March 31, 2006: Formula Division 2006 Preview:

Formula Division 2006 Preview

The Faroe Islands soccer league 2006, the Formula Division, gets underway on Sunday, April 2.

But who is the favorite to claim the title this season and who will be relegated? Read the short preview below:

(The Clubs are sorted after how they finished last season, with B36 first, as champions, and B68 Toftir last, as the newly promoted club.)

B36 Tórshavn
Last year's champions have lost some very good players, like Pól Thorsteinsson, Ingi Højgaard and Allan Mørkøre, since last season, but B36 have also signed new players; most noticeable Sylla Ahmed Davy from ÍF and Hanus Thorleifsson from Skála. So, all in all, B36 haven't lost much strength and will again this season be the team to beat.

Skála
Last season's runners up, Skála, have been weakened by the loss of Serbian midfielder, Nenad Stankovic, in addition to Hanus Thorleifsson and Iulian Florescu, and might have a more troublesome season than the last, when they challenged B36 all the way.

HB Tórshavn
HB thought they had made a scoop, when they signed VB's Serbian midfielder Kuljic. But when all came to all, Kuljic wasn't given a renewal to his work permit. Kuljic was meant as a replacement for midfield general Rúni Nolsøe, who has gone to AB Argir in the first division (2nd best division), but without a real midfield dynamo and apparently without any real goal clincher, HB's pre-season title will be “outsiders”.

NSÍ Runavík
NSÍ will be eager to make a brighter start to the season this time around than they did last time, because in the end, NSÍ was only 4 points adrift of B36, but equal on points with Skála and HB, but were ranked 4th. With last season's top scorer, Christian Høgni Jacobsen and with new signing Pól Thorsteinsson from B36, NSÍ will be one of the main contenders for the title.

EB/Streymur
EB/Streymur's young and promising team just missed out on a medal last season and will be hoping to improve on last season's 5th place. If Rumanian Soren Anghel starts scoring early in the season, and newly signed Rafael Kwiecinski from Poland does the same, a medal is realistic, but not of gold.

ÍF Fuglafjørður
ÍF Fuglafjørður have lost many players since last season, among others, Sylla Ahmed Davy and Poul Ennigarð, and even if they have also got some new players, Hungarian Gábor Tamási and Serbian Aleksandar Jovevic, ÍF is probably going to have a very tough season. But even if ÍF's goal is to improve on last season's 6th place, they should probably be content if they can avoid relegation, as 2 teams will be directly relegated this season. (Previous seasons, no. 9 in the Formula Division has played against no. 2 in the first division for the place in the top flight.)

KÍ Klaksvík
KÍ had a disastrous season in 2005 and for most of the season were involved in the relegation battle, but with new “Mourinho-typed” coach, Tony Paris (who was also coach in 1999, when KÍ won the double, and in the 70'ies), KÍ should improve. But with a thin squad and a couple of very experienced (another word for old:-) players, KÍ is not going to get any medal, but will be positioned mid-table.

VB/Sumba
VB/Sumba is probably one of the main "contenders" for one of the two relegation spots. Last year, they merely avoided it, but as several key players have left the club (f. ex. Milan Culjic and Mortan úr Hørg to HB), it will be very difficult for VB/Sumba to survive this season.

GÍ Gøta
GÍ Gøta escaped relegation last season by scoring an injury time equalizer in the last game of the season, but this year they have strengthen their defense with Poul Ennigarð, who played with ÍF last season, and with goalkeeper Geza Turi from Hungary, and even if they have lost two other foreigners, GÍ should stay above the relegation spots.

B68 Toftir
B68 is back in the top flight after a year in the second best division. They will be fighting hard with ÍF and VB/Sumba to avoid relegation – and might just succeed in that.

See the full Fixtures-list here

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