B71 Sandoy

B71 (Sandoy) (B71 being short for Bóltfelagið 1971 – literal translation: "Ball Club 1971") is a Faroese sports club, playing their home games Inni í Dal, Sandur. Teams are made up of players from all the towns on the island of Sandoy.

B71
Full nameSandoyar Ítróttarfelag, B71
Nickname(s)B71
Founded1 January 1970
GroundInni í Dal
Sandur, Faroes
Capacity2000 (300 seated)
ChairmanKarl Vidtfeldt
Head CoachRichard Goffe
League1. deild
20197th, 1. deild

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  FRO Dawid Nowicki
2 DF  FRO Jákup Høgnason
3 DF  BRA Klayver Schimith Do Nascimento
4 DF  FRO Alvi Jespersen
5 MF  FRO Brian Á. Erlingson
6 DF  FRO Eirikur Jacobsen
7 FW  FRO Símin Hansen
8 MF  FRO Marcus Clementsen
9 DF  FRO Gunnar Lydersen
10 FW  BRA Clayton Soares (vice-captain)
11 DF  FRO Karl Fríði Vestergaard
12 MF  FRO Aron Clementsen
13 DF  NGA Brian Chuckwudubem Okpala
14 MF  FRO Sverri Dalsgaard
15 FW  DEN Valdemar Schousboe
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 GK  FRO Jóhan Herálvur Hentze
17 FW  FRO Hans O. Hentze
18 FW  GHA Tijani Mohammed
19 DF  FRO Jóhan Petur K. Hentze
20 MF  FRO Áki Hentze (captain)
21 MF  FRO Kristian K. Hentze
22 GK  FRO Gerhard Páll Lognberg
23 DF  FRO Rani Nicolajsen
24 MF  DEN Gustav Wassmann
25 MF  FRO Jónas Warner
26 FW  FRO Fróði Højsted
27 DF  FRO Alexandur D. Jacobsen
28 MF  FRO Jónatan Kjærbo
29 MF  FRO Bogi Hentze
— DF  ARG Victoriano Frágola

The Club history

Origins (1970–1971)

Although B71 is one of the youngest football-teams in the Faroe Islands, there has always been a considerable amount of interest in sports on the particular island from which the team fares. Football had been played well before B71 was established in 1970, but since sand-surfaces were deemed unsuitable for football, a team had yet to be formed.[1]

In the late 1960s, two of the island's towns, Sandur and Skopun, started to compete. There were no goals, so instead they used two rocks each, representing goalposts. This rivalry between two of Sandoy's biggest towns went on for several summers, bringing in truckloads of people from Skopun, even though cars had yet to be accessible to the common man.[2]

At around the same time, a new school was being built on Sandoy, where there also would be built a field on which to play sports. As a result of this, people started talking about forming a new team and on New Year's Day 1970, a sports team was established. The preliminary year, the team was called Sand, since only players from the town of Sandur were fielded. But the following year the team's name was changed to B71. Since players from the entire island wanted to be a part of the team, it no longer seemed fitting to name the team after just one town.[2]

The first year only two teams were fielded. One senior team, playing in, what in those days was referred to as Meðaldeildin and one boys-team.[2]

The Early Years (1972–1985)

In the beginning, B71 took baby-steps towards their eventual greater years in the late 1980s, early-to-mid-1990s. Players like Eli Hentze, Torbjørn Jensen, brothers Róin and Jóan Petur Clementsen, and many more, were still playing in the youth divisions, and would not feature prominently until they came of age in the second half of the 1980s.

Faroese Champions (1986–1989)

Nothing really spectacular happened until B71 became 3. division champions in 1986. Two years later, in 1988, they won the 2. division and then, remarkably, they became 1. division champions in 1989, without losing a single game that year. When all was said and done, B71 ended up with a resounding 31-point tally, as opposed to a more modest 22 points by runners-up HB, who, coincidentally, were pummeled 6–2 in the final match of the season against none other than, B71.

B71's success has, in later years, been attributed largely to the successful blend of a Polish influence, consisting of coach Jan Kaczynski, robust midfielder, turned coach, Piotr Krakowski, goalkeeper Waldemar Nowicki, and uniquely solid local players, including, Eli Hentze, Ib Mohr Olsen, Páll á Reynatúgvu, Torbjørn Jensen, brothers Róin and Jóan Petur Clementsen, and many more.

B71 also reached the final of the Faroese Cup in 1989. The initial match resulted in a 1–1 draw, but they ended up losing 2–0 after the replay.

