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Here comes the thunder!


Raware

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Having been to the Euro’s this summer to follow England like I have done for the past few European Championships, like so many football fans across Europe, Iceland captured the imagination of many, including myself.  Not just because of their surprise progression to the Quarter Final but because of how they made it that far, the belief that they showed as a team, the ‘plucky underdog’ status that they gained and of course the fantastic Icelandic fans that I was lucky enough to meet, not to mention the ‘Thunder Clap’ that other fans of different countries adopted along the way.

So…I thought why not play a save in Iceland for the reasons above and also because while I’ve played saves in some Scandinavian countries over the years on FM (Sweden and Denmark) I’ve never played in the Icelandic leagues.

So, I’ve loaded up the available ‘out of the box’ Scandinavian leagues, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and also added Russia.  I’ve holidayed for a year and have taken over the newly promoted Njarðvík from the Icelandic Second Division.  I’ve also decided that while I’m playing a league that I’ve never played before on FM, I’m also going to try playing this save as a youth only save which is something that I’ve never done before :eek:

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Game : Football Manager 2016 (PC)

Database size : Large

 

Leagues loaded :

  • Denmark (Danish Superliga to Danish Second Division)
     
  • Finland (Finnish Premier League to Finnish First Division)
     
  • Iceland (Icelandic Premier Division to Icelandic First Division)
     
  • Norway (Norwegian Premier Division to Norwegian Second Division)
     
  • Russia (Russian Premier Division to Russian First Division)
     
  • Sweden (Swedish Premier Division to Swedish Second Division)
     

 

Previous experience : Sunday morning footballer

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Njarðvík : A background

Founded in 1944, Ungmennafélag Njarðvíkur (Njarðvík) are a semi-professional Icelandic Football Club currently playing in the Icelandic First Division after winning promotion from the Icelandic Second Division last season.  The club play their home games at Njarðvíkurvöllur and possess impressive training facilities and great youth facilities.  The club also has adequate junior coaching and an average youth recruitment network.  The club enjoyed probably their best spell of success during the 2000’s.  Although now enduring a twelve year barren spell, having not won a competition since 2003, Njarðvík still have a history of which they can be justly proud.

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Njarðvík - Pre-Season 2016



 

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League expectation

Icelandic First Division : Board expectation - Avoid relegation : Media expectation - 11th (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Icelandic Upper League Cup : Don’t be outclassed too often

Icelandic Cup : 3rd round

 

Transfer budget : £5.5k

Wage budget : £6k p/w

Current wage bill : £1.1k p/w

Season tickets sold : 318

 

My views for the season ahead… : Upon joining Njarðvík, I’ve inherited a squad that looks as if it might struggle to compete in the First Division this season.  This was obviously going to be the case especially as we’re a newly promoted team to the league but what will make it even more difficult will be the fact that we won’t be able to sign ANY players as I’m playing this save as a youth only save, so I’ll have to rely on my youth academy for players which at the minute, doesn’t have many options for me in the Under 19 squad :(.  Of the players that I have at my disposal, Andri Fannar Freysson, Einar Már Þórisson, Theodór Guðni Halldórsson and Viktor Smári Hafsteinsson look to be the better players of the squad and they’ll have to be at their best if we’re to achieve the boards expectation of avoiding relegation.

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Njarðvík - Youth Intake 2016



 

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With this save solely reliant on youth players due to the youth only policy that I’m playing this save under, the announcement of the clubs youth intake is probably the most important date on the calendar for us.  This season sees my first youth intake at the club as we gave trials to 16 youth players in all. 

 

 

Of those 16 players, only Óli Jón Elíasson (YP2), Ólafur Ívar Rúnarsson (YP3), Olgeir Pálsson (YP4), Marteinn Hjartarson (YP7) and Alexander Guðnason (YP12) were not offered contracts.

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Njarðvík - Season Review 2016

 

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Icelandic First Division/Icelandic First Division progress : A fantastic season for us in the First Division saw us confound the critics as we easily avoided relegation to comfortably finish 4th in the league :).  

Icelandic Upper League Cup/Icelandic Upper League Cup Group C : The board just wanted us to not be outclassed in this competition and I think 3 wins, 3 losses and a draw to finish 6th in the table achieved that expectation.

Icelandic Cup : We went 2 rounds further than what the board expected us to do as Þór Akureyri beat us 2-1 in the quarter final.

