Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir (born 28 September 1988) is an Icelandic professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan, commonly known as Stjarnan, is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær.and in the top 10 in the World and they have won the League ...

of the

Besta deild kvenna The Besta deild kvenna is the top-tier women's football league in Iceland. It features 10 teams that play a double round robin to decide the champion, which qualifies for a spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League. The 2022 season was the fir ...

and the Iceland national team.

Early life

Born in

Garðabær Garðabær () is a municipality in the Capital Region of Iceland. History Garðabær is a growing town in the Capital Region. It is the sixth largest town in Iceland with a population of 13,872 (Sept 1, 2013). The site of Garðabær has been inha ...

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 ...

, Gunnhildur lived in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

from 1996 to 2002 while her mother studied paediatrics. During a chance meeting with

Philadelphia Charge The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Villanova Stadium on the campus of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History ...

and

international Margrét Rannveig Ólafsdóttir in 2001, Margrét offered Gunnhildur tickets to the team's next WUSA game, inspiring her to take up

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Club career

Stjarnan

Upon returning to Iceland, Gunnhildur joined Úrvalsdeild side

. She made her senior first-team debut on 20 May 2003 at the age of 14 years and 234 days as a 59th-minute substitute in a 4–0 league loss to ÍBV. In 2011, she captained Stjarnan to the first Úrvalsdeild title in club history, scoring 7 goals in 18 appearances. She captained the team to their first Icelandic Cup win the following season, scoring the only goal in the 81st-minute in a 1–0 win over

Valur Valur may refer to: People * Birkir Valur Jónsson (born 1998), Icelandic football player * Björn Valur Gíslason (born 1959), Icelandic politician * Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (born 1979), Icelandic handball player * Guðni Valur Guðnason (born ...

in the final. In 2012 Stjarnan also won the Icelandic Super Cup and made their

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

debut against fellow Russian debutants

Zorky Krasnogorsk Zorky (russian: Зоркий) is a bandy club based in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia. Its team currently plays in the Russian Bandy Super League, the top tier of the Russian bandy championship. The club was founded in 1954. Zorky have ha ...

in September 2012. Gunnhildur started the game but was sent off in the 37th-minute for a second booking, leaving Stjarnan to play out a goalless draw. They lost the away leg, for which Gunnhildur was suspended, 3–1.

Pepperdine Waves semester

In 2010, Gunnhildur transferred from

Reykjavík University Reykjavík University (RU; is, Háskólinn í Reykjavík) is the largest private university in Iceland with approximately 3,300 students (October 2020). It is chartered by the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Icelandic Industries, and the ...

to study at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

for a semester and spent one season playing

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

for

Pepperdine Waves The Pepperdine Waves are the athletics teams of Pepperdine University, located outside the city of Malibu, California. They compete at the Division I level of the NCAA. The school is a member of the West Coast Conference for the majority of its ...

. She made 19 appearances and was an All-WCC honorable mention as a freshman before returning to Iceland.

Move to Norway

In January 2013, Gunnhildur was recruited by Norwegian

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1 ...

side

Arna-Bjørnar Arna-Bjørnar Fotball is a Norwegian football club from Arna, Bergen. It was founded in late 2000 as a merger between the football branches from ''IL Bjørnar'' and ''Arna T&IL'', and replaced Bjørnar IL in the league system from 2001. The w ...

to replace homegrown talisman

Maren Mjelde Maren Nævdal Mjelde (born 6 November 1989) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for Chelsea and captains the Norway national team. She previously played for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC of the Swedish Dama ...

following her transfer to

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

team

Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

. She scored her first goal for the club on 5 June 2013 in a 2–0 win over Åsane in the

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football ...

