[FM14] The Aurora Borealis Honeymoon

Handknattleiksfélag Kópavogs

Club Background

Handknattleiksfélag Kópavogs were founded in 1970 as a Handball club, with the football team established in 1992, a year after I was born. They play in an indoor football stadium called Kórinn, which was built in 2007.

The club are based in Kópavogur, which lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region. The name literally means seal pup bay.

Stadium Capacity 1,600

Season Ticket Holders 513

Estimated Value £1.5m

Average Ticket Price £13

Average Season Ticket Price £77

Recent History

In 2007, HK played their first season in the Icelandic top division, the Úrvalsdeild. The club were relegated in their second season to the 1. Deild Karla (the second tier) and were relegated to the fourth tier in 2011.

In 2011, HK won the 3. Deild Karla (fourth tier) and finished third in their first season in the 2. Deild Karla, cruelly missing out on promotion by goal difference to KF. The following season, HK won the league on goal difference with just two points separating the top five!

Why Iceland?

Two reasons: I wanted to attempt one of the European challenges on the forums and also thought it would be really cool to manage in Iceland as I'm going there on Honeymoon in November 2016. We will be going to Reykjavik and, depending on how successful this career is, may also visit Kópavogur.

Goals, aspirations etc

The long term goal in my mind is always win the top league and, eventually, the Champions League. For the first season, I would like to finish third in the Upper League Cup group, as we have been drawn in a group containing two Úrvalsdeild sides. For the league, I just want to survive this season and get my bearings so we can push on next year.

My FM Achievements

FM2007 - Taking AFC Telford to the Premiership, finishing fifth and qualifying for the Uefa Cup

FM2012 - Took Stranraer from Division Three to the SPL, winning 11 SPL titles, 3 Champions Leagues, 2 Club World Championships and 2 European Super Cups in 24 seasons.

more to be added

Career Overview

Season  Division          Position  Upper League Cup  Icelandic Cup Europa League Champions League  Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014    1. Deild Karla    3rd       Semi-Final        3rd Rnd       N/A           N/A               Consolidated
2015    1. Deild Karla    1st       Quarter-Final     Qtr-Final     N/A           N/A               Promotion
2016    Úrvalsdeild       4th       Quarter-Final     Qtr-Final     N/A           N/A               Qualified for Europe!
2017    Úrvalsdeild       1st       Quarter-Final     Winners       2nd Quali     N/A               League & Cup double, qualified for CL!
2018    Úrvalsdeild       1st       Winners           Finalists     Playoff       3rd Quali         League, UL Cup and Champs Cup treble!
2019    Úrvalsdeild       1st       Winners           Qtr-Final     N/A           Group Stage       League, UL Cup and Champs Cup treble
2020    Úrvalsdeild       1st       Winners           Winners       N/A           Group Stage       Domestic Quadruple!

HK Hall of Fame

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If anybody could assist with putting images in my posts, that would be great, I would like to add an image of the clubs badge centred but a little smaller. Thanks

2014 Season

Competitions

Table - League Positions - Upper League Cup - Icelandic Cup - Transfers - Finances

Key Players

Hafsteinn Briem - 23 year old Centre Mid signed for £20k. Worth every penny, when he played well, we played well. 11 assists from 33 matches was a great return from Briem, captained the side on one or two occasions. Future full time captain.

Guðmundur Steinn Hafsteinsson - 25 year old Striker signed for £8k. Did a great job as the lone striker, happy to bang goals in from 30 yards but uncomfortable with tap-ins! 11 in 30 was a decent return but looking for a 1 in 2 man next season.

An up and down first season which started really positively but ended with a sour taste of what could have been. Going into the last two matches we faced third placed Haukur who were level on points with us but had inferior goal difference, and runaway leaders Fjolnir. Our penultimate league fixture against Haukur was almost a winner-takes-all match, which we unfortunately bottled, losing 2-1 to a last minute goal after we had both been reduced to 10 men. We were 1-0 down at half time and 10 minutes into the second half I decided that we had to go gung ho as we just could not afford to lose this match, we managed to draw level and then, uncharacteristically, I decided that I would hold back a little as I didn't want to risk conceding a late goal...

Now my emotions have settled, I am very happy with our first season, I set myself the target of finishing third in our Upper League Cup group and to survive our first season in the First Division. As you can see we more than surpassed both targets.