Squad : I was pessimistic about our chances of avoiding relegation with the squad of players that I inherited but any doubts that I had were soon put to bed as they proved that they were more than capable of performing at this level as they easily avoided relegation to go on and help us finish 4th in the league.  As I thought at the start of the season, Einar Már Þórisson, Andri Fannar Freysson, Theodór Guðni Halldórsson and Viktor Smári Hafsteinsson all had big roles to play for us throughout the year and it was Einar Már Þórisson and Andri Fannar Freysson in particularly that stood out as they proved their worth with 16 goals between them.

Finances : Although we’re barely spending any money on wages and obviously spending no money on transfers, we’re still losing money as we sit £37k in the red.  Not a lot in football terms but for a club our size, it’s a hefty amount.

 

My views of the season… : My only aim this season was to avoid relegation so I can have no complaints with how our season went :).

My aims for next season… : Another season of avoiding relegation especially with the news that our top goal scorer Andri Fannar Freysson will be leaving us at the end of the season as he’s refusing to sign a new contract so will be leaving on a free transfer.  Normally, I’d just sign a replacement but due to the ‘youth only’ policy that I’m adopting for this save, I’m going to have to rely on the youngsters or existing players at the club to fill the void that will be left by Andri Fannar Freysson.

 

Career Summary

Season     Team              League                                       Position              Icelandic Upper League Cup            Icelandic Cup
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016         Njarðvík         Icelandic 1st Division                    4th                              Group Stage                           Quarter final
 

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Njarðvík - Pre-Season 2017

 

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League expectation

Icelandic First Division : Board expectation - Avoid relegation : Media expectation - 10th (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Icelandic Upper League Cup : Don’t be outclassed too often

Icelandic Cup : 3rd round

 

Transfer budget : £2.7k (last season £5.5k)

Wage budget : £6.5k p/w (last season £6k p/w)

Current wage bill : £1.6k p/w (last season £1.1k p/w)

Season tickets sold : 363 (last season 318)

 

My views for the season ahead… : Despite our great season last year, this season will be another season of avoiding relegation.  Both the board and the media are expecting us to struggle and given that we’ve lost our top goal scorer from last season and with no players coming in on transfers, I can understand their reasoning.  However, I’m quietly optimistic that we’ll be able to avoid the drop and at least finish mid-table as our squad is near enough the same as last year minus the obvious loss of Andri Fannar Freysson and with the promotion of youth players Ívar Örn Lárusson (YP1), Vilmundur Unnarsson (YP5), Gunnar Þorsteinsson (YP8), Styrmir Gauti Pétursson (YP9), Magnús Jóhannsson (YP11), Jón Valgeirsson (YP13), Aron Snær Traustason (YP14) and Aron Örn Unnarsson (YP16), I think that we’ve got more than enough in the squad to have a decent season.

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Njarðvík - Youth Intake 2017

 

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A decent youth intake for us this season once again saw 16 players join us on trial.

 

 

Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22) and Alexander Steinarsson (YP32) in particularly stand out from this years intake with both of them looking as if they can make a contribution to the first team squad straight away.  Obviously, they’ve been offered contracts as have Ingólfur Benediktsson (YP19), Styrmir Þorsteinsson (YP20), Árni Freyr Bergsson (YP21), Alexander Jóhannsson (YP30) and Dagur Eyjólfsson (YP31) while the remaining 9 youth players haven’t been offered contracts and have been released.

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Njarðvík - Season Review 2017

 

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Icelandic First Division/Icelandic First Division progress : Avoiding relegation was our only aim again this season but after our great season last year, I was quietly optimistic of us having a good season and being no where near a relegation fight.  That proved to be the case as we sat in the top 4 all season, even sitting top of the league for a few weeks :) as we eventually finished a place higher and with 2 more points than last season :).

Icelandic Upper League Cup/Icelandic Upper League Cup Group B : A very good run in this competition for us especially considering that half of the group were Premier Division teams.  However, despite not actually losing a game, we failed to qualify from the group.

Icelandic Cup : We couldn’t match last seasons performance in this cup as we only made it to the 4th round this year after Premier Division side Stjarnan beat us 1-0.  Still, we went a round further than what the board wanted.

Squad : Despite losing our top goal scorer from last season the squad of players improved on last years performance as they finished a place higher and 2 points better off than last season.  Theodór Guðni Halldórsson finished as our top goal scorer with 14 goals while Björn Axel Guðjónsson grabbed himself 8 goals.  Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the squad though was the 4 youth academy players that have broken into the first team squad as Ívar Örn Lárusson (YP1) and Gunnar Þorsteinsson (YP8) continued their impressive progress from last season while Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22) and Alexander Steinarsson (YP32) look like great prospects as they made the jump to the first team straight from the youth team this year :).

