Knattspyrnufélag Akureyrar (, ), commonly abbreviated to KA, is an Icelandic

multi-sport 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 ...

based in

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

in the north of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. The club was founded in 1928. The football team currently plays in

Besta deild karla The Besta deild karla () is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in Ic ...

and have won the top flight once in 1989.

Club

The club offers various sports including

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 ...

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 ...

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

. The club crest features a red shield overlaid on a blue shield. Within the red shield is a golden ball, with the letters 'KA' positioned above it in white. The team colours are yellow shirts and blue shorts. Its main rival is another sports club in Akureyri,

Þór Akureyri Íþróttafélagið Þór (, ), commonly known as Þór Akureyri (), or simply Þór or Thór, is a multi-sport club in Akureyri, in the north of Iceland. It features departments in basketball, football, handball and taekwondo. Its main rival is ...

History

The early years (1928–1943)

KA was founded on January 8, 1928, in the home of Margrét and Axel Schiöth, at Hafnarstræti 23, with the goal of promoting sports in Akureyri.

ÍBA (1943–1974)

Between 1944 and 1974 the two most prominent football clubs in Akureyri, KA and

Þór Thor (from ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and fertility. Beside ...

, sent a united team under the banner of ÍBA to the Icelandic first tier made up of a selection of players from the Akureyri clubs. The club played 17 seasons in the top flight of Icelandic football league, Úrvalsdeild karla. The first time the two Akureyri clubs, KA and Þór, combined forces was against recent league champions Valur in the middle of July 1942. The teams played twice, the united team from Akureyri won one game but lost the other. The positive results gave impetus to unification ideas and in 1943 for the fourth time a team from Akureyri played in Úrvalsdeild karla. But now it sailed under the flag of Íþróttaráð Akureyrar ''(In english Akureyri Sports Council)'' and not KA as in all the previous time

The subsequent year, in 1944, saw the establishment of ÍB Akureyri. By 1946, a football team representing ÍBA competed in Úrvalsdeild karla, for the first time. From 1955 to 1974, the ÍBA team always took part in the Icelandic men's football tournament. In 1974, the two respective sports clubs ended their collaboration and started sending teams separately as KA and Þó

Back to the top tier (2015– )

The summer of 2015 1. deild karla, 2015 was filled with anticipation for KA. Despite losing some key players, the team demonstrated strength during preseason, reaching the final of the Icelandic Men's Football League Cup but ultimately losing to Breiðablik. Good signings, preseason success, and the experienced coach Bjarni Jóhannsson, who took over in 2013, led many pundits to predict that KA would be promoted to the top flight with ease. However, the season failed to meet expectations, and the team finished in 3rd place, prompting the sacking of manager Jóhannsson, with his assistant Srdjan Tufegdzic taking over late in the season. In

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, KA finally reached the top flight. Under new management with Tufegdzic at the helm and notable acquisitions like Hallgrímur Mar Steingrímsson,

Guðmann Þórisson Guðmann Þórisson (born 30 January 1987) is an Icelandic football player who currently plays for second level outfit Kórdrengir, after a spell at Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar. He started his career with Breiðablik, making his senior debu ...

, and Ásgeir Sigurgeirsson, the team comfortably won the second division. Expectations were high for KA's first match in the top division in thirteen years. The team faced Breiðablik and emerged victorious with a 1–3 scoreline. The first season in the top division since 2004 fared well as the team finished in 7th place. The following year saw KA once again finish in 7th place, and at the end of the season, the club parted ways with Tufegdzic. Óli Stefán Flóventsson replaced him and managed to guide the team to 5th place, KA's best showing since 2002. Elfar Árni Aðalsteinsson emerged as the team's top scorer with 13 goals. However, the subsequent season did not go as well for Flóventsson, who was let go after managing five games without a win. His replacement,

Arnar Grétarsson Arnar Grétarsson (born 20 February 1972 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic former professional football player and former manager of Valur. Club career Arnar started his career in Breiðablik, where he played for several years until he joined ...

