For a second year now, the team known as Árbær are not playing in Árbær. Instead they are in a different neighbourhood of Reykjavík across the river which their hometown is named for (Ár is Icelandic for river) at the home of Leiknir in Breiðholt. I won’t venture into the politics of why this has happened, but the history of this sport is littered with teams that end up with anachronistic names. The nearest football league team to where I live in Glasgow is Partick Thistle, though they haven’t played in the Partick neighbourhood for over a century. In any event, Helgi Dagur was at the correct location for their Fourth Division matchup with Augnablik.
Here’s how the game went:
Here are the photos from Helgi Dagur Halldórsson, and you can find more of his work on his Instagram page.
Árbær captain Agnar Guðjónsson (in black) holds off Arnar Laufdal Arnarsson, who was joint top scorer for Augnablik last season (9 goals) as the team finished in 4th place, 5 points behind their opponents in this game.
Daníel Gylfason and Arnór Daði Gunnarsson measure the bounce of the ball. Both players featured in the two fixtures between these clubs last season as well, with a 2-1 home win for Árbær in june and a 1-1 draw in August.
Kormákur Tumi Einarsson signed f0r Árbær from Þróttur in February, while Guðni Rafn Róbertsson is in his third season of senior football since graduating from the Breiðablik/Augnablik system, and he had 5 goals in 16 league games last year.
Second half substitute Atli Dagur Ásmundsson skips away from Gabríel Þór Stefánsson who also started on the bench, though came on for Augnablik after just 18 minutes.
Orri Bjarkason had put the visitors ahead with only 3 minutes played, and here he carries the ball away from Agnar Guðjóns. 2007-born Orri is in his first season with a senior team and this was his first senior goal.
All photos by Helgi Dagur Halldórsson, with words from Gus Stephens.