Under 19 Squad : With 2 full youth intakes now, our Under 19 squad is starting to take shape and is producing some decent players that will hopefully push on and make the step up to the first team in the next few years.  Ívar Örn Lárusson (YP1), Gunnar Þorsteinsson (YP8), Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22) and Alexander Steinarsson (YP32) have already done that and are making good progress. 

While the rest of the Under 19’s are raw potential at the minute, there are a few more that I have my eye on like Arni Freyr Bergsson (YP21), Aron Snaer Traustason (YP14) and Alexander Johannsson (YP30) who look like they could make the step up to first team action in the next year or so if they continue to progress as they are.

Finances : Gradually getting worse as we’re now £89k in the red :(.

 

My views of the season… : Another great season for us especially when avoiding relegation was our only aim :).

My aims for next season… : We shouldn’t be included in any potential relegation battle talk next year and if anything we should be aiming for at least mid-table, if not a top 4 finish.  Can we push for a promotion place?  We might have an outside chance if we have a little bit of luck along the way.

 

Career Summary

Season     Team              League                                       Position              Icelandic Upper League Cup            Icelandic Cup
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016         Njarðvík         Icelandic 1st Division                    4th                              Group Stage                           Quarter final
2017         Njarðvík         Icelandic 1st Division                    3rd                              Group Stage                           4th round
 

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Njarðvík - Pre-Season 2018

 

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League expectation

Icelandic First Division : Board expectation – Mid table finish : Media expectation - 8th (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Icelandic Upper League Cup : Don’t be outclassed too often

Icelandic Cup : 3rd round

 

Transfer budget : £2.7k (last season £2.7k)

Wage budget : £8.1k p/w (last season £6.5k p/w)

Current wage bill : £1.6k p/w (last season £1.6k p/w)

Season tickets sold : 381 (last season 363)

 

My views for the season ahead… : Relegation shouldn’t even be a concern for us this season and this is echoed by both the board and media who are predicting us to finish mid-table.  Given that our squad  is more or less the same as last season and with the rapid progression of both Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22) and Alexander Steinarsson (YP32), I’m quietly confident that we can at least match last seasons league finish, if not make a sneaky push for one of the automatic promotion spots.

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Njarðvík - Youth Intake 2018

 

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This years youth intake saw another 16 players join us on trial.

 

 

Of those 16 players, Albert Pétursson (YP36), Aron Örn Guðmundsson (YP40) and Hólmar Örn Jóhannsson (YP47) look like the stand out players with Albert Pétursson (YP36) in particularly looking like he’ll be able to make an immediate step up to the first team.  These 3 players have been offered contracts with the club along with Ásgrímur Sigurjónsson (YP37).  The other 12 trialists have been released from the club.

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Njarðvík - Season Review 2018

 

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Icelandic First Division/Icelandic First Division progress : A topsy turvy season that saw everyone in the league beat everyone else and saw us jump from 9th to 3rd in the space of one week at one point, culminated in us clinching the league title on the last day of the season J.

Icelandic Upper League Cup/Icelandic Upper League Cup Group C : We qualified as runners-up in the group stage and made it all the way to the semi-final only for KR to end any hopes that we had of reaching the final as they scored a 78th minute winner to beat us 3-2.

Icelandic Cup : For the second year running, we made it to the 4th round only to be knocked out by a Premier Division team as KA beat us 1-0.

Squad : The squad was near enough the same set of players that we had last season as they kicked on and proved to be the best in the First Division by claiming the league title on the last day J.  Theodór Guðni Halldórsson was once again our top goal scorer as he netted 16 times in 33 games while Björn Axel Guðjónsson grabbed himself 13 goals in 34 games.  Lárus Geir Árelíusson had another fine season for us as he scored 8 times as well as being our most creative player with 15 assists, however, he has only 1 more year left to run on his contract and is currently unwilling to sign an extension due to our squad “not being good enough”, so next season could well be his last with us L. 

Under 19 Squad : Youth was very much a massive positive again for us this season as Albert Pétursson (YP36) and Hólmar Örn Jóhannsson (YP47) both made the direct jump from trialists to first team squad members, joining Ívar Örn Lárusson (YP1), Árni Freyr Bergsson (YP21), Aron Snær Traustason (YP14), Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22) and Alexander Steinarsson (YP32) who have all made the same step up in recent years.  Even more pleasing for us was the fact that both Albert Pétursson (YP36) and Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22) were both called up to the Iceland Under 19 squad this season and both look to have very bright future’s…hopefully with us! J.

