Knattspyrnufélagið Fram (, ) is a professional Icelandic multi-sport club, best known for its football and handball teams. It was founded on 1 May 1908 in ReykjavÃÂk. It was based at Safamýri, in the Háaleiti og Bústaðir district near ReykjavÃÂk city centre until 2006 when Fram started slowly moving operations to ÃÂlfarsárdalur in the newly established Grafarholt district. Fram has been based fully in ÃÂlfarsárdalur since mid 2022.
The men's football team currently plays in the top division, the Besta deild karla after being promoted in the 2021 season. The women's football team also currently plays in the top division, the Besta deild kvenna after being promoted in the 2024 season
The club also has strong handball teams; the men's team won the Icelandic championship and Icelandic cup in 2025. Both teams play in the top division of icelandic handball.
Other sports offered by the club include taekwondo and skiing.
Fram is one of the most successful clubs in Iceland: it has eighteen national championship titles and seven national cup titles, and it is regarded as one of the biggest teams in Iceland. Fram dominated Icelandic football in the 1980s and early 1990s. They were relegated from the top division in 2005, but after one year in the men's second tier, they returned to the top flight in 2007. They were again relegated to the men's second tier in 2014 but returned to the first division in 2022 after winning the second tier in 2021.
Fram entered a women's team into competition in 2010, for the first time since 1993. In 2017 Fram joined forces with Afturelding and the entered a joint team, which got promoted to the second tier and played there in 2018. The partnership ended before the 2019 season and Fram did not enter a women's team in 2019. Fram again entered a women's team in 2020 and finished in seventh place in the third tier. Fram then won the third tier in 2022 and got promoted to the second tier. Fram finished second on goal difference in the 2024 season, their second season in the second tier, and earned promotion to the first division. Fram finished 8th in the first division in 2025 and maintained their place in the division.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Fram men's basketball team won four championships in the second-tier 1. deild karla. Its best season came in 1981âÂÂ1982 when the team won the Icelandic cup and finished second in the top-tier ÃÂrvalsdeild karla. The clubs basketball program was active from 1970 to 1987 and was discontinued after the ô86âÂÂ87 season. It had a brief revitalization in the 2010s, playing three seasons the 2. deild karla from 2010 to 2013 and making it to the playoffs in 2012 and 2013. Fram no longer plays basketball
The football club was established in spring 1908, in ReykjavÃÂk. The club was started by several boys around 13 years old, or almost, living in the area around Tjarnargata, near the centre of ReykjavÃÂk. One group member, Peter J. H. Magnusson, had bought a football and the football was used and provided all summer. The first football club was almost in this very informal company. No board was appointed, no written laws and the club did not even have a name. From this was added to the first formal meeting, on 15 March 1909. With the approach of Spring, the local footballers convened a meeting. Soon it got more serious and the boys started meeting more often and in the end the club Fram or Kári like the first name of the club was, became a real Football club. The first name of the club was Kári, but later on the name was changed to Fram which it has been ever since. The first Icelandic championship was in 1912, which KR ReykjavÃÂk won. Fram came second in that year.
From 1913 to 1919 Fram ReykjavÃÂk was unbeatable. The 1913 season was the second season of ÃÂrvalsdeild. The 1914âÂÂ19 proved to be even more fruitful, the club won six consecutive league titles from 1913 through to 1919, Fram ReykjavÃÂk won 1913 as the only entrant. It was their first ever title. Fram ReykjavÃÂk won again 1914. Three teams took part this season with Valur entering for the first time. Fram ReykjavÃÂk won the championship. Fram ReykjavÃÂk welcomed once again the title after draw against KR in the last match, with the highest number of points. KR protested a lot against that, and the result was that Fram ReykjavÃÂk and KR had to play a final match which Fram eventually won 3âÂÂ1. In those years Fram ReykjavÃÂk was simply unbeatable and it wasn't until 1919 that they lost again. but 1921, 1922, 1923 and, 1925 the club won again. But it was a long wait for the next title. the main striker Friðþjófur Thorsteinsson also moved to Canada and never came back, after the best striker left there was no one to come instead.