Highlights of the season include getting to the Cup semi-final and losing narrowly to KR who would go on to finish fourth in the Premier Division.

We took four points from Fjolnir, who were comfortable winners of the division, so that bodes well for next year.

I love managing in Iceland so will follow with interest.

Look forward to having you on board, Daz, where are you managing?

Look forward to having you on board, Daz, where are you managing?

Not anymore, but started at ÍA and took them to the league title. My thread can be found here.

Not anymore, but started at ÍA and took them to the league title. My thread can be found here.

I'll have a read

2015 Season Preview

Upper League Cup - Third in the group

Icelandic Cup - Fourth round

1. Deild Karla - Promotion

After narrowly missing out on promotion last season, this year I won't accept anything less than promotion, that is the main aim for this season, we almost can't afford not to financially.

Having been drawn in a group with six Úrvalsdeild sides, I'm optimistically aiming for third place again.

We reached the third round in the Icelandic Cup last season, so we'll aim to go one better this year and reach the fourth round.

2015 Pre-Season Summary

I'm very happy with the signings I've made, Eidur Gudjohnsen being the highlight! We've signed 9 players that are all at a level that I feel will benefit the first team.

Eidur's first goal for the club ensured a great start to the season for HK!

After our penultimate fixture of last season this gave me an immense sense of satisfaction.

Comfortably dispatched KR, the team who beat us in the Semi-Final, 3-0

I really do feel we have bought well this Autumn. I'm starting to put my stamp on the team, we've got a strong core of players that compliment each other nicely, Eidur has slotted in nicely upfront and brings a lot to the table with his ball retention, vision and passing ability, which Hafsteinsson just didn't have last year and in Emil Atlason, we've got a backup striker that will fill in when Eidur's injured or needs a break. Full steam ahead!

2015 Season

Competitions

Table - League Positions - Upper League Cup - Icelandic Cup - Transfers - Finances

Key Players

Rúrik Porfinsson - 23 year old RW, has improved massively since last season, taught him the pass instead of shoot PPM which has enabled him to make better decisions from tight angles! 17 goals, 5 assists from 34 matches took us to the title.

Arnar Már Gudjónsson - 28 year old CM that has replaced Briem (he's moved to the CMs position) as Advanced Playmaker, everything goes through him, really solid. 13 assists and 3 goals in 33 matches.

Overview

The season started well with us finishing third in our Upper League Cup group, thus qualifying as one of the two best third placed sides. This drew us against a strong KR team, which we took all the way to penalties and unfortunately lost after a 1-1 draw. The match was full of chances but neither of the two teams could convert more than their solitary goal.

Every two years, the position of Chairman is voted for by supporters and on the 14th April a new Chairman, Ómar Porgeirsson was elected and he instantly loaned the club £230,000 to clear debts and help running costs, this is being repaid, with a £70,000 interest, over the next 15 years. Let's hope we can clear that before then!

We did a lot better in the Icelandic Cup this season, we comfortably dispatched non-league Skallagrimur, then beat high-flying Úrvalsdeild side and local rivals Breidablik on penalties, followed by seeing off promotion-chasing Fram in the fourth round, before being beaten by ÍA in the quarter final, who would go on to win the cup, beating KA in the final. Incidentally, both finalists are in our division, meaning ÍA will play in the Euro Cup next season!

We were really solid this season, as I was hoping we would be, and comfortably won the league, even if Fram did take it to the last match of the season, in truth we were the best team in the league and deserved to win the title. We exceeded expectations in both cups, losing to stronger opposition in the Upper League Cup and to the eventual winners in the Icelandic Cup.

Next Season

Judging by our performance in the cups I think we're better than some of the teams in the top division, first season in any league I just want to stay up but I'm confident of a mid-table position.

Key Players

Hafsteinn Briem - 23 year old Centre Mid signed for £20k. Worth every penny, when he played well, we played well. 11 assists from 33 matches was a great return from Briem, captained the side on one or two occasions. Future full time captain.

One of my Favourite HK players, was my captain back in 2012 and just resigned him in my current save on a free transfer.

One of my Favourite HK players, was my captain back in 2012 and just resigned him in my current save on a free transfer.

He's really solid, have him playing as a supporting Centre Mid and he always does a job in the middle of the park.

