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Back in the real world, the league campaign was kicking off with a visit to Akranes to face IA and a comfortable 1-4 win to send Gretar's men top of the table, a position he intended them to make their own over the years to come. 2 draws sandwiched 2 wins before KR rode into town (well, village actually, but the grammar doesn't sound quite right) and kicked our unbeaten record into touch despite 17 shots on goal from GrindavÃ*k. Clearly clinical finishing was not something GrindavÃ*k's strikers had mastered yet, at least not on a consistent week to week basis. The proper Icelandic Cup (i.e. one that actually sees teams getting knocked out before the 57th match of the competition!) provided an interesting diversion from the league as first Selfoss then Haukar were effortlessly dispatched at GrindavÃ*kurvöllur. Sterner tests would no doubt lie ahead, but Gretar was more than happy to steamroller his way into the quarter finals before concentrating on the league again.

A home draw with Þrottur was followed by a 2-0 win against Fylkir before GrindavÃ*k visited KR for the cup quarter-final. A dour and tedious match saw numerous 'shots' fly high and wide, but little in the way of goal-mouth action. At least penalty shootouts are guaranteed to cause the net to bulge at least once and the 2800 crowd at last had something to cheer. Not that the majority of them were cheering as it was GrindavÃ*k who netted 3 of their penalties to KR's 2 and went on to setup a semi final against Fram. In the meantime, IA and IBV both came, saw and left with nothing from GrindavÃ*kurvöllur either side of our trip to Hafnafjorður which ended in a disappointing 1-0 defeat to title rivals FH.

Wednesday 9th August 2006 saw GrindavÃ*k's players and fans make the short journey north to Reykjavik to face Fram in the cup semifinal at the 'neutral' venue which, conveniently for them, doubled as their home stadium. Gretar didn't care though, he was happy to use the underdog, away team, tag as a motivational tool. It worked too, at least in the sense that GrindavÃ*k dominated the game and didn't concede a goal in the 90 minutes. Unfortunately they didn't score one either so yet again it was extra time, but this time GrindavÃ*k had no wish to push their penalty shootout luck any further and produced a devastating 7 minute burst either side of the short half-time turnaround. Goals from Guðjon Aðalsteinn Guðmundsson, Oskar Orn Hauksson and Sinisa Kekic saw us ease through into the final and leave the home fans gob smacked at their team's capitulation. Mind you, they didn't have much to capitulate having created next to nothing and been played off the park.

The league season meandered towards its somewhat inevitable conclusion, despite GrindavÃ*k winning 6 and drawing 1 of the last 7 games. They were always just that bit too far behind FH Hafnafjorður, eventually finishing in 2nd place, 4 points behind their big rivals and 9 points ahead of Fram. I should point out that when I said "big rivals" I was not talking in any kind of geographical sense where Keflavik are widely considered to be the club's main rivals, more that Gretar had decided they were the only team worth concerning himself about since GrindavÃ*k were clearly far better than the rest of them. Getting the better of FH over the course of an 18 game season would require a longer term view. The 6-1 win in the Upper League cup had been nice, but no-one even tried to pretend it made up for being beaten to the league title.

And so, the cup final, a match which actually took place before the final two league games, but which held considerably more interest for GrindavÃ*k's fans. Bogey team Þrottur , who had twice held us to a draw this season, would be our opponents. GrindavÃ*k lined up with what could unimaginatively be described as a 4-1-3-1-1 formation with Guðjon Aðalsteinn Guðmundsson given license to roam freely behind the lone target-man, Sinisa Kekic. It was an inspired choice as first Guðmundsson and then Kekic scored within 3 minutes of each other. 2 minutes later, Oskar Orn Hauksson slotted home the 3rd and, with just 23 minutes gone, it was effectively game over. Þrottur pulled a goal back just before half-time, but GrindavÃ*k played out time in relative comfort to pick up the first trophy of Gretar Sigurdsson's GrindavÃ*k career. All in all it hadn't been a bad year - 2nd in the league and now a cup win. Without question though, Gretar's aim for the 2007 season would be to win the league whilst also attempting to negotiate the early rounds of UEFA cup qualifying to either pull a big fish in the first round proper or even sneak through to the group stage. Fanciful perhaps, but he could dream...

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Thanks! I've posted the last of the initial chunk I wrote now so I'll have to get back to writing some more - the game is running nice and fast so I'm playing a season faster than I am writing about the one 5 years previous!

