Faroese in spotlight as new season kicks off

Not since bobble-hatted goalkeeper Jens-martin Knudsen inspired a famous victory in his country’s first competitive international in 1990 has Faroese football revelled in such a spotlight.

While other European leagues wrestle with the implications of coronavirus, the tiny Atlantic archipelago – which is currently reporting no known cases – kicked off its new Betri League season on Saturday.

And the clamour to show live action has led the Norwegian broadcaster TV2 and Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet to sign deals to show the first 12 rounds of the Faroese season live.

TV2’S sports editor Vegard Jansen Hagen told Norwegian media: “A little less talk and a little more action – that’s the job I hope that the Faroe Islands will do for us.”

In the big game on the opening day visitors B36 beat defending champions

KI 2-0 in Klaksvik, thanks to two goals in the last ten minutes by Sebastian Pingel and Meinhard Olsen.

The match took place behind closed doors, with the first two rounds of the season scheduled to be without supporters before that decision will be reviewed.

Faroese football fan Karper Neesgaard, who runs the @Faeroskfodbold Twitter feed, said there had been “huge hype” about the start of the season. He admitted: “It has been far more than we usually get.”

The Faroe Islands has been hailed for its response to the coronavirus. It tested 10percentofitspopulation – one of the highest testing rates in the world – and has recorded a total of 184 cases and no deaths.

The Faroe Islands became members of Uefa in 1990 and Knudsen, pictured above – who wore the unique headgear to protect against a childhood injury – starred in a famous 1-0 win over Austria in a Euro 92 qualifying match.