Finances : Getting worse but the board have taken out a loan, to support our stadium expansion J which does bring our finances back into the black, albeit we’re now having to repay monthly instalments.

 

My views of the season… : A fantastic season for us especially considering that we was only predicted to finish mid-table, as we clinched the First Division title on the last day of the season!  After our 2 previous excellent seasons which saw us finish 4th and 3rd, a push for a top 2 finish was always a possibility, albeit a slim possibility. 

My aims for next season… : Avoid relegation.  That’s it.  No-one will give us a chance and if I’m honest I’ll be surprised if we manage to scrape 10th place.  But that’s our aim.

 

Career Summary

Season     Team              League                                       Position              Icelandic Upper League Cup            Icelandic Cup
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016         Njarðvík         Icelandic 1st Division                    4th                              Group Stage                           Quarter final
2017         Njarðvík         Icelandic 1st Division                    3rd                              Group Stage                           4th round
2018         Njarðvík         Icelandic 1st Division                    1st        (P)                  Semi final                                4th round

Trophy Cabinet

Icelandic First Division - 2018

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Good Start! Fantastic winning the League. 

What tactics are you using? Did you adjust the tactics to the players or Players to tactics?  I am always wondering.......since I have been having problems with tactics in my saves.

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On 8/1/2016 at 22:33, Hootieleece said:

Good Start! Fantastic winning the League. 

What tactics are you using? Did you adjust the tactics to the players or Players to tactics?  I am always wondering.......since I have been having problems with tactics in my saves.

Thanks :thup:.  I use a counter-attacking 4-4-2 with a few tweaks and instructions, which is the tactic I always use, even in my Ilkeston save (which is still alive by the way :)).  I tend to adjust the players to the tactics unless I don't have the required players available to me.  That could be the case in this save due to the youth only policy that I'm playing to, so I could find myself having to alter my tactics in the future (hopefully not!)

On 8/1/2016 at 20:34, Rikulec said:

Well done winning the league. :thup:

 

On 8/2/2016 at 00:27, john1 said:

congrats on the promotion :thup:

 

On 8/2/2016 at 14:52, DodgeeD said:

Congrats on going up - hope you stay there :)

Thanks fellas :thup:

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Njarðvík - Pre-Season 2019

 

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League expectation

Icelandic Premier Division : Board expectation - Fight bravely against relegation : Media expectation - 12th (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Icelandic Upper League Cup : Don’t be outclassed too often

Icelandic Cup : 4th round

 

Transfer budget : £2.7k (last season £2.7k)

Wage budget : £3.6k p/w (last season £8.1k p/w)

Current wage bill : £2.2k p/w (last season £1.6k p/w)

Season tickets sold : 762 - Sold out  (last season 381)

 

My views for the season ahead… : Avoiding relegation is our only aim this season as both the media and the board are expecting a tough season for us.  I have to say that I’m also expecting a hard season in store for us and with no additions allowed to be added to the squad, it’s going to be tough ask for us to attempt to avoid relegation especially with a reduced wage budget as well.  However, if we can stay relatively injury free and have our better players perform to their maximum, as well as maybe getting a couple of decent youngsters in our youth intake again, I think we may have a chance of staying up…maybe…

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Njarðvík - Season Review 2019

 

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Icelandic Premier Division/Icelandic Premier Division progress : Avoiding relegation was our only aim this season…and we achieved that objective easily as we adapted to life in the Icelandic Premier Division seamlessly by finishing 4th in the league, even sitting top of the table for 3 weeks (albeit teams around us had games in hand! :D)

Icelandic Upper League Cup/Icelandic Upper League Cup Group A : We qualified from the group and made it to the quarter-final but that’s where our journey ended as Fylkir defeated us 2-1.

Icelandic Cup : We made it a round further than what was expected of us as we went out on penalties to HK in the quarter-final.

Squad : The squad of players adapted amazingly well to the step up to the Premier Division as they more than held their own against the bigger teams in the league.  Theodór Guðni Halldórsson showed that the step up in leagues was no problem for him as he finished the season as both our top goal scorer and the league’s top goal scorer as he bagged himself 18 goals in 33 games while Lárus Geir Árelíusson had another great season for us as he scored 6 times and assisted 12 times as well as finishing in 3rd place for the Icelandic Player of the Season.  Unfortunately for us though, he’ll be leaving us on a free transfer as he refused to renew his contract with us and will be joining Westerlo at the end of the season L.  Björn Axel Guðjónsson struggled to reach the heights that he reached last season as he found goals hard to come by but Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22) continued his remarkable progression as he made the step up from the Icelandic Under 19’s to the Under 21’s.  He looks to have a very bright future ahead of him and looks destined to break into the senior international squad very soon, however, he’s only got a year left on his contract with us and is already making noises about refusing to renew his contract and wanting to move to a bigger club so I’m not hopeful of keeping him L.

