Faroe Islands Premier League
Founded1942 (1942)
(as Meistaradeildin)
CountryFaroe Islands
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams10
Level on pyramid1
Relegation to1. deild
Domestic cup(s)Faroe Islands Cup
Faroe Islands Super Cup
International cup(s)UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa Conference League
Current championsKÍ Klaksvík (21st title)
(2023)
Most championshipsHB Tórshavn (24 titles)
Most appearancesFróði Benjaminsen (503)
Top goalscorerKlæmint Olsen (226)
TV partnersTelevarpið
Websitefsf.fo/betri-deildin-menn
Current: 2023 Faroe Islands Premier League

The Faroe Islands Premier League (also known as Betri deildin menn for sponsorship reasons) is the top level of football in the Faroe Islands. It was founded in 1942 as Meistaradeildin, and it is played in current format since 2005, when Premier League replaced 1. deild as the country's top football division. The league is organised by the Faroe Islands Football Association.

It is contested by 10 clubs. At the end of every season, two teams are relegated and two promoted from 1. deild.

All teams in the league have semi-professional status, though some clubs are able to sign players and staff on a full-time basis.

As of April 2022, the Faroe Islands Premier League is ranked 44th out of 55 leagues in the UEFA coefficient.[1]

History

The league was founded in 1942,[2] although clubs did not take part in European competitions until 1992,[3] because the Faroe Islands Football Association joined UEFA only in 1990.[4] From 1942 to 1946, the competition was played in a knockout format, and from 1947 onwards in a league format.

Before the creation of the Faroe Islands Football Association in 1979, the league was organized by the Faroe Islands Sports Association. The only time a season was not played was during the British occupation in 1944, when a lack of footballs caused the season to be cancelled.[3]

The league was known by several names; from its foundation in 1942 until 1975, it was known as Meistaradeildin. It changed its name to 1. deild in 1976 and introduced promotion and relegation system.[5] Since 2005 the league has had different sponsored names, being called Formuladeildin from 2005 to 2008, Vodafonedeildin from 2009 to 2012, Effodeildin from 2012 to 2017, and since 2018 Betri deildin menn.

Competition format

The league is contested by 10 teams, who play each other three times. A draw is made before the elaboration of the next season's fixtures to decide which teams will have an additional home game. Formerly this was decided based on clubs' performance in the previous season.

Promotion and relegation

At the end of the season, two teams are relegated and two are promoted to and from 1. deild. Like in Spain, the teams are allowed to put their B and C teams in the lower divisions, and there will only be relegation if at least one non-reserve team finish in the 1. deild top three.[6]

In the past, the league used a promotion-relegation playoff between the 9th placed team and the 2nd placed team in 1. deild, played from 1995 until 2005.

European qualification

Currently, the Faroese champion qualify to the UEFA Champions League Preliminary round, while the second placed team enter the UEFA Europa Conference League at the first qualifying round. An additional berth in the Europa Conference League first qualifying round is granted to the Faroe Islands Cup winners. If the winners of that competition have already qualified to a European competition, the berth is given to the third placed team in the league. Since the introduction of Europa Conference League, teams from the Faroe Islands can only qualify directly to the UEFA Europa League by winning the Europa Conference League.

Current teams

Locations of the 2020 teams
Club[7] Position
in 2021		 City
07 Vestur6thSørvágur
AB3rd (promoted)Argir
B365thTórshavn
B688thToftir
EB/Streymur7thStreymnes
HB2ndTórshavn
KÍ1stKlaksvík
NSÍ4thRunavík
Skála1st (promoted)Skála
Vikingur3rdNorðragøta

List of seasons

Bold indicates teams who also won the Faroe Islands Cup that season, an achievement known as the double.[8]