From 1936 to 1939 Hermann Lindemann had been very successful, but it wasn't good enough for the fans as no title had yet come. So in 1939 the German superstar went home to carry on with his own career in Germany which he protested against because of World War II. During that time Fram Reykjavik had a fantastic team especially from 1946 to 1948, with RÃÂkharður Jónsson in the team. Shortly afterwards the world war stopped play, but in 1939 four teams contested and Fram ReykjavÃÂk won the League. Despite having one âÂÂ1 goal in score they were still number one on the table.
In 1942, after beating VÃÂkingur R at Melavöllur 2âÂÂ1 in a match played in unusually cold summer weather, Fram ReykjavÃÂk came second to Valur by losing in extra time. RÃÂkharður Jónsson was then studying in ReykjavÃÂk and during that time Iceland's most talented soccer player ever played for Fram. The team lineup for this year was the best in Fram Reykjavik's history. the 1950s were nothing compared with 1939âÂÂ1948.
The Fram ReykjavÃÂk Handball team became one of Europe's biggest handball clubs, as did the national team. Meanwhile, the football club had done much better and Fram ReykjavÃÂk remained a top three club in Iceland, albeit achieving titles less frequently than before. 1962 was different, then Fram ReykjavÃÂk managed to win the league and 62âÂÂ64 the club fought about every single title existing, but it seem like something bad has happened from 1965 to 1967 because it wasn't until then that Fram ReykjavÃÂk were number two in the league and showed they were back among the best, and the 1970s and 1980s were to be more successful. Still the team was said to have played very entertaining football. In the years that followed, the club worked more closely with the Youth club. The 1970s and 1980s were maybe Fram ReykjavÃÂk's golden age.
In 1970 Fram ReykjavÃÂk was no doubt back on top: their player Kristinn Jörundsson scored 10 goals. Fram finished second, four points behind ÃÂA, and thus qualified for the UEFA Cup.
In 1972 Fram ReykjavÃÂk won their first title since 1962. In 1970, 1973 and 1979 Fram ReykjavÃÂk won the Visa Cup â on the two last occasions by scoring in the final seconds. In 1975 the club was very unlucky not to win the league again. At that time several of their players were in the national football team. That summer Real Madrid, with players like Günter Netzer, visited ReykjavÃÂk and easily beat a Fram side. Guðmundur Torfason, a young Fram player, later had a successful career playing for St Mirren F.C. in Scotland.
In 1973 the Fram ReykjavÃÂk basketball team won the first Second Division championship, in the year it was founded by the Icelandic Basketball Federation ().
In the 1974âÂÂ75 season, Fram ReykjavÃÂk achieved the first in their series of wins in the First Division which ended in the 1985âÂÂ86 season when they won their fourth title.
1983: The club hired a new coach from Poland, Andrzej Strejlau. Fram ReykjavÃÂk was relegated to the men's first division, but next year, they were promoted straight back to the Premier Division. Andrzej was the coach until 1985, when he went to Greece to coach first the Greece Footballs Clubs Associations (Five Division) club Larissa but later on also the national team of Poland. Many still today consider his work with the club a big part in making the team of 1986âÂÂ1991 so successful. That same year Fram ReykjavÃÂk brought in a new coach, ÃÂsgeir ElÃÂasson, who was about to make history. The following years turned out to be the most successful times of the club since the glorious 1913âÂÂ19 seasons.
