December 08, 2008: Formula Divison 2008 aftermath:
No. 1: EB/Streymur
It’s not so many years ago – 5-6 maybe? - that EB/Streymur wrote in their program for a match between EB/Streymur and HB Tórshavn something like this:
“...our visitors [HB] are as usual fighting for top honours, but it will probably take many years until we [EB/Streymur] will challenge for the title”.
Well, that moment probably arrived a bit earlier than expected for the author of that article. And really, it could (and maybe should) have happened already in 2006. But when captain Egil á Bø lifted the trophy aloft after winning the title this year, the bad memories from 2006, which had been haunting them these couple of years, were banished forever.
EB/Streymur opened up a 2-point gap in round 6, and in round 8 they beat HB with a stoppage time goal to increase their lead to 5 points. That gap never went under 5 points again. At times, the gap was at 10 points.
At one stage however, midway through the season, EB/Streymur hit bad form and lost 3 matches in a row. This sluggish period was the only stage where there was any doubt if EB/Streymur were going to win the title. At this stage, NSÍ had cut EB/Streymur’s lead to 5 points and had the chance to further narrow the gap to only 2 points as they visited EB/Streymur in the next match.
But EB/Streymur showed no hospitality here and won the match 2-0 and re-established a commanding 8-point lead in the table.
EB/Streymur made sure that the title was theirs in the penultimate round with a 3-1 win over Skála thanks to a hat trick from Arnbjørn Hansen, the Formula Division’s top scorer.
EB/Streymur also won the Cup. In the final they beat B36 3-2.
In the UEFA cup, EB/Streymur faced Premier League club Manchester City. 5,400 spectators saw EB/Streymur lose 2-0 at home – the biggest crowd ever for a European cup game in the Faroes (home in this case was Tórsvøllur in Tórshavn). The return leg in England also ended 2-0 to the Premiership club.
No. 2: HB Tórshavn
HB opened their campaign in style, beating Skála 8-1 in the first round of the league. After winning their next two matches also, HB drew their next three – all of them ending 0-0. This allowed EB/Streymur to open up a 2-point gap, which increased to 5 when Arnbjørn Hansen’s stoppage time winner for EB/Streymur got the better of HB in round 8.
Four matches later, that 5-point gap had doubled to 10 and HB were effectively out of the title race already, less that half into the season.
With a strong finishing to the season, HB ended as runners up, which is still a disappointing result for HB as they for the second year running were out of the title race so early in the season.
Although the table says that HB was the most scoring team in the league, HB often found it difficult to score against teams that were well organized.
Roughly half of HB’s 57 goals were scored against only 2 teams as 27 of HB’s 57 goals were scored against Skála and B71. That leaves only 30 goals for the other 21 matches.
In the UEFA Intertoto Cup, HB played against Swedish opponents Elfsborg and lost 4-1 at home ( the first European Cup match to have been played on artificial grass in the Faroe Islands). But in the away leg, HB managed to escape with a 0-0 draw. A very impressive result actually, when you take in consideration how strong Elfsborg were at home this season. During the whole Swedish league, Elfsborg only conceded two goals at home. This was almost enough for winning the Swedish title, but they finished 2nd; a point behind Hammarby. Elfsborg’s European run was also impressive where they went all the way in the Intertoto cup and qualified for the UEFA Cup’s 2nd qualifying round where they narrowly lost 4-3 in aggregate to Irish opposition St Patrick's Athletic.
No. 3: B36 Tórshavn
In the end, a 3rd place for a much changed B36-team is really the best they could have hoped for. To really challenge for the title, they lacked too much; especially their attacking options were few. Their main strength was their defence, managing 11 clean sheets in 27 matches.
B36 had lost a whole host of quality players from the previous season – several of them national team players. But this gave others the chance to show their worth, not least some of the youngsters, especially 18-year-old Odmar Færø and 17-year-old Róaldur Jacobsen. And with new Serbian signing Dimitrije Jankovic from VB/Sumba in defence – maybe the best defender in the league – and a Meinhardt Joensen (who had replaced Jákup Mikkelsen who had gone to KÍ) in excellent form in goal, B36 could give any team a run for their money.