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Domestically the 2007 season at GrindavÃ*kurvöllur was a bit of a let down so I see no need to give a blow by blow account of the total mediocrity that was the league season. For the neutral though it was a fantastic season as both GrindavÃ*k and FH failed to quite live up to their performances of 2006, allowing half a dozen teams to entertain dreams of the Icelandic title. I should begin at the beginning though, as GrindavÃ*k went on what many viewed as a pointless tour of the Faroe Islands. Gretar was perfectly happy with the tour though, providing as it did some great shooting practice for the club's forwards and thumb twiddling practice for the defence as the team netted 25 goals and conceded none in their 4 games.

The real action began in mid February as the Upper League Cup swung into action. KR came to town in early March for an eventful match which saw Scottish winger Scott McKenna Ramsey score twice from the penalty spot and targetman Alfreð Elias Johannsson get sent off as KR trailed 1-0, led 1-2 and eventually left with a 2-2 draw. I mention this not because it was all that interesting in itself, more because it was significant as being the only one of GrindavÃ*k's group games in which they conceded a goal. So GrindavÃ*k were the form team heading into the quarter-finals where they again met Þrottur. This year though the team dispensed with 119th minute semi-final shenanigans and instead exited on penalties to Þrottur a round earlier. Maybe one day GrindavÃ*k would win the Upper League Cup, but that day would have to wait at least another year.

League performances ebbed and flowed whilst, compared to 2006, goal scoring just plain ebbed and goals flowed into GrindavÃ*k's net rather too regularly. All in all, the club lost twice as many games as in the previous season and finished with 10 points fewer, yet were actually closer to winning the title such was the topsy turvy nature of the league. FH on the other hand, having also lost just twice last season, went the entire 2007 league season unbeaten, albeit with 11 draws and just 7 victories. The title 'race' was more of a drunken stumble as teams fell over each other in their generous attempts to hand each other the advantage. Ultimately, GrindavÃ*k's European commitments, of which more later, meant that they were playing catchup with a game or two in hand towards the end of the season and intense pressure as they faced up to the very real possibility of finishing as low as 6th. Successive defeats at KR and Þor killed any title ambitions GrindavÃ*k had and left them needing points from their final two games, both at home to secure European football for another season.

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GrindavÃ*k faced 3rd placed Ã�A Akranes on what was for most teams, Akranes included, the last league game of the season. A hard fought 2-0 victory, courtesy of goals from top scorer Jon Skaftason, tucking away the rebound from a missed penalty, and Oskar Orn Hauksson edged GrindavÃ*k up to 3rd on goal difference with 1 game still to play. FH meanwhile gave themselves a slightly nervous few days as they did what they had come to do so well and drew 1-1 with Ã�þrottabandalag Vestmannaeyja (IBV) to put themselves 2 points ahead of KeflavÃ*k and 3 ahead of GrindavÃ*k and Ã�A. Coincidentally, Ã�BV would also be GrindavÃ*k's final opponents of the season in what would be a surreal match with many theoretically possible outcomes...

An unlikely 0-4 defeat would see GrindavÃ*k drop a place to finish 4th on goal difference. Any lesser defeat would see the club remain 3rd, whilst a draw would see them leapfrog KeflavÃ*k to finish 2nd on goal difference. Still with me? Good, because it gets simpler now. A sensible sized victory would be no better for GrindavÃ*k than a draw as they would still finish 2nd, albeit now on inferior goal difference to FH. Finally, and most tantalisingly unrealistic, a 5-0 victory would see GrindavÃ*k crowned unlikely champions, despite FH not having lost a single game.

Now, as you have probably picked up from the little you have heard of him so far, Gretar is not a man to pansy around with percentages and make absolutely sure of the draw that would secure 2nd. A 5-0 win would take the title whilst a 0-4 defeat to drop a place was so totally not going to happen. So Gretar set out his stall to throw the kitchen sink, washing machine and any other domestic appliances and furniture at the visiting team from the tiny island of Vestmannaeya. The resulting match was quite spectacular and a brilliant advert for Icelandic football. Swedish striker Johnny Josefsson fired in the opening goal with just 90 seconds on the clock and strike partner Johannsson headed home a second on 4 minutes to get GrindavÃ*k off to a flying start and needing a now more realistic 3 goals in 86 minutes...

