[FM22] Færeyinga saga

[Koetzer]

October 2026

Hansen’s goal from corner ended our bad run, just in time as our gap from relegation zone became shrinking. And then Midtjylland fans certainly would think about some magicians on our side, for the second straight year they had over 30 shots on goal but couldn’t score! Lots of saves from Mørk, some unbelievable misses and one of the few counters ending with Jakobsen’s goal. We are through to the quarter-final and will play against Brøndby in December. A great draw in terms of finances, we had the best attendances and income in friendlies against them before.

 Islands news

National team: 1-0 (A) vs Andorra in Nations League D.

FIFA ranking – 144th ( 1)

U21: 1-1 (H) vs Greece, 1-0 (H) vs Montenegro in Euro qualifiers. After eight defeats in a row Faroese team finally got points and overtook Montenegro on the last matchday.

U19: 0-1 (H) vs Macedonia, 0-2 (H) vs Bosnia in friendlies.

After these games the U21 team manager decided to resign, so:

Two friendlies in November will be my international debut, and Ericson is actually retiring in December so there will be a chance to manage the senior team soon.

[Koetzer]

November 2026

Two home wins against the bottom half teams allowed us to finish the year on sixth place. Staying here (so securing ourselves from relegation) will be very hard, as four of six remaining games in this stage will be against the teams above us, but the gap from 11th place is encouraging.

December 2026

No surprises here, but we filled our stadium for the first time ever and earned 22k in gate receipts!

 

 Faroe Islands U21

The squad features four players from our club, six playing for bigger teams abroad and all others from the local league.

Defeating Luxembourg was expected, but then we shocked a much better Swiss team, scoring three in the second half! Oskar Berg was the most impressive player in these two games, starting on the bench and successfully replacing our last season hero Poul Jacobsen after half-time.

National team: 1-0 (H) vs Andorra, 1-1 (A) vs San Marino in Nations League D – promoted to group C.

FIFA ranking – 144th (=)

U19: 1-3 (N) vs Austria, 1-0 (N) vs Poland, 6-1 (A) vs Hungary in Euro qualifiers B – finished second and promoted to group A.

U18: 1-1 (A) vs Armenia, 0-4 (N) vs Wales, 1-0 (N) vs Finland in Euro preliminary B – finished second.

[Koetzer]

Winter 2026/27

Our last season’s top goalscorer Poul Jacobsen was released by København, but we had no chances to sign him against several top tier teams. However, a few transfers were made.

Bergur Osa – finally we seem to find a good left-back, though he needs to learn this position and improve technically.

Jogvan Martin Knudsen – released from Esbjerg, will be Agnarsson’s backup so far.

Brian Olsen – a promising center-back.

Hansen was declining and earned quite a big wage, so I decided to let him go and rely on younger players, like Kosonen who had a good last season on loan.

 

And the biggest winter news, I’m now in charge of the national team. Let’s see how the squad looks in 2027:

Olaf Jarnskor (19) – already became a first choice goalkeeper in Esbjerg and should remain our starter for a long time.

Hans Bogi Ryggshamar (20) – yes, we have a Bayern player in our team! He actually just joined them from a Swedish side Örgryte and probably would never play for their first squad, but will be a key player for the nation. Can cover both full-backs and DM position, primarily will be used on the right side.

Patrik Vang (20) – a rotation left-back in Nordsjælland, but surely the best option in the national team.

Sonni Nattestad (32) – one of the remaining veterans, played for several teams in Denmark, Norway and Iceland but never was a regular starter before returning to the home league. 

Benjamin Hermansen (20) – didn’t play for the national team yet, but looks like the best option for center-back position.

Gullbrandur Øregaard (24) – Norwegian-born defensive midfielder, will be the first choice here.

Brandur Hendriksson (31) – experienced playmaker with quite a successful career in Sweden.

Martin Hansen (20) – probably the biggest star of this generation, started his career in Esbjerg before moving to the Swedish top tier last season.

Poul Kallsberg (23) – had really impressive stats in the Faroese league for several seasons, quite strange that he didn’t move to a better league yet.

Petur Knudsen (28) – our first choice on left wing, Actually I remember him from games against Esbjerg, he didn’t score but was tough to play against.

John Frederiksen (31) – a giant striker playing in Austrian second tier.

The Euro qualifiers were already drawn, we got a tough group with Germany, Croatia, Romania and North Macedonia. Hope to finish fourth, though it will be really hard.

[Koetzer]

February 2027

Almost a perfect start of the year, after a predicted home win over Køge we got four points from two away games. Of course, I’d prefer defeating Næstved which would basically secure our top half spot with three games to go, but anyway staying in this division should be easy even if we finish the preliminary stage on 7th place.

[Koetzer]

March 2027

We needed a win in the last game to stay on 6th place, and two goals from Agnarsson (actually our only goalscorer in March) secured this result! Of course, our promotion is very unlikely with twelve points deficit, but we didn’t hope for it anyway. Though overtaking Fremad Amager for 5th place can be real.

 National team

All key players are healthy, and of course I selected Mørk as the third choice keeper, he deserves it with the club form.

I understood that we had no chances in Germany, so rested our strongest players before the more important second game. And the result wasn’t so bad, especially after our right-back Mneney was sent off on 11th minute and Sane immediately scored from a free kick. After all, we only conceded once from open play! Unfortunately, that didn’t help against Macedonia, we actually were better and won the first half but couldn't stop their star Elmas. His goal and assist overturned this game, so we already missed the best chance to get some points here  

FIFA ranking – 145th ( 2)

U21: 4-0 (H) vs Estonia, 2-2 (H) vs Iceland in friendlies.

