Íþróttafélagið Grótta

Íþróttafélagið Grótta (English: Grótta Sports Club; pronounced [ˈkrouhta]) is an Icelandic sports club based in the town of Seltjarnarnes, in the Capital Region. The club is best known for its women's handball team that won the national championship in 2015[2] and 2016,[3][4] but also has departments for gymnastics, football and powerlifting.[5]

Grótta
Grótta's logo showing the Grótta lighthouse
Full nameÍþróttafélagið Grótta
Founded24 April 1967 (1967-04-24)[1]
LocationSeltjarnarnes, Iceland
Home groundVivaldivöllurinn
Websitegrotta.is

History

Grótta was officially founded on 24 April 1967 by Garðar Guðmundsson, a football supporter from Seltjarnarnes who had begun the process of forming a club the previous year. Initially the club had only a football team but later expanded to include handball (1969), gymnastics (1985) and powerlifting (2013). The club has over the years tried to incorporate sports including basketball, skiing and chess but they have all failed.[6]

On 24 April 2007, the club held a festival to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its foundation. The day included a parade through the town with a brass band, displays by the club's various teams, addresses by the mayor and chairman and a gala.[1]

Football
Grótta
Full nameKnattspyrnudeild Gróttu
Founded24 April 1967 (1967-04-24)[1]
GroundVivaldivöllurinn,
Seltjarnarnes
Capacity1,000
ManagerChristopher Brazell
League1. deild karla
20231. deild karla, 9th of 12

Home court

The football team plays its home matches at the Vivaldi stadium, which has an artificial grass playing surface and a capacity of 300 spectators.[7]

History

In 2007, the men's football team was promoted to the 2. deild karla after defeating BÍ/Bolungarvík 5–1 on aggregate in the play-offs.[8] In 2010, the side won promotion to the 1. deild karla and remained there for two seasons before returning to the third tier for the 2012 campaign. It returned to the 1. deild in 2017 but were relegated straight away. However, they won promotion again the following year. In 2019 they then produced what has been referred to as one of the most surprising seasons in Icelandic football history when they won the 1. deild and were promoted to the top tier of Icelandic football for the first time in the club's history.

64°9′0.6″N 21°59′45.0″W

Honours
2019
2009
1991

Current squad
As of 11 September 2023

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Iceland ISL Rafal Stefán Daníelsson
2 DF Iceland ISL Arnar Þór Helgason
3 DF Iceland ISL Arnar Númi Gíslason (on loan from Breidablik)
4 DF Iceland ISL Júlí Karlsson
5 DF Iceland ISL Patrik Orri Pétursson
7 FW Iceland ISL Pétur Theodór Árnason (on loan from Breidablik)
8 MF Iceland ISL Tómas Johannessen
9 FW Iceland ISL Axel Sigurðarson
10 MF Iceland ISL Kristófer Orri Pétursson
12 MF Iceland ISL Gabríel Hannar Eyjólfsson
14 MF Iceland ISL Arntþór Páll Hafsteinsson
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF Iceland ISL Gunnar Jónas Hauksson
19 DF Iceland ISL Kristófer Melsted
21 MF Iceland ISL Hilmar McShane
22 MF Netherlands NED Tareq Shihab
23 FW Iceland ISL Sigurdur Steinar Björnsson (on loan from Víkingur Reykjavík)
25 MF Iceland ISL Valtýr Már Michaelsson
26 DF Iceland ISL Arnar Daniel Adalsteinsson
28 MF Iceland ISL Aron Bjarki Jósepsson
29 MF Iceland ISL Grímur Ingi Jakobsson
32 GK Iceland ISL Theódór Henriksen

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
6 MF Iceland ISL Ólafur Karel Eiríksson (at Haukar until 2 February 2024)
11 FW Iceland ISL Ívan Óli Santos (at ÍR Reykjavík until 2 February 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
31 GK Iceland ISL Kristófer Leví Sigtryggsson (at KFG until 2 February 2024)

Notable managers

Handball

Honours
2015, 2016
2015[2]

Notable players

Notable players

Gymnastics

Around 1200 participants are in the Gymnastics department. Around 20% are from Seltjarnarnes and 80% are from the neighboring town of Reykjavík. Both Artistic gymnastics and TeamGym are taught at the club. Olympic gold medalist Szilveszter Csollány was hired as a coach in 2011.[9]

In 2016-2019 the Gymnastics department went under major reconstruction where the house was rebuilt bigger and new equipment was bought which has greatly improved the facilities for the participants.[10]

References
  1. "Íþróttafélagið Grótta 40 ára" [Grótta Sports Club 40 years old] (PDF). Skólablaðið Skinfaxi (in Icelandic). 1 May 2007. p. 28. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  2. Elín Heiður Gunnarsdóttir (12 May 2015). "Grótta Íslandsmeistari í fyrsta sinn". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  3. Guðmundur Marinó Ingvarsson (15 May 2016). "Umfjöllun, viðtöl og myndir: Stjarnan - Grótta 23-28 - Grótta Íslandsmeistari annað árið í röð". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  4. Hjörvar Ólafsson (15 May 2016). "Grótta Íslandsmeistari". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  5. "Um Gróttu". grottasport.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  6. "Saga félagsins" [History of the club] (in Icelandic). GrottaSport.is. 28 February 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  7. "Gróttuvöllur". KSÍ.is. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  8. "Knattspyrna: 3. deild karla Síðari úrslitaleikir um sæti í 2. deild". Morgunblaðið. 29 August 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  9. "Ólympíumeistari á Seltjarnarnesi". Fréttatíminn. 2011-10-14. p. 26.
  10. "nýtt fimleikahús" [New gymnastics house] (in Icelandic). reykjavik.is. 14 September 2019.
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