Sports on the Faroe Islands

From older Faroese literature and folk songs, it appears that sports and various forms of competition have always been an integral part of daily life. Rowing races in connection with hunting of pilot whales was well known. This also applies to various forms of more sports-oriented running competitions, throws and athletics.

In connection with ólavsøka on 28‑29 July, around 1780 sailing, rowing and swimming competitions were held. Around the same time, the employees of Niels Ryberg’s Trade in Tórshavn had built a riding ground outside the town, á Rundingi, as the place is still called.

The first local sports association in the Faroe Islands was Tvøroyrar Bóltfelag (TB), which was founded in the new fishing village of Tvøroyri in 1892. In the wake of urbanisation, sports clubs were founded in Tórshavn, Klaksvík, Vágur, the large villages on Vágar and later in Eiði, Gøtu and Leirvík on Eysturoy. Several of the clubs were football clubs, and the inspiration came with people who were from Denmark or had stayed there. The first was Poul Effersøe from Tvøroyri, who was known in the Danish sports club KB in Copenhagen, and among other pioneers was Jógvan Winther, who was the sheriff of Sandoy, the vicar on Vágar Carl Johansen, who had played football in the sports club Frem BK in Copenhagen, M.A. Winther in Tórshavn and Sniálvur Jacobsen in Klaksvík, who was a well-known football player in YMCA Copenhagen.

School teachers also took the initiative to teach the children how to swim. This led to the damming of several swimming pools in streams. The first concrete swimming pool was built in úti í Grøv in Klaksvík in 1906. Swimming pools were also established in remote villages, such as Mykines and Svínoy. Tórshavn had its first real swimming pool in 1930. The major breakthrough came in 1959, when Tórshavn got an outdoor swimming pool with warm water and a sauna.

Equestrian competitions have been held in connection with the festivities at ólavsøka since 1921, and the first Faroese Equestrian Championships took place in 1984 with time and gait competitions. The Association for Icelandic Horses became a member of FEIF in 1989 and participated for the first time in the world championships in 1993.

Since its foundation, HF, Havnar Fimleikarafelag of 1909 (Tórshavn Gymnastic Club), has organised popular internal competitions. The first athletics club was Bragdið from 1947. However, free sports did not boom until after 1989, when Oyggjaleikirnir, Island Games (sports events between islands), were held in the Faroe Islands, and the first athletics stadium was built in Toftir in that connection.

Until the infrastructure on the islands had been further developed, transport and logistics were the major challenges for sports competitions. The first nationwide championship tournaments under ÍSF auspices were in football and handball. Organised national football tournaments for men have existed since 1942 and for women since 1985. Neistin Tórshavn of 1931 was the first handball club, and national tournaments for women and men have been held since 1943. In addition to the capital, Vestmanna and Strendur were large handball villages from the very beginning.

In addition to TB and VB, which are also located on Suðuroy, it was in Tórshavn, Klaksvík and Vágar – Sandavágur, Miðvágur and Sørvágur that the greatest football activity was seen in the first years. The villages on Eysturoy, Fuglafjørður, Gøta and Leirvík, Runavík, Toftir and Eiði together with the villages of Sundalagið have since the 1970s, when the region was connected by good roads, distinguished themselves among the best, and in 1970 the football club B71 in Sandoy was founded.

Elite sports and Faroese Championships competitions are organised for children, youth and adults. Since 1988, there have been ten teams in the top football division for men. In women’s football, handball and other sports registration is more free.

It was a big step forward when the union Fótbóltssamband Føroya, FSF, set up a coaching course and when the football pitches were covered with artificial turf from 1986. After the international breakthrough and financial support from FIFA and UEFA, the conditions for national team football have improved, and for the biggest clubs, the elite of men’s football has become semi-professional.

For a long time, the disciplines that are considered indoor sports had no other place to train than in school gymnasiums or outdoors. It therefore made a big difference when new large sports halls were built, the first in Klaksvík in 1969. Volleyball was introduced by teachers from Denmark. The first Faroese Championships were held in 1969, and the first two clubs were made up of students at the Faroese Teachers’ School, Næmingafelag Føroya Læraraskúla, and high school students from Føroya Studentaskúli. Faroese Championships in badminton have been held since 1966 for men and since 1973 for women. HBF (Havnar Badmintonfelag), founded in 1959, is the oldest club, and the first international match was against Iceland in 1981. Faroese Championships in table tennis have been held since 1959. TBF (Tvøroyrar Borðtennisfelag) of 1948, is the oldest club, and the first international match was against Iceland in Tvøroyri in 1973. Faroese Championships in judo was first held in 1971. Havnar Judofelag of 1971 is the oldest club, and the Faroe Islands participated in the European Championships in Belgium in 1996 and the World Championships in Brazil in 2007.