That though assumed that they could keep a clean sheet which was a bit of a rash assumption given the reckless and Gung Ho attitude with which they were pouring forward in wave after wave of attacks. Harald Unverdorben promptly netted twice for the visitors before John Skaftason volleyed a 3rd and Josefsson scored his second to put GrindavÃ*k back in front at 4-2, now needing to score another 3 in total and concede none in the remaining 60 minutes. 11 minutes into the 2nd half, Skaftason strode forward again from midfield to drill in the 5th and take a step closer to the 7-2 scoreline that would give GrindavÃ*k the title. Many said, with hindsight, that GrindavÃ*k should have cooled the attacking a touch with still half an hour to get just 2 goals, but that wasn't their style. No matter how hard they battered at the IBV defence though, it held firm as the match headed into the 84th minute with the title all but gone now. When former Yeovil striker Pablo Bastianini broke upfield to score IBV's 3rd, GrindavÃ*k would have to just settle for the win and 2nd place. Harald Unverdorben, he of the 2 first half goals, had other ideas though and completed his hatrick on 88 minutes before adding his 4th and IBV's 5th in injury time as GrindavÃ*k continued to pour forward like maniacs, either still believing they could score 9 or just no longer caring about the final score.

For those of you who either lost count or the will to live, attempting to follow that, the final score was GrindavÃ*k 5-5 IBV Vestmannaeyja as what had looked a comfotable 5-2 win with 6 minutes left degenerated into a shambles. No-one really cared though, GrindavÃ*k had bagged 2nd place which was all they were ever going to get, realistically. They had, however, already secured European football for next season after retaining the Icelandic cup, beating IA Akranes in the final. Speaking of Europe, I guess I should let you know how we did on the continent, but first I will bring you up to date with signifiant comings and goings on the transfer front in 2007.

Reluctantly, Gretar agreed to sell the club's two star Scotsmen, last season's top scorer Ian Paul McShane and top assister Scott McKenna Ramsey for a combined total of £675,000. Numerous other pointless players left the club on free transfers as Gretar attempted to clear the dregs from his squad, but you don't need to know who they are or where they went...it's not like you'd actually have heard of them. Of more interest were the arrivals. Brilliant young Swedish goalkeeper Lennart Sandahl arrived on a free transfer from IFK Sundsvall, whilst the defence was strengthened, albeit not so that you'd notice from the results, by the additions of Jonatan Lundevall, also on a free, and Finn Hannu Patronen for the princely sum of £3,000. A pair of promising young Icelandic midfielders arrived, but neither has since managed to break into the first team at GrindavÃ*k. It was upfront where the key signings were made, pacey Swedish striker Johnny Joseffson and compatriot Espen Næss Lund, a tall powerful targetman who would both go on to score vital goals for the club. For a combined total outlay of just £7,000 the pair would soon come to represent staggeringly good value when you consider how much the club picked up for their two Scotsmen.

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Dawn on a hot Wednesday July 12th 2007 found the GrindavÃ*k squad waking up in the Albanian capital of Tirana and about to prepare for the day ahead. They had flown in the previous evening and would travel to inspect the pitch at the Selman Stërmasi stadium later that morning before a training session. The match, against Dinamo Tirana would kick off at 19:30 local time and would mark Gretar's first foray into Europe. The club, he was fairly sure, had dipped their toe into the European scene with early round UEFA cup qualifiers in previous years, but that didn't interest him. He wanted to do more than just be a statistic from the 1st qualifying round. He wanted his club to be known throughout Europe and he was fairly certain your average football fan would struggle to name a single team taking part in UEFA cup first round qualifying. He had sent a scout to watch Dinamo of course, but in truth he had no idea how good they were in comparison to any of the other teams they could have been drawn against, only that they would face a hostile Eastern European atmosphere at the ground and a long flight back afterwards. It was exciting though and even Gretar, a man not renowned for getting emotional could feel a little tingle down his spine at the thought of GrindavÃ*k's European adventure kicking off - this was his purpose in life, it was the reason he had been placed on the planet, to shake the foundations of European football and make sure the world would come to know GrindavÃ*k.