Season Champion Runner-up Top scorer (club)[9] Goals
1942 KÍ TB not available
1943 TB MB
1944 No tournament due to lack of footballs during the British occupation of the Faroe Islands.[10]
1945 KÍ (2) SÍ not available
1946 B36 VB
1947 SÍ KÍ
1948 B36 (2) HB
1949 TB (2) HB
1950 B36 (3) TB
1951 TB (3) KÍ
1952 KÍ (3) TB
1953 KÍ (4) HB
1954 KÍ (5) HB
1955 HB TB
1956 KÍ (6) TB
1957 KÍ (7) VB
1958 KÍ (8) HB
1959 B36 (4) KÍ
1960 HB (2) B36
1961 KÍ (9) B36
1962 B36 (5) KÍ
1963 HB (3) KÍ
1964 HB (4) B36
1965 HB (5) B36
1966 KÍ (10) HB
1967 KÍ (11) HB
1968 KÍ (12) B36
1969 KÍ (13) HB
1970 KÍ (14) HB
1971 HB (6) KÍ Faroe Islands Heri Nolsøe (HB) 20
1972 KÍ (15) HB Faroe Islands Heri Nolsøe (HB) 16
1973 HB (7) KÍ Faroe Islands John Eysturoy (HB) 13
1974 HB (8) KÍ Faroe Islands Johan Johannesen (HB) 10
1975 HB (9) KÍ Faroe Islands Johan Johannesen (HB) 8
1976 TB (4) HB Faroe Islands Heri Nolsøe (HB) 14
1977 TB (5) HB England Dave R. Jones (ÍF) 12
1978 HB (10) TB Faroe Islands Ásmund Nolsøe (TB) 9
1979 ÍF TB Faroe Islands Meinhardt Dalbú (ÍF) 17
1980 TB (6) HB Iceland Sveinbjørn Danielsson (TB) 15
1981 HB (11) TB Faroe Islands Suni Jacobsen (HB) 12
1982 HB (12) TB Faroe Islands Henrik Thomsen (TB) 7
1983 GÍ HB Faroe Islands Petur Hans Hansen (B68) 10
1984 B68 TB Faroe Islands Aksel Højgaard (B68)
Faroe Islands Erling Jacobsen (HB)		 10
1985 B68 (2) HB Faroe Islands Símun Petur Justinussen (GÍ) 10
1986 GÍ (2) HB Denmark Jesper Wiemer (B68) 13
1987 TB (7) HB Faroe Islands Símun Petur Justinussen (GÍ)
Iceland Egill Steinþórsson (TB)		 10
1988 HB (13) B68 Faroe Islands Jógvan Petersen (B68) 9
1989 B71 HB Iceland Egill Steinþórsson (VB) 16
1990 HB (14) B36 Faroe Islands Jón Pauli Olsen (VB) 10
1991 KÍ (16) B36 Faroe Islands Símun Petur Justinussen (GÍ) 15
1992 B68 (3) GÍ Faroe Islands Símun Petur Justinussen (GÍ) 14
1993 GÍ (3) HB Faroe Islands Uni Arge (HB) 11
1994 GÍ (4) HB Faroe Islands John Petersen (GÍ) 21
1995 GÍ (5) HB Faroe Islands Súni Fríði Johannesen (B68) 24
1996 GÍ (6) KÍ Faroe Islands Kurt Mørkøre (KÍ) 20
1997 B36 (6) HB Faroe Islands Uni Arge (HB) 24
1998 HB (15) KÍ Faroe Islands Jákup á Borg (B36) 20
1999 KÍ (17) GÍ Faroe Islands Jákup á Borg (B36) 17
2000 VB HB Faroe Islands Súni Fríði Johannesen (B68) 16
2001 B36 (7) GÍ Faroe Islands Helgi Petersen (GÍ) 19
2002 HB (16) NSÍ Faroe Islands Andrew av Fløtum (HB) 18
2003 HB (17) B36 Faroe Islands Hjalgrím Elttør (KÍ) 13
2004 HB (18) B36 Faroe Islands Sonni Petersen (EB/Streymur) 13
2005 B36 (8) Skála Faroe Islands Christian Høgni Jacobsen (NSÍ) 18
2006 HB (19) EB/Streymur Faroe Islands Christian Høgni Jacobsen (NSÍ) 18
2007 NSÍ EB/Streymur France Amed Davy Sylla (B36) 18
2008 EB/Streymur HB Faroe Islands Arnbjørn Hansen (EB/Streymur) 20
2009 HB (20) EB/Streymur Faroe Islands Finnur Justinussen (Víkingur) 19
2010 HB (21) EB/Streymur Faroe Islands Arnbjørn Hansen (EB/Streymur)
Faroe Islands Christian Høgni Jacobsen (NSÍ)		 22
2011 B36 (9) EB/Streymur Faroe Islands Finnur Justinussen (Víkingur) 21
2012 EB/Streymur (2) ÍF Brazil Clayton Nascimento (ÍF)
Faroe Islands Páll Klettskarð (KÍ)		 22
2013 HB (22) ÍF Faroe Islands Klæmint Olsen (NSÍ) 21
2014 B36 (10) HB Faroe Islands Klæmint Olsen (NSÍ) 22
2015 B36 (11) NSÍ Faroe Islands Klæmint Olsen (NSÍ) 21
2016 Víkingur KÍ Faroe Islands Klæmint Olsen (NSÍ) 23
2017 Víkingur (2) KÍ Nigeria Adeshina Lawal (Víkingur) 17
2018 HB (23) NSÍ Faroe Islands Adrian Justinussen (HB) 20
2019 KÍ (18) B36 Faroe Islands Klæmint Olsen (NSÍ) 26
2020 HB (24) NSÍ Faroe Islands Klæmint Olsen (NSÍ)
Serbia Uroš Stojanov (ÍF)		 17
2021 KÍ (19) HB Denmark Mikkel Dahl (HB) 27
2022 KÍ (20) Víkingur Faroe Islands Sølvi Vatnhamar (Víkingur) 20
2023 KÍ (21) Víkingur Faroe Islands Sølvi Vatnhamar (Víkingur) 21