B36 followed along just fine early on in the season, trailing leaders EB/Streymur by only 2 points after the first five rounds. Part of this was however explained by the fact that B36’s first five matches had all been played at home in Gundadalur (although one of them technically was an away fixture against HB). Also B36’s 6th match was played at home.
But as B36 showed some lacklustre performances away from home, B36 were already trailing leaders EB/Streymur by 11 points after round 12.
B36 main problem was the lack of a real striker – or a pair. But a very good defence and a solid midfield often made up for that.
B36 were close to being ousted from the cup competition by 1st division side 07 Vestur in the quarterfinal, but scraped through by winning on penalties. B36 later qualified for the Cup final, which they lost 3-2 against EB/Streymur however.
In the UEFA cup, B36 played against Brøndby IF from Denmark. After a brave fight in Denmark where B36 lost by one goal only, the contest was still alive when Brøndby visited Gundadalur. B36 did well to hold the Danes from scoring in the 1st half, but with two goals in the 2nd half, Brøndby prevailed. But in all, 2 solid performances by B36 in Europe.
No 4: NSÍ Runavík
Defending champions NSÍ quickly appeared to be out of the title race and were trailing the leaders EB/Streymur by 11 points after the first third of the season.
But as EB/Streymur had a dip in form midway through the season, losing 3 in a row, while NSÍ at the same time won 5 of their 6 matches, NSÍ had managed to cut EB/Streymur’s lead to only 5 points. And the next match was an encounter between these two, where NSÍ had the chance to further close the gap to only 2 points. But this was not to be, as EB/Streymur won 2-0 and again increased their lead to 8 points which in reality ended NSÍ’s championship aspirations after round 16.
In the Champions League qualification, NSÍ beat Georgian champions FC Dinamo Tbilisi 1-0 where especially Serbian Nenad Stankovic was the outstanding player for NSÍ, although nothing should be taken from the NSÍ-team as a whole, as the played extremely well. – One of the best performances any Faroese club has showed in European football.
The problem for NSÍ was just that the damage had already been done in the first leg away in Georgia where Dinamo Tbilisi had won 3-0.
NSÍ had invested in 3 Serbian players ahead of the season, but they didn’t turn out to really have the qualities NSÍ had hoped for. Another problem for NSÍ was the lack of a real goal-getter up front. And as Nenand Stankovic in midfield wasn’t quite the same player this season as he was last season (or any other season), NSÍ didn’t really have the qualities to defend their title.
No 5: Víkingur
Víkingur’s 5th place was probably exactly what was expected from the new club that was founded only in November??? last year as the result of a merger between neighbouring clubs GÍ Gøta and LÍF Leirvík, both with an almost 80 year history.
Víkingur didn’t quite have the quality of the top 4, but were generally better than the rest of the pack.
After an inconsistent start to the season where it seamed like when they won a match, they per definition would lose the next one. But midway through the season they had an unbeaten run of six matches (which started with a 2-0 win over EB/Streymur – EB/Streymur’s first loss of the season) which saw them climb to 4th in the table, just 3 points away from the 2nd place.
But in the end, they weren’t quit able to capitalize on that fine run and slipped back to 5th place. But in all, Víkingur had a fine first season where the fusion of GÍ and LÍF had proceeded smoothly, and fans from both original clubs supported their new club wholeheartedly.
No 6: B68 Toftir
As B68 so emphatically had won the 1st division in 2007, something suggested that B68 weren’t necessarily going to struggle in the relegation zone just because they were newly promoted.
But after losing their first 3 matches, B68 looked like certain relegation candidates. And everything seemed to be going against them, as the universal rule seems to be for teams in the relegation zone, such as getting long term injuries early on and so on.
But in round 4, B68 earned their first point of the season by drawing 0-0 with HB. And as B68 earned another 10 points in their next 4 games, B68 had suddenly clawed their way right up to 5th place in the table.
But just as quickly B68 had climbed their way out of the bottom, just as quickly they were back in troubles as they lost 6 of their next 7 matches.
This was right ahead of the summer break and something had to be done, they though at B68, as they were staring relegation right in the eyes.
Instead of taking a break from training, as the plan was (the league has a 3-week break in the midsummer), they instead went on to train twice a day. – And for this, they were going to be richly rewarded in the latter half of the tournament.