Competitions

Table

Key Players

Arnar Már Gudjónsson - Our talisman. 10 goals, 14 assists and a staggering 10 MoMs in 29 matches. At times he carried us.

Emil Atlason - On paper (14 goals, 10 assists in 30 matches) he was superb but so frustrating to watch!

Rúnar Eiríksson - Youth player I signed last season, introduced him to the first team and didn't look out of place. Helped the U19s to a League & Cup double!

Overview

We started the season well, making it to the quarters of the Upper League Cup before losing on penalties to Grindavik. I made a mistake in this match and rested a few players hoping we would be too strong for them, as we beat them comfortably 3-1 in the group stage. The league started well and we floated around between 3rd to 6th all season and we fully deserved finishing 4th and qualifying for the Uefa Cup. We made it to the quarters of the Icelandic Cup also and were unfortunate to be eliminated from that. A successful season, I'd say.

Next Season

I'm not too fussed by the cups, though winning the Icelandic Cup qualifies for Europe, so I won't take them lightly. We finished six points from the title so there's no reason we can't challenge for the title either next season or the year after.

Extremely excited about Rúnar Eiríksson. At just 17 years old, he's got potential to play for HK for a long time. He supports HK, I'm one of his favourite people so really excited to see him develop, especially as he came through our youth setup, which I've been bugging the board to invest heavily in (to their credit they have).

Rúnar fits in nicely to my slightly adapted 4-5-1 with three CMs, two wingers and a False Nine. I'm playing him as a DLP alongside Briem as a CMs and a new signing, Gabríel Ingi Agnarsson, who also has potential to be one of the HK greats, if he stays around long enough. Those three in midfield have dominated every match so far this season, we've won 9 out of 10 including a 5-2 drubbing of champions KR in their own backyard.

Where did you get Agnarsson from? He looks great for such a young guy.

You playing him in Midfield or up front?

He left KR at the end of the season and was available on a free, I couldn't believe it when I saw him! Playing him as an Advanced Playmaker in midfield, due to Emil Atlason. I'm sure he would do well upfront but I want to keep Atlason there for this season at least.

2017 Season

League - Upper League Cup - Icelandic Cup - Europa League

Key Players

Emil Atlason - P34, 20 Goals, 15 Assists. In his third season for the club, I felt Emil really started to make that position upfront his own; exactly what I was hoping he would do at the start of the season. Big game player and still only 24.

Gabríel Ingi Agnarsson - P36, 8 Goals, 14 Assists. A huge signing for us, Gabríel was the key this season, not just in his performances but because it allowed us to move hugely influential playmaker, Gudjónsson from the Advanced Playmaker central position (which is where Agnarsson now plays) to right back. Going forward, we now have that extra option which we didn't have. Only 20 years of age too.

Ingimundur Níels Óskarsson - P31, 18 Goals, 8 Assists. In his second season for the club, Oskarsson hit the ground running with 5 goals in the Upper League Cup and maintained a brilliant level of performance throughout the season.

Exciting Youth Prospects

Rúnar Eiriksson - After breaking into the first team last year, he was an ever-present this, cementing his place as our Deep-Lying Playmaker. Absolutely solid, no fuss, moves the ball well doesn't score many or make many mistakes, does a great job for the team. 18 years old and I like to think he could be playing for HK for a long time.

Einar Karl Júlíusson - Came through our youth setup last season and I liked the look of him, so I asked Oskarsson to tutor him and that seems to have worked wonders (I've done the same with all other prospects). At 31, Oskarsson won't be in the team for much longer so by the time he retires, I anticipate Júlíusson will be ready for regular first team football.

Porvaldur Sigurdsson - I really like the look of this lad, came through our youth setup in August so has only been at the club for a couple of months but he looks sharp whenever he comes on and plays the False Nine role well. Double figures for Heading, Aggression, Composure, Finishing, Dribbling, Decisions, Determination, Off The Ball, Jumping Reach and Strength, amongst others, means he has huge potential to lead the line for us in future.

Overview

An awesome season. I was quietly confident we would mount a title challenge, particularly because the other teams just aren't strong enough. KR won the league back-to-back and they have a tiny squad with sporadic quality. We were top for the majority of the season, only being replaced when we had fixtures rearranged. After being eliminated from the Upper League Cup, we played 30 matches in 19 weeks, averaging a match approximately every four days. I felt we rotated the squad well and always had a decent youth player to step in and do a job for the team.

