The Ármann men's basketball team, commonly known as Ármann, is the men's basketball department of Ármann multi-sport club and is based in Reykjavík, Iceland. It won its lone national championship in 1976.
History Ármann was one of the founding teams of the first Icelandic basketball league in 1952. In 1968, its star player, Birgir Örn Birgis, won the inaugural Player of the Year award. In 1976, Ármann won its first national championship after beating KR 84-74 in the championship clinching game.
On 1 December 1979, Danny Shouse scored 100 points for Ármann in a 1 .deild karla game against Skallagrímur, setting the Icelandic single game scoring record. In January 1980 he scored 76 points in an overtime loss against Grindavík and in February he broke the 70 point barrier again, scoring 72 points against Þór Akureyri. In 10 games, he scored 648 points for an average of 64.8 points per game. His scoring prowess helped Ármann win Division I and achieve promotion to the Úrvalsdeild. Even though Shouse played in the nations tier 2 league during his first season, he was widely regarded as one of the best players in the country and finished third in the vote for Foreign Player of the Year.
The team played in the top-tier Úrvalsdeild during the 1980-1981 season. The team fired head coach Bob Starr four games into the season and replaced him with player-coach James Breeler. The team battled financial difficulties all seasons and Breeler, who led the team with 33.3 points per game, left the team in December due to unpaid salary. The team finished the season on a 11 game losing streak and were relegated back to 1. deild.
On 6 April 2022, Ármann won the 2. deild karla, after winning all 21 league and playoff games, and was promoted to the 1. deild karla.
On 12 May 2025, Ármann gained promotion to the top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla for the first time in 44 years.
Record Úrvalsdeild Ármann played in the top division during the 1952, 1956 and 1960 to 1974 seasons. SeasonTierLeagueIcelandic Cup1973–741 Úrvalsdeild karla 2nd 11–3 Runner-up 1974–751 Úrvalsdeild karla 3rd 9–5 N/AChampion1975–761 Úrvalsdeild karla 1st 13–1 ChampionsChampion1976–771 Úrvalsdeild karla 4th 9–5 N/A 1977–781 Úrvalsdeild karla 8th 0–14 Relegated Lower leagues1980–811 Úrvalsdeild karla 6th 1–19 Relegated Lower leagues2025–261 Úrvalsdeild karla 10th 7–15DNQ2nd round
European record Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate 1975–76 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup 1Q Honka Playboys 65–88 81–107 146–195
Trophies and achievements Titles Úrvalsdeild karla: Winners (1): 1976Mistaratitlar karla 1. deild karla: Winners (1): 1980- 1. deild karla 2. deild karla: Winners (4): 2000, 2006, 2015, 2022- 2. deild karla Icelandic Men's Basketball Cup: Winners (3): 1965, 1975, 1976- Bikarkeppni - Meistaraflokkur karla
Individual awards
Icelandic Basketball Player of the Year Jón Sigurðsson - 1976 Úrvalsdeild karla Domestic player of the year Birgir Örn Birgis - 1968Viðurkenningar - Besti leikmaður úrvalsdeildar karla Jón Sigurðsson - 1970, 1976 1. deild karla Domestic All-First team Steinar Kaldal - 2008
Notable players
Notable coaches Birgir Örn Birgis 1976–1977 Michael Wood 1977–1978 Bob Starr 1979–1980 James Breeler 1980 Birgir Mikaelsson 2003–2004 Pétur Ingvarsson Tómas Hermannsson Karl Guðlaugsson Ólafur Þór Jónsson 2021–2023 Steinar Kaldal 2023–present
References