B68 also signed Brian Andresen, an offensive player from the Danish 2nd division in the summer break. After 2 matches, B68 were 5 points clear of the bottom again, and that gap just increased as the tournament progressed and B68 ended the season in 6th position.
Remarkably, B68 was the best away team of them all, recording 22 points – 1 more than EB/Streymur (EB/Streymur only had 13 away matches while B68 had 14).
No 7: ÍF Fuglafjørður
As a newly promoted team, ÍF were expected to be amongst those fighting in the relegation zone, and after losing 4-0 against B36 in the season opener, it looked like ÍF were living fully up to their notorious reputation of being a yo-yo team.
But then the new ÍF coach, Englishman David Jones, who had been playing for ÍF in 1978 and 1979 (ÍF won the league in 79), arrived in round 2, and with 2 wins and a draw in his first 3 matches in charge, ÍF were suddenly no 5 in the table.
But as ÍF were a bit inconsistent, they were just 2 points away from the relegation spot again after round 11. But then they had a fantastic run midseason where they earned 10 points in 4 matches and climbed into safety again. And this was not just against any opposition. They drew against B36 and beat both EB/Streymur and HB as well as KÍ. At times, ÍF played some very attractive football.
But as ÍF lost their first 2 matches after the summer break, ÌF started slipping again, but it was still a surprise to most when ÍF then announced that they had sacked their coach. He was replaced by Albert Ellefsen.
ÍF lost their first match under Ellefsen and were now just 2 points from relegation, but then they surprisingly beat B36 at home in round 19 to break 5 points clear of the fatal 9th place. This buffer was kept in a healthy shape for the remaining matches (for example, they were the first visiting team to beat EB/Streymur) and ÍF ended the season in 7th place.
ÍF will be happy having retained their place in the top flight, but maybe the ride was more bumpy than it had to be, and maybe the should have ended higher up in the table, as some of the result suggest they had material for: They beat champions EB/Streymur twice, beat HB once and won one and drew one against B36.
No 8: KÍ Klaksvík
KÍ’s season can be described with one word: miserable. They earned their first point with a 1-1 draw against ÍF in the fourth round, which was the start of a run of 8 games in succession without defeat. This lifted KÍ 6 points clear of relegation, but as they lost 4 of their next 5 matches, KÍ were soon back in trouble, just 3 points above the relegation line.
In a desperate move so steer clear of relegation, KÍ bought striker Rógvi Jacobsen from Norwegian 1st division club Hødd in the summer break, whom Rógvi had joined ahead of the season. Seemed like a successful investment when KÍ in Rógvi’s second match beat NSÍ 4-2 away from home with Rógvi as one of the goal scorers. However, KÍ did not get much for their money as Rógvi got injured and was sidelined for most of the remainder of the season.
And for KÍ it went from bad to worse. With 6 games remaining, KÍ coach Eyðun Klakkstein threw in the towel, as KÍ were still only 3 points in front of B71 in 9th place, and was replaced by former KÍ coach Petur Mohr who had won the title with KÍ in 1991.
But as KÍ lost their next match and B71 won, they were equal on points in 9th place after round 22. KÍ’s next match was at home against exactly B71, which was considered as a kind of “relegation-final” which KÍ won 2-1 and just managed to avoid relegation. For KÍ it was a happy end to a dismal season.
No 9: B71 Sandoy
B71 had been weakened before the season as Faroe Islands U21-player Magnus Olsen had joined B36 and Danish defender Anders Rasmussen had returned to Denmark.
B71 faced defending champions NSÍ in the first round of the season and only a missed penalty in the dying minutes prevented B71 from escaping with a draw. B71 then drew 2-2 with eventual champions EB/Streymur in the second round before they beat Skála in round 4. – 4 points in 4 matches, where 3 of the matches had been against title challengers, seemed as an encouraging start for B71 at that stage.
But as B71 earned only 1 point in their next 8 matches (a 2-2 draw against HB), B71 quickly slipped down to the bottom of the table. But a winning streak of 3 midway through the season saw B71 climb out of the relegation zone again. However, that joy was short-lived as B71 dropped below the relegation line again already in the next round and never managed to climb above it again, and when B71 lost 1-0 against Víkingur in the penultimate round, it meant relegation for B71.
