Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

KR

Full name	Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur
Nickname(s)	KR-ingar
Short name	KR
Founded	16 February 1899
Ground	Frostaskjól, Reykjavík, Iceland
Ground Capacity	2,781
Chairman	Kristinn Kjærnested
Manager	Bjarni Guðjónsson
League	Úrvalsdeild
2014	3rd
Home colours Away colours

Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, (English: Reykjavík F.C.), often shortened to KR or KR Reykjavík, is an Icelandic football club based in the capital, Reykjavík.

KR is the oldest and most successful club in Icelandic football, having won the Úrvalsdeild championship 26 times, including the first season in 1912. It is also the most successful club in the Icelandic Cup, with 14 titles including the first in 1960 and most recent in 2014. In 1964, KR was also the first Icelandic representative in the European Cup.

History

Early history

KR playing Fram in the inaugural Icelandic football season in 1912.

KR was established on 16 February 1899, making it the oldest football club in Iceland. It was founded as Fótboltafélag Reykjavíkur (Reykjavík Football Club), before changing to Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, also meaning Reykjavík Football Club, the change due to "knattspyrna" being considered a more elegant word ("Fótbolti" is literally translated as "football" while "knattspyrna", while translating as "football", is literally "ballkicking"). KR modelled their kit on the black-and-white stripes of Newcastle United, a strong club during KR's early years. 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.

1955–1998

KR won the first title after the Icelandic league was divided into two divisions 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 Icelandic Cup competition in 1960. KR was the first Icelandic club to play in European competition, entering the 1964-65 European Cup. They lost the preliminary round 11–1 on aggregate to Liverpool, who were also playing their first European tie. KR’s women's team was also the first Icelandic contender in Europe, entering the inaugural European Competition in 2001.

KR won their twentieth title in 1968. They were relegated for the first time to the Second Division in 1977 narrowly missed winning the first division in 1990, 1996 and 1998, when KR lost out in the title race on the final day, all of which strengthened the solidarity within the club.

Recent history

In KR’s centenary year in 1999 the team ended its long quest for another national title. The team had not won the league title for 31 years despite often being viewed as favourites but they looked favourites all season this time. 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 26 times and the cup 14 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 four times won the double, in 1961, 1963, 1999 and in 2011.

KR's best European success was in 2009–10 UEFA Europa League when they defeated AE Larissa (2–0, 1–1) in the second qualifying round, but were eliminated in next round by FC Basel (2–2, 1–3). In 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, KR eliminated ÍF Fuglafjørður in the first qualifying round and achieved a big win against MŠK Žilina in the next round (3–0) in Reykjavík.

Jersey

KR's home shirt from 2007–09, manufactured by Nike and sponsored by Shell Oil.

KR play, as previously stated, in black and white stripes in honour of Newcastle United. The current sponsor of KR is the Icelandic transportation giant Eimskip. Above the club badge on the shirt, although not featured on replica shirts, there are five stars, each representing 5 of KR's 25 league titles. On 20 October 2006, KR introduced a new deal with sport equipment manufacturer Nike and the team will wear products from Nike for the 2007 season.

The KR shorts are black and white and only carry the logo of Eimskip, Nike the KR badge and the squad number of the player. The KR socks are black and white and are without a club badge.

Other sports

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

See also: K.R. Basket Reykjavik

Besides football, 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.

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, which roughly 1% of the Icelandic nation.

Current squad

Source:

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Stefán Logi Magnússon DF Michael Præst 3 DF Rasmus Christiansen 4 DF Gonzalo Balbi 5 DF Skúli Jón Friðgeirsson 6 DF Gunnar Þór Gunnarsson 7 FW Gary Martin 8 MF Jónas Guðni Sævarsson 9 FW Thorsteinn Már Ragnarsson 10 MF Pálmi Rafn Pálmason 11 FW Almar Ormarsson 12 GK Hördur Fannar Björgvinsson 13 GK Sindri Snær Jensson 15 FW Emil Atlason 16 MF Kristinn Magnússon

No. Position Player 17 FW Hólmbert Aron Friðjónsson 18 DF Aron Bjarki Jósepsson 19 FW Sören Frederiksen 20 MF Jacob Schoop 21 DF Guðmundur Reynir Gunnarsson 22 MF Óskar Örn Hauksson 27 MF Gudmundur Andri Tryggvason 28 MF Atli Hrafn Andrason 29 MF Júlí Karlsson 30 DF Axel Sigurdarson 40 MF Gunnar Birgisson MF Harvey Moyes FW Björn Þorláksson FW Kristófer Eggertsson MF Torfi Karl Ólafsson

European cups history

KR have played a European match against one or more teams from each one of the 21 countries shaded in blue on this map.

