Stjarnan

Ground: Samsung Völlurinn (Stjörnuvöllur)

Visits: 1

Date: 21st July 2012

Match: Stjarnan - KR 1-1 (Úrvalsdelid)

Attendance: 925

My second day in Iceland meant I was going to watch a team more famous for its goal celebrations than its football. Stjarnan made head-lines all over the world with "The Fish" and other carefully planned goal celebrations. They are on youtube for those who haven't seen them yet. The match between Stjarnan and KR had a 16.00 kick-off meaning I had some hours to kill. I went down to the harbour and booked a "Puffin tour". There are plenty of puffins around Iceland a my trip was to Puffin Island. I took around 25 minutes by boat to reach the island. Puffins only lay one egg per year and stay with the same partner for their lifetime. They have a special look and are sometimes nicknamed "Sea parrot". The trip lasted for 90 minutes in total and I manged to take some decent pictures. After the toru I went back to my hotel for a rest and to have something to eat. Stjarnan play at Stjörnuvöllur (or Samsung Völlurinn as they called it nowdays) which is situated in Gardabær, a southern suburb to Reykjavik. From Hlemmur I took bus #1 which actually stopped right outside the ground, again very convenient for me. The ground has an artificial pitch and only one seated stand. This stand has 900 seats and is quite OK. The other three stands have a fence only and are closed for fans. I actually managed to leave the stand and walk behind one of the goals before the match started. I wanted pictures of the seated stand and took my chances.

Stjarnan vs KR was 3rd against 1st in the Icelandic league and when the match started the seated stand was more than full. Every seat was taken and in the concourse area by the rear of the stand plenty of fans stood to watch the match. The home supporters were given a "Best fans in Iceland" reward before the match and sitting close to the vocal home fans I could understand why. The match itself was very entertaining. Plenty of chances for both teams but it was KR who scored the only goal. In the second half Stjarnan had chance after chance but they couldn't find the equaliser. They even missed a penalty and seemed destined to lose this match. With KR being three poitns ahead of Stjarnan before this match this could be the end of Stjarnan's title challenge. In th 89th minute Stjarnan hit the post before scoring from the rebound. 1-1 and massice celebrations in the stand. No "Fish" (or other celebrations for that matter) on the pitch though. Slightly disappointing, at least for me. The match finished 1-1 and as the weather was becoming more and more rainy/windy I was pleased the match had been so entertaining. Tomorrow I leave Reykjavik for the Westmann Isles but on Monday I will return to the Icelandic capital for the fourth and final match on this tour.

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