The Valur men's football team, commonly known as Valur, is the men's football department of the

Knattspyrnufélagið Valur Knattspyrnufélagið Valur is an Icelandic multi-sport club based in Reykjavík, Iceland. The club is situated close to the city center, in the east side of town, on the former farmland of Hlíðarendi. The club was originally formed as part of ...

multi-sport club. It is based in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, and currently plays in the

Besta deild karla The Besta deild karla () is the top level men's football league in Iceland. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in Iceland, it is generally played in the spring and summer (May to Septem ...

, the top-tier men's football league in Iceland. The team plays it home games at Hlíðarendi located in

. The team's colors are red and white. Valur has spent most of it´s time in Icelandic top flight football, having only played 3 seasons in the clubs history outside the top tier. Valur is one of the most successful football clubs in Iceland with 23 Icelandic championships. And holds the record attendance to a football match in Iceland with 18.243 spectators in attendance vs. Benfica in 1968. Valur participated in the Icelandic men's soccer tournament for the first time in 1915 and became the Icelandic champion for the first time in 1930. In total, it has won the Icelandic championship 23 times, most recently in 2020. In a reshake in the fall of 2022 following a disappointing season Valur appointed

Arnar Grétarsson Arnar Grétarsson (born 20 February 1972 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic former professional football player and current manager of Valur. Club career Arnar started his career in Breiðablik, where he played for several years until he joined ...

as manager soon after the he was sacked as manager of KA Akureyri, after having notable success as manager in the northern capital the Icelandic giants hope to bring stability to their setup. Along with

Valur appointed Sigurður Höskuldsson former manager of Leiknir Reykjavík as assistant manager.

European competition

Valur first competed in Europe at the

1966–67 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1966–67 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football competition was won by Bayern Munich with a 1–0 final victory over Rangers, who had eliminated holders Borussia Dortmund. It was the fourth time in six years that the final requ ...

Preliminary Round, playing to a draw (1–1) in its first match against

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

, ultimately losing on aggregate 9–2. Since then, the club has participated in European competition 20 times, never advancing beyond the second round of any tournament.

Players

Current squad

Coaches

* Guðmundur H. Pétursson (1930) * Reidar Sörensen (1933–35) * Murdo MacDougall (1935–37) * Murdo MacDougall & Robert Jack (1937–38) * Murdo MacDougall (1938) * Joe Devine (1939), (1948) * Hermann Hermannsson (1955) * Óli B. Jónsson (1967–31 December 1968) * Yuri Illichev (1 July 1973 – 30 June 1974), (1 July 1976 – 30 June 1978) * Gyula Nemes (1978–79) * Volker Hofferbert (1980) * Klaus-Jürgen Hilpert (1982) * Claus Peter (1982–83) * Ian Ross (1 January 1984 – 31 December 1987) * Hörður Helgason (1 January 1988 – 1 August 1989) * Guðmundur Þorbjörnsson (1989) * Ingi Björn Albertsson (1990–91) * Kristinn Björnsson (1992–93) * Kristinn Björnsson (1995) * Sigurður Dagsson (1996) * Sigurður Grétarsson (1996) * Kristinn Björnsson (1997–99) * Ejub Purišević (2000–01) * Þorlákur Árnason (2002–03) * Njáll Eiðsson (2004) *

Willum Þór Þórsson Willum Þór Þórsson (born 17 March 1963) is a former football player and manager and politician. From 2013 to 2016, he served on the Althing, the Icelandic parliament, for the Progressive Party, and is currently a member of parliament sinc ...

(1 August 2005 – July 2009) * Atli Eðvaldsson (4 July 2009 – September 2009) * Gunnlaugur Jónsson (October 2009 – 31 December 2010) *

Kristján Guðmundsson Kristján Guðmundsson (born 1941, Snæfellsnes, Iceland) is a contemporary Icelandic conceptual artist. He started his career as an artist in the 1960s as a member of ''SÚM'' - a group of young artists influenced by then-new currents in concept ...

(1 January 2011 – 31 December 2012) * Magnús Gylfason (1 January 2013 – 31 October 2014) * Ólafur Jóhannesson (31 October 2014–2019) * Heimir Guðjónsson (2019-2022) * Ólafur Jóhannesson (17 July 2022 - 31 Oct 2022) *

(31 Oct 2022 - present)

Honours

Úrvalsdeild * Champions (23):

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...

, 1933, 1935,

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

, 1937, 1938,

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * Januar ...

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

, 1966,

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, 1978, 1980,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, 2007,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Icelandic Cup * Champions (11): 1965, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2005, 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Icelandic League Cup * Champions (3):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 2011,

Icelandic Super Cup * Champions (11): 1977, 1979, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2006, 2008, 2016,

, 2018

References

External links

Official website
{{Urvalsdeild Football clubs in Iceland Association football clubs established in 1911 Football clubs in Reykjavík 1911 establishments in Iceland