In the space of 3–4 years B71 had gone from being an obscure 3. division side, to Faroese 1. division champions.

Relegation shocker (1990)

For some reason or another, B71 were unable to defend their title the following year. Instead, everything ended in catastrophe. Rather than posing a title challenge, B71 were relegated, forced to spend at least a year in the second-best division. The shame would, however, be short-lived, since B71 immediately bounced back and were promoted the very next year.

The infamous Faroese Cup finals (1993–1994)

Although B71 continued to pose a threat in the Faroese top-division during the early 1990s, (never finishing lower than 4th) they never captured the league trophy a second time. Instead, focus turned to the Faroese Cup, where B71 had even greater success during their reign as one of the top sides in Faroese football.

B71 reached the finals in two consecutive years. The first time in 1993 against HB who they beat 2–0, winning the trophy for the first and only time so far, and again the year later, in 1994 where they lost 2–1 against KÍ.

Relegation/Promotion saga (1996–2006)

After nearly a decade of mostly good results, it was inevitable that B71 eventually would have some misfortune. But no one would suspect that misfortune to last another decade. B71 went from finishing 4th in 1995 to finishing 8th in 1996, and subsequently finishing bottom of the league a year later. This meant being relegated to the second division, only to gain promotion in 1998.

Instability tainted the play of B71, who, in spite of this, managed to escape relegation for a couple of years, until they finally went down in 2001, after having lost the relegation playoff against Skála.[3][4] B71 would have to wait until the 2006 season before finally gaining promotion again, to what had since been renamed Formuladeildin, for the fourth time since 1988.

Rise of the women's game

During this time, when the B71 men disappointed time and time again, it was the women's team that really shone. Getting the results and winning match after match was a daily occurrence for the women of B71 through much of the 1990s.

The youth squads of B71 also seemed to produce quality players, greatly due to the hiring of youth-coach Martin Kúrberg who stayed with B71 for many years.[5]

Several of the players from the youth-ranks would become regular B71 players, but the women's team, which got off to a stellar start, slowly declined until B71 were unable to enter a team to the women's competition altogether. Efforts have since been made in resurrecting the team, but so far they have been unable to match the success of B71's Golden Girls.

B71's Resurgency (2007)

B71 were touted as sure relegation candidates before the 2007 season, even before the first match, but halfway through the season, B71 had proven all of the pundits wrong, with sparkling results, such as a 0–3 away win at holders HB, a 1–0 home win against B36 and a 4–2 away thrashing against title-contenders EB/Streymur. At the end of the season B71 were well out of relegation danger and in the safe-zone.[6]

Pre-season row, relegation and manager-shifts (2008–2009)
B71 vs. FC Suðuroy in Vodafonedeildin on 2. May 2010. B71 won the match 3–1.
B71 vs. FC Suðuroy in Vodafonedeildin on 2. May 2010. B71 won the match 3–1. This is just after B71 scored one of their 3 goals.

The 2008 season was kicked off with B71 once again being named underdogs, but this time B71 didn't provide many surprises. Instead they went on a losing streak, only to salvage the first half of the season on the finishing line, when they played convincingly and won three of their last matches.

B71 had been unsettled pre-season, with the departure and absence of many key-players. The most prominent of which was one Magnus Olsen. There was much controversy and tension between B71 and B36 regarding the player in question. Allegations of tapping up and player-poaching echoed from the B71 camp, while B36 kept refuting the claims, suggesting that the B71 board had been notified of the club's interest in Magnus.[7]

This resulted in many appeals and re-appeals to the highest footballing authority in The Faroe Islands, FSF. B71 were eventually deemed to have no case and Magnus Olsen's much coveted player license was transferred to B36.[8]

Apart from Magnus Olsen, players including Hanus Clementsen, Jóhannis Jensen and Clayton Soares were all ruled out, while successful defender Anders Rasmussen had left, during pre-season. Three games into the season, B71's talented young winger Rasmus Nielsen was injured in a bout with Fróði Benjaminsen and would be out for the entire first half of the season.

The second part of the season was considered somewhat better than the first, with the team playing better football and producing fair results, but in the end they came up short with a meager 22 points. Despite the low point tally, B71 did have slim chances of avoiding relegation right up until the second-last match of the season, when they lost 0–1 at home against Víkingur

Since the relegation became a reality, two key-players from the B71 squad signed with different clubs. Goalkeeper Símun Rógvi Hansen and talented midfielder Gudmund Nielsen, both 21, signed with HB and champions EB/Streymur, respectively.[9][10] In addition to this, winger Rasmus Nielsen left during the break, to play for, then, newly promoted Tórshavn side, AB,[11] while three of B71's four Brazilian players were released, leaving Clayton Soares as the only Brazilian to reprise his role in the team.