Injuries and suspensions hit them hard as they had a very thin squad, and often they were forced to field a team of youngsters. And up front, Brazilian talisman Clayton Soares was not as sharp as he had been in previous seasons. He had been injured in pre-season and often he played half-injured in many periods throughout the season.
But B71 could make a speedy return to the Formula Division as they have many talented youngsters. For example, B71’s juniors (U-19) reached the final in the junior-competition where they lost to NSÍ Runavík. But as some of B71’s better players have been tempted by other clubs after B71 were relegated, B71 might not be ready to return next season. The only foreigner who is staying is Clayton Soares.
No 10: Skála
Skála was by most considered as the most likely team to be relegated. And after an 8-1 hammering against HB in their opening match, prospects didn’t change.
Although Skála won their 2nd match of the campaign and stayed above the relegation line for a couple of weeks, they quickly dropped into the relegation zone again as they didn’t win again until round 13. Skála never climbed above the relegation line again, and after round 25, their faith was sealed after losing 2-1 against Víkingur.
The explanation is simple, though. Skála just didn’t have the necessary material to compete at the highest level this season. Especially their two new Rumanians disappointed. One was ditched soon, and the other with a 3rd of the tournament remaining.
Skála have now said goodbye to all of their foreign players, and as some of their better Faroese players have changed clubs since the relegation was a reality, it could take a while until we see Skála back in the Formula Division.
Finally, we'll take a look at some statistics to wrap up the 2008 season.
First, we look at all the result of the 2008 Formula Division.
| Rounds 1-9 |
| | B68 | B71 | B36 | EB/S | HB | ÍF | KÍ | NSÍ | Skála | Víkingur |
| B68 | | | 0-1 | | 0-0 | | 1-1 | 0-2 | | |
| B71 | 0-1 | | | 2-2 | | | | | 3-1 | 0-5 |
| B36 | | 1-0 | | 1-1 | | 4-0 | | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| EB/S | 3-1 | | | | 2-1 | 3-2 | 4-0 | | | 3-1 |
| HB | | 3-0 | 0-0 | | | 3-2 | | 3-0 | 8-1 | |
| ÍF | 1-3 | 3-1 | | | | | 2-2 | | 1-0 | |
| KÍ | | 2-1 | 2-1 | | 1-2 | | | 1-1 | | |
| NSÍ | | 2-1 | | 0-2 | | 3-2 | | | 2-2 | |
| Skála | 0-1 | | | 0-1 | | | 2-1 | | | 1-1 |
| Víkingur | 4-1 | | | | 0-0 | 0-1 | 3-3 | 1-0 | | |
| | B68 | B71 | B36 | EB/S | HB | ÍF | KÍ | NSÍ | Skála | Víkingur |
| Rounds 10-18 |
| B68 | | 0-3 | 1-0 | 0-3 | | | | | 0-2 | 1-0 |
| B71 | | | 0-1 | | 2-2 | 2-1 | 2-0 | 0-2 | | |
| B36 | | | | 2-1 | 2-0 | 1-1 | | | | 3-0 |
| EB/S | | 2-1 | | | | | | 2-0 | 3-0 | |
| HB | 5-0 | | | 2-0 | | | 0-1 | | | 1-1 |
| ÍF | 1-3 | | | 2-0 | 1-0 | | 1-0 | 0-3 | | |
| KÍ | 0-1 | | 2-0 | 2-3 | | | | | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| NSÍ | 2-0 | | 3-1 | | 1-0 | | 2-4 | | | 1-3 |
| Skála | | 0-1 | 0-0 | | 1-2 | 3-2 | | 1-1 | | |
| Víkingur | | 2-2 | | 2-0 | | 2-0 | | | 2-1 | |
| | B68 | B71 | B36 | EB/S | HB | ÍF | KÍ | NSÍ | Skála | Víkingur |
| Rounds 19-27 |
| B68 | | | | | 2-1 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 0-1 | | |
| B71 | 2-2 | | | 1-2 | | | | | 1-0 | 0-1 |
| B36 | 2-1 | 1-0 | | | | | 1-0 | | 2-1 | |
| EB/S | 2-1 | | 4-5 | | 0-0 | 0-1 | 4-2 | | | 2-1 |
| HB | | 6-0 | 3-0 | | | 2-0 | | 3-1 | 6-1 | |
| ÍF | | 0-0 | 1-0 | | | | | | 1-1 | 1-3 |
| KÍ | | 2-1 | | | 0-0 | 4-2 | | 0-1 | | |
| NSÍ | | 3-0 | 1-0 | 2-2 | | 3-2 | | | 2-0 | |
| Skála | 1-2 | | | 1-3 | | | 1-0 | | | 1-2 |
| Víkingur | 0-1 | | 1-2 | | 3-4 | | 0-0 | 2-1 | | |
| | B68 | B71 | B36 | EB/S | HB | ÍF | KÍ | NSÍ | Skála | Víkingur |
| Orange matches are those matches from the last round that were cancelled before the first half had finished. Decission was made that the matches should end as a 0-0 draw, which was the scoreline when the matches were called off. |
Then we take a look at the final table; no explanation needed for that.