Under 19 Squad : Another positive year for us from our academy as it produced 5 more players that look good enough to make it at the club as Kjartan Ástvaldsson (YP52), Atli Már Þórhallsson (YP54), Friðrik Sævarsson (YP55), Alfreð Sigurðsson (YP56) and Ragnar Fjeldsted (YP61) all secured contracts with us as well as breaking into the first team squad this season J.  They join the ever growing list of academy players making the step up to the first team as we now boast 12 youth players from the academy who have progressed to the first team…quite lucky really considering the youth only policy that I’ve adopted for this save! J

Finances : Not brilliant but at least we’re out of the red for the time being!

 

My views of the season… : A remarkable season for us considering what was expected of us!  I, along with both the board and the media expected us to struggle this season but the players made the step up in leagues look effortless, with us even pushing the top 3 at one stage (although realistically we were punching well above our weight to mount any kind of challenge!).

We also moved back into our stadium after Njarðvíkurvöllur was successfully expanded by 1112 seats taking the total capacity to 1957 J.

My aims for next season… : We can’t get ahead of ourselves and as well as we did this season, we must ensure that complacency doesn’t creep in next season.  We should be looking to avoid any kind of relegation battle next season and while another 4th place finish in the league would be nice, I’ll take a mid-table finish to consolidate.

 

Career Summary

Season     Team             League                                         Position                Icelandic Upper League Cup         Icelandic Cup
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2016         Njarðvík        Icelandic 1st Division                     4th                                  Group Stage                       Quarter final
2017         Njarðvík        Icelandic 1st Division                     3rd                                  Group Stage                       4th round
2018         Njarðvík        Icelandic 1st Division                     1st            (P)                  Semi final                            4th round
2019         Njarðvík        Icelandic Premier Division            4th                                  Quarter final                      Quarter final

Trophy Cabinet

Icelandic First Division - 2018

 

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Njarðvík - Pre-Season 2020

 

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League expectation

Icelandic Premier Division : Board expectation - Avoid relegation : Media expectation - 12th (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Icelandic Upper League Cup : Not important

Icelandic Cup : 4th round

 

Transfer budget : £10.6k (last season £2.7k)

Wage budget : £8.7k p/w (last season £3.6k p/w)

Current wage bill : £2.9k p/w (last season £2.2k p/w)

Season tickets sold : 803 - (last season 762)

 

My views for the season ahead… : The board are expecting us to avoid relegation while the media are expecting us to finish rock bottom even after our excellent debut season in the Premier Division last season.  I’ll take that expectation as it puts no pressure on us whatsoever which is good as we’re arguably weaker than we were last season after losing Lárus Geir Árelíusson to Westerlo after joining them when his contract expired with us.  I still think that we’ve got more than enough quality in the squad though to at least avoid relegation, if not aim for a mid-table finish.

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Njarðvík - Season Review 2020

 

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Icelandic Premier Division/Icelandic Premier Division progress : Even after our fantastic debut season in the Premier Division last season which saw us finish 4th, the media were still predicting us to be relegated this season and the boards only objective was to avoid relegation.  We achieved that easily in the end as we improved on last seasons performance by finishing 3rd and qualifying for the Europa League!  We still didn’t get the overachievers award though…that went to our fierce rivals Grindavik who finished 2nd after only coming up from the First Division last season!

Icelandic Upper League Cup/Icelandic Upper League Cup Group B : The board weren’t bothered about our performances in this competition this season…a shame really as Theodór Guðni Halldórsson was on fire as he bagged 10 goals in 10 games in this competition to basically win the cup for us after we beat Stjarnan 3-2 in the final! :D

Icelandic Cup : Another amazing cup run for us this time in the Icelandic Cup as we made it all the way to the semi final.  Unfortunately though, we couldn’t get past Vikingur R as they beat us 3-2.

Squad : Another unbelievable season from this group of players especially considering how young the majority of them are!  Theodór Guðni Halldórsson was once again our top goal scorer as he broke his own record for the amount of goals scored in a season as he netted 21 times while Einar Már Þórisson notched 10 goals from the wing as well as assisting 12 times.  Youth is making a big impact on our squad (which is the purpose of this save!:D) as we now have 11 academy players that have made the step up to the first team with Atli Már Þórhallsson (YP54) and Baldur Magnússon (YP66) joining Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22), Albert Pétursson (YP36) and Ragnar Fjeldsted (YP61) in representing Iceland at youth level in both the Under 19’s and Under 21’s. 