, led the team to a 7th-place finish, although the season was cut short due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. The season was notable for an unusual number of draws, with the team drawing 12 times. The team was praised for its solid defending and the homegrown player

Brynjar Ingi Bjarnason Brynjar Ingi Bjarnason (born 6 December 1999) is an Icelandic footballer who plays as a centre-back for Eliteserien club HamKam and the Iceland national team. Club career On 30 June 2021, he signed a three-year contract with an option for four ...

had a breakout season. The

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

marked Grétarsson's first full season as head coach, during which significant acquisitions like

Jonathan Hendrickx Jonathan Kevin C. Hendrickx (born 25 December 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a right back for Tubize-Braine. Club career On 1 February 2021, after a year-and-a-half in Belgium, Hendrickx moved to Iceland for a third tim ...

Dušan Brković Dušan Brković (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Душан Брковић; born 20 January 1989) is a Serbian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Icelandic club ...

, and the return of homegrown player

Daníel Hafsteinsson Daníel Hafsteinsson (born 12 November 1999) is an Icelandic football attacking midfielder, who plays for Knattspyrnufélag Akureyrar in Úrvalsdeild karla. Club career KA Daníel started his career with local club KA in 2017, after having p ...

bolstered the team's roster. On 29 May 2021, Bjarnason made his international debut for the Icelandic national team before being sold to

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

midway through the season. Despite the loss of Bjarnason, KA achieved remarkable success, securing its best result since

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

with a 4th-place finish. Moving into the 2022 season, KA continued its upward trajectory, clinching its second-best result ever in the

. This achievement qualified them for the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

Nökkvi Þeyr Þórisson Nökkvi Þeyr Þórisson (born 13 August 1999) is an Icelandic footballer who plays as a winger for Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam, and the Iceland national team. Club career He started training with his local club Dalvík, switching to his fath ...

showcased an outstanding performance throughout the season, earning recognition as the league's best player and top scorer with 17 goals. Notably, his remarkable achievements came despite his transfer to

K Beerschot VA Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen (), or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional Association football, football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the top tier Belgian Pro League, Pro League after promotion from second tie ...

before the season concluded. Grétarsson's assistant and former KA player, Hallgrímur Jónasson, assumed managerial duties for the team towards the end of the season, following the departure of Grétarsson. Jónasson successfully navigated the team through the playoffs and a second-place finish. In

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, KA finished 7th in the league and made it to the

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

final against Víkingur R., ultimately losing 3-1. The team also had a relatively successful

campaign, defeating

Connah's Quay Nomads Connah's Quay Nomads Football Club () is a Welsh professional association football, football club based in Connah's Quay, Flintshire. They play in the . The club was founded in 1946 as Connah's Quay Juniors and adopted the Connah's Quay Nomads ...

and

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

, with their journey coming to an end against

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

Football

Men's football

They have once been the Icelandic champions, in 1989 after a tough fight against FH (

Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (), commonly referred to as FH, is an Icelandic multi-sports club based in Hafnarfjörður. The club competes in football, handball, athletics, and fencing. It was founded in 1929 as a gymnastics club but soon start ...

). FH were in the lead until their final match, against already relegated team

Fylkir Íþróttafélagið Fylkir (, ) is a multi-sport club in Árbær, in the eastern part of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. It features departments in football, handball, volleyball, gymnastics and karate. Kit The Fylkir official home kit is ...

. FH lost and KA obtained the title for the first time in their history. KA formerly played at Akureyrarvöllur close to downtown Akureyri but have since moved all games to Greifavöllurinn, a temporary arena at the club's training base, KA-Heimilið in the Lundarhverfi neighborhood where a new permanent stadium is also being built.