U19: 0-3 (N) vs Austria, 1-4 (A) vs Portugal, 2-5 (N) vs Serbia in Euro qualifiers A – finished last.

U18: 0-0 (N) vs Macedonia, 1-3 (N) vs Russia, 0-4 (A) vs Spain in Euro preliminary B – relegated to group C.

Edited July 26, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

April 2027

The first half of the promotion stage went well for us, after three draws we managed to defeat the league leaders Lyngby, thanks to Knudsen’s debut goal from a free kick and Mørk’s penalty save few minutes after. Unfortunately we couldn’t keep the lead against Fremad Amager when a win would have moved us up to 4th place, but instead got three points from Fredericia with a late goal by Vilhelmsen, a youngster who was signed among other three season ago and developed into a useful backup now.

We still can finish fourth, though playing against two top teams in remaining games will make it harder.

[Koetzer]

May 2027

Horsens was the only team that beat us in all three games before but we snapped this run, completely outplaying them at home and scoring twice within a minute in second half. And in the next game Agnarsson fired two long shots past Jarnskor (obviously not the best game for the leading Faroese goalkeeper) to secure our fourth place!

This result was fully deserved, the xG table looks similar except Esbjerg being really unlucky this season. And in addition, our youth team won the U19 First Division!

Lucas Ørneborg from Lyngby had some insane stats this season, but we also have outstanding players – Mørk recorded clean sheets in almost every second game, and Poulsen was leading the league in yellow cards  

Squad stats

Agnarsson and Jakobsen, both signed before this season, shared the team’s best goalscorer spot, and center-back Henriksen had the best average rating among outfield players. I’m also quite pleased by younger players claiming squad places, we obviously needed to reduce the average age.

Our finances are in the best position ever after getting prize money, still not good enough to ask for the upgrades.

[Koetzer]

June 2027

Couple of changes among the bench players, but all starters remained in the team.

Ryggshamar’s stupid foul ruined our game in Bucharest, the score was 1-1 with 30 minutes to go when he was sent off  The home game was never as close to a good result for us, we conceded twice early in first half and didn’t have any chances to equalize after Fredriksen scored the only goal. I hoped that we would recover in a friendly against Kazakhstan, but instead that was the worst game of these three At least Mørk made his debut for national team and saved us from a bigger defeat.

FIFA ranking – 153rd ( 8), lowest since the start of this career.

U21: 3-2 (H) vs Turkey, 1-1 (A) vs Kazakhstan in friendlies.

U19: 0-1 (H) vs Turkey, 1-0 (A) vs Kazakhstan in friendlies.

U18: 0-1 (A) vs Kazakhstan in friendly.

UEFA club ranking – 48th (=)

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2027/28

Transfers in

Lukas Giessing – an improvement to the right winger position, slightly better and younger than Mohr.

Aleksandur Olavsson – a decent center-back on a half-season loan with an option to buy.

Jakup Poulsen – young striker for the future.

Transfer out

Heri Hjalt Mohr was loaned out until the end of his contract in December, and Poul Nolsøe Mikkelsen was released to save on wages.

Still predicted last, but the gap in reputation is closing – only three lower division teams are now ahead of us.

And that’s the first time we are receiving TV money, obviously a great addition to our finances!

[Koetzer]

July-August 2027

We signed one more player who is going to replace our aging captain Rogvi Joensen – John Alberts, a Faroese/Dutch midfielder from HB.

We opened the season with our biggest ever win (despite the first half was boring and ended 0-0), and this gave us a lot of confidence for the next games. A comeback win over Fremad Amager with a shorthanded winning goal in stoppage time, another huge away victory over Esbjerg, and even the league favourites Viborg couldn’t stop us! Though in a usual FM fashion such a good run ends when it’s hardest to expect, against the team that hasn't won any other game  

Couldn't keep the top spot, but it’s surely a much better start than I could expected. Though all pre-season favourites (except Viborg) started slowly and should gain better form through the season.

 Islands news

Champions League:

Vikingur – 1QR loss vs  Astana (0-4, 0-1)

Conference League:

Vikingur – 2QR win vs  Alashkert (4-1, 0-1), 3QR loss vs  Sheriff (1-1, 0-1)

HB – 1QR win vs  Feronikeli (2-3, 2-0), 2QR win vs  Dinamo Minsk (1-0, 1-1), 3QR loss vs  Nice (0-2, 0-3)

EB/Streymur – 1QR win vs  Glenavon (1-2, 3-0), 2QR loss vs  Apollon (0-3, 0-3)

KI – 1QR loss vs  Bohemians (0-3, 1-3)

Overall points – 1.250 (0.500 in 26/27). Finally quite a decent season with four overall wins and getting a top league opposition.

[Koetzer]

September 2027

Our cup run ended with a heavy defeat this time, but the league form is still good. Though we could take the top spot with at least a draw against surprising leaders AB.

 National team

Vang misses the squad with injury, so I called up Aleksander Tughushi instead. He is a promising left-back and also has Georgian citizenship so it’s important to give him a senior cap.

Finally we got the win, even if it’s only a friendly. A game against Croatia was actually equal in stats, though we had most of our chances while already losing 0-3 and couldn’t use any of them.

FIFA ranking – 149th ( 4)

U21: 1-0 (H) vs Montenegro, 2-3 (A) vs France in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 1-3 (H) vs Bosnia, 1-5 (H) vs Scotland in friendlies.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

October 2027

Moved to the top spot on better goal difference after an unbeaten month, though were second after 11 games played so missed the highest prize money (still not enough for any upgrade). The top six is likely to remain the same until the end, but all teams inside it are within a single win from each other!