| No. | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| 1 | EB/Streymur | 27 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 54 | 33 | 21 | 55 |
| 2 | HB Tórshavn | 27 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 57 | 22 | 35 | 49 |
| 3 | B36 Tórshavn | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 25 | 9 | 48 |
| 4 | NSÍ Runavík | 27 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 41 | 33 | 8 | 47 |
| 5 | Víkingur | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 43 | 33 | 10 | 42 |
| 6 | B68 Toftir | 27 | 11 | 3 | 13 | 24 | 38 | -14 | 36 |
| 7 | ÍF Fuglafjørður | 27 | 9 | 4 | 14 | 32 | 46 | -14 | 31 |
| 8 | KÍ Klaksvík | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 31 | 39 | -8 | 28 |
| 9 | B71 Sandoy | 27 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 26 | 47 | -21 | 23 |
| 10 | Skála | 27 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 22 | 48 | -26 | 19 |
EB/Streymur qualify for Champions League qualification.
HB Tórshavn, B36 Tórshavn and NSÍ Runavík enter Europa League qualification.
B71 Sandoy and Skála are relegated. |
Well, having said that, some explanation has to be made actually regarding the last round: 3 of the matches in the 27th and final round were called of because of severe weather conditions before the first half had finished.
The result was then 0-0 in all of those matches (EB/Streymur-HB; Víkingur-GÍ; ÍF-B71), and the Football Association decided later that those results should stand and that the teams would get a point each in the table.
The results had no real affect on the final placement in the table. The 27th round in more details here.
However, matematically B36 could have snatched 2nd place away from HB, had HB lost by 27 goals against EB/Streymur in the last round.
Also KÍ Klaksvík could have leapfrogged ÍF Fuglafjørður in 7th, if KÍ beat Víkingur and ÍF lost to B71 in the last match that was cancelled after about half an hour.
Below we have the table sorted by home and away matches. That's pretty self-explanatory too. But note that some teams play 14 home matches and other 13. The same with the away matches. The top 5 teams in the 2008 Formula Division will get 14 home matches next season.
| Table sorted by home and away matches |
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| HB | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 45 | 7 | 38 | 35 | | B68 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 23 | -5 | 22 |
| EB/Str. | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 34 | 16 | 18 | 34 | | EB/Str. | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 21 |
| B36 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 7 | 16 | 34 | | Víkingur | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 17 | 4 | 20 |
| NSÍ | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 27 | 19 | 8 | 29 | | NSÍ | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 18 |
| Víkingur | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 16 | 6 | 22 | | HB | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 15 | -3 | 14 |
| ÍF | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 16 | -1 | 21 | | B36 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 18 | -7 | 14 |
| KÍ | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 15 | 2 | 18 | | KÍ | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 24 | -10 | 10 |
| B71 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 20 | -5 | 15 | | ÍF | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 17 | 30 | -13 | 10 |
| B68 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 15 | -9 | 14 | | B71 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 27 | -16 | 8 |
| Skála | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 12 | | Skála | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 31 | -21 | 7 |
The most scoring team in the Formula Division 2008 was, as so often before, HB Tórshavn who scored 57 goals in 27 matches. A clear majority of those goals, 45, where scored at home. That means that HB scored only 12 goals on away soil in 13 matches. Only the two relegated teams, Skála and B71, in addition to B36, scored fewer goals than HB away from home. And as mentioned above, 27 of those 57 goals HB scored in total were scored against only 2 teams; Skála and B71.
