3. deild karla (e. Men's Third division) is a football league in Iceland.[1] It is the fourth level in the Icelandic football league system. The league was reformed into a 10-team double round-robin tournament for the 2013 season, with the introduction of the newly established 5th level of the Icelandic football league system, 4. deild karla.[2]

3. deild karla
Founded1997; 27 years ago (1997)
1982 (as 4. deild karla)
Country Iceland
ConfederationUEFA
Number of clubs12
Level on pyramid4
Promotion to2. deild karla
Relegation to4. deild karla
Domestic cup(s)Bikarkeppni karla
League Cup
Current championsDalvík/Reynir (1 title)
Current: 2024

Previous formats

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Ever since 1982, the first season of 3. deild karla (then named 4. deild karla), and throughout the 2012 season, it was the lowest division in the league system, and as a consequence did not have a fixed number of teams. All who wished to enter and could fill certain requirements were allowed to compete, and between each season some teams quit and some new teams came in, sometimes after having previously quit. There were various formats used during the 31 seasons when Division 3 was the lowest league, the latest version using group stages and then eight-team playoffs to decide two promoted teams.[3]

Current format

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Since 2013, 3. deild karla has been a nationwide league.[2] From 2013 to 2018 ten teams played in the league. But the number of teams was then increased to 12, and 2019 was the first season with 12 teams.[4] Each team plays each other once home and once away, giving a total of 22 games per team. The two highest-placed teams are promoted to 2. deild karla, while the two lowest teams are relegated to 4. deild karla.[1]

2013 season

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In 2013 the league consisted of the two teams relegated from 2. deild karla the year before, the six teams that reached the playoffs in the previous 3. deild but did not gain promotion to 2. deild, and two teams who were decided in a playoff between the four clubs in 3rd place in their groups.

2024 Clubs

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Team Location Stadium 2022 season
Árbær Reykjavík (Árbær) Fylkisvöllur 3rd
Augnablik Kópavogur Kópavogsvöllur 4th
Hvíti riddarinn Mosfellsbær Varmárvöllur 6th
ÍH Hafnarfjörður Skessan 7th
KF Fjallabyggð Ólafsfjarðarvöllur 2. deild, 11th
KFK TBA TBA 9th
KV Reykjavík (Vesturbær) KV Park 8th
Magni Grenivík Grenivíkurvöllur 5th
Reynir Sandgerði Sandgerði Brons-völlurinn 2. deild, 12nd
Sindri Höfn Sindravellir 10th
Tindastóll Sauðárkrókur Sauðárkróksvöllur 4. deild, 1st
Ýmir Kópavogur Kórinn 4. deild, 2nd

Past winners

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Promoted teams shown in green

Year Winners Runners-up 3rd Place 4th Place
1997 KS Tindastóll Afturelding Ernir Í.
1998 Sindri Léttir Hvöt Leiknir F.
1999 Afturelding KÍB Njarðvík Huginn/Höttur
2000 Haukar Nökkvi Þróttur N. Fjölnir
2001 HK Völsungur Njarðvík1 KFS
2002 KFS Fjölnir Fjarðabyggð Leiknir F.
2003 Vikingur Ó. Leiknir R. Númi Höttur
2004 Huginn Fjarðabyggð Skallagrímur Reynir S.
2005 Reynir S. Sindri Grótta Leiknir F.
2006 Höttur Magni ÍH2 Kári
20073 Grótta Hamar Hvöt Víðir
2008 Hamrarnir/Vinir4 BÍ/Bolungarvík KV Skallagrímur
2009 Völsungur KV Hvíti riddarinn Ýmir
2010 Tindastóll Dalvík/Reynir Árborg5 KB
2011 KV KFR KB Magni
20126 Sindri Ægir Leiknir F. Magni
2013 Fjarðabyggð Huginn KFR Víðir
2014 Höttur Leiknir F. Berserkir Víðir
2015 Magni Völsungur Reynir S. Einherji
2016 Tindastóll Víðir Einherji Kári
2017 Kári Þróttur V. KFG Vængir Júpiters
2018 Dalvík/Reynir KFG KF Vængir Júpiters
2019 Kórdrengir KF KV Vængir Júpiters
2020 KV Reynir S. KFG Augnablik
2021 Höttur/Huginn Ægir KFG Sindri
2022 Sindri Dalvík/Reynir KFG Víðir
2023 Reynir Sandgerði Kormákur/Hvöt Árbær Víðir
2024 Kári Víðir Árbær Augnablik

1 - Njarðvík promoted due to the merger of the 1. deild clubs Leiftur and Dalvík.
2 - ÍH promoted due to expansion of 1. deild karla to 12 teams.
3 - Tindastóll also promoted due to expansion of Úrvalsdeild karla and 2. deild karla to 12 teams.
4 - Upon promotion Hamrarnir/Vinir merged with the relegated ÍH to form ÍH/HV
5 - Árborg promoted as Tindastóll merged with 2. deild karla side Hvöt, creating a new team called Tindastóll/Hvöt, playing in the 2. deild karla.
6 - Teams that finished in 3rd-10th place (Leiknir F, Magni, Huginn, Kári, ÍH, Víðir, Augnablik and Grundarfjörður) were the only teams remaining for the 2013 season, a ten-team league consisting of those 8 teams plus Fjarðabyggð and KFR who came down from 2. deild karla. The remaining teams joined a new lowest division that launched in 2013.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Regluggerd Ksi" (PDF). Ksi.is. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  2. ^ a b Hafliði Breiðfjörð (11 February 2012). "Búið að samþykkja fjölgun deilda á Íslandsmótinu". Fótbolti.net (in Icelandic). Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  3. ^ Sigurðsson, Víðir (2012). Íslensk knattspyrna 2012 [Icelandic football 2012] (in Icelandic) (1st ed.).
  4. ^ Elvar Geir Magnússon (10 February 2018). "Fjölgað í 3. deild á næsta ári - Þrjú lið fara upp úr 4. deild". Fótbolti.net (in Icelandic). Retrieved 8 May 2021.
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