 National team

Hermansen will be out for half a year, and Kallsberg also missed the selection with injury.

Quite a decent result against Germany, but we had two important midfielders sent off despite not using harder tackling and missed them in the second game  

FIFA ranking – 151st ( 2)

U21: 0-2 (H) vs Serbia, 3-0 (H) vs Lithuania in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 2-1 (A) vs Cyprus in friendly.

Betrideildin: second win in a row for Vikingur and surprisingly high finish for Skala (congratulations to our former player Gestur Dam, who is their regular starter at the age of 33) and AB.

[Koetzer]

November 2027

I’m glad that the winter break is coming after this poor run and we’ll have time to recover. 

 National team

No changes, apart from Kallsberg’s return.

An early goal in Zagreb didn’t help us much, so far this team can't get points against any European opponents (maybe except San Marino and other small nations).

FIFA ranking – 152nd ( 1)

U21: 2-4 (A) vs Ireland, 6-3 (A) vs Montenegro in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 4-2 (H) vs Liechtenstein, 2-0 (H) vs Armenia in friendlies.

U18: 3-0 (A) vs Moldova, 1-2 (N) vs Bulgaria, 2-3 (N) vs Poland in Euro preliminary C – finished third.

Wait, what? I thought winning group D in the Nations League doesn’t give a playoff place (and Latvia which won another group didn’t get it). Would be extremely funny to qualify after getting zero points in the group  

[Sheriff7]

Czech Republic was in division D?

[Koetzer]

1 hour ago, Sheriff7 said:

Czech Republic was in division D?

They actually relegated from division A, so I have absolutely no idea how it's supposed to work.

[Sheriff7]

3 hours ago, Koetzer said:

They actually relegated from division A, so I have absolutely no idea how it's supposed to work.

Probably this is a bug then.

[Koetzer]

Winter 2027/28

Transfers in

Benjamin Hermansen – we managed to sign the best Faroese center-back after he was released from Nordsjælland! He won’t help us in first games due to injury, but actually it made this transfer possible as there was no interest from other clubs.  

Hans Hansen – a well-balanced midfielder who spent his whole career in Norwegian 3rd tier side Florø.

Bárður Hansen – a veteran right-back with 29 senior caps, still has great technical skills.

Transfers out

Sold a backup striker Heinason and loaned out several young players.

Also we had elections in December, and the new chairman agreed to upgrade training facilities!

[Koetzer]

February 2028

Struggling to score, but at least our set pieces started working in a win against AB. That result actually secured our top six spot, with promotion places still not so far away.

March 2028

We signed one more current international player, midfielder Jakup Andreasen who was free since December but only now lowered his wage demands to a reasonable level. Don’t think that he was the key to our better form in March (that’s more due to an easier schedule), but he certainly makes our squad stronger.

Our realistic goal for the second stage is repeating last season’s result, top three teams are close but look much stronger than us.

 National team

We are missing suspended left-back Vang and injured defensive midfielder Øregaard, though Hermansen is finally fit to play and returns to squad.

Okay, we won the second half  

FIFA ranking – 153rd ( 1)

U21: 0-4 (H) vs Turkey, 1-4 (A) vs Russia in friendlies.

U19: 1-1 (H) vs Moldova, 1-3 (A) vs Iceland in friendlies.

U18: 2-0 (N) vs Malta, 2-1 (A) vs Bosnia in Euro preliminary C – promoted to group B.

[Koetzer]

April-May 2028

We managed to stay fourth with a draw on the last matchday but actually played poorly in this final stage, only scoring five goals and finishing with less points than last season.

Jakobsen became the second goalscorer, while two Faroese internationals had the most assists (Knudsen) and clean sheets (Jarnskor).

Squad stats

Eetu Kosonen had a great year (missed last few games with injury but should be fit for the next season) and agreed to sign a new two (potentially four) years contract. And there is one player whose stats are really disappointing and I have no idea why (thinking about a bug actually). Aron Skipanes has good attributes for a playmaker and is usually among the best in training reports but rarely gets rating over 6.5 in matches (tried different roles and instructions, nothing seems to work ).

And after several unsuccessful tries I convinced our board to found the youth academy! We already have a good English HOYD who was hired four years ago and now will finally have actual work

Staying above zero after all the investments 

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2028/29

The only player we added to the first team squad was defensive midfielder Magnus Holm Jacobsen who spent last five seasons in Portuguese lower leagues and sometimes was called up to the national team. John Alberts was loaned out after that to get more playing time and better training.

Our reputation finally rose to full 2 stars and now isn’t the lowest in this division!

 National team

Our best midfielder Martin Hansen misses this round of friendlies with injury, and I added some potential debutants from U21 team.

Two wins over other small island nations let us improve our rankings a bit. Hopefully we’ll get first competitive points in autumn, drawn against Ireland, Montenegro and Luxembourg in the Nations League.

FIFA ranking – 151st ( 2)

U21: 1-1 (H) vs Bosnia, 4-1 (H) vs Malta in friendlies.

U19: 0-1 (H) vs Hungary, 2-1 (H) vs Poland in friendlies.

UEFA club ranking – 50th ( 2)

[Koetzer]

July-August 2028

Our start wasn’t as spectacular as last season but we are getting enough points to stay in the top half and advanced in the cup. Glad to see young striker Guttesen becoming a good rotation player after a season on loan in Portugal, so far he’s one of our top goalscorers.

 National team

Ryggshamar will miss the whole Nations League campaign with injury. A blow to our squad, though I don’t remember any good game from him, he was only collecting cards.

Finally a decent result in Europe, after an expected defeat in Dublin we managed to save a draw against Luxembourg at home. Montenegro lost both starting games, and I think we’ll need to beat them for avoiding the relegation playoffs.