Cycling and triathlon are organised in the same federation. Tórshavnar Súkklufelag from 1983 is the oldest club, and the first Faroese Championships in cycling were held in 1991. A triathlon club was founded in 2001, and the mountain bike club Fjallasúkklufelagið MTB in 2011. The first Faroese Championships were held in 2011. The oldest shooting association is Veiðufelagið Byrsumúli Tórshavn of 1980. The first Faroese Championships were held in 1983, and since 2009, the Faroese Championships have been held every year. The oldest archery club is Tambar Tórshavn from 1988. The first Faroese Championships were held in 1988, and the Faroe Islands took part in the World Championships for the first time in 2001.

Faroese sports in an international perspective

In 1988, the Faroe Islands became a member of the international football union FIFA and in 1990 a member of the European football union UEFA. On September 12 1990, the Faroe Islands national football team played a tournament match under UEFA auspices for the first time. The Faroe Islands then participated for the first time in the European Championships qualifier in football. Due to a lack of internationally approved football pitches with natural turf, it was not possible to play the home matches in the Faroe Islands. Therefore, Landskrona in Sweden was appointed as the home ground in the first qualifying tournament. The first match was against Austria, which in the summer of 1990 had taken part in the World Championship playoff games in Italy. The Faroe Islands won 1‑0, Torkil Nielsen scored in the 62nd minute. This was breaking news and it was considered one of the most unexpected results in international football of all time.

Since 1992, when KÍ Klaksvík and B36 Tórshavn were involved in national champions’ and cup winners’ tournament, Faroese football clubs have participated in European tournaments. From 1992, the stadium at Svangaskarð in Toftir with natural turf was the home ground for all international football matches. From 1999, Tórsvøllur in Tórshavn was also the home ground for international matches. Tórsvøllur was completed as the national stadium in 2021.

The first internationally registered women’s national football match was played on 24th of September 1995, when Ireland won 2‑0 in the European Championship qualifier in Svangaskarð in Toftir. The first time a female club team participated in Europe was KÍ Klaksvík in 2001. Even before the great result in Landskrona in 1990, Faroese sports participated in international tournaments. In 1984, the Faroe Islands applied for full membership of the IOC, and in 2021 the Faroese home rule still worked to win IOC acceptance and membership. In 2019, the Faroe Islands gained the right to participate under their own flag in competitions organised by the European Olympic Committee.

Individually, some Faroese have participated in the Olympic Games under the Danish flag. Katrin Olsen took part in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in double sculls rowing for Denmark, and in 2021, Sverri S. Nielsen came fourth in single sculls for Denmark at the Olympics in Japan. Pál Joensen represented Denmark in swimming at the Olympics in London in 2012 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. In 2021, Jóhan á Plógv Hansen was on the Danish national handball team that won Olympic silver in Japan.

Parasport Føroyar gained membership of the International Paralympic Committee in 1981 and has participated in the Paralympic Games under the Faroese flag since 1984 in New York. In Seoul in 1988, Christina Næss won gold in the 100 m backstroke and silver in the 400 m freestyle, Katrin Johansen won silver in the 100 m freestyle and bronze in the 100 m backstroke, and Tóra við Keldu won silver in the 100 m freestyle and bronze in the 100 m butterfly and 400 m freestyle. In Barcelona in 1992, Tóra við Keldu won silver in the 100 m freestyle. In Sydney in the year 2000, Heidi Andreasen won silver in the 400 m, 50 m and 100 m freestyle and bronze in the 100 m backstroke, and in Athens in 2004 Heidi Andreasen won bronze in the 400 m freestyle.

Since 1970, the Faroe Islands have participated in the Olympic Games in chess. In 2016, Helgi Dam Ziska became the first Faroese Grandmaster. Since 2002, the Faroe Islands have participated in the European Championships in bridge.

In 1982 Jon Hestoy represented the Faroe Islands at the World Championships in swimming, and in 2008, Pál Joensen won gold for juniors in the 400 m, 800 m and 1,500 m freestyle in Belgrade. He also won bronze in the 1500 m at the World Championships in Istanbul in 2012, silver at the European Championships in Budapest in 2010 and silver in the 800 m and 1500 m freestyle in Berlin in 2014 as well as silver on the short track at the European Championships in Herning in 2013.

The Faroese national football team played its first international match during ólavsøka in 1930, where Iceland won 1‑0. In addition to Iceland, there were international matches against the Shetland and Orkney Islands from time to time. On 24th of August 1988, the Faroe Islands played the first internationally registered international football match. It was in Akranes in Iceland and Iceland won 1‑0.

The first national handball match for men was in 1964 at home ground against Iceland. The Faroe Islands gained provisional membership of the International Handball Federation in 1970 and full IHF membership in 1974. In 1972, the Kyndil Tórshavn handball club participated in the European Cup for men. In 1976 the Faroe Islands participated in the C World Championship tournament in Portugal, and in 1980, this tournament was held in the Faroe Islands. In 2018, both men and women participated for the first time in the World Championship and European Championship qualification tournaments in handball. In 2021, the Faroe Islands qualified for the first time to participate in the A group for U-18 and U-20 men.

