Club Focus - Filmleiflag Hafnafjordur
As tonight I'll be going to Dynamo v Drogheda and Sunday sees Arsenal take on Zorya, I thought I'd take a look at Villa's opponents in the UEFA Cup.
Hafnafjordur were formed in 1929, and despite being most famous for their football club, they also compete in other sports including track and field. As a football club they only really came to prominence this century with 3 back to back championships between 2004 and 2006. Last year they narrowly missed out to Valur of Reykjavik, and this season they are again top of the league. Their most famous victory in Europe came when they knocked Dunfermiline out of the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Cup in 2004-5 ( I will be hoping that they don't pull a shock off in this year's tournament at the same point)
In recent years they have been expanding their ground's capacity from 2,200 to 6,000, which will make it the second biggest stadium in Iceland after Laugardalsvollors. Whether this is really necessary remains to be seen. Last season Hafnafjordur were the second best supported team in Iceland after KR Reykjavik, but their average was only 1,609 and which represented a drop of 30 percent on the previous Championship season. That said, I don't think it would be wise to describe any fans in Iceland as fair weather supporters!
Comments