Breiðablik is a

multi-sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

from

Kópavogur Kópavogur () is a town in Iceland that is the country's second largest municipality by population. It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region. The name literally means ''seal pup inlet''. The town seal contains th ...

, Iceland. The club was founded in 1950 and is the largest

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

in the country. Breiðablik has several sports divisions, both men's and women's, including

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 ...

, athletics,

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 ...

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

, dance,

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

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

Name

The name Breiðablik comes from

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

, where it was the home of

Baldur Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was k ...

. The nickname ''Blikar'' is formed from the second part of that name, meaning splendours or twinkles (like a

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

). The singular form ''Bliki'' is also a name for male ducks.

Basketball

Men's basketball

As of 2018–2019 season, Breiðablik men's basketball team plays in the top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla

Women's basketball

Breiðablik women's basketball team won its lone national championship during its first season in the top-tier league in 1995. As of 2018–2019 season, plays in Úrvalsdeild kvenna.

Football

Men's team

Breiðablik's men's team first competitive match was played on 12 June 1957, a 1–0 loss against

Þróttur Reykjavík Þróttur may refer to: * Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur, also referred to as Þróttur Reykjavík or Throttur, is a sports club from Reykjavík in Iceland. The club runs a association football, football department ...

. After several years in the lower leagues, Breiðablik reached the top-flight for the first time in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. In recent years the Breiðablik men's team has established itself as a powerhouse in the Icelandic league, challenging regularly on all fronts. Throughout its history, the team has however been notorious for bouncing between the two top leagues in Iceland, getting promoted and relegated on a regular basis. Since being promoted in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, and under the guidance of coach Ólafur Kristjánsson since 2006, the team has grown steadily and established itself as a real challenger in the Icelandic top-flight. The team's first big trophy came with a win in the Icelandic Cup in 2009, followed by the team's first Úrvalsdeild title in the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. The 2013 season is Breiðablik's 8th consecutive season in the top-flight, a club record. Breiðablik competed in a European competition for the first time in 2010, facing

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

side

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. They lost the first leg 1–0 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and lost by the same scoreline in the return leg, meaning that the team lost 2–0 on aggregate. A year later, Breiðablik faced Rosenborg in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

qualifiers, losing out 2–5 on aggregate. The team won away from home in Europe for the first time with a memorable 1–0 victory over Austrian side

SK Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austria ...

in the 2013–14 competition.

Women's team

Breiðablik women's football team currently plays in the Úrvalsdeild kvenna, the top-tier women's football league in Iceland, where they finished second in

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 ser ...

. They have won the national championship sixteen times and the Women's Cup eleven times in its history. They reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Women's Cup in 2006-07 which is a joint record in UEFA competitions by any Icelandic team, also achieved by Valur women's team in 2005-06.

External links

Official websiteSupporters website

– Breiðablik Kópavogur

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breidablik Ubk Sport in Kópavogur 1950 establishments in Iceland Sports clubs established in 1950