Íþróttafélagið Grótta (, ) is an Icelandic sports club based in the town of

Seltjarnarnes Seltjarnarnes () is a town and municipality in the Capital Region of Iceland. The municipality is located on a peninsula, bordered only by Reykjavík to the east. It is also the most densely populated municipality in Iceland. It took on its curr ...

, in the Capital Region. The club is best known for its women's

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor 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 thr ...

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 group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

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 (appro ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

and

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

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 The Vestri men's football team, commonly known as Vestri, is the men's football department of the Íþróttafélagið Vestri multi-sport club and is based in Ísafjarðarbær, Iceland. As of 2024, it plays in the Icelandic top-tier Besta deild ka ...

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. Current

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

goalkeeper Hákon Valdimarsson played in goal for Grótta during their 1. deild success. {{Coord, 64, 9, 0.6, N, 21, 59, 45.0, W, display=t, type:landmark

Honours

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

Current squad

{{updated, 1 September 2024 {{Fs start {{Fs player, no= 1, nat=ISL, name= Rafal Stefán Daníelsson, pos=GK {{Fs player, no= 2, nat=ISL, name= Arnar Þór Helgason, pos=DF {{Fs player, no= 3, nat=NOR, name= Eirik Brennhaugen, pos=DF {{Fs player, no= 4, nat=ISL, name= Arnar Daniel Adalsteinsson, pos=DF {{Fs player, no= 5, nat=ISL, name= Patrik Orri Pétursson, pos=DF {{Fs player, no= 6, nat=ISL, name= Alex Bergmann Arnarsson, pos=DF {{Fs player, no= 7, nat=ISL, name= Pétur Theodór Árnason, pos=FW {{Fs player, no= 8, nat=ISL, name= Birgir Davidsson Scheving, pos=MF {{Fs player, no= 9, nat=ISL, name= Ívan Óli Santos, pos=FW {{Fs player, no=10, nat=ISL, name= Kristófer Orri Pétursson, pos=MF {{Fs player, no=11, nat=ISL, name= Axel Sigurðarson, pos=MF {{Fs player, no=12, nat=ISL, name= Gabríel Hannar Eyjólfsson, pos=MF {{Fs player, no=14, nat=ISL, name= Arntþór Páll Hafsteinsson, pos=MF {{Fs mid {{Fs player, no=15, nat=ISL, name= Ragnar Björn Bragason, pos=DF {{Fs player, no=16, nat=ISL, name= Kristján Oddur Haagensen, pos=MF {{Fs player, no=17, nat=ISL, name= Tómas Orri Róbertsson, pos=MF, other=on loan from Breiðablik {{Fs player, no=18, nat=ISL, name= Aron Bjarki Jósepsson, pos=DF {{Fs player, no=19, nat=ISL, name= Ísak Ívarsson, pos=FW, other=on loan from Víkingur {{Fs player, no=20, nat=SLE, name= Tumeliso Ratsiu, pos=FW {{Fs player, no=21, nat=ISL, name= Hilmar McShane, pos=MF {{Fs player, no=22, nat=ISL, name= Kristofér Melsted, pos=MF {{Fs player, no=23, nat=NED, name= Damian Timan, pos=MF {{Fs player, no=26, nat=DEN, name= Rasmus Christiansen, pos=DF {{Fs player, no=27, nat=ISL, name= Valdimar Daði Sævarsson, pos=MF {{Fs player, no=29, nat=ISL, name= Grímur Ingi Jakobsson, pos=MF {{Fs player, no=32, nat=ISL, name= Theódór Henriksen, pos=GK {{Fs end

Out on loan

{{Fs start {{Fs mid {{Fs end

Women's team

Notable managers

*{{flagicon, ISL Bryndís Valsdóttir

Handball

Women's team

Honours

* Úrvalsdeild kvenna (2): :2015, 2016 * Icelandic Women's Handball Cup: :2015

Notable players

*{{flagicon, ISL Lovísa Thompson 2014–2018

Men's team

Notable players

*{{flagicon, ISL Alexander Petersson 1998–2003 *{{flagicon, LTU

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 *{{flagicon, ISL Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson 1991–1998 *{{flagicon, ISL

Viggó Kristjánsson Viggó Kristjánsson (born 9 December 1993) is an Icelandic handball player for TV Bittenfeld and the Icelandic national team. He represented Iceland at the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship, 2021 World Men's Handball Championship an ...

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 city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

. Both

Artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...

and TeamGym are taught at the club. Olympic gold medalist Szilveszter Csollány 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.{{cite web, url=https://reykjavik.is/frettir/nytt-fimleikahus-grottu, title=nýtt fimleikahús, trans-title=New gymnastics house, language=Icelandic, publisher=reykjavik.is, date=14 September 2019

Footnotes

{{notelist

References

{{Reflist

External links

Grótta official website
{{1. deild karla {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Grotta Football clubs in Iceland Multi-sport clubs in Iceland Association football clubs established in 1967 1967 establishments in Iceland Sports clubs and teams in Capital Region (Iceland)