Current squad

(

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

)

Out on loan

European record

= Matches

= ;Notes * PR: Preliminary Round * 1R: First round * 1Q: First qualifying round * 2Q: Second qualifying round * 3Q: Third qualifying round * PO: Play-off round

Recent history

Trophies and achievements

* Icelandic Champion: **Winners:

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

* Icelandic Cup: **Winners:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Icelandic League Cup Icelandic League Cup may refer to: * Icelandic Men's Football League Cup The Icelandic Men's Football League Cup (Icelandic: Deildarbikar karla), also known as the Lengjubikar karla for sponsorship reasons, is a pre-season professional football c ...

: **Runners-up:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

* Icelandic Super Cup: **Champions: 1990

Notable former players

Þorvaldur Örlygsson Þorvaldur "Toddy" Örlygsson (born 2 August 1966) is an Icelandic former footballer who played as a midfielder. After retiring, he has worked as a manager, with his most recent side being Icelandic club Keflavík. He is the younger brother of ...

* Erlingur Kristjánsson *

Þorvaldur Makan Sigbjörnsson Þorvaldur Makan Sigbjörnsson (born 26 November 1974) is an Icelandic former international footballer. Club career He played club football for KA Akureyri, Leiftur, Östers IF, KA Akureyri again, Fram Reykjavik and Valur. In October an ...

* Hreinn Hringsson *

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

* Sandor Matus *

Pálmi Rafn Pálmason Pálmi Rafn Pálmason (born 9 November 1984) is an Icelandic Football (soccer), footballer who is currently playing for Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, KR in the Úrvalsdeild karla (football), Icelandic Premier Division. Before that he played in ...

* Atli Sveinn Þórarinsson *

Haukur Heiðar Hauksson Haukur Heiðar Hauksson (; born 1 September 1991) is an Icelandic retired football right back. Club career Haukur started his career with local club KA in 2008. He moved to KR in the Úrvalsdeild before the 2012 season. After the Icelandic 2 ...

Player of the Season

Overall most appearances

Overall top scorers

Managerial history

* Einar Helgason (1975–76) * Jóhannes Atlason (1977–79) *

Alex Willoughby Alex Willoughby (17 September 1944 – 14 July 2004) was a Scottish professional Association football, football forward who played for Rangers F.C., Rangers and Aberdeen F.C., Aberdeen. Career Willoughby was born in Springburn, Glasgow, and edu ...

(1980–82) * Fritz Kissing (1983) * Gústaf Baldvinsson (1984–1986) * Hörður Helgason (1987) *

Guðjón Þórðarson Guðjón Þórðarson (; born 14 September 1955), known in the United Kingdom as Gudjon Thordarson, is an Icelandic football manager and former player. He has previously been manager of Iceland, Icelandic clubs ÍA, KA, KR, Keflavík, BÍ/Bo ...

(1988–1990) * Ormar Örlygsson (1991) * Gunnar Gíslason (1992) * Njáll Eiðsson (1993) * Erlingur Kristjánsson (1994) *

Pétur Ormslev Pétur Úlfar Ormslev (born 28 July 1958 in Iceland) is a retired football midfielder. Career During his club career, Ormslev mainly played for Fram Reykjavík, with three seasons at Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein ...

(1995–1996) * Sigurður Kristján Lárusson (1997) * Einar Einarsson (1998–1999) *

(2000–2005) * Slobodan Milisic (2006–2007) * Pétur Ólafsson (2007) *

(2008–2010) *

Gunnlaugur Jónsson Gunnlaugur Jónsson (born 29 November 1974) is an Icelandic football manager who last managed Þróttur in the 1. deild karla. In his early career he played for ÍA. After short spells with Motherwell, Kongsvinger and Örebro, he rejoined � ...

(2011–2012) * Bjarni Jóhannsson (2013–2015) * Srdjan Tufegdzic (2015–2018) * Óli Stefán Flóventsson (2019–2020) *

(2020–2022) * Hallgrímur Jónasson (2022–present)

Kit

Women's Football

Since 1999, KA has fielded a joint women's team with neighbouring club

under the name Þór/KA in the top-level league

Úrvalsdeild The Besta deild karla () is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in I ...