FIFA ranking – 150th ( 1)

U21: 0-3 (H) vs France, 0-3 (A) vs Serbia in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 5-2 (A) vs Gibraltar, 1-1 (H) vs Russia in friendlies. 

 

Champions League:

Vikingur – 1QR loss vs  Zrinjski (0-3, 0-2)

Conference League:

Vikingur – 2QR win vs  Dudelange (2-0, 2-2), 3QR loss vs  Shakhter Soligorsk (1-2, 1-1)

HB – 1QR loss vs  Samtredia (1-2, 0-2)

Skala – 1QR loss vs  Partizan (1-4, 0-4)

AB – 1QR loss vs  Mura (0-4, 1-3)

Overall points – 0.500 (1.250 in 27/28). Back to the poor seasons on club level  

[Koetzer]

September 2028

Couldn’t keep the lead in a cup game and lost in extra time after Kosonen’s red card, but found some great form in the league! Three straight away wins without a single goal conceded let us move up to the second place, only behind unbeaten favorites Randers. It will be important to keep this spot for at least two next games and get the better prize money after first round. 

[Koetzer]

October 2028

Seven shutout wins in a row, we certainly managed to find a perfect balance and already have eleven points over 3rd place! It’s not even half of the season played, but we surely can win the promotion if manage to keep this form after the break.

 National team

Knudsen is missing with injury this time, but we have enough depth on the wings to replace him.

Our most experienced player Nattestad effectively ended his international career with a red card on 3rd (!) minute against Montenegro  We could move from the bottom defeating Luxembourg, but they equalized on 85th minute from a corner (deserved it though). Still we have two home games remaining in November, and probably (if Montenegro won’t defeat Luxembourg) the last matchday will decide our position.

FIFA ranking – 152nd ( 2)

U21: 2-0 (A) vs Lithuania, 1-2 (H) vs Ireland in Euro qualifiers – 4th place, 12 points. A very successful campaign for our youth.

U19: 1-5 (A) vs Bulgaria, 1-0 (H) vs Armenia in friendlies.

Betrideildin: Vikingur won three in a row, their rivalry with HB looks like local El Clasico now  

[Koetzer]

November 2028

Still solid in defense - our shutout run ended after eight games but it was against Randers, the team that plays way better than others and will surely win promotion this season. Though our attack struggled in November, we only scored on the last minute of third game to keep other teams ten points behind.

 National team

One interesting debutant is Martin Agnarsson, Faroese league’s best player in average rating and younger brother of Hannes from our club.

Montenegro defeated Luxembourg, so the last match couldn’t change our position, but still it was really important to get first win in a competitive game! We had a slight advantage for all 90 minutes and finally managed to score a late winner, Agnarsson came as a substitute and proved that he deserves to be selected in future games. Moldova will be our opponents in relegation playoffs, scheduled for March 2030.

FIFA ranking – 146th ( 6)

U21: 0-3 (H) vs Turkey, 2-1 (A) vs Scotland in friendlies.

U19: 2-0 (H) vs Armenia, 1-0 (H) vs Lithuania, 0-1 (H) vs Bulgaria in Euro qualifiers B – promoted from second place!

U18: 0-2 (N) vs Wales, 0-1 (A) vs Croatia, 4-0 (N) vs Slovakia in Euro preliminary B – finished third.

[Koetzer]

Winter 2028/29

Transfers in

Two internationals became available and we sign them both! Our midfield was already quite strong, but Gullbrandur Øregaard and Brandur Hendriksson are a lot better, being regular starters for the national team.

Transfers out

Poulsen and Skipanes had no place in the squad after new signings, and we needed to offload some wages.

Our first ever intake is predicted to bring good goalkeeper and striker.

[Koetzer]

February 2029

Good start of the year, and we extended our lead to eleven points. All three remaining games in the preliminary stage will be against bottom half teams, so hopefully we’ll improve our position even more.

[Koetzer]

March 2029

Only draws, mostly disappointing but the last one actually let us keep the gap from third place.

 National team

The strongest squad available.

The first half against Albania ended 1-1, but then their better players made the result. Also we lost Kallsberg with injury, so I selected 16 year-old Jakup Pauli Poulsen as a replacement… and he scored on his debut in Portugal (yes, we were 0-7 behind at that moment but still what a game for the youngster)! Poulsen actually became the youngest player and goalscorer in the history of Faroese team and World Cup European qualifiers.

Unfortunately we don’t have sixth team in the group again, so probably our only real chance to get points will be in the next game against Kosovo.

FIFA ranking – 148th ( 2)

U21: 1-0 (H) vs Hungary, 0-1 (A) vs Gibraltar in friendlies.

U19: 2-1 (N) vs Russia, 1-6 (N) vs Czech Republic, 0-4 (A) vs Italy in Euro qualifiers A – finished third.

U18: 0-2 (H) vs Slovenia, 2-1 (H) vs Israel, 1-1 (H) vs Kosovo in Euro preliminary B – finished third.

[Koetzer]

April 2029

What the hell? Hermansen had a contract until December without any release clauses. He didn’t want to sign a new deal so I could expect him leaving next season, but somehow Swedes signed him for free… I don't think that is the way part-time contracts should work 

Of course, losing the best defender weakened the team, we kept the clean sheet only once after he left but did what was needed in these games. We spoiled the unbeaten season for Randers (already crowned as champions) at their stadium, and then Hendriksson’s first goal actually ended Horsens hopes to catch us. A draw in the next game was enough to secure the unbelievable promotion to Superliga!

