Uni Arge


Uni Jógvansson Arge is a Faroese journalist, writer, musician, singer, and a former international football striker. He is also a former handball player. He played 105 matches for the handball club Kyndil from Tórshavn and scored 693 goals for the club.

Club career

Arge started his career with HB Tórshavn and made the first team in 1988. In June that year he came on as a substitute against IF from Fuglafjørður and scored two minutes later. HB Tórshavn went on to win both the Championship and the Cup in 1988. Arge is the most scoring player ever in HB Tórshavn's history. He scored 182 goals in 231 matches and won the Championship three times and the Cup four times. HB were runners up in the League with Arge in the team four times and attended two more Cup finals, which they eventually lost. In 1998, he moved to Iceland to join Leiftur in Ólafsfjørður and later IA in Akranes. In Iceland he played 50 matches and scored 22 goals. With IA he won the Cup in 2000 becoming the first ever Faroese footballer to win the Cup abroad. Together with the famous Faroese goalkeeper, Jens Martin Knudsen, he also was a finalist in 1998 with Leiftur, which were defeated 2-0 by IBV. Returning from Iceland in 2001 he joined HB Tórshavn and retired in 2002. He made a memorable comeback in 2005 when he came on as a substitute against TB from Tvøroyri and scored a beautiful goal after only 40 seconds. Arge has played several matches in the European Cup for HB, Leiftur and Akranes and scored against Apoel Nicosia in a 1-1 draw with HB in 1997.

International career

Arge made his debut for the Faroe Islands national football team in an August 1992 friendly match against Israel and earned 37 caps and 8 goals between 1992 and 2002.
He is most memorable for scoring his country's first ever World Cup goal against Cyprus in April 1993. His goal against Spain in the Faroe Islands in 1996 is also famous for his celebration after defeating the world's best goalkeeper at that time, Zubizarreta. One of his best performances was in the 2-2 draw against Bosnia Herzegovina on homeground in 1999, where he scored both the Faroese goals. He also had a massive influence on the remarkable comeback against Slovenia in the Faroes in 2000, where the Faroese team came from being behind 0-2 to clinch a 2-2 draw three minutes from time with goals from Arge and Øssur Hansen. Arge formed the perhaps best Faroese attacking duo ever together with former FC Copenhagen star striker Todi Jónsson.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
125 April 1993Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus3–13–11994 WC Qualifying
24 September 1996Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands2–62–61998 WC Qualifying
38 June 1997Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands1–02–11998 WC Qualifying
49 June 1999Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands1–12–22000 Euro qualifying
59 June 1999Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands2–12–22000 Euro qualifying
626 April 2000Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein1–01–0Friendly
73 September 2000Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands1–22–22002 WC Qualifying
813 February 2002Pafiako Stadium, Paphos, Cyprus1–01–0Friendly

Discography

In November 2007, Arge released his first solo album, "Mitt í sjónum", which has two meanings, it can mean "in the middle of the ocean" and "in the middle of visions". In July 2009 he released his second album, "Meldurtíð," and in November 2014 his third album, "Meðan vindurin strýkur," var released. He has written all the songs himself and performs as a singer and a guitarist on all three albums. Many of his songs have become popular on the islands.
On Myspace he states that he is sitting on those tiny islands thinking and writing about "love, insecurity, determination, rainy days, crossroads in life, narrow minded islanders and everything else that comes to mind." He is influenced by The Beatles, John Lennon, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, ELO, Simon & Garfunkel and Faroese artists Frændur, Kári P. and Teitur. As a former footballer, journalist and songwriter he seems to be pretty sure of his mission in life: "I think I was born to express myself in every way possible, so that's what I have decided to do," he writes on Myspace. These are his albums:
His father is author, journalist, politician and football announcer Jógvan Arge, who is one of the most famous radio reporters of the Faroe Islands and one of the best selling authors too. He was a member of Tórshavn City Council from 2000 to 2016. His grandfather, Niels Juel Arge, was the director of the Faroese Broadcasting from 1960 til 1990. Their work at the Faroese Broadcasting is recognized as a huge contribution to Faroese culturel heritage. They have written 35 books on various historical matters relating to the Faroe Islands. His uncle, Magni Arge, was managing director of the Faroese airline, Atlantic Airways from 1995 to 2013. He was in 2015 elected to the Faroese Parliament, Løgtingið, og came second to the leader of the Faroese Republican Party, Høgni Hoydal, to be elected to the Danish Parliament, Folketinget, where he has been serving most of the time since, because Hoydal is serving as the Minister of Fisheries in the Faroe Islands.