At around the same time, coach Eli Hentze announced he had made the decision to step down from coaching B71's first-team. He was later replaced by Frankie Jensen, who hales from Sandoy, but lives in Tórshavn.[12]

Subsequently, it was announced that Frankie Jensen had been released from his contract, and Eli Hentze was appointed new head-coach, for the third time in his career[13] and at the end of the '09 season, Eli Hentze stepped down, and former 07 Vestur coach, Piotr Krakowski, succeeded him. Appointing Piotr Krakowski has been dubbed coming home, by the media, for the highly rated coach,[14] because of his affiliation with the team in the 1990s.

B71 had, before this, clinched promotion to top-flight football, on the second to last match-day of the season, after just the one year in 1. Deild[15]

Relegations (2010–2013)

B71 managed to keep themselves up in the 2010 season, finishing 8th, but had a torrid time during the following 2011 season. Efforts were made to sign foreign players Tijani Mohammed[16] and Joseph Bassene[17] as well as re-sign previous B71 players like goalkeeper Símun Rógvi Hansen[18] and Serbian defender Bojan Zivic.[19] This didn't seem to have the intended effect and the team was on a terrible losing streak going into the second half of the season. Ghambian-born Dane Bakary Bojang[20] and Andrezej Bednarz[21] from Poland were recruited to try and salvage an otherwise miserable season, but to no avail. Despite slightly improved results, B71 finished dead last with only 11 points from 27 matches. Being relegated to second-tier football didn't help results either. Most of the players from the previous season left the club, leaving only young players to pick up the pieces. B71 finished just above relegation in 8th place in 2012 and could not improve a year later, finishing dead last for the second time in 3 years. This meant a return to third tier football for the first time since the initial promotion in 1986, 28 years ago.

2. division (2014)

2014 marked an unwelcome return to third tier football for the club. It was touch and go a couple of times and ultimately B71 needed a win in the second to last round in order to secure promotion, before meeting, already promoted and division winners, MB on the last day of the campaign.

Initially, promotion looked unsure, as B71 unexpectedly lost 2–0 away against ÍF and by all accounts had to win the very last match. However, ÍF had used an illegal player in this 2–0 victory and B71 won their appeal to the Faroese Football Association, thus clinching promotion on a technicality.[22]

1. division (2015–2016)

2015 had its ups and downs result wise. Though the team was composed of some well known local talent, that didn't result in better than 7th place in the league at the end of the season; it was safe from relegation, yet miles away from promotion.

Perhaps this was the reason for the teams lacklustre second year in the division. Accumulating only 13 points in 27 matches and rock bottom of the league. Once again heading to the third best tier for at least a season.[23]

Promotion (2017)

2017 marked major changes for Sandoyar Ítróttarfelag B71. Though the club was financially healthy and with a good youth set up, the flagship men's team was haemorrhaging points and struggling to keep the attention of the local community. In order to reinvigorate the club, the entire board made the decision to step down and new board members were elected.[24] This was not without problems in the initial phase, but what followed was new life for the men's first team, as well as the continuation of the progress that the previous board had made. Promotion was secured well before the end of the season, as well as winning the league before the last match day.[25]

Back in 1. division (2018–2019)

After just one year in the 2nd division, B71 embarked on another season in the second tier, lead by head coach, Bakary Bojang, who had one year left of his tenure. After some good results in the firsta half of the season, though, Bakary had to step down as head coach due to personal reasons.[26] The club got to work in bringing in a replacement and hired Swedish coach Stefan Hansson to finish the remainder of the season. However, differences between the club and coach meant that newly appointed Hansson stepped down before the last game of the season. Former B71 player and coach, now Faroese U21 national team coach, Eli Hentze, came in to rescue the men's team from relegation danger. Eli and the B71 first men's team managed to salvage enough points before the end of the season and secured another year in the second tier.


2019 was poised to be a different story. The club searched arduously for a new head coach and thought they might have found a long-term solution in Coerver coach, Heiðar Birnir Torleifsson.[27] Disaster struck towards the end of the first half of the season, when Heiðar, also left the club due to personal reasons. The club was now in an identical situation as before. Once again, Eli Hentze took the reigns for the initial couple of matches in the second half of the season, as caretaker. A month into the second half, B71 appointed Irish born Christopher Harrington as new head coach until the end of the season.[28] Harrington managed to climb the table from relegation danger and B71 finished in a more respectable 7th position. After the end of the season, it was announced that Christopher Harrington would leave B71 to join HB as joint women's- and head of youth coach.[29] B71 appointed Englishman Richard Goffe from ÍBV as new head coach, days before Christmas, on a 2-year deal, until the end of the 2021 season.[30]



Women's team players: Tórunn, Sólrun, Sigrid and Gerda in a match against Giza Hoyvík in 2017.

