Besta deild karla

Besta deild karla
Country	Iceland
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1912
Number of teams	12
Relegation to	Lengjudeildin
Domestic cup(s)	Mjólkurbikarinn League Cup Super Cup
UEFA cup(s)	Champions League Conference League
Current champions	Breiðablik (3rd title) (2023)
TV	Sport Five, Stöð 2 Sport
Website	Official website
2024

The Besta deild karla Men's Select Division) is the top tier of the Icelandic football pyramid. Because of the harsh winters in Iceland, it is generally played in the spring and summer (May to September). It is run by the Football Association of Iceland and is currently comprised by 12 clubs. UEFA currently ranks the league 37th in Europe. From 27 April 2009 the Úrvalsdeild have been known as Pepsi-deildin (e. "The Pepsi League") after KSÍ and Ölgerðin (the producers of Pepsi in Iceland) signed a three year sponsorship contract.

The top division consists of 12 clubs. Each club faces every other club twice during the season, once at home and once away. At the end of each season, the bottom two clubs are automatically relegated to the second level of the Icelandic league system, the 1. deild karla (First Division), with the top two clubs of the 1. deild karla automatically promoted to the Úrvalsdeild.

For the first time in the competition's history, the 2008 season saw 12 teams compete in the premier division, a part of KSI Football Association of Iceland attempt to strengthen Icelandic football. Therefore only one team were relegated in the 2007 season and three clubs were promoted from the 1. deild karla (First Division)

KR hold the most titles, 25. Valur is next with 20, and ÍA and Fram follow with 18 each. The current champions of Iceland are KR.

Current clubs (2024)

Club	Location	Position in 2023	First season in Besta deild	Seasons in Besta deild	First season of current spell in Besta deild	Besta deild titles	First Besta deild title	Last Besta deild title
Breiðablik	Kópavogur]	4th	1971	39	2006	2	2010	2022
FH	Hafnarfjörður	5th	1975	40	2001	8	2004	2016
Fram	Reykjavík (Grafarholt)	10th	1912	101	2022	18	1913	1990
Fylkir	Reykjavík (Árbær)	8th	1989	26	2023	0	-	-
HK	Kópavogur	9th	2007	7	2023	0	-	-
ÍA	Akranes	11 !1st, 1. deild karla	1946	70	2024	18	1951	2001
KA	Akureyri	7th	1929	25	2017	1	1989	1989
KR	Reykjavík (Vesturbær)	6th	1912	110	1979	27	1912	2019
Stjarnan	Garðabær	3rd	1990	22	2009	1	2014	2014
Valur	Reykjavík (Hlíðar/Miðborg)	2nd	1915	104	2005	23	1930	2020
Vestri	Ísafjörður	12 !4th, 1. deild karla, play-off winner	2024	1	2024	0	-	-
Víkingur	Reykjavík (Fossvogur, Háaleiti og Bústaðir)	1st (champions)	1918	73	2014	7	1920	2023

External links

• Official website
• League321.com - Icelandic football league tables, records & statistics database. (English)
• Iceland - List of Champions, RSSSF.com

Football in Iceland

League competitions The FAI Cup competitions Besta deild karla Iceland Icelandic Cup 1. deild karla List of clubs Deildabikar 2. deild karla List of players Icelandic Super Cup 3. deild karla List of stadiums 4. deild karla List of leagues