Our European adventure got off to a perfect start, racing into a 4-0 lead at HT, away against Slovenian side Celje, only for us to be pegged back to 4-2 (I have to confess a poorly judged teamtalk didn't help). We then lost the return leg 1-0 at home but the match was almost a formality. We then faced Maccabi Tel-Aviv, who I've met a few times in previous FMs and they've always been one of the better sides in the early qualifying rounds so knew we would be in for a tough match. In the home tie, we were winning 2-1 only for them to score just before HT and then again after the break. I thought a 3-2 loss was respectable. In Tel-Aviv, no doubt with a hostile home crowd, we lost 2-0 and kissed goodbye to the European dream. I was happy with that first outing though, the club probably make somewhere between £100k - £200k, which is a lot of money considering last years turnover was just shy of £1m.

Our Icelandic Cup run was a bit ropey, we saw off non-league Kári, before needing penalties to beat Fjolnir. Then we narrowly beat Njardvik before, again, edging past Tindastóll, a Div 1 side. We faced major rivals and, annoyingly, a huge bogey team for me but beat them 1-0 in the final with a scrappy goal from a corner. What do they say about the best sides finding a way to win!? I looked through and we scored 9 goals to win the cup, with not one player scoring more than one goal each!

Next Season

Win the Upper League Cup, Icelandic Cup and Úrvalsdeild, make as much money from CL and keep bringing youngsters through.

Absolutely romped the league, well done!

Nice first up win in Europe. What's your transfer budget looking like now?

Transfer budget is £88,000 so not a lot more but wage budget up to £11,000 from £6,000!

Just received an offer I couldn't refuse. Shame as he had so so much potential. Agnarsson's Profile

Competitions

League - Upper League Cup - Icelandic Cup - Champions Cup - Champions League - Europa League

Key Players

Hafsteinn Briem - Moved back into the Adv. PM position and thrived as I knew he would, after Agnarsson leaving. 9 goals, 9 assists from 33 matches.

Arnar Már Gudjónsson - Solid season from our attacking RB, contributing a staggering 15 assists and 6 goals from 35 matches.

Einar Karl Júlísson - A huge season for Júlíusson in which he converted his potential into real substance, aiding the cause with 15 goals and 13 assists from 34 matches. We rejected a £2m bid for him from Rosenborg.

Exciting Youth Prospects

Valdemar Kamban - Signed Kamban for £45k in July, and he notched 5 goals in his first 12 matches. Very excited to see how Kamban will progress. Atlason hasn't been consistent enough this season so next year Kamban will feature heavily.

Einar Magnússon - This lad came through our youth setup (which we're pouring good money into!) and I'm very optimistic about him. Good mental stats and a possible candidate for our next attacking full back after Gudjónsson retires.

Freyr Pórdarson - Another young striker that has great potential.

Others

Rúnar Eiriksson is ticking along nicely, playing lots of matches but not setting the world alight. Solid progress.

Porvaldur Sigurdsson has been hampered by injuries, hopefully he can kick on next season.

Overview

On paper a brilliant season, we won three of four domestic competitions, missing out only on the Icelandic Cup.

We scored one less point than last season in the league but it felt like we just did enough in lots of the matches, not playing well but getting the results; a sign of a top team?

We lost the Icelandic Cup final in frustrating circumstances. Breidablik had six days rest before the match and we only had three due to success in other competitions, which was disappointing as we could only field half of our first team.

Winning the Upper League Cup in extra-time of the final was a relief if nothing else. The one domestic competition that seemed to keep evading us, it was nice to get it under our belt.

Our European adventures this season reaped lots of financial rewards. We were drawn again FC Midtjylland in the second Qualifier of the CL and managed to beat them 2-1 away from home, then drawing 1-1 at home just doing enough to progress through to the next round. In the third Qualifier, we faced a strong BATE Borisov side and somehow managed to beat them 1-0 at home before doubling our first leg lead in the second leg, going 2-0 up on aggregate after just 12 minutes of the second tie. Unfortunately, after withstanding attack after attack, we conceded three goals and were eliminated from our first Champions League campaign. I felt more than happy with the way we played, definitely not embarrassing ourselves.