. In 2006 the team finished 7th of 8 teams, 8th/9 in 2007, the reaching a good 4th/10 in 2008 and then bettering those results with 3rd/10 in 2009 and a second-place finish in 2010. As Iceland was in the top 8 leagues of

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

, those second place was enough to qualify for the

2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League was the eleventh edition of the European women's championship for football clubs. The final was held in the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany on 17 May 2012. As in the past two Champions League season ...

. The team entered in the round of 32 but lost 14–2 on aggregate to German team Turbine Potsdam. In 2010 the team also went to the semi-finals in the Icelandic cup, losing to the eventual winner Valur. In 1989 and 2013 they lost the cup final. In 2012 Þór/KA finished first in the

and secured its first ever Icelandic championship. On 29 September 2017, the club secured its second national championship by defeating FH, in the last game of the season, 2–0 with goals from

Sandra Jessen Sandra María Jessen (born 18 January 1995) is an Icelandic footballer who plays as a midfielder for Þór/KA and the Icelandic national football team. She won the Icelandic championship with Þór/KA in 2012 and 2017 and was named the Úrval ...

and Sandra Stephany Mayor.

Trophies and achievements

* Úrvalsdeild kvenna (2): **2012¹, 2017¹ *

Icelandic Women's Football Cup The Icelandic Women's Football Cup () is the national women's football cup competition in Iceland. The first edition of the cup was played out in 1981. List of finals The list of finals: By team See also *Icelandic Men's Football Cup Refer ...

: **''Runner-up:'' 2013¹ * Icelandic Division I (2): **1992², 1999¹ #'' As Þór/KA'' #'' As KA''

Handball

Men's handball

Before the 2006–2007 Icelandic handball season, they merged their handball clubs to form

Akureyri Handboltafélag Akureyri Handboltafélag was a men's handball club, located in Akureyri, Iceland. History Akureyri Handboltafélag was founded in 2006 as a joint team between KA and Þór Akureyri. In 2011 it posted the best record in the Úrvalsdeild karla ...

. In 2017, KA left the partnership and reinstated the

KA Handball Knattspyrnufélag Akureyrar is the handball section of Icelandic sports club KA from Akureyri. The team currently competes in the Úrvalsdeild karla, the top tier of handball in Iceland. They play their home matches at KA-heimilið. The team enj ...

section.

Trophies and achievements

* Icelandic Championships: ** Gold medal: 1997, 2002 * Icelandic Cup: **Champions: 1995, 1996, 2004 *Icelandic League Cup: **Champions: 1996, 1998, 2001

Women's handball

Trophies and achievements

* Icelandic championship: ** Gold medal:2021 * Icelandic Cup ** Gold medal:2021 *Icelandic Super Cup: ** Gold medal:2020 * 1. deild kvenna: ** Gold medal: 2018

Volleyball

Trophies and achievements

Men's volleyball

*Icelandic Championships: ** Gold medal: 1989, 1991, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2019 *Icelandic Cup: **Champions: 1991, 1992, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 *Icelandic League Cup: **Champions: 1989, 1991, 1994, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2019

Women's volleyball

*Icelandic Championships: ** Gold medal: 2019 *Icelandic Cup: **Champions: 2019 *Icelandic League Cup: **Champions: 2019

Club officials

�� KA.is, 4 January 2018

Current technical body

Club Board

Football Board

References

External links

Official website
(Icelandic)
supporters site
(Icelandic) {{DEFAULTSORT:Akureyrar Knattspyrnufélag Akureyrar, Football clubs in Iceland Multi-sport clubs in Iceland Association football clubs established in 1928 1928 establishments in Iceland Sport in Akureyri Sports clubs and teams in Northeastern Region (Iceland)