Rise of the women's game pt. II

Much of the excitement from this year, however, did not originate solely from the men's team, but also by the newly formed women's team, led by youth and head coach, Bakary Bojang. The women were, rather optimistically, entered into the Premier Division for their first season back and this was close to derail the entire venture, suffering heavy losses for a couple of matches, before being allowed to relegate to a lower division, which hadn't started the season at that point. in turn, this move was especially beneficial for the team, who finished third in the division with some great results and success stories along the way.

A year later in 2018, ambitions were higher and the women's team finished in second place in the second women's tier. In 2019, the women were hungry for gold, but yet again they finished second, a couple of points behind leaders 07 Vestur.

The Kit and The Crest

The Kit

Although B71 is, and always has been, considered a small club, even by Faroese standards, it has, nonetheless, had its fair share of kits. Lately, there has almost been a new one every year, but there has also been a variety before this; some more loved than others, during B71 almost 40-year history. The primary B71 kit is yellow and blue. B71 has never had a kit yet which didn't include either of these colours.

The first ever B71 kit was an all yellow jersey (except for the blue sleeves and neck-line), blue shorts and yellow socks. As B71 didn't have any sponsors during its humble beginnings, the only decorative item on the shirt was the crest. The yellow colour of the initial jerseys was also a considerably lighter shade, than they would be in later years.

During the 2007 season, B71's away kit was white, mixed with blue, resembling the Faroese flag.

Símin Hansen and Tijani Mohammed sporting the all yellow kit for the 2018 season.

To mark the 2018 and a new modern approach for the club going forward, the kit was changed from the normal yellow shirt/blue shorts combination to an all-yellow kit.

The Crest

The club's crest shows the Faroese flag (a red, white and blue Scandinavian Cross) centred on a shield. On top of the flag, sits a yellow football, representing the primary colour of the team and the sport they play, upon which the team's name is displayed.[31]

The crest has never been changed or altered in any way since 1970, except for the shade of yellow sometimes getting darker or lighter.

Coaches
Dates Name
1986 Finn Melin
1987–89 Jan Kaczynski
1990–96 Piotr Krakowski
1997 Eli Hentze
1998–99 Ivan Hristov
2000 Per Langvad
2001 Kári Reynheim
2002–03 Tom Saintfiet
2003 Waldemar Nowicki[32]
2004–05 Ole Andersen
2006 Dragan Kovačević
2007 Dušan Mokan[33]
2007–08 Eli Hentze
2009 Frankie Jensen[34]
2009 Eli Hentze
2010 Piotr Krakowski
2011–13 Allan Mørkøre
2014–16 Piotr Krakowski
2017–18 Bakary Bojang[35]
2018 Stefan Hansson[36]
2019 Heiðar Birnir Torleifsson[37]
2019 Christopher Harrington[38]
2020– Richard Goffe

UEFA club competition record
Competition Matches W D L GF GA
UEFA Cup 2 0 0 2 3 9
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 2 0 0 2 0 7
TOTAL 4 0 0 4 3 16
Season Competition Round Opponent Results
1994–95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Q HJK 0–5, 0–2
1996–97 UEFA Cup Preliminary APOEL 1–5, 2–4

Home results in bold.

Honours

League

Cups

Other sports

B71 has always been mentioned as being a football club, however this is technically not true. The "B" in the club's name stands for "Ball Club", while "Sandoyar Ítróttarfelag" translates to "Sandoy Sports Club". While it's true that the main focus has always been the football side of the club, a variety of sports have recently been undertaken by the club, mainly for youths and children, largely due to the construction of the indoor sports hall in 2012.[41]

Futsal

Football had been played indoors in the school gym since its construction in 1971, but the indoor sports hall made the concept of Futsal possible on Sandoy. It's mainly played during the winter, when the freezing temperatures and short daylight hours make playing football outside too difficult.[42]

Kidsvolley

The last couple of years children have been participating in a simplified version of volleyball, aptly named: Kidsvolley.[43] As of a couple of years ago, "kidsvolley" is now being referred to by the Faroese term "Flogbørn".

