jóhannesson resigned as FH manager to take over the Icelandic national side. In his five years in control of FH, the team won the Premier division three times, were placed second twice, won the league cup three times and the cup once. Heimir Guðjónsson, former assistant-manager and former FH captain, was hired as his replacement.

On 1 August 2008 the club was drawn against F.A. Premier League team Aston Villa in the Second Qualifying Round of the UEFA Cup. They were beaten 4–1 in the home leg on 14 August, and drew 1–1 in the away tie at Villa Park on 28 August, losing 5–2 on aggregate.

On 27 September 2008 FH won the Icelandic Premier division for the fourth time in 5 years. In one of the most exciting last days of the competition ever, their main rivals Keflavík were odds-on favorites to win the title with a 2-point lead over FH going into the last round. FH had a game against Fylkir while Keflavík played hosts to Fram, who themselves had to win to secure third place and the last spot in the UEFA Cup next season. FH had to win their game by two goals to benefit from a draw in Keflavík. In the event FH beat Fylkir 2–0 for FH with goals from Matthías Vilhjálmsson and Guðmundur Sævarsson, while Keflavík, after being a goal up lost 2–1 to Fram. Captain Davíð Þór Viðarsson lifted the cup to the dismay of the Keflavík fans.

They took part in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League after winning the league in 2009. They then finished second in the league in 2010 and 2011 and won the league in 2012 for the tenth top-two finish in a row. In 2015, they won their seventh title.

Honours

UEFA club competition record

As of July 17, 2013

Competition Matches W D L GF GA
UEFA Champions League 15 3 3 9 13 20
UEFA Cup/Europa League 23 9 7 7 32 33

Matches

Season Competition Round Opponents 1st leg 2nd leg Aggregate
2004–05 UEFA Cup 1Q Wales Haverfordwest County 1–0 3–1 4–1
2Q Scotland Dunfermline Athletic 2–2 2–1 4–3
1R Germany Alemannia Aachen 1–5 0–0 1–5
2005–06 UEFA Champions League 1Q Azerbaijan Neftchi Baku 0–2 1–2 1–4
2006–07 UEFA Champions League 1Q Estonia FC TVMK 3–2 1–1 4–3
2Q Poland Legia Warsaw 0–1 0–2 0–3
2007–08 UEFA Champions League 1Q Faroe Islands HB 4–1 0–0 4–1
2Q Belarus BATE 1–3 1–1 2–4
2008–09 UEFA Cup 2Q England Aston Villa 1–4 1–1 2–5
2009–10 UEFA Champions League 2Q Kazakhstan Aktobe 0–4 0–2 0–6
2010–11 UEFA Champions League 2Q Belarus BATE 1–5 0–1 1–6
2011–12 UEFA Europa League 2Q Portugal Nacional 1–1 0–2 1–3
2012–13 UEFA Europa League 1Q Liechtenstein USV Eschen/Mauren 2–1 1–0 3–1
2Q Sweden AIK 1–1 0–1 1–2
2013–14 UEFA Champions League 2Q Lithuania Ekranas 1–0 2–1 3–1
3Q Austria Austria Wien 0–1 0–0 0–1
PO Belgium Genk 0–2 2–5 2–7
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 1Q Northern Ireland Glenavon 3–0 3–2 6–2
2Q Belarus Neman Grodno 1–1 2–0 3–1
3Q Sweden Elfsborg 1–4 2–1 3–5
2015–16 UEFA Europa League 1Q Finland SJK 1–0 1–0 2–0
2Q Azerbaijan Inter Baku 1–2 2–2 3–4 (a.e.t)
2016–17 UEFA Champions League 2Q  –  – –
Notes

Managers

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
12 Iceland GK Kristján Finnbogason
37 Faroe Islands GK Gunnar Nielsen
Faroe Islands DF Sonni Nattestad
4 England DF Sam Tillen
5 Iceland DF Pétur Viðarsson
15 Iceland DF Guðmann Þórisson
16 Iceland DF Jón Ragnar Jónsson
20 Mali DF Kassim Doumbia
21 Iceland DF Böðvar Böðvarsson
23 Iceland DF Brynjar Guðmundsson
26 Belgium DF Jonathan Hendrickx
No. Position Player
6 England MF Sam Hewson
9 Iceland MF Þórarinn Ingi Valdimarsson
10 Iceland MF Davíð Þór Viðarsson
13 Iceland MF Bjarni Þór Viðarsson
22 Belgium MF Jeremy Serwy
29 Iceland MF Eggert Georg Tómasson
7 Scotland FW Steven Lennon
11 Iceland FW Atli Guðnason
14 Iceland FW Indriði Áki Þorláksson
17 Iceland FW Atli Viðar Björnsson
18 Iceland FW Kristján Flóki Finnbogason

References

  1. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/ijshist.html
  2. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/ijs2champ.html
  3. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/ijs01.html
  4. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/ijs04.html
  5. ↑ Neftchi Baku – FH Hafnarfjordur : 2–0 (Match Report) ScoresPro.com
  6. ↑ FH Hafnarfjordur – Neftchi Baku : 1–2 (Match Report) ScoresPro.com

External links

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