The match itself began brightly, Jon Skaftason striding around the midfield like he owned the place and soon striding forward too to fire GrindavÃ*k infront after just 10 minutes. It was just the start Gretar had wanted and from that point on, GrindavÃ*k had the better of the possession, dominating the game as they peppered the Dinamo Tirana goal with shots and in general play looked a cut above their opponents. Unfortunately one area where they were very much upstaged by the home team was in the finishing department. 19 shots on goal they may have had, but after Skaftason's opener they were firing blanks. Dinamo, on the other hand, mustered just 5 shots on goal all match, 3 of them on target, but scored twice on 24 and 27 minutes, the latter from the penalty spot, to take a very undeserved 2-1 win on the night. The GrindavÃ*k squad trudged back to their coach and headed straight for the airport for the long flight back. Gretar was keen to lift the spirits of his team as quickly as possible. To the outsider he may appear gruff, aloof and difficult to get along with, but he is a man who believes strongly in team spirit and togetherness. His team had played well tonight and he made sure they new that. What is more, they were still very much in this tie and he made sure they knew that too. There would be no time for sulking as they would be in league action again at the weekend.

The second leg took place 2 weeks later at GrindavÃ*kurvollur and proved to be quite a contrast to the first leg. Notably it was Dinamo Tirana this time who would edge the statistics, creating more shots on goal, keeping marginally more possession, greater pass completion and winning 8 corners to GrindavÃ*k's 3. Those, however, were the final stats. What was more obviously important after just 2 minutes was that GrindavÃ*k's brilliant young Swedish goalkeeper Lennart Sandahl was stretchered off, unable to continue. Now most managers, when given 7 substitute places to fill, would consider it sensible to include a goalkeeper amongst those. Gretar is not most managers though and his rather eccentric decision not to have a goalkeeper on the bench now meant that centre-back Guðmundur Andri Bjarnason would have to come on and play between the sticks for 88 minutes, with his team 1-2 down on aggregate. With classic understatement, Gretar commented to his assistant manager that "things are not looking all that good". The requirements were still simple though, GrindavÃ*k would just have to play their usual attacking style of football and make sure they scored at least 2 goals more than their opponents. They were capable of dominating the game and keeping the ball away from their own goal, but actually doing so would be a whole different matter and the final statistics of 51% possession and 9 shots on goal for Dinamo compared to 49% possession and 8 shots on goal for GrindavÃ*k showed that the game certainly hadn't played out that way...was GrindavÃ*k's European dream over already, almost before it had begun?

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Whatever was going on at the other end of the pitch, and indeed in the middle of the pitch where possession was mostly being won and lost, seemed to be of little interest to GrindavÃ*k's forwards, they just played as they do in any other game. Well, almost any other game, for this time, unlike too many other occasions, they actually had their shooting boots on and didn't need the 19 shots on goal they had had in Tirana just to score a single goal. Sveinn Þor SteingrÃ*msson took just 5 minutes to find the back of the net with Guðjon Aðalsteinn Guðmundsson, playing out on the right wing today, following his example just 4 minutes later. Now GrindavÃ*k were ahead on aggregate and just needed to play steadily. With a defender in goal though, Gretar knew they had to just keep pushing forward and trying to score as many goals as they could, it would be all too likely that a long range effort in the 93rd minute could fly past the hapless net minder. With still just 20 minutes gone, Espen Næss Lund rose high above the visiting defence to head home GrindavÃ*k's 3rd and give them a little breating space. It was to be short-lived though as Elton Kraja scored to send Dinamo Tirana in 3-1 down at the break, 4-3 down on aggregate and knowing one more goal would be enough.

The second half was a little less open as the thought of conceding the next goal weighed heavy on both teams. Tirana it was whose defence cracked first, SteingrÃ*msson stealing in to popke home from close range and restore the home side's 2 goal aggregate lead. The game appeared to be meandering towards its conclusion when Besnik Kola set the cat amongst the pigeons with a goal for Tirana to set up what should have been a frantic finale. In truth though, Tirana created little in the closing minutes and GrindavÃ*k held on to edge through to a 2nd round clash with Czech side Sigma Olomouc and yet another long trip to Eastern Europe. This time, however, it would be the home leg first, on the 9th of August.

Gretar was wary of the Czechs, but didn't allow this to influence his team selection or style of play. They would attack, as they always did at home. If their opponents were superior then so be it, but if that was the case then playing defensively for 90 minutes at home was hardly condusive to getting a result over the two legs. As a nation, the Czech Republic has a vastly superior footballing reputation than Albania, but its club sides have rarely, if ever, lived up to the promise of the national squad, most of whom move on to bigger European leagues early in their careers. On paper, Olomouc should probably win the tie, but Gretar had never been very interested in paper.