This does indicate that HB had some scoring problems even if they were the league’s most scoring team.
The most scoring away-team was Víkingur with 21 goals (in 13 matches). Víkingur (last season as GÍ Gøta) were also the most scoring away-team last season, but then with 30 goals. And that pattern is quite general this season, that all away teams have scored a lot fewer goals than last season. Last season 202 goals were scored away from home compared to only 148 this season. The home scoring record is pretty much the same though, as 216 goals were scored at home this season compared to 227 last season.
This lack of ability (or will?) to score away from home explains for a great part why this season was the one with the fewest scored goals since the league was expanded to 27 rounds in 2005.
In 2005 433 goals in total were scored
In 2006 432 goals in total were scored
In 2007 429 goals in total were scored
In 2008 364 goals in total were scored
The team earning most points away from home was remarkably B68 Toftir with 22 points in 14 matches; 1 more than EB/Streymur with 13 away matches. Strangely enough, B68 were second to last when it came to earning points at home with 14; just 2 more than relegated Skála. B68 were also by far the least scoring home team with only 6 goals in 13 matches. HB was by far the most scoring home team with 45 goals in 14 matches; 11 more than EB/Streymur.
Those 45 goals also placed HB as the best ranked home team in the table with 35 points in 14 matches; 1 more than EB/Streymur with 34 points. (However, only B36 managed to go through the league unbeaten at home by winning 10 of their fixtures and drawing 4. – No team was unbeaten away from home).
HB was also the team with the best defensive record in 2008 with 22 goals against in 27 matches. HB also had the highest number of clean sheets with 12 compared to B36’s 11.
| Clean Sheets |
| HB | 12 | Rounds: | 3,4,5,6,7,14,18,20,21,24,26,27 |
| B36 | 11 | Rounds: | 1,5,6,8,9,10,11,16,17,22,24 |
| ÍF | 9 | Rounds: | 2,3,13,14,15,19,21,26, 27 |
| NSÍ | 9 | Rounds: | 2,10,11,12,15,19,20,23,26 |
| B68 | 7 | Rounds: | 4,5,7,12,16,18,19 |
| EB/S | 7 | Rounds: | 1,6,9,10,16,17, 27 |
| Víkingur | 7 | Rounds: | 4,6,9,11,13,26, 27 |
| Skála | 6 | Rounds: | 6,10,11,13, 21 |
| B71 | 5 | Rounds: | 13,14,15,22, 27 |
| KÍ | 5 | Rounds: | 10,11,14,20, 27 |
Not surprisingly, Skála had the worst defensive record with 48 goals against. That’s one worse than B71 who had 47 against. (Take into account here that Skála’s last match was played to the end while B71’s last match was cancelled after 10 minutes).
HB will probably argue that some of these statistics prove that HB were the statistical champions of 2008. However, EB/Streymur won’t mind the slightest as they won the only statistical column that matters: points won = champions!
10 of the matches of the 2008 Formula division ended goalless. Last season they were only 3. But do take into consideration that 3 of this year’s 7 goalless matches were in the last round. These 3 last matches might also have some bearings on some of the other statistical results.
But the 10 scoreless matches in 2008 were: B68 – HB, HB – B36, B36 – Skála, Víkingur – HB, KÍ – Skála, Skála – B36, KÍ – HB, EB/Streymur – HB, Víkingur – KÍ, ÍF – B71. Hmm, another “trophy” for HB there…
In total, 364 goals were scored in 135 matches. That gives an average of 2.70 goals per match (last season that average was 3.2). Of those 364 goals, 26 were scored on penalties. That’s 7.14 percent.
The team that was awarded the most penalties was Víkingur with 6. Niclas Niclasen converted the first two before he missed Víkingur’s 3rd, and was thereafter released by Sam Jacobsen who had a 100% record on his 3 opportunities from the spot.
However, penalties don’t always have to be that scary for the defending team, because the chances for a missed penalty are quite high (at least in the Formula Division 2008). In total, 35 penalties were awarded this season and no less than 9 were missed. That’s a staggering 25.7 percent. And really, that’s not good enough!
