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In 1968, on a small island just off the coast of the Faroe Islands, Olaf Danielsson was born to an Icelandic father and Faroese mother. This was hardly earth shattering news, and in the whole scheme of the world, Olaf Danielsson would hardly rise to be anyone worth bothering with. Two years later, Olaf was delivered a brother in the shape of Ingi Danielsson. Like his brother, there was nothing special about Ingi's birth - no angels appeared, no shepherds came with their flocks, no wise men brought gifts. This wasn't the life of Brian, and the Danielsson's would not grow up to live the life of Riley.
Being a cold and barren place, there was little for the brothers to do of an evening after their trek through the snow from school. Which was in actual fact only a stonesthrow from their house, being that only a handful of people actually lived on that particular island. They grew to kicking a ball about, and in all their innocence believed they had invented a new game, which they called football.
A few years passed, and the Danielsson's parents decided that life on this tiny piece of freezing land was progressing nowhere fast, and after much wearied discussion, they decided to move to another freezing island, but one with a few more people on it. They moved to the Icelandic island of Vestmannaeyjar where their father had grown up, and it was here that they were to learn to their great amazement that football had already been invented and was doing quite nicely thank you very much.
They took to supporting their local side, Iprottabandalag Vestmannaeyja - or as they fortunately referred to IBV. The boys continued their love of the game, and bother were good enough to sign for their local side when they were old enough and played together in the side which won IBV their first ever Icelandic title in 1997, and again the following year when they won it for the second time and added the Cup for good measure.
Although neither player was what you would call brilliant, certainly in European terms, they both managed to pick up the odd cap here and there - Olaf choosing to play for Iceland whilst Ingi instead chose to play for the emerging Faroe Islands. Upon retirement they decided to go into coaching and hatched a plan that they believed might just bring fame and glory to their beloved Faroe Islands - as well as IBV.
With Olaf managing the Faroes National side, and Ingi taking over an IBV team who were struggling in the league, they made a pact that IBV would aim towards signing the whole of the Faroes National side. This would ensure that the players were constantly under the Danielsson's guidance, which could surely only be a good thing!!
Success of course would not come over night - if indeed it came at all. This wasn't Chelsea with their billions, of Brazil with it's seeming unending conveyor belt of footballing talent. Although IBV had finished 2nd the previous season, and thereby entering the 2005-06 UEFA Cup, in the current Icelandic season they sat a dissapointing seventh after six matches when Olaf was called to the rescue. Mind you, only four points from the top meant that perhaps their position wasn't as bad as it seemed.
The Faroes position though was just as bad as it seemed - sitting as they were plumb bottom of European Group 4, with only one point gained from six matches, the Finals only a distant and unobtainable dream. Exactly how Ingi could be expected to improve the Faroes lot was at this moment in time a mystery. They had one half decent player in Todi Jonsson, arguably the greatest ever Faroese player. Then again, it wasn't really much to argue about.
If only there were ten other Todi Jonsson's, then the Faroes might just about have a team worth worrying about. But they didn't, they only had one and the chances of them producing another seemed remote in the least. That was where the Danielsson's plan came into play, but even they had to admit, the chances of bringing anything other than utter failure to the nation were pretty slim.
Running FM06, Icelandic and Danish leagues loaded.
The idea of this story is inspired partly by that noob kid and his silly idea with Samoa and partly by Faramir's brave attempts with San Marino.
Is it possible for the Faroes to produce better players? Is it possible to have an effect on these players by being able to directly control their training environment?
Whilst life as an international manager is more leisurely, and therefore Ingi's first match - at home to Cyprus - would not be for over a month, for Olaf there was little time to rest as he was thrown right into the middle of the season. There was little time to sign players, but Olaf was true to his word as he sought to sign as many Faroese players as possible.
Before his first league match at home to Keflavik, seven new players arrived, with three to follow. Unluckily for the three who arrived late, they were not in time to be registered for the UEFA Cup, the qualifying round for which had paired IBV with Albanian side Elbasani - a tough but highly winnable match. The new players were -
18 year old goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen a £5,000 signing from Frem. A decently average keeper who although he has a lot to learn, is the best prospect the Faroes have at the moment in that position and will be looking to get him as many first team games as possible.
21 year old right back S*mun Joensen is a £12,000 signing from K*. The uncapped youngster isn't and never will be the greatest right back in the world, but is fairly decent. Signed too late though to play in the UEFA.
24 year old centre back Leon Kjaerbaek was signed from Sumba for £2,000. Not a great player and has failed to win any caps, which is surprising as he looks to be one of the better centre halfs the Faroes have at their disposal.