In 1986 Fram ReykjavÃÂk beat Irish Football League Glentoran in the first round of the Cup Winners' Cup and advanced to the second round, in which they played the Austrian Football Bundesliga team Rapid Vienna. After losing 3âÂÂ0 in Vienna, Fram ReykjavÃÂk made Icelandic footballing history by winning the home match 2âÂÂ1, thus becoming the first Icelandic football club in history to win a match in a later stage than the first round. In 1985 Fram ReykjavÃÂk won the Icelandic Cup and then in 1986 they won their first Icelandic championship since 1972. The next year the club was second in the league, but won the Visa Cup again. In 1988 the team won the league in a dominating fashion, drawing only once and losing one game and scoring a record 49 points. The record was never to be broken in a league of ten clubs, although it was equalled on two occasions. As the number of clubs in Iceland's top flight has now been increased to 12, this record will never be beaten. The titles kept coming in and in 1989 Fram ReykjavÃÂk won the Visa Cup. The football summer of 1990 was noted for the two horse race between KR and Fram ReykjavÃÂk which Fram eventually won dramatically, beating Valur 3âÂÂ2 in the crucial last game of the season, after trailing 0âÂÂ2 at half-time. The year 1990 was also a successful year in the Cup Winners' Cup for Fram ReykjavÃÂk. The club beat the Swedish club DjurgÃÂ¥rdens IF Fotboll, with a 3âÂÂ0 home victory in Reykjavik and a 1âÂÂ1 draw in Sweden. The club played Spanish giants FC Barcelona in the second round. Fram ReykjavÃÂk lost the home game 1âÂÂ2 with the winning goal coming in the final minutes. Barcelona's winning goal was somewhat controversial, as Fram ReykjavÃÂk had had strong appeals for a penalty just seconds before the goal. But as the referee waved play on, Barcelona kicked the ball forward and scored the winning goal, although the Icelandic defenders appealed for offside. Barcelona then went on to win 3âÂÂ0 at Nou Camp and subsequently reached the final, which they lost to Manchester United. Although Fram ReykjavÃÂk lost the tie 5âÂÂ1 on aggregate, the results are widely regarded as an Icelandic football club's best ever success in European competition.
Bad years for Fram ReykjavÃÂk 1993 ÃÂsgeir Sigurvinsson was hired as coach to build the club again but that failed badly and the club just got worse. 1998âÂÂ2004 Fram ReykjavÃÂk were always among the lowest in ÃÂrvalsdeild and saved themselves on the last second from relegation, the club was relegated twice, in 1995 and 2005. Many coaches tried their best to put Fram ReykjavÃÂk back among the best ÃÂlafur ÃÂórðarson (footballer) Pétur Ormslev Guðmundur Torfason, but it wasn't until 2005, when good old ÃÂsgeir ElÃÂasson was hired that the wheels started turning again. He won division one very easily and brought the club back among the best before he quit. Only one year later he died, and ÃÂorvaldur ÃÂrlygsson was hired as the new coach with new ideas .
Fram ReykjavÃÂk won the second-tier championship of 1. deild karla in 2006 and finished 7th in the Landsbankadeild (the then name for the premier division) in 2007. They bought the Swedish striker Patrik Redo, whom they later had to sell to KeflavÃÂk Football Club. In 2008 Fram played their best season in many years when they finished 3rd in the Landsbankadeild. In 2009 the club was number 4, and played in the Icelandic Cup Final but lost to Breiðablik UBK in a penalty shootout. Now it seems as if Fram ReykjavÃÂk is back among the best again. Fram's woes continued in the spring of 2006. In 2008 things changed a lot though a new manager came that had been playing for Fram ReykjavÃÂk in the famous 86âÂÂ91 team ÃÂorvaldur ÃÂrlygsson. He started by buying Auðun Helgason, a former Icelandic international football player Assistant manager. For the third time in three years, a new coach would take the helm and most of the time it seemed as if nobody could lead Fram ReykjavÃÂk out of the dark. This time, however, it was a complete success. Fram ReykjavÃÂk won four straight games, gobbling up KR's lead as team number 3 in the table (a qualifying position for the UEFA Cup), and finally overtaking them. Fram ReykjavÃÂk against FH Hafnarfjörður where they won away which was for the first time in many years, the team that was supposed to be unbeatable they managed to win. The following weekend, Fram ReykjavÃÂk beat KeflavÃÂk, securing the club's third position in the league for the first time since 1992. Fram ReykjavÃÂk was back in European competition: the team that almost drew at Nou Camp 18 years