Country Iceland Relegation to 1. deild karla Most championships KR (26) Number of teams 12 Confederation UEFA | Level on pyramid 1st Current champions FH
(2016) TV partners 365 Miðlar ehf. Founded 1912 International cup UEFA Champions League | |
 | ||
Current champion Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar Domestic cups Icelandic Cup, Deildabikar Teams Stjarnan, Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, Valur, Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar, Knattspyrnufélagið Víkingur | ||
rvalsdeild
The Úrvalsdeild karla ([ˈurvalsˌteilt ˈkʰartla], Men's Select Division) is the highest football league in Iceland. Because of the harsh winters in Iceland, it is generally played in the spring and summer (May to September). It is administered by the Football Association of Iceland (KSI) and is contested by 12 teams. At the end of the 2012–2013 season, the UEFA ranked the league 36th in Europe. From 27 April 2009, the league has been known as Pepsi deildin (i.e. The Pepsi League) due to a three-year sponsorship deal with Ölgerðin (the Icelandic franchisee for Pepsi).
Contents
The league includes 12 clubs who play each other two times, once at home and once away. The two teams with the fewest points at the end of the season are relegated to 1. deild karla (First Division) and replaced by the top two teams of that division. Internationally, the winner of the Úrvalsdeild enters the UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round. Second, third and fourth placed teams qualify for the UEFA Europa League in the first qualifying round.
For the first time in the competition's history, the 2008 season saw 12 teams compete in the premier division, a part of KSI's attempt to strengthen Icelandic football. Therefore, only one team was relegated in the 2007 season and three clubs were promoted from the First Division.
KR hold the most titles, with 26, Valur is next with 20, while ÍA and Fram Reykjavík follow with 18 each. FH holds 7 and Víkingur has retained 5 championship titles. The current champions of Iceland are FH.
Championship history
Only 11 teams in over 100 years have won the Icelandic league title. Stjarnan Garðabær are the most recent to join the list, winning their first title in 2014. KR has won the most titles. They have been Iceland's champions 26 times.
As can be expected, the league has been dominated by teams from the Capital Region which contains nearly two thirds of Iceland's population. Only four teams from outside the GRA have ever won the league (Keflavík, ÍA, ÍBV and KA) – and among those teams, ÍBV and KA (who have won a combined four titles) are the only teams located more than an hour's drive from Reykjavík to have won the league.
*There was no competition in 1913 and 1914, and Fram Reykjavík was awarded the title.