Left sided midfielder Mortan I Horg, 24, is another who is surprisingly uncapped, given that he is just about the only semi decent player the Faroes have who can play in the left back position. It surely wont be long before his uncapped status is improved!
A player who has been capped is 32 year old Henning Jarnskor. Hardly a signing to set the heather on fire, but the competant defensive midfielder has 35 caps for the Faroes and is one of their key players at the moment.
Promising 17 year old midfielder Johan V Gunnarsson comes in from B36 for £10,000. One of the few young Faroese players who does seem to have any potential, its up to the Danielssons to nurture this kind of player and hopefully he can mature into a player who can inspire his country to success.
26 year old Andrew av Flotum is a fairly decent midfield/attacker, who has been capped 18 times. A £7,000 signing from Norwegian side Fremad Amager, he certainly looks good enough to make an impact in the Icelandic league.
One of the more promising Faroese players of recent times is 23 year old attacker Christian Holst. A £30,000 signing from Danish side Lyngby, his value shows that a lot is expected of him. The question is, can he deliver that expectation?
Another player upon whom there is a lot of expectation from Faroese supporters is 21 year old forward Jann Ingi Petersen, who already has 11 caps. He arrives at IBV from B68 in a £10,000 deal.
A small, but important bunch of Faroese players to start off the experiment, the acquisition of future players will probably be dependant on European success as that is about the only way IBV can bring in any serious amounts of money.
Running FM06, Icelandic and Danish leagues loaded.
The idea of this story is inspired partly by that noob kid and his silly idea with Samoa and partly by Faramir's brave attempts with San Marino.
Is it possible for the Faroes to produce better players? Is it possible to have an effect on these players by being able to directly control their training environment?
Probably not.
I will definitely be an interested reader
From my experience in CM 03/04, I managed Dundee United for a season and a half in the middle of my Ross County save and signed ~6-7 Faroese players. They didn't seem to improve a huge amount, but the key factor was that they had match fitness - it seems Faroese players in general (may have changed for FM 2006) never have match fitness, despite still playing for a league team!).
I got sacked in my second season though, much to my surprise (the Faroese players did really well for us in season 1) so the experiment ended there and the AI manager relegated most of them to the reserves and transfer listed them so they lost the match fitness bonus too :p
Eight hundred and nineteen hardy souls braved the rainswept Hasteinvoller stadium as IBV took on Keflavik in Olaf's first match in charge. Keflavik were not doing very well themselves - if truth be told, no team was actually controlling this league - and so this would be an ideal start, a chance to grab a win and make the fans feel they had found a manager who could guide them to glory.
The euphoria lasted for all of 10 minutes, when Keflavik took the lead. It wasn't an unsurprising lead, as the visitors had virtually all the game and Olaf could only watch in frustration as his side struggled to find any kind of rythym. Thankfully a combination of woeful finishing and some semi decent defending kept IBV in the game, and with 12 minutes left to play, Steingrimur Johannensson - whose name not unsurprisingly was not a popular one for the back of the supporters tops - popped up to salvage what was in all fairness, an undeserved draw for Olaf's side.
Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjaroar are, for pretty obvious reasons, known simply as FH. As it seemed from the league table most of the teams were pretty even, so any away match was not going to be easy for anyone. Jann Ingi Petersen opened his IBV account on the fifteen minute match, but once more it seemed to Olaf that his players had trouble keeping hold of the ball, and the lead was to last for just nine minutes. This wasn't a pretty game, but just when it looked like Olaf would see his team draw for the second time in two games, FH grabbed a winner four minutes from time and the IBV support was to go home very unhappy, and having to face the prospect of possible relegation.
The stadium was just under half its 3000 capacity for the visit of Albanians Elbasabi in the UEFA Cup. There were perhaps easier possibilities in the draw, but still Olaf believed his players should just about have the ability to overcome the Albanians, who were surely no great shakes themselves. With ten minutes gone, Sokol Aliaj silenced the noisy home support with a vital away goal, and in a match dominated by Elbasani the visitors could consider themselves unlucky to only run out 1-0 winners - and IBV now had the proverbial mountain to climb in Albania.
It all had to come good sometime, Olaf believed, and as the season reached the halfway point a trip to Reykjavik to take on Prottur was surely the time for it to come. Eleven minutes into the match, IBV were 2-0 up and when Andrew av Flotum bagged his first goal for his new club after 25 minutes, a rout looked on the cards. The rout though didn't quite happen, but finally Olaf had seen something from his players that gave him hope and encouragement. And even though they still sat in a lowly 7th place in the table, and relegation was still a real possibility, being that they were only 2 points clear of the drop zone, nevertheless they were also only three points adrift of 1st place. This was indeed a tight league!
