Premier League (Iceland)

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Premier League (Domino's League)
240px
Sport Basketball
Founded 1951 (as 1. deildin)
Inaugural season 1951-52
CEO Hannes S. Jónsson
No. of teams 12
Country  Iceland
Continent European Union FIBA Europe (Europe)
Most recent champion(s) Grindavík
Most titles ÍR (15 titles)
Official website KKÍ.is

Premier League (Icelandic: Úrvalsdeild karla), also known as Domino's League, is the highest basketball competition among clubs in Iceland, where play determines the national champion. It is organized by the Icelandic Basketball Federation (Icelandic: Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ). The season consists of a home-and-away schedule of 22 games, followed by an eight-team playoff round. Quarterfinals series are best-of-three, semifinals and finals series are best-of-five. The bottom clubs are relegated, and replaced by the top team from the regular-season phase and the four-team playoff round winner of the second-level First Division (Icelandic: 1. deild karla).

History

Creation

The Premier League (Icelandic: Úrvalsdeild karla) was founded in 1951 and until 1978 it was called 1. division.

From the 2005-06 season to the 2011-12 season, it has been named the Iceland Express League, from its sponsor: Iceland Express airline. Since the 2012-13 season it has been named the Domino's League, from its sponsor: Domino's pizza.

ÍR's dominance

For the first years, from its foundation in 1951 until the 1963-64 season, the Premier League was dominated by two teams only: ÍKF (with 4 wins) and ÍR (with 8 wins); with the sole exception of the 1958-59 season, in which won the ÍS. From the following season, the 1964-65 season, until the 1974-75, the Premier League was dominated by the ÍR (with 6 more wins) and the KR (with 5 wins). Two years later, the 1976-77 season marked the fifteenth and last victory of the ÍR in the Premier League and an end of an era.

Njarðvík's leadership

The next two decades, exactly from 1980-81 season to the 1997-98 season, the Njarðvík lead the Premier League with 10 wins. In the same period, the Keflavík won 4 titles and the KR won their eighth title.

Modern era

From the 2000-01 season, many teams have divided the lead of the Premier League. In the 2005-06 season, the Njarðvík won their thirteenth title. In the following season, the 2006-07 season, the KR won their tenth title and one more year later, in the 2007-08 season, the Keflavík won their ninth title.

International influence

In the recent years an increasing number of international players have moved directly from playing elsewhere in the world to starring in the Premier League. Below there is a short list of notable foreign players, either currently or formerly active in the league:

Teams

The Premier League originated in 1951 and, currently, consists of 12 teams. The ÍR have won the most championships with 15 Premier League wins. The second most successful franchise is the Njarðvík, who have won 13 Premier League championships. Following them, there are the KR with 12 Premier League championships and the Keflavík with 9 Premier League championships. The current Premier League teams for the 2012-13 season are:

Team City, Region Arena Founded Colours Head coach
Fjölnir Grafarvogur, Reykjavík Dalhús --- yellow/blue Iceland Hjalti Vilhjálmsson
Grindavík Grindavík Grindavík --- blue/gold Iceland Sverrir Þór Sverrisson
ÍR Reykjavík Seljaskóli --- blue/white Iceland Jón Arnar Ingvarsson
Keflavík Reykjanesbær Toyota höllin --- blue/white Iceland Sigurður Ingimundarson
KR Reykjavík DHL-höllin --- black/white Iceland Helgi Már Magnússon
KFÍ Ísafjörður Ísjakinn --- red/white Iceland Pétur Már Sigurðsson
Njarðvík Njarðvík Ljónagryfjan --- green/white Iceland Einar Jóhannsson
Skallagrímur Borgarnes Borgarnes --- green/yellow Iceland Pálmi Þór Sævarsson
Snæfell Sauðárkrókur Stykkishólmur --- red/white Iceland Ingi Þór Steinþórsson
Stjarnan Garðabær Ásgarður --- blue/white Iceland Teitur Örlygsson
Thor Thorl (Icelandic: Þór Þorlákshöfn) Þorlákshöfn Þorlákshöfn --- blue/black Iceland Benedikt Guðmundsson
Tindastóll Sauðárkrókur Sauðárkrókur --- maroon/white/blue Iceland Bárður Eyþórsson