ago was back, and there was more good news to come, ÃÂorvaldur ÃÂrlygsson accepted a new offer to be the manager. The summer of 2009 came out to be not as good as expected in ÃÂrvalsdeild Fram ReykjavÃÂk finished 4th, which was an obvious disappointment. And in Visa-Bikar 2009 Fram ReykjavÃÂk made it to the finals but lost in penalty kickout against Breiðablik UBK where Paul McShane missed the last penally for Fram ReykjavÃÂk, in UEFA Cup 2009 Fram won The New Saints F.C. easily in the first round but in the second round Fram ReykjavÃÂk traveled to Czech Republic to play Sigma Olomouc the first match went 1âÂÂ1 where Sigma scored a goal almost in the last second of the match. The second match Sigma Olomouc won but Fram ReykjavÃÂk was told to have played maybe their best matches of the summer there and they showed that on a good day they could play like the big teams in Europe. Before the 2009 season ÃÂorvaldur ÃÂrlygsson brought several new players to Fram ReykjavÃÂk, one of them being Jón Gunnar Eysteinsson who ÃÂorvaldur ÃÂrlygsson knew well from Fjarðabyggð, he was supposed to come instead of Auðun Helgason that went to GrindavÃÂk and Some other players like the English brothers which both started their career playing for Chelsea F.C., Joe Tillen and Sam Tillen the team of 2010 was one of the youngest teams ever in Icelandic football, the oldest player was 25 years old. Still it was a summer of disappointment finishing 5th.
After three good mid-table years came a difficult time. In 2011 the team never really got going, but played much better in the later part of the summer after the arrival of the Scottish players Alan Lowing and Steven Lennon and managed to avoid relegation. In 2012 a lot was expected of Fram and the pre-season looked good; some commentators were forecasting Fram to win the league, but the team had difficulties scoring goals. Not much changed in the summer of 2013: in the middle of the summer ÃÂorvaldur ÃÂrlygsson quit and RÃÂkharður Daðason was hired. RÃÂkharður started very well and in the end he won the VISA Cup, the first big title Fram had won in football for 23 years. After that cup final, however, things went downhill and the team lost most of the remaining games of the season.
RÃÂkharður Daðason did not stay long, and after arguments with the Board about money to buy players he decided to quit. He was replaced by Bjarni Guðjónsson. With him came big changes: all the foreign players were sold, along with some of the bigger names in the squad such as Sam Hewson and Hólmbert Friðjónsson. Instead he bought young Icelandic players from other Icelandic teams, and his own brother Jóhannes Karl Guðjónsson.
Fram Reykjavik has a long tradition of playing in both UEFA Cup and European Champions League. Still today Fram remains the only Icelandic team ever to play against both Real Madrid C.F. and Barça in European competitions. The first one was in the year of 1971 against Hibernians F.C. from Malta. Both matches were exceptionally played at Malta and Fram lost the first match 3âÂÂ0 but won the second leg 2âÂÂ0. In 1973 FC Basel came to Iceland and won very easily in both matches against Fram Reykjavik. In 1974 Fram traveled to Madrid in European Cup to play against Real Madrid C.F. at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Madrid won 6âÂÂ0 but at Laugardalsvöllur it looked almost the whole match as it would end up in draw until on 74th minute when Real scored a goal and again in the last seconds of the match. In 1976 Fram Reykjavik lost against Slovan Bratislava. In 1985 Northern Ireland was Fram next stop when Fram Reykjavik won an easy victory against Glentoran F.C. in round two same the Austrian Bundesliga giants Rapid Vienna which Fram lost overall with only one goal which has to be one of the best performance of Icelandic team ever. In 1986 Fram traveled to Poland to play against Katowice in a very even duel Fram eventually lost. Sparta Prague came to ReykjavÃÂk 1987 to play against Fram Reykjavik at Laugardalsvöllur stadium. They were simply too big for the Icelandic team and won 8âÂÂ0 over all. In 1988 Barça came and unexpectedly the match in Iceland was very even and it wasn't until the end of the match that FC Barcelona secured the win. In 1990 Fram Reykjavik won the Allsvenskan champions DjurgÃÂ¥rdens IF Fotboll badly in both away and home matches over all 4âÂÂ1. In the next round FC Barcelona came to Iceland again and this time Fram Reykjavik scored the first goal and it wasn't until the last 10 minutes of the game that Barcelona scored twice, eventually winning.