Thanks Glamdring! I'm hopeful that the Faroese players are not any worse than their Icelandic counterparts - at least the ones good enought to play for the national side - and should be able to get a regular game and do well. I guess though players cannot rise above their potential, but there are possibly 2-3 players at the moment who although not brilliant, are certainly decent
Following on from their first triumph under Olaf, IBV went to Akureyri to take on First Division side Knattspyrnufelag Akureyrar, or as it's easier to say KA. This would possibly be a tougher match than some expected, against the team leading the First Division and looking for promotion. And indeed, the first half was a dire affair with little to cheer either set of supporters until just seconds from the break, when Jann Ingi Petersen sent IBV into the lead. Whether the lead was deserved or not was a matter for debate, but three minutes into the second half and Flotum made it 2-0 and the Cup Semi Finals beckoned. KA though hadn't given up as they battled for their pride and with seventeen minutes left they made sure the match would go to the wire. Olaf was happy to hear the final whistle and know that his team had scrapped through, and were slowly looking like a team.
A third successive away match saw Olaf take his side to Rekjavik to face bottom of the league side Valur. Nineteen minutes into the match and it was Steingrimur Johannesson who sent IBV into a well deserved lead. Failure to capitalize on chances though saw Valur escape punishment, and on the hour the home side drew level. IBV though were clearly the superior side, and just seven minutes later Christian Holst restored the lead. In the dying seconds, Holst struck again to secure the points and a 3rd successive win for Olaf's side, ahead of their vital trip to Albania.
Elbasani were, of course, favourites to progress to the first round proper after their 1-0 win in Iceland. But as Olaf pointed out to the press and to his players, the Albanians simply weren't that much better than his own players and if they could win in Iceland, there was no reason IBV could not win in Albania. This tie, Olaf maintained, was far from dead and buried. And indeed, it was IBV who started the brighter side, and with fifteen minutes gone, Flotum was tripped in the area and Italian referee Gianluca Paparesta had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, despite the roars of derision from the home support.
Midfielder Atli Johannsson calmly stepped up for IBV and with the Elbasani support howling in anger, he effortlessly slotted the ball home and the tie was all square. With the home players and fans in a state of shock, it took only three minutes before Steingrimur Johannesson sent IBV 2-0 up, and suddenly the pendulum had swung, and Elbasani now needed two goals of their own to progress. Whether the Italian referee simply didn't like Albanians, or whether he was just in a bad mood because his hotel room was infested with mice we will never know, but two minutes from half time, he awarded IBV a second penalty, and once more Atli bore the brunt of the home fans angered jeers, and shut them up by slamming the ball home and IBV were in the 1st round proper of the UEFA Cup.
The match as a contest was over now and the second half showed that as IBV were content to play out time and Elbasani had just given up. Two minutes from the end, substitute Oskar Josuason made it 4-0 before Saimir Hoxha grabbed a consolation goal for the home side in injury time. There was no consoling the home player or fans though as the final whistle went, and they realised they had been booted out of Europe. It was Olaf's team who went through after a superb display, and when the draw was made for the 1st round, they were paired with Israeli side Maccabi Petach-Tikva, which would be a whole different ball game. Obviously.
Of course it wasn't the 1st round of the UEFA Cup that IBV had reached, merely the 2nd qualifying round, Olaf had been getting carried away in his excitement. Before the visit of the Israeli's though, there was a home league match with Fylkir to get out of the way, and early goals from Steingrimur and Atli paved the way for a comfortable victory, and the run of consistancy had sent IBV right up the table, sitting now in second place behind KR.
Petach-Tikva were without doubt superior to Elbasani. Mind you, the Albanians had also dominated the first leg, won 1-0 and then been hammered at home. This match followed a similiar pattern, as the Israeli side were vastly superior, but could not turn that superiority into anymore than one goal, chance after chance being wasted. It was dissapointing, but a chance of redemption came again in the league with an away trip to Iprottafelag Akraness. Steingrimur Johannesson was the hero again with two goals in a match that saw IBV hang on for dear life to snatch a 2-1 win with 10 men after the dismissal of Einar Hloover Sigurdsson on the hour. The win though was vital as KR also seemed to be on a bit of from now and were maintaining their top of the table position.
The Icelandic Cup Semi Final against Grindavik was to turn into a huge anticlimax. With the Faroe Islands playing Cyprus on the same night, and the Icelandic FA insisting the match go ahead, Olaf was forced to play trialists and the match was never within IBV's control as they went down 2-0 and the Cup was over for this year at least. The IBV supporters couldn't helped but feel the FA had robbed them of glory and the Faroese contigent would come back from their efforts against Cyprus to the news that there would be no cup winners medals this year.
To Boldly Go As Faroe As We Can Go.... 
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