Kirkenes FC
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| Full name | Kirkenes Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Red Firm | ||
| Ground | Exhibition Place, Kirkenes | ||
| Capacity | 38,600 | ||
| Manager |  Cory Ferguson | ||
| League | Kelssek Championship | ||
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Kirkenes F.C. is a professional football club playing in the Kelssek Football League Championship. Their home stadium Exhibition Place is located on the shores of the Inner Harbour of Kirkenes, Kelssek's largest city. Known colloquially as the Red Firm or by their initials KFC, they have won the Kelssek Championship five times along with one IFCF Champions League title, and were only the second club in Kelssek to have won the world championship. It is also the football club in Kelssek with the most subscribing members. Kirkenes has also set the record for an incoming transfer fee twice in a row, first for Catheline Matthias and prior to the KFL79 season for Banijan forward Yob Yeyeh Aan, who joined from FK Arsika for a fee of ϑ3 million.
Under manager Natalia Rossi, who was appointed ahead of KFL season 66, Kirkenes won its first Patriotes Cup and became the second Kelssek team to win an international tournament by beating Strathcona Internationals in the final of the 12th Vilitan Cove Invitational. Kirkenes also reached the Champions League round of 16, its best result in the IFCF tournaments. Rossi's tenure was fraught with an inability to progress towards challenging for the league title however, and a series of losses late in the KFL 71 season capped by a humiliating Anglian Derby loss to Burnaby led her to be dismissed after almost six years in charge.
Daniel Archer's tenure didn't immediately deliver success, but the signing of Catheline Matthias for a transfer fee that set a new league record eventually paid off with the first league championship in 33 years. The following year they went on to win the 16th IFCF Champions League at the Stadium Konueira, the home ground of their major domestic rivals. This was the first of three consecutive IFCF finals the club reached, although they lost the next two and a decline in league positions led to the decision to replace Archer at the end of his contract. Margerie Pax was appointed manager to replace Archer and the club made the landmark signing of Banijan forward Yob Yeyeh Aan for a league record fee of (USD 7.7 million). They finished second in the league that season, and then won the league title in 201FE helped by Aan setting a league record for most goals scored in a season with 36. Although Kirkenes reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, the following 201-02 season was a downturn overall, as the team finished fifth, and Pax's contract was not renewed the following season, leading to her departure.
The decision to hire Blake McDonagh as manager was greeted with dismay from some fan groups because he had been a prominent player with rivals CF Outineau. With Aan also struggling with injuries and form, there was little improvement from the inconsistent performances, and McDonagh was similarly pushed out after three years in the job. This time Cory Ferguson, a former player who had been assistant manager to Pax when they won the 81st Kelssek Championship, was hired although again there were misgivings about his limited experience as manager - two years at CF Saint-Richard which ended with relegation.
Fan culture
The words of the club's iconic supporter song are: Kirkenes, between the valleys / That is where I want to be / At the Ex, with the Red Firm / They're the greatest team in history. You'd think a Girl Guides campfire song is a strange choice for people heavily into performative masculinity, but there you go.
Rivalries
Kirkenes FC's most important rivalries are the Anglian Derby against Burnaby SC and the War of the Crowns against CF Outineau. These matches against two of Kelssek's other big clubs often carry key implications for league position and championship chances. A major cultural element exists with both rivalries too, the Anglian Derby against Burnaby is a match between two of the biggest cities in Kelssek, with Burnaby's stereotypical free-thinking, mountain-climbing, progressive culture pit as a contrast to business-oriented, straight-laced, suit-wearing Kirkenes. Alternative names for this rivalry include "long black/flat white" in reference to alleged coffee preferences in the respective cities and "freshy-salty" to the type of water body the respective cities are located by. In the War of the Crowns against CF Outineau, animosity is rooted in that historical conflict but also involving linguistic and religious differences, and in which incidents of racism and sectarian abuse are sadly common.
Kirkenes also has an intra-city rivalry with Passerine, which was known as North York prior to its insolvency and merger with Dungeaf during the KFL 66 season. Passerine is seen as representing the working class and northern districts of the city, and historically was associated with the republican movement during the Kelssek Revolution. As a result, and despite the club's efforts to distance itself and ban members of such groups from its stadium, right-wing ultras have gravitated to Kirkenes FC and form a significant part of its fanbase. The smaller clubs in Noua Cymru including Hamiltonian Cambria, St. David Wanderers, Saintsport Heath, and Wynleth Flyers all also fancy taking the big boys down a peg, if they can.
Honours
- Winners (6): 9, 18, 37, 42, 75, 81
- Runners-up: 60, 61, 70, 79
- Winners (1): 16[a]
International
- Winners: 16
- Runners-up: 17
- Runners-up: 8
- Winners (1): 12[a]
Players
Current squad
- As of KFL season 84
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under World Cup Committee eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WCC nationality.