Every other year since 1985 – with the exception of 2021, when the Covid- 19 pandemic prevented the Games from being held – the Faroe Islands have participated in Oyggjaleikir or the Island Games. The Isle of Man was the initiator and the overall aim was to create a forum where island groups had the opportunity to compete on an equal footing. In international tournaments, it is possible for individual islanders to be able to perform at the highest level. In team tournaments, this hardly ever the case. A committee consisting of members from the participating island communities decides where the Games will be held, and in 1989 the Games were held in the Faroe Islands. In 2009, the Faroe Islands won the Island Games; most medals were won in swimming and athletics.

Football pitches

Conflicting interests between agriculture and those interested in sports, as well as the hilly landscape, posed obstacles when football pitches had to be established, because the plots of land that were best suited for football pitches were also the best for agriculture in the early 1900s.

Before the first actual football pitches were established, football was played on sandy beaches, for example in the three large villages of Sandavágur, Miðvágur and Sørvágur and on Eysturoy in Gøtu, Fuglafjørður and Eiði, in Sandur on Sandoy and in Sumba on Suðuroy. In Leirvík, one of the initiators was a King’s yeoman, which is why it proved unproblematic to get permission to establish a football pitch in the outfield. Work began in the mid-1920s and the full-size pitch was completed in 1932‑1933. In Tórshavn, Hoydalar was the obvious option for football, but the surface was swampy and not dry enough, and after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, they managed to get the farmer to hand over Gundadalur north of the town for the purpose.

In Fuglafjørður, the terrain made it impossible to establish a football pitch in Fløtugeður according to the formal regulations and dimensions in 1956, and it was not until 1979 that the pitch was expanded to the formally required size. The pitches á Mølini i Eiði in Vestmanna and Sumba are no longer used for ball games.

ÍSF and Poul Petersen

Today, the Faroese Confederation of Sports & Olympic Committee, Ítróttasamband Føroya (ÍSF), covers 142 sports clubs, which since 1980 have been organised into special unions and development unions. In 2014, it was decided that in future, the unions and not the clubs should be members of ÍSF.

ÍSF was founded on April 4th 1939 on the initiative of the school teacher Poul Petersen, whom the Swedish Parliament had hired in 1938 in a part-time position as a sports consultant. At the time, he was a teacher at Mykines, but he moved to Tórshavn when the position was upgraded to a full-time position in 1943. Poul Petersen was a sports consultant until 1954.

Before the ÍSF became a reality, two initiatives had been taken to organise the football clubs into a union: Færøernes Boldspil-Union 1913‑16 and Føroyska Bóltspæl-Sambandið 1930‑33. In 1942, the Løgting decided for the first time to earmark financial funds for the support of gymnasiums, swimming pools and football pitches, and in 1947 physical education became a compulsory subject in primary school. Inspirational courses were organised for physical education teachers, and pamphlets were published with material for teaching physical education and sports, e.g. ball games, swimming and gymnastics.

Poul Petersen was editor of the sports magazine Ítróttartíðindi, and he was the initiator of the Skúlaítróttarmerki Føroya sports medals. He also published a textbook on swimming, and intensive work was done to find suitable areas for athletics and swimming pools all over the country. As a result, football pitches were established in most large villages, first of gravel and later with artificial turf.

Both before and after the founding of the ÍSF, recurring events were held and great participation and excitement of the spectators were seen, even if it was only the victory in the one competition and not a championship that was at stake.

Rowing – A national sport

Rowing in traditional rowing boats is considered the national sport of the Faroe Islands and has been a regular part of the sporting events at ólavsøka since 1924. Rowing races have also become a regular part of the annual summer meetings in the villages. The first, Jóansøkustevnan, is from 1925. Then came Norðoyastevnan in 1936, Vestanstevnan in 1945, Varmakedustevnan in 1951, Eystanstevnan in 1962 and Sundalagsstevnan in 1991. Rowing at these events is part of the Faroe Islands rowing championships, which have existed since 1964.

Rowing is divided into age groups and different boat sizes, as well as for women and men. Children and teenagers compete in 5-mannafør, girls and women in 5-mannafør and 6-mannafør, and boys and men in 5-mannafør, 6-mannafør, 8-mannafør and 10-mannafør. The grand final is at ólavsøka on July 28.

Further reading

• Association activities and volunteering on the Faroe Islands
• Crafts and design on the Faroe Islands
• Film on the Faroe Islands
• Literature on the Faroe Islands
• Media on the Faroe Islands
• Museums of cultural history and heritage on the Faroe Islands
• Music on the Faroe Islands
• Religion and religious communities on the Faroe Islands
• Theater on the Faroe Islands
• Tradition and tales on the Faroe Islands

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