Youth intake

Not much to be expected from the minimal youth setup, but we got one really promising player – striker Markus Heinason who doesn’t look much worse than our first team options. Fun fact – his native village has population of… ten people!  

And we upgraded the recruitment to the next level.

[Koetzer]

May 2029

I rested most of our key players in the final game and even gave the last appearance to retiring Rogvi Joensen, the only player remained from our starting squad (though there are a few others who were signed during the first season and made all the way from 5th tier to Superliga).

Mørk set the new division record in clean sheets, great achievement for him that must be shared with our defenders, especially Kosonen and strangely departed Hermansen.

Squad stats

Our defensive stats were good, but offense really struggled – 7 goals and 6 assists are the best numbers of this season. That’s where we must get some improvement in pre-season, I hope the national players will be ready to join us as a professional top division team.

The finances are quite good. Of course we’ll need to spend more in Superliga, but even finishing bottom will give us 640K and it doesn’t include TV money, better (I hope) gate receipts and sponsorship.

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2029/30

Transfers in

Promotion raised our reputation and now much better players from the Faroese league are interested, but unfortunately the best of them (usual starters for the national team) are asking for wages we couldn’t afford. Still I found some decent options for the first team.

Joannes Davidsen – a slight improvement in goal (actually I didn’t plan to sign him immediately, but Mørk’s injury in training left no other choices).

Aksel Heinesen – he had a good 23/24 season for us on loan, and now returns for a full contract.

Oli Ellefsen – will be our rotation right-back option.

Oddfríður Hansen – a half-season loan with a potential chance to sign the international player for free.

Elmar Geyti and Danjal Reginsson – will be our starting wingers. Reginsson is so far the most expensive player in the club history, we paid 7750 euros to Vikingur  

Jonas Mouritsen – not a new transfer, but he had an impressive season on loan and is going to be first choice at front.

Transfers out

The most disappointing departure was Jakup Poulsen. As well as Mouritsen, he had a good season on loan, I planned to use him as a rotation striker and offered a full-time contract, but Fredericia poached him using that part-time bug   

Quite predictable odds We also moved to a bigger stadium (shared with AB) and had much better sponsorship and TV deals. 

National team

Missing two best left defenders due to injuries, a chance to impress for Tughushi and our new transfer Heinesen.

Poulsen is our new superstar, he scored the quickest goal in the nation history on 17th second and then assisted to Hendriksson to give us the first win in the World Cup qualifiers in twelve years! A great start for a player who have just turned 17.

FIFA ranking – 143rd ( 5)

U21: 2-0 (H) vs Belarus, 0-2 (A) vs Bosnia in friendlies.

U19: 2-2 (A) vs Wales, 3-3 (A) vs Northern Ireland in friendlies.

UEFA club ranking – 49th ( 1)

[Koetzer]

July-August 2029

Our pre-season work paid off in the first game, new wingers made the debut goal at top flight and Heinesen assisted to returned Mouritsen for the second. After a great start we lost to Viborg, but then returned home to face our favourite opponents Midtjylland… and again defeated them 1-0! Though this time it wasn’t a pure luck, we actually had slightly better chances in this equal game. The real miracle happened in the next match where Nordsjælland had much better stats but couldn’t beat Davidsen, and this was our first away win!

This start was encouraging, but I feel that our true level is reflected by two last games. Attack is useless, Davidsen was selected as the best goalkeeper of the month but he can’t save everything, so relegation is the most realistic outcome anyway.

We sold almost four times more season tickets than a year before!

 Islands news

Champions League:

Vikingur – 1QR loss vs  Shkendija (3-2, 0-2)

Conference League:

Vikingur – 2QR win vs  Prishtina (3-1, 1-2), 3QR loss vs  Sloboda Tuzla (0-1, 1-2)

HB – 1QR win vs  Teuta (2-1, 2-1), 2QR loss vs  Mladost (0-2, 0-3)

KI – 1QR loss vs  Derry City (1-4, 0-2)

AB – 1QR loss vs  Neftci (0-4, 0-2)

Overall points – 1.000 (0.500 in 28/29). A small improvement, though could be better if Vikingur could keep the lead after winning in Macedonia and qualify for Europa League.

[Koetzer]

September 2029

Hansen suffered an injury and will be out for two months, so I replaced him with another loaned center-back – Heri Simonsen from B36.

After four league losses in a row we managed to stop the league leaders Brøndby and then mounted a comeback over Nordsjælland (a real rollercoaster, scoring immediately after their goal was disallowed for offside was the highlight)! I kept the tactical tweaks from second half (like playing with AM instead of DM) for the next game, and with some bit of luck this worked.

Two teams can overtake us with postponed games, but this is certainly a better result than could be predicted at this point. Davidsen again was included into the team of the month.

Our academy is working for just a year, but we already have one player poached (not too good and probably not Faroese, so nothing to worry about).

 National team

Heri Simonsen replaced Hansen in the national squad as well.

I didn’t expect anything good from this Balkan trip. The game in Croatia ended with a predicted battering, Albania was much better in the first half and scored just after half-time, but then we managed to recover. Two great passes from Poul Kallsberg gave us a surprising away win over a 63rd team in the world!

We actually have a chance to finish third here, this will mostly depend on our and Albanian results against Kosovo.

FIFA ranking – 138th ( 5)

U21: 2-3 (A) vs Cyprus, 3-1 (H) vs Serbia in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 0-0 (H) vs Scotland, 2-2 (A) vs Cyprus in friendlies.

[Koetzer]

October 2029

A decent result for a month of road trips, though it hurts to lose a game after leading 2-0 (Midtjylland deserved to end this unlucky run against us, to be honest). We are bottom on xG points, but thanks to Davidsen conceded ten goals less than expected and remained in the top half.

