Premier League (Iceland)

Premier League (Domino's League)
Current season, competition or edition: 2016–17 Icelandic Premier League

Sport	Basketball
Founded	1951
Inaugural season	1951–52
CEO	Hannes S. Jónsson
No. of teams	12
Country	Iceland
Continent	FIBA Europe (Europe)
Most recent champion(s)	K.R. Basket Reykjavík (14th title)
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:

Stew Johnson, United States
A.J. Moye, United States – 1-time Premier League champion with Keflavík
Arnar Jonsson, Denmark
Blagoj Janev, Macedonia/Australia
Quincy Hankins-Cole, United States – 1-time Premier League champion with Snæfell
Christopher Smith, United States
Damon S. Johnson, United States – 3-time Premier League champion with Keflavík
Dondrell Whitmore, United States
Giordan Watson, United States – 1-time Premier League champion with Grindavík
Igor Tratnik, Slovenia
J'Nathan Bullock, United States – 1-time Premier League champion with Grindavík
Joshua Helm, United States
Jovan Zdravevski, Macedonia – 1-time Premier League champion with KR
Justin Shouse, United States – 1-time Premier League champion with Snæfell
Kostas Tsartsaris, Greece
Nemanja Sovic, Serbia/Canada
Nick Bradford, United States – 1-time Premier League champion with Keflavík
Robert Jarvis, United States
Roman Moniak, Ukraine/United States – 1-time First Division champion with Hamar
Ryan Pettinella, United States/Italy – 1-time Premier League champion with Grindavík

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	Hjalti Vilhjálmsson
Grindavík	Grindavík	Grindavík	---	blue/gold	Sverrir Þór Sverrisson
ÍR	Reykjavík	Seljaskóli	---	blue/white	Jón Arnar Ingvarsson
Keflavík	Reykjanesbær	Toyota höllin	---	blue/white	Sigurður Ingimundarson
KR	Reykjavík	DHL-höllin	---	black/white	Helgi Már Magnússon
KFÍ	Ísafjörður	Ísjakinn	---	red/white	Pétur Már Sigurðsson
Njarðvík	Njarðvík	Ljónagryfjan	---	green/white	Einar Jóhannsson
Skallagrímur	Borgarnes	Borgarnes	---	green/yellow	Pálmi Þór Sævarsson
Snæfell	Stykkishólmur	Stykkishólmur	---	red/white	Ingi Þór Steinþórsson
Stjarnan	Garðabær	Ásgarður	---	blue/white	Teitur Örlygsson
Thor Thorl (Icelandic: Þór Þorlákshöfn)	Þorlákshöfn	Þorlákshöfn	---	blue/black	Benedikt Guðmundsson
Tindastóll	Sauðárkrókur	Sauðárkrókur	---	maroon/white/blue	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	Sigurður Ingimundarson
2005–06	Njarðvík (13)	Skallagrímur	---
2006–07	KR (10)	Njarðvík	Benedikt Guðmundsson
2007–08	Keflavík (9)	Snæfell	---
2008–09	KR (11)	Grindavík	Benedikt Guðmundsson
2009–10	Snæfell	Keflavík	Ingi Þór Steinþórsson
2010–11	KR (12)	Stjarnan	Hrafn Kristjánsson
2011–12	Grindavík (2)	Þór Þorl	Helgi Jónas Guðfinnsson
2012–13	Grindavík (3)	Stjarnan
2013–14	KR (13)	Grindavík	Finnur Stefansson
2014–15	KR (14)	UMF Tindastóll	Finnur Stefansson
2015–16	KR (15)	Haukar

Titles per club

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

Awards and honors

Player of the Year

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

Defensive Player of the Year

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

Newcomer of the Year

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

Coach of the Year

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

References

External links

Men's professional basketball leagues

International
tournaments

Africa	African Champions Cup

Americas	Americas League Liga Sudamericana Torneo InterLigas

Asia	Asian Champions Cup ABA Club Championship ASEAN League WABA League

Europe	EuroLeague EuroCup Champions League FIBA Europe Cup Adriatic League Alpe Adria Cup Balkan League Baltic League VTB United League Next Generation Tournament

Defunct
tournaments

Americas	Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes Argentina Brazil Chile United States ABA (original) CBA IBL USBL WBA

Asia	Japan bj league NBL NBDL JBL

Europe	SuproLeague Saporta Cup Korać Cup EuroCup Challenge EuroChallenge Central European League North European League Czechoslovakia England Russia Serbia and Montenegro Spain Soviet Union Yugoslavia 2nd division

Category

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