The Álftanes men's basketball team, commonly known as Álftanes, is a basketball club in Álftanes, Iceland, founded in 2007. It is the basketball department of Ungmennafélag Álftaness, and the team competes in the Úrvalsdeild karla, the top flight of Iceland.
Recent history 2017–2018 On April 8, 2018, Álftanes star player, Kjartan Atli Kjartansson, hit a go-ahead three-pointer in the waning seconds of its game against Stál-úlfur in the 3. deild karla semi-finals, helping them to victory and promotion to 2. deild karla. In the finals, Álftanes beat Vestri-b for the 3. deild championship.
2018–2019 On July 20, 2018, the club hired Hrafn Kristjánsson, who guided KR to the national championship in 2011, as its head coach. On 17 September 2018, it was reported that former 1. deild karla scoring champion and two-time Icelandic Cup winner, Marvin Valdimarsson, had signed with the team. They started the 2. deild season with a bang, thrashing former 1. deild karla club Körfuknattleiksfélag ÍA with 64 points, 136–72. On 16 April 2019, Álftanes defeated ÍA in the 2. deild karla finals, 123–100, and achieved promotion to the 1. deild karla.
2019–2020 On 12 June 2019, Álftanes signed Úrvalsdeild karla all-time leader in assists, Justin Shouse. On 22 July 2019, the team signed former 1. deild karla scoring champion Samuel Prescott Jr. On 16 August 2019, the team signed former Úrvalsdeild players Birgir Björn Pétursson and Þorsteinn Finnbogason. Two days later, the team signed 6-time national champion Vilhjálmur Kári Jensson from KR.
2020–2021 On 2 October 2021, forward Þorsteinn Finnbogason scored 10 three pointers for Álftanes in a victory against Vestri. The team finished fifth in the league with a 9–7 record and bowed out in the first round of the promotion playoffs against Skallagrímur.
2021–2022 On 4 January 2022, the team signed Sinisa Bilic who had started the season with Breiðablik and played in the Úrvalsdeild since 2019. Following Álftanes' loss against Höttur in the 1. deild promotion playoffs in April 2022, head coach Hrafn Kristjánsson announced his retirement from coaching. 2022–2023 In May 2022, Kjartan Atli Kjartansson was hired as the head coach of the men's team. On 13 March 2023, Álftanes secured victory in the 1. deild karla and achieved promotion to the top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla for the first time in its history. After the season, Dúi Þór Jónsson was named the 1. deild karla Domestic Player of the Year while he and Eysteinn Bjarni Ævarsson where named to the Domestic All-First team and Kjartan Atli was named as the Coach of the Year.
2023–2024 On 17 May 2023, Álftanes signed Icelandic national team member Hörður Axel Vilhjálmsson. On 23 May, it was confirmed that Kjartan Atli would continue to coach the team during its first season in the Úrvalsdeild. The following day, Álftanes signed Icelandic national team player Haukur Helgi Pálsson who had spent the previous two seasons with Njarðvík. In August the team hired Helgi Jónas Guðfinnsson, who in 2012 guided Grindavík to the national championship, as an assistant coach.
Trophies and achievements 1. deild karla Winners: 2023 2. deild karla Winners: 2019 Runner-up: 2014 3. deild karla Winners: 2018
Awards
1. deild karla Domestic Player of the Year Dúi Þór Jónsson– 2023 Eysteinn Bjarni Ævarsson – 2022 1. deild karla Domestic All-First Team Dúi Þór Jónsson– 2023 Eysteinn Bjarni Ævarsson – 2022, 2023 Ólafur Ingi Styrmisson – 2022 Róbert Sigurðsson – 2021 1. deild karla Coach of the Year Kjartan Atli Kjartansson– 2023
Coaches Hrafn Kristjánsson 2018–2022 Kjartan Atli Kjartansson 2022–2025 Hjalti Vilhjálmsson 2025–2026 Baldur Þór Ragnarsson 2026–present
Notable players
Recent seasons SeasonTierLeagueIcelandic Cup2009–103 2. deild karla Group B 1st 13–2 3rd place 1st Round2010–113 2. deild karla Group B 6th 6–10 DNQ 1st Round2011–123 2. deild karla Group B 6th 7–9 DNQ 2nd Round2012–13Did not participate2013–143 2. deild karla Group A 4th 6–6 Runner-up 1st Round2014–153 2. deild karla Group A 6th 5–9 DNQ 1st Round2015–16Did not participate2016–174 3. deild karla 4th 6–8 DNQ 1st Round2017–184 3. deild karla 4th 8–4 Champions 1st Round2018–193 2. deild karla 1st 16–2 Champions 1st Round2019–202 1. deild karla 5th 12–11 N/A1 2nd Round2020–212 1. deild karla 5th 9–7 1st Round 2nd Round2021–222 1. deild karla 4th 16–11 3rd place 1st Round2022–232 1. deild karla 1st 22–5 N/A2 1st Round2023–241 Úrvalsdeild karla 6th 13–9 1st round 2024–251 Úrvalsdeild karla 6th 11–11 Semi-finals Notes1 The team had secured a spot in the playoffs when the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in Iceland. 2 Promoted to Úrvalsdeild karla. Source
References
External links Official Website Álftanes on Icelandic Basketball Association