KI KLAKSVIK are a team like no other in Europe.
They are based in a tiny town in the remote Faroe Islands, and this year became domestic league and cup champions.
They went unbeaten throughout both campaigns, winning 23 of their 27 Faroe Islands Premier League matches.
It was their 21st league title, and a fourth triumph in five years.
KI’s success means they have a shot at qualifying for the Champions League – not bad for a town with a population of just 5,100.
What makes it even more impressive is the club is fan-owned and community based, drawing on sponsors from the local area to fund a team that has conquered the Faroes, and now holds big European ambitions.
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SunSport visited the remote outpost in the north of the Faroe Islands, and their stadium Við Djúpumýrar, which boasts a capacity of 2,600 (1,300 seated), and is also home to a nursery and handball court.
Community focus
As well as a nursery and handball court, there is also a swimming pool and badminton hall on the site.
While the artificial pitch, which occasionally hosts training sessions for the national team, is free for the public to use.
Several members of the squad hold other jobs – Jákup Andreasen works as a ship crew member while defender Odmar Færø works in a furniture store.
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There are also electricians, a carpenter and a CEO amongst the ranks, while captain Páll Klettskarð is the son of a former Faroe Islands MP, Óluva Klettskarð.
Klaksvik are run by their members with Tummas Lervig acting as chairman.
Lervig works locally for a hydraulics company, with KI drawing many of their countless sponsors from the local town.
They include a car dealership, a building company and a Faroese bank, along with Bakkafrost – which is the biggest employer on the islands and the third-largest fish farming company in the world, with a revenue of £860million in 2024.
Star man – Arni Fredericksberg
Klaksvik boast five players that regularly feature for the national team, and the pick of the bunch is Arni Fredericksberg.
He is the man who gets people off their seats, at club and international level.
Fredericksberg, 33, has never played his football outside of his native country, and has turned down lucrative moves to stay at Klaksvik.
That is because he lives and works in the town, as the CEO of Kjølbro, a wholesale supplier which also sponsors the football club.
And his family help to run Bakkafrost.
The winger is regarded as one of the best players in the league after producing 25 goals and 24 assists in 37 games this year, and he has won six trophies with KI, with three league and cup titles each.
His form was also a driving factor in the Faroe Islands recording their best ever points total in a World Cup qualifying campaign with 12, having only returned to the national team this year after retiring from international football in 2019.
European ambitions
Klaksvik’s European history stretches back to 1992, when they lost a Champions League qualifier to Latvian side Skonto.
Their first win came three years later with a first leg triumph over Maccabi Haifa in the Cup Winners’ Cup, but they lost the second meeting 4-0.
Their form in Europe has steadily improved since and they have helped the Faroes Islands place 40th out of 55 in the coefficient rankings, allowing the country with a population of just 55,000 people to punch above their weight.
In 2020 they became the first Faroese side to qualify for the Europa League play-off by beating Dinamo Tbilisi 6–1 in the third qualifying round, before losing to Dundalk.
They suffered similar heartbreak in August in their bid to reach the Europa Conference League, having thrown away the tie against Belarusian side Neman Grodno.
Klaksvik won the first leg 2-0 and held onto their lead until the final ten minutes of the tie, before conceding twice and cruelly losing on penalties.