As of 25 July 2013

Overall

Competition	Matches	W	D	L	GF	GA
UEFA Champions League	18	3	4	11	20	55
UEFA Europa League	18	6	4	8	30	30
UEFA Cup	14	3	3	8	9	25
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	14	2	2	10	14	37
TOTAL	64	14	13	37	73	147

Matches

Season	Cup	Round	Nation	Club	Result	Aggregate
1964–65	European Cup	Q		Liverpool	0–5, 1–6	1–11
1965–66	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R		Rosenborg	1–3, 1–3	2–6
1966–67	European Cup	1R		Nantes	2–3, 2–5	4–8
1967–68	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R		Aberdeen	0–10, 1–4	1–14
1968–69	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R		Olympiacos	0–2, 0–2	0–4
1969–70	European Cup	1R		Feyenoord	2–12, 0–4	2–16
1984–85	UEFA Cup	1R		Queens Park Rangers	0–3, 0–4	0–7
1991–92	UEFA Cup	1R		Torino	0–2, 1–6	1–8
1993–94	UEFA Cup	1R		MTK Budapest	1–2, 0–0	1–2
1995–96	European Cup Winners' Cup	Q		CS Grevenmacher	2–3, 2–0	4–3
		1R		Everton	2–3, 1–3	3–6
1996–97	European Cup Winners' Cup	Q		MPKC Mozyr	2–2, 1–0	3–2
		1R		AIK Stockholm	0–1, 1–1	1–2
1997–98	UEFA Cup	1Q		Dinamo Bucharest	2–0, 2–1	4–1
		2Q		OFI Crete	0–0, 1–3	1–3
1999–00	UEFA Cup	Q		Kilmarnock	1–0, 0–2	1–2
2000–01	UEFA Champions League	1Q		Birkirkara	2–1, 4–1	6–2
		2Q		Brøndby	1–3, 0–0	1–3
2001–02	UEFA Champions League	1Q		Vllaznia Shkodër	2–1, 0–1	2–2
2003–04	UEFA Champions League	1Q		Pyunik	0–1, 1–1	1–2
2004–05	UEFA Champions League	1Q		Shelbourne	2–2, 0–0	2–2
2007–08	UEFA Cup	1Q		BK Häcken	1–1, 0–1	1–2
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	2Q		Larissa	2–0, 1–1	3–1
		3Q		FC Basel	2–2, 1–3	3–5
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	1Q		Glentoran	3–0, 2–2	5–2
		2Q		Karpaty Lviv	0–3, 2–3	2–6
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	1Q		ÍF Fuglafjørður	3–1, 5–1	8–2
		2Q		MŠK Žilina	3–0, 0–2	3–2
		3Q		Dinamo Tbilisi	1–4, 0–2	1–6
2012–13	UEFA Champions League	2Q		HJK Helsinki	0–7, 1–2	1–9
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	1Q		Glentoran	0–0, 3–0	3–0
		2Q		Standard Liège	1–3, 1–3	2–6
2014–15	UEFA Champions League	2Q		Celtic	0–1, 0–4	0–5
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	1Q		Cork City	1–1, 2–1 (aet)	3–2
		2Q		Rosenborg	0–1, 0–3	0–4

Club honours

• Icelandic Championships: 26

1912, 1919, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1941, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2011, 2013

• Icelandic Cups: 14

1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014

• Icelandic League Cups: 5

1998, 2001, 2005, 2010, 2012

• Icelandic Super Cup: 4

1969, 1996, 2003, 2012

Managers

• Óli B. Jónsson (1945), (1947–51), (1954–55), (1958 – Dec 31, 1961), (Jan 1, 1969–70)
• Gordon Lee (1985–1987)
• Guðjón Þórðarson (July 1, 1994 – June 30, 1995)
• Atli Eðvaldsson (July 1, 1998–99)
• Pétur Pétursson (2000–01)
• Teitur Thordarson (2006 – Dec 11, 2007)
• Logi Ólafsson (July 1, 2007 – July 20, 2010)
• Rúnar Kristinsson (July 20, 2010–10 okt 2014)
• Bjarni Gudjonsson (October 15, – ?)

External links

• Official Website
• Fansite