Handball

As soon as the indoor sports hall was constructed, handball practice for children was instigated. Recently, it was announced that B71 will be entering youth teams into handball competitions for the first time in the club's history.[44]

Vípan

While, now defunct women's handball team, Vípan never had any direct affiliation with B71, it is oftentimes spoken of in the same breath and even mentioned in B71's official club history.[1] Founded in 1942 by doctor Leif Dahl and later coached by teacher Kjartan Hentze, Vípan was very successful during its short lifespan, winning the Faroese handball championship in 1944 and again in 1949, before the team quietly faded into the history books.[1]

As of a couple of years ago the name Vípan has emerged again as B71 Vípan, the current name for kid's handball teams in Sandoy.

References and notes
  1. "B71 Official Club History, b.1971" (in Faroese). b71-sandoy.com. 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  2. "Ibid" (in Faroese). b71-sandoy.com. 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  3. "Faroe Islands 2001 season-review". uefa.com. 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  4. Despite finishing second in 2002, 2004 and 2005, B71 weren't automatically promoted, because of the way the system of promotion and relegation worked. Runners-up and the second-last teams had to play two playoff matches against each other, for promotion and relegation, respectively.
  5. HB.fo, Martin Kúrberg nýggjur kvinnuvenjari (Faroese)
  6. "2007 Formula Division Aftermath". soccerandequipment.com. 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  7. "B71 accuse B36 of player poaching, B36 say B71 gave the OK". soccerandequipment.com. 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  8. "Aganevndin's decision regarding Magnus Olsen" (PDF) (in Faroese). football.fo. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
  9. "B71 lose goalkeeper" (in Faroese). sportal.fo. 2008. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  10. "Gudmund Nielsen leaves B71" (in Faroese). b71-sandoy.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  11. "Rasmus Nielsen leaves B71 for AB" (in Faroese). portal.fo. 2008. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  12. "Frankie Jensen new B71 coach" (in Faroese). b71-sandoy.com. October 2010. Retrieved 2008-11-15. Check date values in: |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  13. "B71 appoint Hentze as new head-coach" (in Faroese). sportal.fo. 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
  14. "Piotr new B71 coach" (in Faroese). sportal.fo. 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
  15. "VB/Sumba and B71 gain promotion" (in Faroese). sportal.fo. 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  16. FaroeSoccer – Leikari, Tijani Mohammed (Á)
  17. FaroeSoccer – Leikari, Joseph Youssoupa Bassene (M-Á)
  18. FaroeSoccer – Leikari, Símun Rógvi Hansen (MV)
  19. FaroeSoccer – Leikari, Bojan Zivic (V)
  20. FaroeSoccer – Leikari, Bakari Bojang (Á)
  21. FaroeSoccer – Leikari, Andrezej Kazimierz Bednarz (M)
  22. http://www.faroesoccer.com/news/read.php?page=480(in+Faroese)
  23. "FaroeSoccer". www.faroesoccer.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  24. "B71 nýggjan formann". www.in.fo (in Faroese). Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  25. "FaroeSoccer". www.faroesoccer.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  26. "Bakary on life after football". www.fallaboweh.com. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  27. "Heiðar Birnir Torleifsson – B71 Coach". www.in.fo. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  28. "Christopher Harrington – B71 Coach". www.bolt.fo. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  29. "Christopher Harrington – HB Coach". www.in.fo. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  30. "Richard Goffe – B71 Coach". www.roysni.fo. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  31. "The B71 Crest". VFLnet.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  32. Tom Saintfiet was sacked halfway through the 2003 season, and goalkeeper Waldemar Nowicki had to finish the remainder of the season's coaching
  33. Terminated his contract with mutual consent. Eli Hentze took over.
  34. Sacked, due to differences with the playing staff. Eli Hentze took over.
  35. Terminated his contract with mutual consent, Stefan Hansson took over.
  36. Terminated his contract with mutual consent Eli Hentze took over and finished the season.
  37. Terminated his contract with mutual consent Eli Hentze took over as caretaker
  38. Appointed until the end of the 2019 season
  39. From 2004, the second best division (2. deild) became known as 1. deild
  40. From 2004, the third best division (3. deild) became known as 2. deild
  41. Ítróttarhøllin í Sandoy letur upp leygardagin | Kringvarp Føroya
  42. "Faroese Football Association Official Futsal Page" (in Faroese). football.com. 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  43. "Kidsvolley in the indoor sports hall" (in Faroese). sandportal.fo. 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  44. "Everyone cheers the sports hall on" (in Faroese). sandportal.fo. 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.

Official

International sites
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