It isn’t all great news though as Lárus Geir Árelíusson left us on a free transfer last season and probably our best youth product so far in this save, Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22) has decided to leave us as well as he wants to move to a bigger club and has left on a free transfer.

Under 19 Squad : Another positive year from our academy as it once again produced 5 players that have more than enough potential to succeed at the club as Bragi Ármannsson (YP65), Baldur Magnússon (YP66), Ólafur Jón Jóhannsson (YP72), Ingi Steinn Stefánsson (YP74) and Garðar Bragason (YP78) all signed deals with us.

Finances : Looking very healthy now and projected to be even healthier in the future! :)

 

My views of the season… : Another record breaking season for us as we won the Icelandic Upper League Cup for the first time, finished in our highest ever league position as well as qualifying for the Europa League for the first time in the clubs history in a season where we were predicted to be relegated! 

My aims for next season… : Can we match the achievements of this season?  With the league seemingly how it is, excluding FH, everyone seems to be able to beat everyone else so I see no reason why we shouldn’t be able to.  However, we’re still ranked as one of the weakest teams in the league and with the loss of another key player, Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22), our squad is obviously, once again weaker than the previous season.

 

Career Summary

Season    Team          League                                        Position           Icelandic Upper League Cup        Icelandic Cup
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016      Njarðvík      Icelandic 1st Division                     4th                               Group Stage                    Quarter final
2017      Njarðvík      Icelandic 1st Division                     3rd                               Group Stage                    4th round
2018      Njarðvík      Icelandic 1st Division                     1st        (P)                   Semi final                         4th round
2019      Njarðvík      Icelandic Premier Division            4th                               Quarter final                    Quarter final
2020      Njarðvík      Icelandic Premier Division            3rd                               Winners                            Semi final

Trophy Cabinet

Icelandic First Division              - 2018
Icelandic Upper League Cup    - 2020

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On 8/16/2016 at 21:11, Rikulec said:

You won that one bloody cup I never managed to get. Well done. :thup:

Typical though...the board wasn't bothered about this cup!  I'll still take it though :D

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Njarðvík - Pre-Season 2021

 

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League expectation

Icelandic Premier Division : Board expectation - Avoid relegation : Media expectation - 11th (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Icelandic Upper League Cup : Not important

Icelandic Cup : 4th round

Europa League : 2nd qualifying round

 

Transfer budget : £1M (last season £10.6k)

Wage budget : £9k p/w (last season £8.7k p/w)

Current wage bill : £3.1k p/w (last season £2.9k p/w)

Season tickets sold : 821 - (last season 803)

 

My views for the season ahead… : The board and media are once again expecting us to struggle this season even after another great season for us that saw us clinch qualification to the qualifying rounds of the Europa League!  With the loss of 2 key players in recent seasons in the form of Lárus Geir Árelíusson and Bergsteinn Gylfason (YP22) I can somewhat understand that reasoning but with the young players emerging from the academy in the past couple of seasons, I’m confident that our squad is more than strong enough to steer well clear of relegation and perhaps more so, push for a top half/top 4 finish.

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Njarðvík - Youth Intake 2021

 

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Not the greatest of youth intake’s for us this year as just 4 out of the 16 trialists look as if they have any kind of potential as Pálmar Guðmundsson (YP88), Bjarki Gíslason (YP92) Einar Þór Steingrímsson (YP95) and Halldór Steindórsson (YP96) were the only players that I offered contracts to

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Njarðvík - Season Review 2021

 

 

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Icelandic Premier Division/Icelandic Premier Division progress : We followed up our great season last year by matching it as we once again finished 3rd and qualified for the Europa League.

Icelandic Upper League Cup/Icelandic Upper League Cup Group B : A comfortable win over IBV in the final meant that we claimed our 2nd successive Upper League Cup!

Icelandic Cup : We failed to repeat last seasons run in this cup as FH beat us in the 3rd round.

Europa League : A great debut season in Europe for us as we made it a round further than what was expected of us as we disposed of both Hungarians Videoton and the Finnish side VPS.  That’s where our journey ended though as we lost to a very strong Schalke side who went on to easily qualify for the group stage.  I’m delighted that we even managed to score a goal against them!