Champions

Season Champion Runner-up Champion's Coach
1951-52 ÍKF --- ---
1952-53 ÍKF (2) --- ---
1953-54 ÍR --- ---
1954-55 ÍR (2) --- ---
1955-56 ÍKF (3) --- ---
1956-57 ÍR (3) --- ---
1957-58 ÍKF (4) --- ---
1958-59 ÍS --- ---
1959-60 ÍR (4) --- ---
1960-61 ÍR (5) --- ---
1961-62 ÍR (6) --- ---
1962-63 ÍR (7) --- ---
1963-64 ÍR (8) --- ---
1964-65 KR --- ---
1965-66 KR (2) --- ---
1966-67 KR (3) --- ---
1967-68 KR (4) --- ---
1968-69 ÍR (9) --- ---
1969-70 ÍR (10) --- ---
1970-71 ÍR (11) --- ---
1971-72 ÍR (12) --- ---
1972-73 ÍR (13) --- ---
1973-74 KR (5) --- ---
1974-75 ÍR (14) --- ---
1975-76 Ármann --- ---
1976-77 ÍR (15) --- ---
1977-78 KR (6) --- ---
1978-79 KR (7) --- ---
1979-80 Valur --- ---
1980-81 Njarðvík --- ---
1981-82 Njarðvík (2) --- ---
1982-83 Valur (2) --- ---
1983-84 Njarðvík (3) --- ---
1984-85 Njarðvík (4) --- ---
1985-86 Njarðvík (5) --- ---
1986-87 Njarðvík (6) --- ---
1987-88 Haukar --- ---
1988-89 Keflavík --- ---
1989-90 KR (8) --- ---
1990-91 Njarðvík (7) --- ---
1991-92 Keflavík (2) --- ---
1992-93 Keflavík (3) --- ---
1993-94 Njarðvík (8) --- ---
1994-95 Njarðvík (9) --- ---
1995-96 Grindavík --- ---
1996-97 Keflavík (4) --- ---
1997-98 Njarðvík (10) --- ---
1998-99 Keflavík (5) --- ---
1999-00 KR (9) --- ---
2000-01 Njarðvík (11) --- ---
2001-02 Njarðvík (12) Keflavík ---
2002-03 Keflavík (6) --- ---
2003-04 Keflavík (7) Snæfell ---
2004-05 Keflavík (8) Snæfell Iceland Sigurður Ingimundarson
2005-06 Njarðvík (13) Skallagrímur ---
2006-07 KR (10) Njarðvík Iceland Benedikt Guðmundsson
2007-08 Keflavík (9) Snæfell ---
2008-09 KR (11) Grindavík Iceland Benedikt Guðmundsson
2009-10 Snæfell Keflavík Iceland Ingi Þór Steinþórsson
2010-11 KR (12) Stjarnan Iceland Hrafn Kristjánsson
2011-12 Grindavík (2) Thor Thorl (Icelandic: Þór Þorlákshöfn) Iceland Helgi Jónas Guðfinnsson
2012–13 Grindavík (3) Stjarnan
2013-14 KR (13) Grindavík Iceland Finnur Stefansson

Titles per club

Titles Club
15 ÍR
13 Njarðvík
13 KR
9 Keflavík
4 ÍKF
2 Grindavík, Valur
1 Snæfell, Haukar, Ármann, ÍS

Awards and honors

Player of the Year

Season Player Position Nationality Team
2003-04 Darrell Lewis Guard United StatesIceland USA/Iceland Grindavík
2004-05 Joshua Helm Forward United States USA KFÍ
2005-06 A.J. Moye Guard United States USA Keflavík
2006-07 Darrell Flake Forward United StatesIceland USA/Iceland Skallagrímur
2007-08 Darrell Flake Forward United StatesIceland USA/Iceland Skallagrímur
2008-09 Jon Stefansson Guard Iceland Iceland KR
2009-10 Hlynur Baeringsson Forward Iceland Iceland Snæfell
2010-11 Marcus Walker Guard United States USA KR
2011-12 J'Nathan Bullock Forward United States USA Grindavík

Defensive Player of the Year

Season Player Position Nationality Team
2003-04 Dondrell Whitmore Guard/Forward United States USA Snæfell
2004-05 Fridrik Stefansson Forward/Center Iceland Iceland Njarðvík
2005-06 Steinar Kaldal Guard/Forward Iceland Iceland KR
2006-07 Justin Shouse Guard United States USA Snæfell
2007-08 Nate Brown Guard United States USA ÍR
2008-09 Brenton Birmingham Guard United States/Iceland USA/Iceland Grindavík
2009-10 Hlynur Baeringsson Forward Iceland Iceland Snæfell
2010-11 Kelly Biedler Forward United States USA ÍR
2011-12 Junior Hairston Forward United States USA Thor Thorl (Icelandic: Þór Þorlákshöfn)

Newcomer of the Year

Season Player Position Nationality Team
2003-04 Sevar Ingi Haraldsson Guard Iceland Iceland Haukar
2004-05 Brynjar Bjornsson Guard Iceland Iceland KR
2005-06 Hordur Vilhjalmson Guard Iceland Iceland Fjölnir
2006-07 Arni Ragnarsson Guard Iceland Iceland Fjölnir
2007-08 Kjartan Kjartansson Guard Iceland Iceland Stjarnan
2008-09 Vesteinn Sveinsson Guard Iceland Iceland FSu
2009-10 Tomas Tomasson Forward Iceland Iceland Fjölnir
2010-11 Orn Sigurdarson Forward Iceland Iceland Haukar
2011-12 Elvar Fridriksson Guard Iceland Iceland Ungmennafélag Njarðvíkur

Coach of the Year

Season Coach Nationality Team
2003-04 Bárður Eyþórsson Iceland Iceland Snæfell
2004-05 Sigurdur Ingimundarson Iceland Iceland Keflavík
2005-06 Bárður Eyþórsson Iceland Iceland Snæfell
2006-07 Benedikt Guðmundsson Iceland Iceland KR
2007-08 Geoff Kotila Iceland Iceland Snæfell
2008-09 Benedikt Guðmundsson Iceland Iceland KR (2)
2009-10 Ingi Þór Steinþórsson Iceland Iceland Snæfell
2010-11 Hrafn Kristjánsson Iceland Iceland KR
2011-12 Helgi Jónas Guðfinnsson Iceland Iceland Grindavík

References

External links