Ólafur Ingi Skúlason
Personal information
Full name Ólafur Ingi Skúlason[1]
Date of birth (1983-04-01) 1 April 1983
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Iceland U-19 (head coach)
Youth career
Fylkir
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2001 Fylkir 20 (0)
2001–2005 Arsenal 0 (0)
2003 → Fylkir (loan) 14 (1)
2005–2007 Brentford 16 (1)
2007–2009 Helsingborgs IF 37 (0)
2010–2011 SønderjyskE 41 (3)
2011–2015 Zulte Waregem 99 (6)
2015–2016 Gençlerbirliği 25 (0)
2016–2018 Karabükspor 41 (3)
2018–2020 Fylkir 39 (2)
Total 332 (16)
International career
1999 Iceland U-17 9 (1)
2000–2001 Iceland U-19 9 (0)
2002–2005 Iceland U-21 12 (0)
2003–2018 Iceland 36 (1)
Managerial career
2021– Iceland women's U-15
2021– Iceland U-19
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ólafur Ingi Skúlason (born 1 April 1983) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Iceland national under-19 football team and the Iceland national under-15 women's team.[2]

Club career

Ólafur was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, where he played for Fylkir. After the Icelandic season had come to a close, he was looking for new employment, and found it with Arsenal on 1 July 2001.[3] Ólafur was loaned back to Fylkir over a part of the 2003 season, and was voted the best young player in the Icelandic league 2003.[4]

His Arsenal debut came on 2 December 2003 in a 5–1 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers, replacing Justin Hoyte after 55 minutes of the match.[5] Ólafur was released by Arsenal on 28 May 2005.[6] He signed for Brentford on 22 June 2005.[7] Upon his arrival at Brentford, the club's website quoted him as saying: "I look at this as a very important move for my career, knowing that manager Martin Allen had been interested in signing me for a while was a huge compliment for me."[7]

In the second game of the 2005–06 season, Ólafur suffered a cruciate and medial ligament injury resulting from a tackle with Chesterfield's Derek Niven, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.[8] He was passed fit for the start of the 2006–07 season and completed his comeback by scoring the winner in a 1–0 win over Blackpool, the first game of the season.[9] He signed for Helsingborgs IF on 21 February 2007.[10] After three successful years in Helsingborg, Ólafur turned down a new contract offer and signed for Danish team SønderjyskE on 6 December 2009.[11]

A year later Ólafur signed for Zulte Waregem in Belgium and stayed there for four years. He then plied his trade in Turkey for a few years before returning to Fylkir.[12][13]

Ólafur returned to former club Fylkir in 2018.[14]

International career

Ólafur earned his first cap for Iceland in a friendly against Mexico on 20 November 2003 as a substitute, replacing Veigar Páll Gunnarsson.[15] He has also captained their U21 team.[16]

Although playing almost 30 international games for over ten years, Ólafur never quite managed to become a regular first team member of the Icelandic team.[17] He was, however, a useful squad member and played three games as a substitute in Iceland's successful qualification for Euro 2016, including Iceland's famous win over the Netherlands in Amsterdam.[18] He was not selected for Iceland's Euro 2016 team.

In May 2018 he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[19]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by national team and year[20]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Iceland 200310
200400
200510
200610
200720
200810
200931
201050
201110
201210
201340
201430
201520
201610
201750
201840
Total361
Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ólafur goal.
List of international goals scored by Ólafur Ingi Skúlason[21]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
19 September 2009Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik, Iceland Georgia2–03–1Friendly

References

  1. 1 2 "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia: List of players: Iceland" (PDF). FIFA. 10 June 2018. p. 13. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  2. ↑ "Ólafur Ingi Skúlason ráðinn þjálfari U19 karla og U15 kvenna". Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  3. ↑ "Olafur-Ingi Skulason | Arsenal.com". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Skulason's rise to prominence". www.arsenal.com. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "Games played by Ólafur Ingi Skúlason in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "Arsenal release five youngsters". www.arsenal.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Bees bring in midfielder Skulason". BBC. 22 June 2005. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-9552949-1-4.
  9. ↑ "Brentford 1–0 Blackpool". BBC. 5 August 2006. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  10. ↑ "Skulason är klar för Helsingborg". Expressen. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Olafur-Ingi Skulason". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Zulte Waregem slijt Skulason aan Turkse club". Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  13. ↑ "Ólafur Ingi yfirgefur Genclerbirligi – Vísir". Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  14. ↑ Ólafur Ingi til Fylkis, ruv.is, 28 May 2018
  15. ↑ "Olafur Ingi Skulason". 11v11.com. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "Brentford sign Skulason – Brentford FC – BeesMad". www.brentford-mad.co.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "Ólafur Ingi Skúlason – Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  18. ↑ "Iceland close to Euro 2016 place with surprise away defeat of Holland". the Guardian. Press Association. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  19. ↑ Crawford, Stephen (4 June 2018). "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  20. ↑ "Ólafur Ingi Skúlason". European Football. 23 June 2018.
  21. ↑ "Iceland – Ó. Skúlason – Profile with news, career statistics and history". soccerway.com. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
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