As the half time whistle blew at GrindavÃ*kurvollur there could be no doubt as to which side was looking like winning the tie. Sigma Olomouc had been awarded a penalty after 20 minutes, but Ondrej Kral had let GrindavÃ*k off the hook with a tame spot kick. The away side continued to look the most dangerous as the half wore on and it was no surprise when they took a deserved 0-1 lead on the stroke of half time, thanks to Petr Postulka. Deserved or not, Gretar would rip into his players at half time, throwing metaphorical, if not real, teacups around the dressing room as he questioned his team's pride and sent them out to face the fans with still 5 minutes of half time remaining. The players could be in no doubt, Gretar expected them to win this match and would not be at all happy with another performance like he had seen in the first half. Loyal and big on teamwork and morale he may be, but none of the players wished to get on the wrong side of Gretar. He was only loyal if players gave their all and could come off the pitch with head held high, able to say they did all they could. If that wasn't enough then so be it, but a lack of effort and passion would not be tolerated. 0-1 down in the home leg against a seemingly superior opposition, GrindavÃ*k would have it all to do over the remaining 135 minutes of the tie...

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It was a barmy evening in south west Iceland, apparently 29 degrees celsius as Gretar's men bounded out onto the pitch for the second half. Eventually the Olomouc players also reappeared and they kicked off. The half time team "talk" seemed to have hit the spot as the home side began to play with a real gritty determination and with no little style and verve as they cranked up the pressure on the Olomouc goal. Just before the hour mark the pressure finally paid off as Guðjon Aðalsteinn Guðmundsson finally levelled the scores with a low shot into the corner of the net. 5 minutes later, Sigma Olomouc were beginning to crumble as GrindavÃ*k continued to mercilessly turn up the wick and took a 2-1 lead thanks to ]Espen Næss Lund's diving header. True, GrindavÃ*k were leaving themselves a little open at the back and the Czechs showed their typical national characteristics, having the better of the possession and passing, but they carved out few meaningful chances. So, it was left to Guðmundsson to further enhance his hero status at GrindavÃ*kurvollur by netting the 3rd for a useful 3-1 victory.

The second leg was sure to provide fewer scoring opportunities for GrindavÃ*k so Gretar adopted a slightly cautious approach. "Cautious" in Gretar's world basically meant play on the counter-attack rather than constantly launching attacks, but when you do attack, still do so with all the gusto and commitment you normally would. Sigma Olomouc seemed surprisingly lacklustre and whilst they did create chances, Lennart Sandahl was equal to them for the most part. With 23 minutes gone, Jon Skaftason belted in the opening goal to give us a relatively comfortable 4-1 aggregate lead and with as many away goals as they had. That was that for the next 50+ minutes as GrindavÃ*k soaked up the home side's pressure, countered when they could and generally played out an entertaining match. Not that the home fans found it all that entertaining of course, especially not when GrindavÃ*k were awarded a penalty which Oðinn Arnarson] tucked away on 77 minutes. Olomouc reacted quickly, Petr Postulka pulling one back 3 minutes later, but the horse had already bolted and Skaftason wrapped up a second 3-1 victory in injury time to put GrindavÃ*k into the UEFA Cup 1st round. Just one more double header between them and the group stages of a European competition. The only problem was that, of course, the opposition were getting tougher each round and standing in GrindavÃ*k's way this time would be Dutch side Heerenveen, boasting the talents of Arnold Bruggink and Klaas Jan Huntelaar amongst others.

In common with previous European opponents, Heerenveen were a cut above GrindavÃ*k when it came to passing and maintaining possession. Those two skills are all very well of course, but Gretar was more interested in what his team did with the ball in the final third, when they did have possession. What they did in the first leg, at home to Heerenveen, was to create no fewer than 18 shots on goal. Again though they were profligate, and Klaas Jan Huntelaar punished them with a well taken opener after 23 minutes. Thankfully, that was the only damage at GrindavÃ*kurvollur and just as they had in previous ties, GrindavÃ*k roared back with goals from Skaftason and SteingrÃ*msson before a late red card for Heerenveen. It would be tough to defend a narrow 2-1 lead in Holland, but at least they had a fighting chance now, more so than if they had gone there 0-1 down.

