KR Reykjavík

Early history

KR was established on 16 February 1899, making it the oldest football club in Iceland. It was founded as Fótboltafélag Reykjavíkur (Reykjavík Football Club), before changing to Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, also meaning Reykjavík Football Club, the change due to "knattspyrna" being considered a more elegant word ("Fótbolti" is literally translated as "football" while "knattspyrna", while translating as "football", is literally "ballkicking"). KR was the only football club in Reykjavík for a decade, but as soon as other clubs were established there were plans for competitions. KR won the inaugural championship in 1912 after a play-off with Fram.

1955–1998

KR won the first title after the Icelandic league was divided into two divisions in 1955, and won again in 1959 when the 1st Division was played on a home-and-away basis for the first time. KR also won the first Icelandic Cup competition in 1960. KR was the first Icelandic club to play in European competition, entering the 1964–65 European Cup. They lost the preliminary round 11–1 on aggregate to Liverpool, who were also playing their first European tie. KR's women's team was also the first Icelandic contender in Europe, entering the inaugural European Competition in 2001.

KR won their 20th title in 1968. They were relegated for the first time to the Second Division in 1977, but narrowly missed winning the first division in 1990, 1996 and 1998, when KR lost out in the title race on the final day; all of which strengthened the solidarity within the club.

Recent history

In KR's centenary year in 1999 the team ended its long quest for another national title. The team had not won the league title for 31 years despite often being viewed as favourites but they looked favourites all season this time. They clinched the title with a 4–0 win over Víkingur in the penultimate round and then beat ÍA 3–1 in the cup final in front of a capacity crowd at the national stadium. The women's team was equally successful, winning the league and the cup, and KR celebrated its centenary year with an unprecedented double-double.

In total, the men's team has won the league title 26 times and the cup 14 times and during the last decade the women's team has won six league titles and twice won the cup. The men's team has four times won the double, in 1961, 1963, 1999 and in 2011.

KR's best European success was in 2009–10 UEFA Europa League when they defeated AEL (2–0, 1–1) in the second qualifying round, but were eliminated in next round by Basel (2–2, 1–3). In 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, KR eliminated ÍF Fuglafjørður in the first qualifying round and achieved a big win against MŠK Žilina in the next round (3–0) in Reykjavík and though losing 2–0 in Zilina advanced through to the next round where they lost to Dinamo Tbilisi (1–6 on aggregate).