Fram ReykjavÃÂk has significant rivalries which date back to 1920s, mainly with two clubs, intercity club KR ReykjavÃÂk and Valur. Their most high-profile rivalry is with Valur, another big ÃÂrvalsdeild club also located in ReykjavÃÂk city center. . Notably the three sides (Valur, Fram and KR) are the most supported clubs in ReykjavÃÂk. There are also rivalries with Breiðablik UBK, FH Hafnarfjörður and Knattspyrnufélagið VÃÂkingur.
Fram ReykjavÃÂk played their home games at Laugardalsvöllur, Iceland's national football stadium, until 2017 when they moved to Framvöllur in Safamýri, where the Handball teams played. Fram then moved to their future home in ÃÂlfarsárdalur in mid 2022. There the football teams play at Lambhagavöllurinn while the Handball teams play in the adjacent Lambhagahöllin.
Often called "Geiramenn" and Framherjar, Before the foundation of Fram ReykjavÃÂk the dominant club in the ReykjavÃÂk area was KR, which was considered a middle class club, and in later years an upper class club,
Demand for Fram ReykjavÃÂk tickets in occasional home games held away from ReykjavÃÂk is high; suggesting that Fram ReykjavÃÂk have strong supports in other parts of the country.
The Fram ReykjavÃÂk youth set-up has been recognized as one of the best in Iceland for producing young talents. While not all graduates made it to the first team, many have enjoyed successful careers in the Icelandic top flight. Under long-time coach ÃÂsgeir ElÃÂasson, the Fram youth squad enjoyed one of its successful periods, winning all age-group competitions, especially in the 70s, 80s and 90s. The youth system is also notable for its contribution to the Iceland national senior and youth teams, providing such players as RÃÂkharður Daðason, Pétur Marteinsson and Marteinn Geirsson, Eggert Jónsson, Guðmundur Torfason, Birkir Kristinsson, Hólmbert Friðjónsson, Pétur Ormslev, Valur Fannar GÃÂslason, which they had to sell to Arsenal F.C., Guðmundur Steinarsson, Jón Guðni Fjóluson, Hörður Björgvin Magnússon and Viktor Bjarki Daðason
Fram ReykjavÃÂk has for almost 100 years played in Blue and White., Although the team originally played in white. For much of Frams's history, their home colours have been blue shirts, with white shorts and blue socks, though white socks are sometimes worn . For the first two years of the club's existence Fram ReykjavÃÂk continued to wear shirt, which included white shirt, white shorts and blue socks; this was changed to the more familiar Blue kit in The new colours were adopted because many clubs in the same division as Ithrottafelag Reykjavikur played also in white.
Fram play now in Erreàshirts, but the most famous one is the Adidas shirt they played in the 1980s which had slightly brighter version of blue color, but in 2000âÂÂ2004 the played in Fila (company). since 2004 they have played in ErreÃÂ
From 1908 to now Fram ReykjavÃÂk has kept its good old crest which contains football from the early 1900s and old spells over it.
From 1908 The current design is blue and white with brownish football under the name, the football on the crest is very similar to the footballs that were used in Europe before the 1900s, echoing the club's home color of Blue in the background of it. The three stars were added above the convex and concave sections of Fram emblem to denote the eighteen championship titles they have won.
Following players have represented Fram and either made at least 100 league appearances for the club, or made at least 10 appearances for their national team.
Updated 29 July 2011