Squad : The squad of players once again exceeded what was expected of them as they claimed another piece of silverware as well as qualifying for Europe for a 2nd successive season.  The group of players are getting stronger and with every year, more experienced which is obviously important for us given how young the squad is and also the choice of players for me to pick is also growing as more of our academy players are making the ‘step up’ to the first team, which is probably what is most pleasing for me.  Theodór Guðni Halldórsson was our top goal scorer for the 5th consecutive season as he scored 19 times in 39 games while Ragnar Fjeldsted (YP61) continued his impressive development by grabbing 10 goals from midfield and also finishing as runner up in the Icelandic Young Player of the Year awards.  We’ve also managed to tie down the majority of the squad to longer contracts (with the exception of Albert Pétursson (YP36) who looks likely to leave us after refusing to renew his contract) which is a big positive for us especially after losing 2 key players in recent seasons while we can also now boast a total of 6 of our academy players representing Iceland at youth level.

Under 19 Squad : Our academy and Under 19’s are producing some very able players for the club with 13 youth players now having progressed to the first team.  I’m hopeful that a few more in the Under 19’s that undoubtedly have the raw potential can make a similar step up to the first team in the next few years with Bragi Ármannsson (YP65), Bjarki Gíslason (YP92) and Halldór Steindórsson (YP96) particularly looking promising.

Finances : Thanks to our involvement in Europe this season, our finances are looking very healthy!

 

My views of the season… : Another great season for us which sees us progressing well as a club as we claimed another cup win as well as qualifying for Europe which should further strengthen our finances to hopefully improve our youth facilities in the future.

My aims for next season… : Surely relegation shouldn’t even be associated with us next season after our great 3 seasons in the Premier Division and in my opinion we should now be looking to progress to the next level by pushing for a consistent top half finish or even European qualification again.

Career Summary

Season    Team          League                                        Position           Icelandic Upper League Cup        Icelandic Cup           Europa League
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016      Njarðvík      Icelandic 1st Division                     4th                               Group Stage                    Quarter final                        -
2017      Njarðvík      Icelandic 1st Division                     3rd                               Group Stage                    4th round                             -
2018      Njarðvík      Icelandic 1st Division                     1st        (P)                   Semi final                         4th round                             -
2019      Njarðvík      Icelandic Premier Division            4th                               Quarter final                    Quarter final                       -
2020      Njarðvík      Icelandic Premier Division            3rd                               Winners                            Semi final                             -
2021      Njarðvík      Icelandic Premier Division            3rd                               Winners                            3rd round                3rd qualifying round

Trophy Cabinet

Icelandic First Division              - 2018
Icelandic Upper League Cup    - 2020, 2021

 

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Njarðvík - Pre-Season 2022

 

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League expectation

Icelandic Premier Division : Board expectation - Mid-table finish : Media expectation - 8th (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Icelandic Upper League Cup : Not important

Icelandic Cup : 4th round

Europa League : 2nd qualifying round

 

Transfer budget : £1.5M (last season £1M)

Wage budget : £9.5k p/w (last season £9k p/w)

Current wage bill : £3.1k p/w (last season £3.1k p/w)

Season tickets sold : 837 - (last season 821)

 

My views for the season ahead… : Going into our straight 4th season in the Icelandic Premier Division, we’re no longer being touted as potential relegation candidates as the media are expecting us to finish 8th while the board are expecting us to finish mid-table.  Those targets should be more than achievable for us but we’ll have to make sure that we don’t take our eye of our ‘bread and butter’ so to speak as we once again compete in Europe.  This could be an issue (one that I don’t see however) as with the rules I’m playing this save with, I’m unable to sign players and have actually got a weaker squad than I had least season as both Björn Axel Guðjónsson and Brynjar Freyr Garoarsson have left us.  A shame really as I’ve been given £1.5 million to spend!!! :eek:

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Njarðvík - Youth Intake 2022

 

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Not an astounding youth intake from us again but Óskar Steingrímsson (YP102), Sigurbergur Pétursson (YP105) and in particularly Óskar Björgvinsson (YP111) look as if they could have a future with us and have been offered contracts.  Ragnar Sveinsson (YP106) was also offered a contract with us while the remaining 12 players have been released.

 

 

I’m particularly excited by Óskar Björgvinsson (YP111) as at just 16 years old, according to my backroom staff, he’s already better than our best striker Theodór Guðni Halldórsson and is only going to get better!  Looks like we have a real gem of player on our hands! :D

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Njarðvík - Season Review 2022

 

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Icelandic Premier Division/Icelandic Premier Division progress : We pushed on one further this season as we finished a place higher than last season by finishing 2nd in the league :D and with that, qualifying for the Europa League again :D 

Icelandic Upper League Cup/Icelandic Upper League Cup Group C : This competition is fast becoming a favourite for us as we claimed a 3rd straight trophy :D.

