Ólafur Gottskálksson (born 12 March 1968 in

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavik merged with nearby Njarð ...

) is a retired

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic professional football goalkeeper. He played ten games for Icelandic national football team.

Football

Club career

Ólafur played for IA Akranes and

KR Reykjavík KR is the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and WMO country code for South Korea. KR or Kr may also refer to: Sports * KR (basketball club), associated with Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur * Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, an Icelandic football club * Kickoff ...

before joining Scottish side Hibernian from Keflavik in July 1997 for a fee of £200,000. He played 70 times for Hibs before joining Brentford on a free transfer in May 2000. He went on to play 73 league games for Brentford, at one point having to pay for his own goalkeeping coach. He had a trial with

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

in July 2002 and was offered a two-year contract, but chose to remain with Brentford. He was also linked with a move to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, but in November 2002 was forced to retire due to a shoulder injury. He returned to

and resumed his playing career with Grindavik. On his return to the United Kingdom in August 2004, he had a trial with

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

, before joining Conference South side

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

, moving to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

the following month, as a replacement for the departing

Arjan van Heusden Arjan van Heusden (born 11 December 1972) is a Dutch former professional football goalkeeper who played much of his career in the English Football League. Career Van Heusden began his career in his native Netherlands with VV Noordwijk, moving ...

. He was one of seven goalkeepers used that season (the others being Phil Barnes,

Bertrand Bossu Bertrand Bossu (born 14 October 1980) is a French association football, footballer who plays as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who plays for Isthmian League Division One North club Harlow Town F.C., Harlow Town. Career France B ...

Kevin Dearden Kevin Charles Dearden (born 8 March 1970) is an English former professional footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League, playing as a goalkeeper for many clubs. He later became a coach, and is currently goalkeeper coac ...

, Paul Jarvie, Andy Marriott and

) and played 15 league games for Torquay before disappearing in January 2005 when, according to then Torquay chairman

Mike Bateson Mike Bateson is an English businessman and former chairman of Torquay United Football Club. Bateson was brought up in Blackpool and after a spell in the Scots Guards made his fortune selling double glazing in the South-West of England. In May 199 ...

, doping testers arrived at

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of E ...

for routine testing and Gottskálksson was chosen to give a sample. On viewing the list of banned substances he fled Torquay, leaving his girlfriend behind without an explanation, and went missing for ten days. In June 2005,

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

announced that an independent disciplinary commission had banned Gottskálksson from football indefinitely for failing to take that drugs test.

International career

He played 10 times for the

national side. His last international match came in February 1998 in a 1–0

Cyprus International Football Tournament The Cyprus International Football Tournament was an annual winter association football friendly competition for national teams that takes place in Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of C ...

defeat against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

Basketball

Ólafur played basketball for seven season in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla, averaging 5.5 points per game for his career. He won the Icelandic Basketball Cup in 1994. He played 4 games for the junior national basketball teams.

Honours

Keflavík * Icelandic Basketball Cup: 1994

Personal life

Gottskálksson is the son of goalkeeper Gottskalk Gottskálksson and the brother of goalkeeper Elvar Gottskálksson.

Legal history

In March 2010 Ólafur was sentenced to a ten months prison term in Iceland for housebreaking, robbery and violent attack. In October 2011 he was sentenced to additional four months in prison for similar charges, including serious violence. On 25 July 2016, he was arrested after a police chase for driving under influences with his five-year-old son in the backseat. He checked into rehab on 4 August but was rushed to the National University Hospital of Iceland two days later due to internal bleeding and broken ribs, injuries he claimed he sustained when the police arrested him.

References

External links