We were then drawn in the Europa League Playoff against Bayer Leverkusen of all teams. As soon as I saw the draw I knew it was going to be a damage limitation task; they were simply streets ahead of us. We lost the first leg 4-1 away from home and went into the second looking to give a good account of ourselves. With fifteen minutes of the tie remaining, we found ourselves 6-1 down on aggregate and not showing much fight. Three late goals and one from Leverkusen meant we finished the second leg tied 3-3 and 7-4 down on aggregate; again not embarrassing ourselves.

We sold Gabriel Ingi Agnarsson to IFK Goteborg for £1.2m + 50% of his next transfer, which I'm hoping will bring in a few million when one of the big boys picks him up, no doubt they will.

To conclude, a great season, we did well in Europe, maintained our good work domestically and have picked up a few more exciting youth prospects. Of the 26 players in the first team squad, half are 20 or younger. Bodes very well for the future.

Finances

A hugely successful season, financially. The sale of Agnarsson combined with our European run effectively paid for the stadium extension and the £850k we've spent on the Youth Setup!

Next Season

Same as last season: Win the Upper League Cup, Icelandic Cup and Úrvalsdeild, make as much money from CL and keep bringing youngsters through.

Fecking hell .

Nice, looking forward to seeing who you get in the group stage.

Nice, looking forward to seeing who you get in the group stage.

We got drawn against Man Utd, Roma and Zenit. End of season update to come shortly.

Fecking hell .

I was genuinely amazed, the whole team played out of their skins and, in all honesty, that was the only way this bunch of players could have achieved that!

Rolling in the Money..........is your team going pro? Your on your way to dominating Iceland like Liverpool and Man U use to. Expand the hangar!

Rolling in the Money..........is your team going pro? Your on your way to dominating Iceland like Liverpool and Man U use to. Expand the hangar!

Yes, at the start of next season.

Competitions

Table - Upper League Cup - Icelandic Cup - Champions Cup - Champions League

Key Players

Einar Karl Júlísson - Another great season, 21 goals and 13 assists in 36 matches including 9 goals in the Champions League. This season was a big one for Júlíusson, when we needed him most he stood up. Great season.

Emil Atlason - I'm still not convinced Emil is the man to take us forward but he always posts a great return. 24 goals and 12 assists from 35 matches can't be argued with.

Exciting Youth Prospects

Valdemar Kamban - We have a lot of exciting youth players but by far the most exciting is Valdemar. 7 goals and 8 assists from 14 starts (15 sub apps) is a great return. Kamban always does a job when he comes into the team.

Others

Rúnar Eiriksson has cemented his place as our deep lying playmaker. Solid, unspectacular and tidy. Recycles possession nicely and rarely puts a foot wrong.

Overview

Another brilliant season, we won three of four domestic competitions, missing out only on the Icelandic Cup again.

In the league we were unstoppable, posting a record 53 points from just 22 matches. We usually dropped points in between European fixtures, which is understandable now that we travel to Italy, England and Russia(!).

To me the Upper League Cup feels like the League Cup to Jose Mourinho; it's the first competition you have the chance to win and it really sets the tone for the season. We won it for the second time this season, which really installs that winning mentality into the group.

Our Icelandic Cup run ended very prematurely this year, frustrating as I don't believe any team in Iceland is fit to clean our boots, such is the gulf in class.

Champions League

With the league as good as tied up (we needed one point from our last four matches), we started the Group Stage in good spirits. My only aspiration for the Group Stage was to give a respectable account of ourselves, score a couple of goals and not get beaten too heavily. Third place would be a miracle.

I wasn't aware of this before but our U19s play in a youth replica of the tournament, which is very exciting for me as I believe the best way to improve players in FM and IRL is game time, so we'd be playing at least six matches against top quality young players.

Matchday 1 v Man Utd (H)

Manchester United were the first team to visit us at "home" (we play our CL matches at Fram's 15,182 capacity stadium Laugardalsvöllur). 9,522 people showed up for the historic match. Tactically, I didn't want to change anything for the first game, I went with my strongest XI and played exactly how we would against any other team. The first half was as you would expect: us pinned in our half, attempted to restrict them to long shots. It went according to plan too. I was very happy with 0-0 at half time, they didn't really have a great deal of chances either. Unfortunately, the second half was a different story, Danny Welbeck scored in the 48th, 71st and 93rd minute to give United a deserved 3-0 win. A fair scoreline and confirmation of the gulf in class at this level.