Icelandic Cup : Very disappointing for us again in this competition as we went out to First Division HK in the 4th round

Europa League/Europa League Group A : An unbelievable run for us in what was just our 2nd season in Europe…ever!  We somehow made it all the way through the qualifying rounds to make it to the group stage and while we struggled in the group, which saw us only pick up 1 point, I’m delighted with how we did overall. 

Squad : The squad of players were fantastic once again and once again delivered more than what was expected of them.  The most pleasing aspect of the squad now is the emergence of 14 academy players that are now part of the first team squad.  Garðar Bragason (YP78) had an amazing season for us as at just 18 years old he scored 23 goals in 35 games making him our top scorer for the season while he also collected the Icelandic Footballer of the Year award!  Theodór Guðni Halldórsson had another good season for us as he scored 19 goals in 39 games while Ragnar Fjeldsted continued his impressive development by claiming the Icelandic Young Player of the Season award, with Ingi Steinn Stefánsson (YP74) and Friðrik Sævarsson (YP55) finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. 

The only disappointing point about our squad is the imminent departure of Albert Pétursson (YP36) who after 5 seasons and 80 league appearances for us after coming through our academy, has decided that he can’t win the trophies he wants to win with us so has opted to leave us for FH now his contract is up.

Under 19 Squad : Our academy once again produced some rough diamonds this season as Sigurbergur Pétursson (YP105), Óskar Steingrímsson (YP102) and Óskar Björgvinsson (YP111) all look to have bright futures, in particularly the latter 2 who have both already progressed to the first team!  There are a few more that undoubtedly have the potential to play for the first team in the future but they’ll need a little more help to develop in the form of first team football and loans to our affiliate teams.

Finances : Amazing!  Over £2.5 million in the bank now for a club the size of us is remarkable really!

 

My views of the season… : It seems like we’re able to push on to that next level every season and this season has been no different as we finished as runners-up in the league, claimed a 3rd straight Upper League Cup win and somehow made it through to the group stage of the Europa League!  Not to mention the impressive development of our young players who seem to be getting better with every season.

My aims for next season… : It’ll be difficult to match this seasons achievements but given that the board and chairman have decided to make the club professional, it gives us a very good chance of rivalling the biggest club in Iceland, FH as we’re the only 2 clubs who are professional in the whole of the country. 

The board and chairman have also approved my requests to expand the stadium, upgrade our youth and training facilities and also to improve the junior coaching budget which will hopefully in time give us 1) more revenue and 2) help to improve both the quality of our current players and the quality of our young players coming through the academy :D.

 

Career Summary

Season    Team          League                                        Position           Icelandic Upper League Cup        Icelandic Cup           Europa League
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016      Njarðvík      Icelandic 1st Division                     4th                               Group Stage                    Quarter final                        -
2017      Njarðvík      Icelandic 1st Division                     3rd                               Group Stage                    4th round                             -
2018      Njarðvík      Icelandic 1st Division                     1st        (P)                   Semi final                         4th round                             -
2019      Njarðvík      Icelandic Premier Division            4th                               Quarter final                    Quarter final                        -
2020      Njarðvík      Icelandic Premier Division            3rd                               Winners                            Semi final                             -
2021      Njarðvík      Icelandic Premier Division            3rd                               Winners                            3rd round                 3rd qualifying round
2022      Njarðvík      Icelandic Premier Division            2nd                              Winners                            4th round                 Group stage

Trophy Cabinet

Icelandic First Division              - 2018
Icelandic Upper League Cup    - 2020, 2021, 2022

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2 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

Brilliant progression so far! Title next year?

Now we've turned professional and given the progress we've made so far, I'm inclined to say why not :D.  FH are probably still well ahead of us though and seem to be bringing in some good players recently, especially from Africa, which given the way I'm playing this save as youth only will always make it difficult us to compete with teams like FH.  We're progressing well though and with the youth facilities, training facilities and stadium upgrades, not to mention us turning pro, I'm hopeful that maybe in 4 or 5 seasons we'll be able to give FH a real good push :D

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12 hours ago, deltablue said:

Good stuff in Europe, not just with the point but it doesn't look like you were beaten too heavily in the other matches either.

Thanks Delta :thup:.  That's perhaps what I was more pleased with.  Of course I'm happy that we managed to 1) get to the group stage and 2) pick up a point, but not losing heavily to the likes of Fiorentina, PSV and even Brondby is a massive achievement, especially for a club like us :)

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