Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur

Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur, also referred to as Þróttur Reykjavík or Throttur, is a sports club from Reykjavík in Iceland. The club runs a football department as well as handball, volleyball and tennis departments. The club has enjoyed tremendous success in men's volleyball, winning a total of 14 Icelandic Championships since 1974. The handball department enjoyed great success in the early 1980s, winning its major honour, the Icelandic handball cup, in 1981. Football has been played by the club from start, and is the biggest of the four departments.

Þróttur
Full nameKnattspyrnufélagið Þróttur
Nickname(s)Köttarar
Founded5 August 1949
GroundEimskipsvöllurinn
Reykjavík, Iceland
Capacity2,000
ChairmanHelgi Sævarsson (sports club)
Kristján Kristjánsson (football department)
ManagerIan jeffs (men's team)
League1. deild karla
2022Increase 2nd in 2. deild karla (promoted)

History

The club was founded on 5 August 1949. The club was founded in a Nissen hut on the west side of Reykjavík. The club drew support from local area which in the 1950s included large numbers of Nissen huts, an area that was in many ways poverty stricken. The club struggled financially for the first years. The club moved in 1969 to the east side of Reykjavík to a new district that was expanding in the 1960s. The club founded a handball department in the 1950s, and was quite successful in women's handball, winning every available trophy in 1957. A volleyball department was founded in 1974 and has since become the most successful volleyball team in Iceland. The handball department faced financial difficulties in the late 1980s and was disbanded in 1989, but revived in the year 2000. From 1989 the club has also had a Tennis department.

The club moved its headquarters again in 1999 to the nearby area of Laugardalur. Plans to merge the club with neighbors Glímufélagið Ármann did not prove successful, the two clubs now share a location but specialize in different types of sports. Þróttur concentrate more on group sports whereas Ármann focuses more on individual sports, except for basketball.

Recent seasons in football

The team played in the Úrvalsdeild Karla (men's premier division) in 2005, but it was relegated to the 1. deild karla (men's second league level). They clinched promotion again after the 2007 season. In 2008 the team finished in 10th place, just above the relegation zone. Þróttur was the first to be relegated during the 2009 season, having been sent down after playing only 19 games out of the 22. The 2010 season saw the return of former favorite player, Páll Einarsson, as coach. The season was an overall disappointment and the club finished in mid table in division one. In the following season, the team finished in similar position. The 2012 started off badly, but a mid season turnaround meant that the team made a challenge for promotion, but in the end came in 3rd place. After another poor start to the 2013 season Páll Einarsson was sacked and was replaced by Serbian Zoran Milkjović. Following the 2013 season, Zoran Milkjović left the club, and was replaced by Gregg Ryder who had previously been the assistant coach at ÍBV.

The Women's team got promoted to the top division in 2010, but got relegated from the Women´s Premier League the year after. In 2012 the team got off to bad start but nevertheless managed to win the league and promotion to the Premier League again.

Current squad

As of 14 August 2022

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK Iceland ISL Sveinn Óli Guðnason
DF Australia AUS Alex Baker
DF Iceland ISL Brynjar Gautur Harðarson
MF Iceland ISL Hinrik Harðarson
DF Iceland ISL Guðmundur Axel Hilmarsson
DF Ukraine UKR Kostyantyn Pikul
DF Iceland ISL Miroslav Pushkarov
DF Iceland ISL Baldur Hannes Stefánsson
DF Iceland ISL Stefán Þórður Stefánsson
DF Iceland ISL Viktor Steinarsson
MF Iceland ISL Birkir Björnsson
MF Iceland ISL Arnaldur Ásgeir Einarsson
MF Iceland ISL Emil Skúli Einarsson
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Iceland ISL Ólafur Fjalar Freysson
MF England ENG Sam Hewson
MF Iceland ISL Aron Fannar Hreinsson
MF Ukraine UKR Kostyantyn Yaroshenko
MF Iceland ISL Kári Kristjánsson
MF Iceland ISL Theodór Unnar Ragnarsson
MF Iceland ISL Eiríkur Þórsteinsson Blöndal
FW Spain ESP Izaro Abella
FW Iceland ISL Adrián Baarregaard
FW Iceland ISL Eiður Baldvin Baldvinsson
FW Iceland ISL Aron Snær Ingason
FW Iceland ISL Andi Morina
FW Poland POL Ernest Slupski

References

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