Who are Sligo Rovers' Europa Conference League qualifier opponents FH?

FH team ahead of their game in Dundalk in 2016

FH team ahead of their game in Dundalk in 2016 Credit: Michael P Ryan (ETPhotos)

Sligo Rovers return to European action for the first time since 2014 when they travel to Iceland this week to take on FH Hafnarfjaroar in the first leg of their Europa Conference League tie.

The game will be played at FH’s stadium on Thursday July 8th with an 8pm kick off.

So who are FH?

Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar, commonly referred to as FH, is a multi-sports club based in Hafnarfjörður in Iceland.

The club competes in football, handball, athletics and fencing. It was founded in 1929 as a gymnastics club but soon started a handball department which became its flagship for several decades. Its men's football team has been a dominant power in the club since the early 2000s.

The term Hafnargfardur takes its name from ‘harbour ford’ and is a port town located in the south west of the country.

The club’s stadium is known as Kaplakriki, a multipurpose venue used mostly for football, and it has a capacity of 6,000 spectators.

They play in the Icelandic Premier Division and are managed by Logi Olafsson. He played with the club from 1971 to 1982 before managing a number of clubs in the Icelandic League, including a previous spell at FH back in 2000/2001. 

Their previous manager was Eidur Gudjohnsen who will be well known to followers of the English football scene as he was a star player in the noughties with Stoke City, Chelsea and Bolton Wanderers with three years also spent at Barcelona between 2006 and 2009.

Olafsson took over from Gudjonsson at the start of 2021.



They have been Icelandic champions on eight occasions since 2000 and also have also won numerous domestic cup competitions during that period.

32 of their 35-player squad are from Iceland with three non-natives from The Faroe Islands, Denmark and Stevie Lennon from Scotland who also happened to be on the books of Dundalk back in the 2010/11 season,

What European pedigree do FH have?

FH have been participating in European competitions every year since 2004, playing 30 games in various competitions, winning 13 of those matches.

Their most recent success in a European competition was in the Europa League in 2018/19 where they defeated FC Lahti from Finland on a 3-0 aggregate score but they were then beaten 2-1 by Israel’s Hapoel Haifa in the next round

It won’t be the first time FH will face Irish opposition in European competition. They beat Glenavon from Northern Ireland 6-2 on aggregate in the Europa League in 2014/15 while closer to home they drew 3-3 with Dundalk on aggregate in the Champions League in 2016/17 with the Lilywhites advancing to the next round on the away goal rule.



Who to watch out for?

FH currently have only two players on the Icelandic national team, left back Horour Ingi Gunnarsson and attacking midfielder Johann Helgason.

Both players have only one cap apiece and are still very inexperienced at international level, not surprising given their ages, Gunnarsson is 22 while Helgason is only 20.

The well-travelled Scot Stevie Lennon at 33 years of age is one of the most experienced members of the squad, having turned out for seven other clubs before arriving at FH back in 2014.

Who will the winners face in the second round of the competition?

The winners of the tie will play Rosenburg. The Bit O’Red lost to the Norwegian side 4-3 on aggregate in the 2014 Europa League qualifiers.

What are FH’s recent results?

FH are on a poor run of form at present and have not won any of their last eight matches in the Icelandic Premier Division.

They lost 2-0 in their most recent outing away to league leaders Valur on July 1st and were also held to a 1-1 draw by Bohemian’s opponents in the same competition, Stjarnan, back in mid-June.

They last picked up three points away to HK back in mid-May and as a result of their poor form they now occupy eighth place in the 12 team league on 12 points, 15 points behind the pacesetters Valur.

Who is the match official for this match?

The referee for the first game in Iceland is Ismael Barbara from Malta.

He has officiated at numerous league and cup competitions in Malta and took charge of his first European match back in 2019 when handling the clash between Northern Ireland’s Cliftonville and Barry Town United from Wales

Barbara had officiated at four underage international matches before being assigned to his first full international game on March 31 2021, taking charge of the World Cup Qualifying game between Scotland and Faroes Islands in Hampden Park Glasgow.

Luis Teixeira from Portugal will take charge of the second leg in Sligo on July 15th.

 

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