The missed penalties of 2008 were:
| Missed Penalties |
| Name | Match | Round | Date | Scoreline then: |
| Clayton Soares, B71 | NSÍ - B71 | 1 | 30-mar | 2-1 |
| Símun Joensen, KÍ | KÍ - B71 | 5 | 30-apr | 2-1 |
| Áki Petersen, ÍF | NSÍ - ÍF | 5 | 30-apr | 3-2 |
| Marcell Balog, EB/Streymur | EB/S-B71 | 11 | 18-jun | 2-0 |
| Óli Hansen, NSÍ | NSÍ-HB | 15 | 10-jul | 0-0 |
| Jann Ingi Petersen, B68 | ÍF-B68 | 17 | 11-aug | 0-2 |
| Niclas Niclasen, Víkingur | KÍ-Víkingur | 17 | 18-aug | 0-1 |
| Andrew av Fløtum, HB | HB-Skála | 19 | 27-aug | 6-1 |
| Bartal Eliasen, ÌF | HB-ÍF | 23 | 21-sep | 0-0 |
17 of the 364 goals in total were thanks to own goals. KÍ Klaksvík top that list with 4. Only NSÍ and B68 were not guilty in scoring own goals. Last season only 9 goals were own goals, so at least in that end the teams have found it easier to score this season compared to last…
| Owngoal | KÍ Klaksvík | 4 |
| Owngoal | Skála | 3 |
| Owngoal | B71 Sandoy | 3 |
| Owngoal | Víkingur | 2 |
| Owngoal | HB Tórshavn | 2 |
| Owngoal | B36 Tórshavn | 1 |
| Owngoal | EB/Streymur | 1 |
| Owngoal | ÍF Fuglafjørður | 1 |
The biggest win of the season was HB’s 8-1 thrash of Skála in the opening round. The highest number of goals scored in one match was 9. This happened twice: HB – Skála 8-1 as mentioned above and EB/Streymur – B36 4-5.
Six hat tricks were scored in the league. Arnbjørn Hansen (EB/Streymur) and Andrew av Fløtum (HB) made two each, while Christian Høgni Jacobsen (HB) and Óli Hansen (NSÍ) took care of the other two.
| Hattrics |
| Name | Match | Round | Date |
| Christian Høgni Jacobsen | HB-Skála | 1 | 30-mar |
| Arnbørn Hansen | EB/S-B68 | 3 | 13-apr |
| Óli Hansen | NSÍ-ÍF | 5 | 30-apr |
| Andrew av Fløtum | HB-B68 | 14 | 06-jul |
| Andrew av Fløtum | HB-Skála | 19 | 27-aug |
| Arnbjørn Hansen | EB/S-Skála | 26 | 21-okt |
Top scorer in the Formula Division was Arnbjørn Hansen with 20 goals (none on penalties). Runner up was Andrew av Fløtum (he scored 2 on penalty (and missed another)). Arnbjørn Hansen scored against all teams in the league except B36. But he made up for that, scoring twice against them in the cup final which EB/Streymur won 3-2.
4 players scored for two clubs during the season (own goals not included:-). Karoly Potemkin scored for B36 and NSÍ (4+5), Jákup á Borg scored for HB and B36 (4+3), Jónhard Frederiksberg scored for NSÍ and Skála (3+1) and Patrick Sunday Okoro scored for B36 and B71 (1+1)
And finally, some statistics about Formula Division Champions 2008, EB/Streymur:EB/Streymur’s biggest win of the season was a 4-0 home win over KÍ Klaksvík.
8 times EB/Streymur won by the 1 goal
6 times EB/Streymur won by 2 goals
2 times EB/Streymur won by 3 goals
1 time EB/Streymur won by 4 goals
1 time EB/Streymur drew 0-0 (the last match, cancelled after 30 minutes)
1 time EB/Streymur drew 1-1
2 times EB/Streymur drew 2-2
3 times EB/Streymur lost by 1 goal
3 times EB/Streymur lost by 2 goals
7 times EB/Streymur held a clean sheet.
And that's it folks :-) The end of the 2008 Formula Division.
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