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Notable ex-players
Catheline Matthias - Striker who set league record for most expensive incoming transfer. KFL75 Player of the Year; captained team to Champions League win and three straight IFCF finals.
Quinten van der Ven - KFL 73 Young Player of the Year and Championship winner before leaving for Ridgewell Rovers.
Bastian Wolff - Legend status for his dedication to the club through the lean years before winning the Championship and Champions League at the end of his career.
Victor Nyquist - Club captain for over five seasons with his career culminating in the KFL75 league title, played nine years at the club, nominated for Kelssek Player of the Year once.
Ceferino Audiol - Juvencus wonderkid. Bags goals, wins league title. Does not elaborate, leaves.- Jenas Maraipu - Signed from Association Ariddienne, and for over a decade the number one goalkeeper for club and country.
- Played in major international tournaments while at the club
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Recent seasons
- Key
- nQR–nth qualifying round; nR–nth round; PO–Playoff round; GS–Group stage; R16–Round of 16; R32–Round of 32; QF–Quarterfinals; SF–Semifinals; F–Finalist; W–Winner
- CL Champions League; ChC Challengers Cup; AT Associations Trophy; CWC Cup Winners' Cup
| Season | League | Cup | IFCF/UICA | Other | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Rank | ||||
| 60 | Champ | 38 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 60 | 41 | 62 | 2nd | 3R | ||
| 61 | Champ | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 82 | 65 | 75 | 2nd | 4R | ChC 1PR | |
| 62 | Champ | 38 | 22 | 7 | 9 | 79 | 49 | 73 | 3rd | 3R | ChC 3PR | |
| 63 | Champ | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 54 | 47 | 66 | 6th | 4R | ChC QR | |
| 64 | Champ | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 41 | 29 | 69 | 3rd | 3R | ||
| 65 | Champ | 38 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 63 | 56 | 59 | 7th | 3R | ChC R16 | |
| 66 | Champ | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 41 | 27 | 59 | 10th | 3R | ||
| 67 | Champ | 38 | 22 | 7 | 9 | 86 | 63 | 73 | 4th | W | VCI W | |
| 68 | Champ | 38 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 61 | 44 | 55 | 8th | QF | ChC PO | CWC R16 |
| 69 | Champ | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 65 | 54 | 58 | 9th | SF | ||
| 70 | Champ | 38 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 84 | 42 | 82 | 2nd | 4R | ||
| 71 | Champ | 38 | 23 | 5 | 10 | 81 | 44 | 74 | 5th | QF | CL R16 | |
| 72 | Champ | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 67 | 36 | 74 | 4th | QF | ChC 4QR | |
| 73 | Champ | 38 | 22 | 4 | 12 | 73 | 49 | 70 | 6th | QF | ChC GS | |
| 74 | Champ | 38 | 21 | 5 | 12 | 80 | 44 | 68 | 5th | 4R | ChC 2QR | |
| 75 | Champ | 38 | 24 | 9 | 5 | 81 | 34 | 81 | 1st | QF | ChC 2QR | |
| 76 | Champ | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 83 | 49 | 70 | 4th | 3R | CL W | |
| 77 | Champ | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 70 | 47 | 63 | 5th | SF | CL F | |
| 78 | Champ | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 61 | 38 | 68 | 5th | QF | AT F | |
| 79 | Champ | 38 | 27 | 5 | 6 | 103 | 43 | 86 | 2nd | QF | AT R32 | |
| 80 | Champ | 38 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 97 | 46 | 78 | 4th | 3R | ChC R16 | |
| 81 | Champ | 38 | 24 | 8 | 6 | 95 | 41 | 80 | 1st | QF | AT R32 | |
| 82 | Champ | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 84 | 45 | 74 | 6th | 5R | CL QF | |
| 83 | Champ | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 70 | 38 | 68 | 5th | 4R | AT R32 | |
| 84 | Champ | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 61 | 44 | 63 | 7th | 4R | ChC 3QR | |
| 85 | Champ | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 71 | 49 | 66 | 7th | 4R | ||
| 86 | Champ | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 64 | 47 | 63 | 8th | 4R | ||
| 87 | Champ | 38 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 66 | 40 | 69 | 6th | 5R | ||
Coaching staff
- Manager: Cory Ferguson
- Assistant manager: Alexandra Wilson
- Coaches: Ryan Mac Ceallabhuí, Lara Buchanan
Managerial history
Natalia Rossi (66-71)- Daniel Archer (72-78)
Margerie Pax (79-83)- Blake McDonagh (84-86)