Youth result: 1-2. Ásgeir Rúnarsson with our goal.

Matchday 2 v Roma (A)

After losing 3-0 to Man Utd, I wanted to change our style of play so I told the team to drop deeper and play narrower whilst altering the mentality from 'standard' to 'counter'. 37,331 people attended (just over half full) the Stade Olimpico in Rome and the vast majority of the crowd would've gone to get their half time pie (pizza?) and pint frustrated. 0-0 at half-time. We were solid, much like the Man Utd match, hardworking, difficult to breakdown and looking good in possession, when we would wrestle it away from them that was. Unfortunately, again, we conceded an early goal in the second half, this time Antoine Griezmann snaking his way past Magnússon at left back before goosing G.Júlíusson at centre back and firing in from the angle. A phenomenal strike from a phenomenal player. We stuck to the game plan knowing that Roma hadn't really had much with me thinking that if we could get to 80 minutes with it still 1-0, we'd have a good go in the last 10 minutes. And then it happened. Every manager worth his salt will know a good chance when he sees it. We broke from a Roma free-kick in the 80th minute, Pétursson alert as ever with a good long ball to Sigurdsson on the left wing who nodded it down to Eiriksson in the middle of the park, who fed sub striker Pórdarson who in turn played Sigurdsson back in down the left wing. Years of playing FM and watching football had heightened my Chanceometer. A flat out race between Sigurdsson, a 23-year-old nippy winger with 16 acceleration, versus Argentinian international Enzo Beloso with 15 accleration. Sigurdsson did enough to get there first and won the race. He was in. Sigurdsson raced into the area with no-one for support, he was but one Icelandic man stranded abroad in a cauldron in Rome and then he hits it near post. Always go across the keeper you're told, make him work, get the ball on target and get a corner out of it worst case scenario. But Icelandic men don't play the percentages, Magnús Pór Sigurdsson has ice in his veins, as do all his compatriots. He thunders it near post, beating Asmir Begovic before clattering off the post and back into the arms of the grateful Bosnian. And just like that, our honeymoon in Rome was over. Thoroughly happy with that, though stealing a point in Rome would've been cause for a trip to the local for a bottle of Southern Comfort. Never mind, we move on.

Sigurdsson shot 1 Sigurdsson shot 2 Sigurdsson shot 3

Youth results: 2-1! Ásgeir Rúnarsson with both goals.

Matchday 3 v Zenit (H)

I didn't pay any attention to either of the three teams squads but, at a first glance I would've said Zenit were the weakest, yet still far too strong for us. When the third matchday came around I thought we'd have a go at Zenit, buoyed from our near-miss in Rome. And then it happened. Arnarson, Júlíusson and Hauksson are moving the ball well in the Zenit half before Júlíusson plays the ball to Hauksson who knows exactly where Júlíusson is going; in behind the full back. He doesn't even have to look, he instinctively knows and slides the ball through, perfectly weighted. Júlíusson is in behind with just the keeper to beat, he takes a touch and laces the ball across the keeper and into the back of the net. 1-0 and the crowd are going mental. Unfortunately the lead lasted all of three minutes before Oleg Shatov scored. Once more, we went in at half-time level and we had even managed to score! Also once more, however, we conceded straight after the restart with Oleg Shatov scoring his second and what turned out to be the winning goal in the 46th minute. We had a couple of half chances but nothing of note. Another stellar performance from the Icelandic underdogs.

Júlíusson shot 1 Júlíusson shot 2 Júlíusson shot 3

Youth result: 1-1. Ásgeir Rúnarsson with his (and our) fourth goal of the Group Stage.

Halfway Report

Happy with the first team's performance in the three matches, certainly not disgraced ourselves and really given it a good go.

The U19s have been brilliant and find themselves in second place with four points. Man Utd top the group with seven, Zenit in third with three points and Roma bottom with just one point.

Matchday 4 v Zenit (A)

After taking the lead in the Home fixture, I thought we would be able to give Zenit a game in Russia but this wasn't the case. After a cagey opening 25 minutes, they scored two goals in 10 minutes leaving us 2-0 down with 35 minutes on the clock. Our right winger Júlíusson pulled one back with a trademark bullet from the edge of the box going across the keeper (I can't tell you how many times he's done that). Half time oranges were eaten 2-1 down. Not bad. I subbed off both full backs to give them a rest and put young striker Kamban upfront but to no avail. Zenit scored again to finish us off 3-1 and that officially meant we were eliminated. Luckily, though, Roma only have 3 points so, as unlikely as it is, third place is not out of the question and the Italians won't fancy coming to Iceland I can tell you that for sure.