The good readers of this narrative may have spotted a theme so far in that I prefer not to go into laborious detail of GrindavÃ*k's defeats. Not wanting to break a perfectly good habit, I will sum up the second leg against Heerenveen very briefly. To be blunt, Heerenveen outclassed GrindavÃ*k all over the pitch, showing no nerves whatsoever about having to overturn a 1st leg deficit. Bergdolmo scored in the first half to put his side ahead on away goals. Bruggink and Szekeres added 2 more early in the second half and, with GrindavÃ*k looking unlikely to score even a single goal, let aone the 3 that would be needed, the game petered out to its inevitable conclusion. Heerenveen won 4-2 on aggregate and would go through to the UEFA cup group stages. For GrindavÃ*k, the European dream was over for 2007 and they would have to try again in 2008, in amongst trying to beat FH to the Icelandic league title. The was disappointment, of course, but it passed. Heerenveen were a vastly bigger club than GrindavÃ*k so there was no shame in bowing out to them, especially not with a 1st leg victory. What did excite though was when the European club rankings came out the following June, showing GrindavÃ*k as the most improved team on the continent, having risen some 160 places into the top 200 ranked clubs.

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Apologies to those following this story for delays in updates

The 2007 domestic season was not quite over, at least in terms of news. As Icelandic club chairmen evaluated their respective seasons it was inevitable that some would consider their team's performance unacceptable. �A Akranes were not such a club. Their board were very pleased with a 4th placed finish, especially since they were just 3 points behind champions FH. Óli Þórðar however had other ideas and, on the 28th September, resigned his post as �A manager to take charge of the Serbia and Montenegro national team.

It took just 4 days for the �A board to decide on his successor, much to the surprise of many observers. It is true that Iceland is not overburdened with top class football managers and isn't a destination likely to appeal to managers from abroad, but many people felt that, despite this, Akranes could have made a more suitable appointment. In fact they had turned to a man with no previous club management experience and with an abysmal managerial record. True, he was managing the Faroese national team whom even Jose Mourinho would struggle to guide to success, but quite what the Akranes board saw in his record which included not a single win in 2 years, no-one really knew. This man was Jakup Poulsen and he would soon prove to the world...well, maybe just to Iceland, since no-one else really cared...that he has what it takes to sucessfuly manage a club side.

Meanwhile, over at GrindavÃ*k, the off-season was busy as a number of players arrived at GrindavÃ*kurvollur. Before Christmas, whilst the playing squad were away on holidays, Gretar had signed up 5 new players for a total outlay of £46,000. Finnish winger Antti Hakala arrived from TPS, Norwegian striker Anders Vaagen from Hodd and utility midfielder Emil Samuelsson left Sweden for Iceland. Hot on their heels, Lithuanian winger Tomas Kazakevicius moved from Vilnius and Hungarian midfielder Zsolt Nánai joined from the exotically named (to an Icelander, if not a Hungarian) Mosonmagyaróvár. Poulsen's only signing, before the new season began, over in Akranes was a pacey defender, Emil Folland from Hodd in Norway.

So, the upper league cup began with some new faces from a year earlier, but one thing that didn't change was the ease with which GrindavÃ*k cruised through the group stage, winning 6 and drawing 1 with 20 goals scored and just 2 conceded. Ã�A were a little less brash as they qualified 3rd from their group, winning 2, losing 2, drawing 3, scoring 10 and conceding 10 for a nicely symmetrical record. Goals from Espen Næss Lund, Jon Skaftason and Emil Samuelsson saw GrindavÃ*k move effortlessly through to their first upper league cup final, dispatching KA in the quarter-finals and KR in the semis. Ã�A's hopes of emulating that success came to an abrupt end in the quarter-finals were they were soundly beaten, 4-1 by Fram.

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The league season began with a televised rout of local rivals Keflavik, Swedish striker Johnny Josefsson bagging a hatrick as GrindavÃ*k won 5-1 before a momentous trip to Hafnafjörður to take on title favourites FH. 2 things were notable about this game. The first and most obvious was the impressively dominant 0-2 win for the visitors, Steingrimsson and Josefsson the headline makers. Rather more low key was the debut of recent Slovenian recruit Dalibor Radujko in the pivotal attacking central midfield role. Amidst a number of star performances, Radujko's was fairly average, giving nothing away as to what was to come from this creative young player. Hakala, Samuelsson, Josefsson and others have all since either left the club or fallen by the wayside, but Dalibor Radujko has flourished and gone on to be not only a firm favourite with the fans, but also with his, at times difficult to please, manager. Rest assured that this is a player whose name you will hear again.

