Íþróttafélagið Grótta (English: ''Grótta Sports Club''; ) is an Icelandic sports club based in the town of

Seltjarnarnes Seltjarnarnes () is a town in the Capital Region of Iceland. Seltjarnarnes is beside Reykjavik. It took on its current political form shortly after the Second World War and was formally created as a township in 1947. It is the smallest Icelandic ...

, in the

Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

. The club is best known for its women's

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

team that won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in 2015 and 2016, but also has departments for

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

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 Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

and

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

but they have all failed. 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.

Football

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.

Men's team

History

In 2007, the men's football team was promoted to the 2. deild karla after defeating

BÍ/Bolungarvík Knattspyrnudeild Vestra, also known as Vestri, is the football department of the Íþróttafélagið Vestri multi-sport club and is based in Ísafjarðarbær, Iceland. Men's History The club was founded in 1986 as the football department of ''B ...

5–1 on aggregate in the play-offs. 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.

Honours

* 1. deild karla: :2019 * 2. deild karla: :2009 * 3. deild karla: :1991

Current squad

Women's team

Notable managers

* Bryndís Valsdóttir

Handball

Women's team

Honours

* Úrvalsdeild kvenna (2): :2015, 2016 *

Icelandic Women's Handball Cup The Icelandic Women's Handball Cup (Icelandic: Bikarkeppni kvenna í handknattleik), also known as Coca-Cola Cup since 2013 for sponsorship reasons, is an annual handball competition between clubs in Iceland. It is run by the Icelandic Handball As ...

: :2015

Notable players

Lovísa Thompson Lovísa Thompson (born 27 October 1999) is an Icelandic handball player who plays for Valur, and the Icelandic national team. She has won both the Icelandic championship and Icelandic Cup three times each. In September 2018, she was included ...

2014–2018

Men's team

Notable players

Alexander Petersson Alexander Petersson (born Aleksandrs Pētersons 2 July 1980) is a Latvian-born Icelandic former handball player. He was a member of the Icelandic national team from 2005 to 2021, appearing in 186 games. Alexander was voted the Icelandic Sportspe ...

1998–2003 *

Gintaras Savukynas Gintaras Savukynas (born 18 February 1971) is a professional Lithuanian handball player, who played in center back position. Savukynas played in the World and European championships with the Lithuania National Handball team as the team captain. ...

2003–2004 *

Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (born 8 August 1979) is an Icelandic retired handball player and current coach of VfL Gummersbach. A captain of the Iceland men's national handball team, Guðjón Valur broke the world record for most goals scored in ...

1991–1998 * Viggó Kristjánsson 2010–2016

Gymnastics

Around 1200 participants are in the Gymnastics department. Around 20% are from

and 80% are from the neighboring town of

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 ...

. Both

Artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

and

TeamGym TeamGym is a form of competition created by the European Union of Gymnastics. The first official competition was held in Finland in 1996. Originally named EuroTeam, TeamGym received its current name in 2002. From 1996 to 2008, the European Cham ...

are taught at the club. Olympic gold medalist

Szilveszter Csollány Szilveszter Csollány (; 13 April 1970 – 24 January 2022) was a Hungarian gymnast who won gold in the men's rings at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Life and career Csollány won gold in the men's rings at the 2000 Summer Olympics in S ...

was hired as a coach in 2011. 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.

References

External links

Grótta official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grotta Football clubs in Iceland Multi-sport clubs in Iceland Association football clubs established in 1967 1967 establishments in Iceland