Youth result: 0-2.

Matchday 5 v Man Utd (A)

With three weeks between fixtures and the ever-presents in the first team spent at the end of their regular season, I gave the first team a week off of training hoping that would freshen them up a little. The emphatic 5-1 scoreline suggests it did the opposite. Apart from Hafsteinn Briem burying a 25 yard volley, we offered little else and it could have been so many more had United converted more of their 31 shots. Conceding two goals from set pieces was particularly hard to take.

Youth result: 0-2.

Matchday 6 v Roma (H)

I was slightly despondent going after the United result. I felt we had let ourselves down a little in the way we lost that match. As I didn't know when we were next going to be featuring in the Group Stage and with literally nothing to lose (Roma drew with Zenit in matchday 5 so we would finish bottom regardless), I decided to give the team a rousing team talk, tell them to hassle the opposition and to get stuck in and that's exactly what they did. Valdemar Kamban was playing left wing for me today and pounced on a rebound in the 39th minute to give us a well-earned lead. Very happy with that, nothing less than we deserved after a half full of us attacking and Roma defending(!). With a minute to play of the half, we had a throw in deep into the Roma half and, when Eiriksson swung the ball to the back post, Matarr Jobe was on hand to volley home. 2-0 up against Roma at half time! I couldn't quite believe it.

Half time came and I had to make the two important decisions. Firstly - tell the team I'm pleased or warn against complacency. Heart says pleased, head says complacent. Complacent it is, and it worked. All focused. Secondly, stick or twist? We knew Roma would come at us in the second half, they're a team full of internationals. Fortune favours the brave so we stuck as we were.

Second half came and to my absolute delight, Kamban put us three up from a position similar to Sigurdsson's chance against Roma in the reverse tie. Pandemonium on the sidelines with the HK bench going wild. Thirty minutes left, surely Roma would throw the kitchen sink at us now. They had nothing or, more accurately, we gave them nothing. Roma ended the match with 0 shots on target. Staggering performance from HK and, had it not been for Roma snatching a draw against Zenit, we would've finished third. Outstanding stuff.

Youth result: 3-1 Ásgeir Rúnarsson bagged one and Gylfi Örn Öfjord got two but it wasn't enough, we finished third level on points with Zenit.

U19s Group

Finances

Reaching the Champions League Group Stage is a game changer. £7m plus all of the added benefits of six fixtures against world class sides means we made a huge profit, enough to keep us going for a long time.

Next Season

Domestically, the aim will always be to win every competition. In Europe we over-achieved massively. I will be ecstatic to make the group stages of the CL again, though I certainly am not expecting to.

Miscellaneous

After reaching the CL group stage, the board granted my request to go full time from the start of next season, as well as upgrading everything! Stadium, training facilities, youth facilities the lot.

Also, what I think will make next year very interesting, domestically, is that the rest of the league played their last game on 29th September and we played our last match on 10th December so nowhere near as long time laying on a beach...

Also of the 8 teams that finished bottom in the Group Stage, only 3 got more points than us, therefore we were the 28th best team in Europe! Not bad considering we were ranked 385th at the start of the season.

When you start getting Champions League group stage regularly, Upper League cup is the time to start testing out your youth players who might be pushing for first team spots and second stringers to stop them whinging about not getting enough football.

When you start getting Champions League group stage regularly, Upper League cup is the time to start testing out your youth players who might be pushing for first team spots and second stringers to stop them whinging about not getting enough football.

Great Job! Rule Iceland with an iron fist!

Great Job! Rule Iceland with an iron fist!

Competitions

Table - Upper League Cup - Icelandic Cup - Champions Cup - Champions League

As cliché as this might sound, this season was absolutely crucial. For the past six seasons we had always overachieved with young players on a tight budget. Yes, we had borrowed a bit of money but we were solvent. This season, after turning professional and sextupling, anything other than success was unacceptable. The budget went from £10k p/w to £60k p/w, with nearly all of the squad and staff moving onto full time contracts and adding a fair amount of new faces, including far too many non-EU nationals (you're only allowed 3 per matchday squad).