Performance by club

[11]

Club Location Titles Runners-up
HB Tórshavn 24 26
KÍ Klaksvík 21 13
B36 Tórshavn 11 10
TB Tvøroyri 7 10
GÍ [lower-alpha 1] Norðragøta 6 3
B68 Toftir 3 1
EB/Streymur Eiði / Streymnes 2 5
Víkingur Norðragøta / Leirvík 2 2
NSÍ Runavík 1 4
VB Vágur 1 2
ÍF Fuglafjørður 1 2
SÍ Sørvágur 1 1
B71 Sandur 1 0
MB Miðvágur 0 1
Skála Skála 0 1

Clubs in bold are currently playing in the top-tier.
Clubs in italics are no longer active in adult football.

Notes

  1. ↑ GÍ merged with LÍF to form Víkingur in 2008.

References

  1. ↑ "Country coefficients". UEFA.
  2. ↑ Hans Pauli Joensen (9 October 2009). "Season review: Faroe Islands". UEFA. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Introduction to Faroese Soccer". Soccer and Equipment. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  4. ↑ "Faroese future in safe hands". UEFA. February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  5. ↑ Dinant Abbink. "Faroe Islands – List of Second Level Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  6. ↑ Karel Stokkermans. "Faroe Islands 2018". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  7. ↑ Denis Polsinelli (27 August 2020). "Faroe Islands 2020". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  8. ↑ "Menn – Meistarar og steypavinnarar" (in Faroese). Faroe Soccer. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  9. ↑ "Meistaradeildin – Toppskorarar" (in Faroese). Faroe Soccer. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  10. ↑ Gerd Heuser and Hans Schöggl. "Faroe Islands – List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  11. ↑ Gerd Heuser and Hans Schöggl (13 May 2020). "Faroe Islands - List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
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