Like in a division below, the prize money are given here after 11 games, and this allowed us to start another training upgrade!

 National team

Davidsen deserved the place in squad with his league performance.

Quite a respectable result against Portugal and awful against Kosovo (could have easily been a heavier loss), so we certainly won’t finish higher than 4th.  

FIFA ranking – 142nd ( 4)

U21: 1-0 (H) vs Wales, 0-2 (A) vs Lithuania in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 5-0 (H) vs Estonia, 3-3 (H) vs Russia in friendlies.

Betrideildin: HB claimed the title back after three years of Vikingur domination.

[Koetzer]

November 2029

No chances against the teams from top three, but we defeated Viborg thanks to Hendriksson’s free kick and this result let us stay fifth. Still not too far from relegation spots.

 National team

Our last qualifying game was decent, but Albanians gifted three points to their neighbours and left us on 5th place. At least we did well in a friendly.

FIFA ranking – 140th ( 2)

U21: 0-2 (H) vs Germany, 2-2 (H) vs Cyprus in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 0-1 (H) vs Denmark, 0-0 (H) vs Ireland, 4-2 (H) vs Luxembourg in Euro qualifiers B – finished second.

U18: 0-1 (N) vs Bosnia, 0-2 (N) vs Slovenia, 2-0 (A) vs Finland in Euro preliminary B – relegated to group C.

[Koetzer]

Winter 2029/30

Transfers in

Hansen’s loan spell wasn’t too successful due to injury, but I signed him for a full contract anyway.

Teitur Dahl-Olsen – just turned 16, but already looks good enough for our first team! And he's professional so hopefully will develop into a real star for the nation. 

Simun Solheim – occasional national team player, will strengthen our wings.

Uni Ragnarsson and Jakup Mikkelsen – two young wingers for future.

Heðin Klakstein and Jakup Poulsen – free loans to improve squad depth (yes, Poulsen is the player poached from us before the season).

Transfers out

All these players had no place in squad after incoming transfers (also released Hans Hansen whose contract expired).

Youth preview

Prediction is poor, but this A-rated midfielder can be promising.

Davidsen won the best goalkeeper award, totally deserved it.

[Koetzer]

February-March 2030

Started with a comeback against Esbjerg, and the winning goal was made by two new players – Solheim scored from Dahl-Olsen’s cross. One more win over Lyngby made our advantage over 7th place a lot more comfortable, and despite losing all three remaining games no one could catch us, so we are certainly staying up!

Next two months can be played without any pressure, but actually getting one point more than Vejle in the final stage and København winning the cup (the only remaining team from top four in semifinals) will take us to Conference League. Of course that wouldn't be possible without Midtjylland (predicted 2nd) and Nordsjælland (5th) awful performance, but... not our problem  

And yes, we got one more million in the bank to use it for another youth facilities and coaching upgrade.

 National team

Dahl-Olsen gets his debut callup immediately, and now we have seven Føroyar players in the national team (mostly as backup options, but still).

Unfortunate loss at home, but we managed to turn it over in away game. Solheim, who wasn’t in the original squad and replaced injured Knudsen, scored his first international goal and it let us stay in the group C!

FIFA ranking – 140th (=)

U21: 1-1 (H) vs Slovakia, 1-0 (H) vs Switzerland in friendlies.

U19: 1-1 (H) vs Russia, 3-0 (H) vs Estonia in friendlies.

U18: 1-1 (N) vs Macedonia, 1-1 (A) vs Malta, 5-4 (N) vs Gibraltar in Euro preliminary C – won the group and promoted.

[Koetzer]

April 2030

Could do nothing with top four teams, but defeated Vejle to overtake them in the table. European football is still possible for us!

Youth intake

Actually we got two attacking midfielders with decent potential – Rødgaard and Ferja, not bad for our setup.

[Koetzer]

May-June 2030

At least we scored some goals, and anyway 5th place wouldn’t give us a European place as Randers won the cup. Actually even 4th placed Silkeborg had to play against lower group winners to get the last Conference League spot.

That’s quite funny, we actually got the same points as relegated Nordsjælland (though surely would have more if played in the bottom group). Davidsen was selected into the team of the year, and he’s not the only Faroese player there – Patrik Vang won the title with København and became the best left-back.

Squad stats

None of the outfield first team players had an average rating over 7, not too surprising after one win in last 13 games. Øregaard was the closest, and that makes sense too – he has the best assessed ability in our squad and is a regular starter for the national team.

Third part of the prize money made our finances a lot more secure, though we’ll need more for another round of improvements.

Edited August 11, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2030/31

Transfers in

Heini Sørensen – the player we could sign seven years ago, while playing in fourth tier, is finally here and still will be a regular starter in Superliga.

Jakup Andrias Zachariassen – another player with several unsuccessful tries to sign, can cover the whole right side.

Poul Jacobsen – our best goalscorer of 25/26 season is back on a half-season loan, and we already agreed a free transfer in January.

Jakup Pauli Poulsen – the national team’s record breaker also joins us for this season.

Transfers out

Not all last season transfers really worked, Geyti and Reginsson weren’t justifying their wages and I only could loan them out. And surprisingly the reserve team defender Thomsen became the most expensive player ever sold by our club  

Still the same odds.

A nice improvement in ticket sales, hopefully we'll manage to fill our stadium soon.

 Islands news

UEFA club ranking – 49th (=). No national team games were scheduled this summer.

[Koetzer]

July-August 2030

Finally we managed to sign the biggest star of Faroese league and actually the best player we could afford – winger Poul Kallsberg.