Upper League Cup

After first winning this in 2018 then retaining it last year, I do not want to relinquish our deathgrip on it. It's the first domestic competition and will always be taken seriously by HK as long as I'm in charge! Seven wins out of seven in the group stage with 25 goals scored and just 2 conceded suggests the players took it equally as seriously. Fram were seen off in the quarters, while Valur (promoted last year as our feeder club) took us to penalties, though I was confident especially as our fifth penalty taker was Hafsteinn Briem (all hail!). I've likened my approach to Mourinho's before and the final was another typical example of that; a 2-0 win, nothing silly, get the job done give them nothing and bring the trophy home.

Champions Cup

Nothing to note, 3-1 win against First Division Selfoss. Two cups out of two.

League Campaign

We have started both of the last two league campaigns on fire both wobbling a little and then powering on to win the title. In 2018 we started with seven consecutive wins and in 2019 we started with nine. This season we started with eight consecutive wins before slipping up in the match three days before we started our Champions League campaign (shock). We went onto win the league by 13 points (same as last year), with 52 points.

Champions League

After our heroics in reaching the group stage last year, we again begun our campaign in the second qualifying round against Hibernians of Malta. Our record win (6-0) was broken in the first leg as we put seven past the bewildered Maltese in their own backyard before breaking our record for a third time in less than five weeks by beating them 8-0 at home. 15-0 on aggregate wasn't flattering, only ever one side in it.

As expected, the first leg of the third qualifying round was a lot tighter and in Dinamo of Croatia, we came up against much tougher opposition. The first leg at home was frustrating, especially as we created a number of good chances but couldn't convert any of them. In total, both teams mustered 26 shots with just two hitting the target. Our first stalemate for over 16 months. On a positive note, we didn't concede an away goal so if we score first in Croatia, we'll be in the driving seat.

Between the two most crucial fixtures of our season so far, was the small matter of an Icelandic Cup semi-final. We rested the whole XI and thankfully won 4-0.

As you would expect, the first half was as cagey a match as I've seen with less than a handful of shots and the deadlock wasn't broken until the 53rd minute when cultured centre half Júlíusson volleyed home from 12 yards out! This really opened the game up but proved to be the only goal, with us going through 1-0 on aggregate. Before the game I felt whoever scored first would win this tie and I'm so pleased to be proven right!

Due to our lowly status, we weren't seeded for the Playoff draw, meaning we would face Basel, BATE Borisov, Rosenborg, Rangers or Helsingborg. I was hoping for Helsingborg, though we did overcome Rosenborg last year. We were drawn against Rosenborg with the first leg at home four days after the Icelandic Cup final.

After successfully negotiating the Icelandic Cup final, we faced Rosenborg in the first leg of our pivotal Playoff tie. The first half went perfectly according to plan; we were solid and Lopez in midfield was running the show, which meant we went in 2-0 up at HT. Whether it was my team talk or something the players ate, I don't know but within ten minutes of the second half we had been pegged back to 2-2 before Pórdarson put us ahead again a few minutes later. Not long after that, Rosenborg equalised again and that was how it would end. 3-3 at home. Not happy with conceding three away goals but we're still in the tie.

Again, we had a domestic fixture between European matches and negotiated that by resting the whole XI. Our season really does pivot around whether we get into the group stages, so this match was crucial. I felt that the first goal of the second leg would be crucial, as it so often is. We drew first blood in the 13th minute with Freyr Pórdarson nodding in from a corner and, remarkably, that was the only goal of the game. Into the group stage! I really can't stress how important this achievement is. Obviously, last year was fantastic but this year we had the added pressure of a wage budget of £60k as opposed to a mere £10k. Financially, it would've been very damaging to miss out on the group stage this year, particularly because the board have, rightly, invested so much of last years money into the infrastructure of the club.

The Group Stage drew us against holders Man City, Bayern Munich and Benfica. Ha! We'll take fourth again.

Finances

Although reaching the Group Stage of the CL last year was big, this year was bigger as we had the added pressure of having invested most of the money in the infrastructure as well as sextupling our budget (£10k p/w to £60k p/w). Our expenses are relatively low compared to the prize money the CL brings. If we can continue making the Group Stages, we can really push on from there.

Next Season

Same again: dominate domestically, reach the Group Stage again.