Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson
Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson (born 1 April 1982), commonly anglicised as Gunnar Heidar Thorvaldsson, is an Icelandic football manager and former professional footballer who played as a striker.
| Gunnar (blue) with Iceland in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson | ||
| Date of birth | 1 April 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2004 | ÍBV | 72 | (37) |
| 2004–2006 | Halmstads BK | 38 | (16) |
| 2006–2007 | Hannover 96 | 7 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | → Vålerenga (loan) | 16 | (4) |
| 2008–2011 | Esbjerg fB | 24 | (2) |
| 2010 | → Reading (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | → Fredrikstad FK (loan) | 7 | (3) |
| 2011 | ÍBV | 0 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | IFK Norrköping | 70 | (34) |
| 2013–2014 | Konyaspor | 12 | (1) |
| 2014–2015 | BK Häcken | 23 | (3) |
| 2015–2018 | ÍBV | 55 | (24) |
| Total | 328 | (124) | |
| International career | |||
| 1998 | Iceland U-17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2000 | Iceland U-19 | 5 | (1) |
| 2002–2003 | Iceland U-21 | 7 | (0) |
| 2005–2013 | Iceland | 24 | (5) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021 | KFS | ||
| 2022 | Vestri | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
Born in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, Gunnar started his career at ÍBV. After establishing himself as the best striker in the Icelandic Premier League, he was transferred to Halmstads BK in Sweden in 2004. Here, he only narrowly missed out on the league title in his first year and won the Swedish golden boot in the following season (with 16 goals). He also featured in the club's UEFA Cup campaign of 2005–06, scoring a vital goal in the qualifying round victory over Sporting.
This brought him to the attention of several clubs from around Europe, before he eventually opted to move to German side Hannover 96 in March 2006 on a three-year deal.[1] His time in Germany however was blighted by persistent injuries; he only managed to make seven appearances and scored no goals. In August 2007, after only 17 months with Hannover, he was loaned to Vålerenga. In summer 2008, he was sold to Danish club Esbjerg fB. For the latter part of the 2009–10 season, Gunnar was on loan at the English Football League Championship side Reading F.C.[2]
Gunnar joined Norwegian side Fredrikstad FK on loan for the rest of the Norwegian 2010 season. On 17 March 2011, Gunnar signed a three-year contract with IFK Norrköping. After a prolific spell in the top Swedish league Gunnar signed a two-year contract with Turkish Süper Lig side Konyaspor on 5 August 2013.[3]
In July 2015, Gunnar signed back with ÍBV.[4] He retired from football following the 2018 season. In his last game, he scored a hat-trick in ÍBV's 5–2 victory against Grindavík. It was the fourth hat-trick of his career in the Icelandic top-tier league.[5]
International career
He made his international debut on 30 March 2005, as a last minute substitute in a goalless friendly draw with Italy in Padova. His first international goal came in a 4–1 World Cup qualifying victory over Malta on 8 June 2005.
Manager career
Gunnar started his manager career with KFS in 2021, leading them to promotion to 3. deild karla. In March 2022, he was hired as the manager of 1. deild karla club Vestri.[6]
Personal life
His cousin is former Reading defender Ívar Ingimarsson. His sister is international footballer Berglind Björg Þorvaldsdóttir.[7]
References
- ^ "Hannover holt Isländer Thorvaldsson" (in German). RP Online. 21 March 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- ^ "Reading complete Gunnar Thorvaldsson loan deal". BBC Sport. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- ^ "Gunnar Heiðar samdi til tveggja ára" (in Icelandic). mbl.is. 5 August 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- ^ Tómas Þór Þórðarson (6 July 2015). "Gunnar Heiðar: Enginn þarf að hafa áhyggjur núna". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Víðir Sigurðsson (29 September 2018). "Markakóngur kveður með stæl". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (7 March 2022). "Frá Vestmannaeyjum til Vestfjarða: "Ekki eins og ég sé að fara til Úsbekistan"". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- ^ Ásgeirsson, Eiríkur Stefán (13 June 2008). "Sextán ára systir Gunnars Heiðars valin í landsliðið - Vísir". visir.is (in Icelandic). Vísir. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
External links
- Official Danish Superliga stats (in Danish)
- Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson at the Football Association of Iceland (in Icelandic)