A very tough start, we lost to the teams which qualified to Europe last season and could only save a draw against OB with a late penalty, but finally snapped this bad run defeating Lyngby. That was Kallsberg’s debut for us, and though he had a poor game, I guess the overall squad improvement made the difference. And anyway it’s going to be a much harder season than the previous one

We also improved our youth recruitment after a long negotiation with the chairman.

 Islands news

Champions League:

HB – 1QR win vs  Lincoln (2-0, 2-1), 2QR loss vs  CFR Cluj (0-1, 0-1)

Europa League:

HB – 3QR loss vs  Shakhter Soligorsk (1-1, 1-2)

Conference League:

HB – 4QR win vs  Lechia (2-1, 1-1)

Vikingur – 1QR win vs  Paide LM (4-1, 1-1), 2QR loss vs  Velez (1-3, 1-1)

EB/Streymur – 1QR win vs  Inter d’Escaldes (1-0, 2-0), 2QR loss vs  Qaisar (0-3, 0-2)

KI – 1QR loss vs  Sabail (1-3, 0-3)

Overall points – 2.000+ (1.000 in 29/30). For the first time ever a Faroese team will play in the group stage! HB was drawn against  Fiorentina,  Grasshoppers and  Djurgardens, getting at least a point there will be even a greater success.

[Koetzer]

September 2030

We are getting points despite struggling to score, but this is not enough to move away from relegation spots. Though everything can change with a single game so far. The cup started later this season (I guess top six teams enter in the third round), and we avoided other Superliga teams in the next round draw.

 National team

Ten players from our club are selected this time.

Can’t be happy with a home draw, we must win these games to avoid finishing bottom. Belarus has no points so far, but I think they would be harder to beat.

FIFA ranking – 142nd ( 2)

U21: 0-1 (A) vs Serbia, 1-1 (A) vs Wales in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 3-1 (H) vs Azerbaijan, 3-0 (A) vs Gibraltar in friendlies.

[Koetzer]

October 2030

Dropped to the last place, but actually had a very tough schedule this month (Brøndby and Silkeborg had a disappointing start, still remaining much stronger teams) and our quality of play was encouraging at times, so hopefully we’ll be able to improve later. We also repeated our best cup performance, reaching quarter-final, and will face Midtjylland there.

 National team

We may have missed our chances against Luxembourg at home, but took them just perfectly on the road! All four shots on target in the first half ended with goals, and they only could get some consolation after half-time. Lukas Danielsen was the hat-trick hero, and I’m looking closely at his expiring contract at København, maybe it will be possible to sign him in winter.

We will be safe from relegation with an away draw against Belarus, other way it will be decided on the last matchday against already promoted Iceland.

FIFA ranking – 138th ( 4)

U21: 0-6 (A) vs Germany, 0-0 (H) vs Lithuania in Euro qualifiers – finished 5th with 9 points.

U19: 0-0 (A) vs Switzerland, 3-1 (A) vs San Marino in friendlies.

Betrideildin: that was really unexpected, 07 Vestur have just promoted to the top tier and now won the league with 14 points margin! 

[Koetzer]

November-December 2030

Two wins at home let us leave the bottom place, actually even the top half isn’t too far away but I doubt that we would make this miracle again. Just getting enough points in the relegation group will be our realistic goal. The year ended with two cup games, and we had a chance to beat Midtjylland after equalizing from 1-3 at home, but they scored a late winning goal from corner to reach the semi-final.

 National team

Goalkeeper Steinholm gets his first callup, he is actually the second choice now but I didn’t want to weaken the U21 team in qualifying games.

Conceded a late goal against Iceland, but the other game result kept us safe from relegation (not sure what would have been if Belarus and Luxembourg drew their match and all three teams finished with five points).

FIFA ranking – 140th ( 2)

U21: 6-0 (H) vs Liechtenstein, 0-4 (A) vs Scotland in friendlies.

U19: 1-1 (A) vs Poland, 2-3 (N) vs Luxembourg, 0-1 (N) in Croatia in Euro qualifiers B – finished fourth.

U18: 0-0 (H) vs Romania, 2-0 (H) in Israel, 6-1 (H) vs Estonia in Euro preliminary B – promoted to group A.

HB’s European adventure ended with six heavy losses and the only goal scored (against Grasshoppers at home), still it was a great achievement for Faroese football.

[Koetzer]

Winter 2030/31

Transfers in

Benjamin Henriksen – after two unsuccessful years in Sweden (11 games with average rating around 6.7) he was transfer-listed and returned to our club. Not sure so far if I would use him as a right-back or will try to change into a back three formation with him, Kosonen and Hansen playing together.

Rogvi Andreasen – a promising midfielder who will need to improve physically.

And Jacobsen’s transfer was already agreed in summer.

Transfers out

Didn’t lose anyone from the first team.

Our third youth intake looks really promising! I’ve read somewhere that the academy improvements start making difference after three years, guess this might happen here.

[Koetzer]

February-March 2031

I opted to change our formation to 5-2-3, and it’s working so far. We lost to Lyngby and missed a win against Vejle with a last minute equalizer, but created enough chances in both games and eventually it should have been converted into good results. This moment came against Midtjylland, three goals in first half and we broke away from the bottom two places! And of course, getting a point from the defending champions was a good sign before the second stage, we shouldn’t get relegated if continue playing like this.

Also after receiving second part of the prize money we were able to improve our junior coaching once more.

 National team

Winger Vilhelmsen became 11th player from our club in the national squad.

Finally we got a six-team group, San Marino is the team against which we must get six points (and obviously need to score more than just one goal from 33 shots). Turkey, Greece and Cyprus are the other opponents, probably we’ll have a chance against the Cypriots (though they are currently leading with two wins).