With 2 wins out of 2 in the bag in the league and already a 6 point lead over supposedly biggest rivals FH, GrindavÃ*k were in a bullish mood as they again faced their demoralised rivals in the upper league cup final. It wasn't a classic final, but almost 5,000 people came to see Espen Næss Lund score the only goal of the game, leaving FH fans bemused at their team's appalling start to the season. Better was to come for them though and a 2-1 defeat in Akranes in mid-August would be their only further defeat of a league season in which they would crank up the pressure towards its business end. For Ã�A Akranes themselves, that result would be a highlight in an otherwise transitional season under their new manager. They matched last season's 4th place, but this time with 4 points fewer and a cavernous 19 points off top spot. Jakup Poulsen would have some work to do before the 2009 season.

So, GrindavÃ*k...after 2 years as bridesmaids, this was to be their stage. A resurgent FH made nerves jangle at GrindavÃ*kurvollur as the season drew to a close, but the players held firm, losing just 2 league games all season as they finished with an impressive 44 points, 5 clear of FH and 13 ahead of 3rd placed IBV. With 49 goals scored in 18 games, there were numerous highlights, but chief amongst them was a stunning 1-6 demolition of Fram in the national stadium which they like to call their home.

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The Icelandic cup saw holders GrindavÃ*k sail relatively untroubled through to the final, beating Leiknir 3-0 and Þór 2-0 before a feisty encounter away to Fylkir in the quarter-finals. 1-0 down at half-time, Gretar layed into his players during the break and they looked a different team in the second half. Indeed, they were a different team in part. Half-time substitute Dalibor Radujko wasted no time stamping his authority on the midfield and the game as a whole as he netted within 2 minutes of the restart and followed it up with a second to turn the game around, just 5 minutes later. Further goals from Næss Lund and Josefsson rendered Joensen's 76th minute goal for Fylkir nothing more than a minor irritation as GrindavÃ*k ran out 4-2 winners. Breiðablik were swept aside in the semi-finals, sending Gretar's team through to their 3rd successive Icelandic cup final.

Their opponents had looked equaly impressive throughout most of their cup matches. A 5-0 win over Viðir was followed by a 1-3 win at Vikingur as 2007 beaten finalists �A Akranes looked to setup a repeat of that final, albeit with a different result they hoped. Keflavik caused problems though. On their home ground they looked a different side to that beaten 3-0 in Akranes just 3 days earlier. That said, they failed to trouble the �A goal, the problem was that they didn't allow �A to trouble theirs either. The resulting penalty shootout was a typically tense affair, but 4 Akranes players held their nerve whilst 2 Keflavik players saw their penalties saved. The semi-final against KR was a surprisingly one-sided affair as �A breezed through to the final with a 3-0 win.

The final itself would provide a glimpse of what fans could perhaps look forward to in the years to come. True, Ã�A had been in the 2007 final also, but now they were under new management and Jakup's aim was to challenge the emerging dominance of GrindavÃ*k. There could be no doubt that the two clubs would clash on many occasions in future. For now though it was the 2008 Icelandic cup that was up for grabs. 3 days earlier Ã�A had grabbed a league point with an 89th minute equaliser at home to today's opponents so the match was eagerly anticipated.

In the event it was an appalling final and it was with a sigh of relief that the fans welcomed the penalty shootout after 120 minutes of goal-less stodgy football. A penalty shootout would have to yield goals...or so you'd think! Of the first 6 penalties, Ã�A's Yoann Langlet was the only player to hit the back of the net. Emil Samuelsson matched his "achievement", but that was that for the first 10 penalties, so the two teams braced themselves for sudden death. The added pressure seemed to focus player's minds as Folland, Bjornsson and Pettersson for Ã�A and Guðmundsson and Lundevall for GrindavÃ*k all scored, but someone had to be the fall guy and today it was Finnish defensive midfielder Hannu Patronen who missed. The contrast was stark, GrindavÃ*k's players rushed to console Patronen who sunk to his knees in agony as the Ã�A Akranes players raced across to their fans to leap up and down in celebration at their first trophy under the new manager.

So that was the 2008 domestic season. Even as GrindavÃ*k began to establish their dominance, Ã�A Akranes were slowly starting to build a team capable of at least competing with them in the cups. Domestic football was only part of the story though for both these teams. Ã�A Akranes had had Intertoto cup football last season and GrindavÃ*k had had another stab at qualifying for the UEFA cup group stages...