FIFA ranking – 138th ( 2)

U21: 1-1 (H) vs Switzerland, 3-1 (A) vs Azerbaijan in friendlies.

U19: 0-2 (A) vs Ukraine in friendly.

U18: 0-4 (N) vs Turkey, 1-2 (N) in Spain, 3-3 (A) vs Austria in Euro preliminary A – relegated to group B.

[Koetzer]

April 2031

We maintained the good form despite our key midfielder Øregaard was out for rest of the season with injury, and now need a single win to be officially safe from relegation. There's still a chance to gain a few more positions and prize money in the last five games.

Youth intake

We don’t have a really good right-back in our first team, so Aron Simonsen will have a chance to become our starter soon. Also we got a promising (though unambitious) midfielder Christiansen and two wingers – Olsen and Breckmann. It's interesting that in first two intakes we got several Danish players, but this one was fully Faroese.

The only (so far) poached player from our academy Hedegaard appeared in Horsens youth team. He actually had no Faroese connection, is unambitious and unlikely to become a good player.

[Koetzer]

May-June 2031

Four wins in a row, and we won the bottom group! To be honest I didn’t believe that we would overtake Silkeborg, they were eight points ahead with three games to go, but this fluke 90th minute goal hit them too hard. And so we have qualified for the European playoffs against Lyngby, they are a stronger team but probably would have worse morale now and that can be our chance.

The early header from Poul Kallsberg remained the only goal in this game despite we had a lot more chances, still the only thing that matters – we won and qualified for the Conference League! Hardly could think about it while sitting bottom in November! Would be funny to meet an actual Faroese team there, but I guess our low rating will put us against some stronger opponents.

Squad stats

Switching to the back three was key to our good form after the winter break, returned Hermansen formed a great defensive line with Hansen and Kosonen (I hope he would accept Faroese callup eventually, and we can use this trio in the national team as well), Davidsen was still solid in goal (once again selected into the team of the season) and our attack became a lot more creative as well. Jacobsen scored overall 18 goals (his stats here are incorrect as he left us for few days after the loan expired) and Kallsberg acted both as playmaker and finisher.

Our expenses increased this season, but we are able to cover them with prize and TV money so far.

 National team

The club didn't notice Øregaard’s absence in the end of season, I hope the national team also won’t be much weaker.

Okay, with that club’s playoff game we got a problem in the national team – there was the only day off before playing against Turkey, so had to play without several key players (not that we really had any chances there anyway). However, we could field our strongest eleven against Cyprus, scored twice in the first half and held the lead despite Vang’s sending off with 30 minutes to go! 

FIFA ranking – 135th ( 3)

U21: 6-1 (A) vs Armenia, 0-2 (A) vs Georgia in friendlies.

U19: 3-1 (A) vs Armenia, 4-0 (A) vs Macedonia in friendlies.

UEFA club ranking – 48th ( 1)

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2031/32

Transfers in

Lukas Danielsen – was transfer-listed after Vejle relegation, and I decided to spend almost whole transfer budget as he was one of the few Faroese players who could still strengthen our squad (and the only we could afford).

Jakup Pauli Poulsen – I had doubts about his buyout in the first half of previous season, but after tactical changes he appeared to be our best RWB option and also can provide cover for the central midfielders.

Magnus Clementsen – not a new transfer, spent two years on loan and returned as possible first choice goalkeeper, he really looks better than Davidsen now!

Some fringe players left the team, the most notable was Brandur Hendriksson who helped us reach the top division and had 90 international caps, but is already 35 and certainly doesn’t have the ability to play on this level.

Still predicted last with the same odds.

Seems that our debut European campaign won’t be long. They have a player valued 27-44 million, our whole club is valued 2.2 now  

[Koetzer]

July 2031

A nightmare schedule for the start, we played against two top teams of the last season and strong European opponents, but it went better than I expected. After drawing at home with København we had an impressive start in Portugal, scoring in the first attack and fully deserving this win! The return leg at home wasn’t as good, Famalicao had a better second half and we were lucky to concede only once in the end, but kept this score and advanced! Shamrock Rovers will be our next opponents, and that actually gives us quite good chances to go further.

We sold over a thousand season tickets for the first time, and the game against København was a sellout.

 Islands news

Champions League:

07 Vestur – 1QR loss vs  Qarabag (0-3, 0-3)

Conference League:

07 Vestur – 2QR loss vs  Lincoln (2-1, 0-3)

Vikingur – 1QR win vs  Vikingur O. (4-0, 2-1) – what a derby , 2QR loss vs  BATE (1-1, 0-1) 

HB – 1QR loss vs  Beitar (1-1, 1-2)

AB – 1QR loss vs  Larne (0-1, 0-2)

Overall points – 1.000 (2.000 in 30/31). The new champions didn't enjoy their European debut, and two more experienced teams had tougher draws (though got some ranking points anyway).

[Koetzer]

August 2031

Started the month with our first league win (thanks to a lucky deflection on the last minute), but then things went much worse. We were knocked from Europe with two late goals (though should have scored more) and twice lost in the league without many chances to score. This run needed to be snapped, and the schedule was just right for it – a home game against promoted Horsens. Conceded first, missed a lot of chances and almost gave it away in the end, but held the important result. That should have made the next game a bit easier, instead it was a real thriller – we were trailing 1-3 with ten minutes to go, went ultra-attacking and equalized, had a goal disallowed for offside and anyway scored the winner in the next attack after several saves and blocked shots!

Two comeback wins let us move to the 7th place, and hopefully with less hectic schedule our form will continue improving. Shamrock lost to Atalanta in the final qualifying round, so we hardly could have a chance to get bigger prize money for the group stage.