. In total she made 16 appearances in 18 months, scoring two cup goals. In July 2014, Gunnhildur transferred to fellow Toppserien side

IK Grand Bodø Idrettsklubben Grand Bodø is a Norwegian association football club from Bodø, Nordland. It was founded on 12 April 1917. Football Former Liverpool and England international full-back Chris Lawler was player-coach for the club in 1981. Its w ...

midway through the season. She scored her only goal for the team on 30 August 2014 in a 5–2 league defeat to Stabæk. Ahead of the 2015 season, Gunnhildur joined Stabæk. She played in every league game and scored three goals as Stabæk finished fourth. She played in all but one game in the following season, recording her Toppserien-best six goals as Stabæk finished in third place. Ahead of the 2017 season, Gunnhildur was one of several senior internationals recruited by

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

as they invested in their women's team to push for a first league title and Champions League qualification. She captained the team as they reached their first

final, losing 1–0 to Avaldsnes IL. Vålerenga finished seventh in the league.

Utah Royals

In January 2018, Gunnhildur signed with NWSL expansion side Utah Royals for the team's inaugural season. On 24 March 2018, she scored the first goal in club history, giving Utah a lead over

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride is a professional women's soccer team based in Orlando, Florida. The team joined the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of women's soccer in the US, for the 2016 season. It became the tenth team to be added to th ...

in the third minute. The game finished 1–1. She was named to the NWSL team of the month for March 2018. Gunnhildur played every minute of the

2018 NWSL season The 2018 National Women's Soccer League season was the sixth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (200 ...

with Utah, registering one goal and two assists. She also appeared in every game during the 2019 season, scoring one goal and finishing second on the team for assists with four. With the 2020 season cancelled due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, Gunnhildur made four appearances during the small schedule 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup replacement tournament. In December 2020, it was announced that the Royals would cease operations and relocate to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, transferring all player assets in the process. Prior to the team dissolving, Gunnhildur led the franchise with a record 52 appearances.

Loan to Adelaide United

During the NWSL offseason,Gunnhildur was one of six Utah Royals players loaned to the W-League for the 2018–19 season. She joined

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

alongside Iceland teammate Fanndís Fridriksdóttir and played every minute of the season, scoring one goal.

Loan to Valur

Following the conclusion of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, Gunnhildur opted to spend the rest of the year on loan with

. It marked the first time since 2012 she had played for a club in her native Iceland. The team finished second on a points-per-game basis following the abandonment of the Úrvalsdeild in October with two rounds to go. Gunnhildur scored three goals in eight league appearances and also scored her first career Champions League goal on 4 November 2020 in a first round qualifying 3–0 win against HJK.

Orlando Pride

On 30 January 2021, Gunnhildur was traded to

along with the playing rights to

Erika Tymrak Erika Leigh Tymrak (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She was previously a member of the United States under-17 team that was r ...

in exchange for Kristen Edmonds and the natural second-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft. On 24 January 2023, Orlando announced Gunnhildur would be departing the club to return to Iceland with wife and teammate

Erin McLeod Erin Katrina McLeod (born February 26, 1983) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Stjarnan of the Icelandic Besta deild kvenna. She first appeared for the Canada women's national soccer team at the 2002 Algarve Cup and ...

following their marriage earlier in the month.

Stjarnan return

On 25 January 2023, Gunnhildur rejoined hometown club

10 years after she last captained the team.

International career

Gunnhildur made her senior international debut for

on 26 October 2011 as an 89th-minute substitute in a 2–0 win over

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

during UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying. It was her only appearance in the competition as Iceland qualified for Euro 2013 but she was not selected for the tournament roster. On 4 April 2015, she scored her first goal for Iceland on her 18th cap in a 2–1 friendly win over the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Gunnhildur played in every match for Iceland during

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying The UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying competition was a women's football competition that determined the 15 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Netherlands in the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 final tournament. A total of 46 UEFA member nati ...

, scoring two goals as Iceland won their group and qualified for Euro 2017. She was named to the tournament squad, her first major international tournament, and started all three games as Iceland lost all three, finishing bottom of the group.< Gunnhildur competed with the Iceland at the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2017 Algarve Cup The 2017 Algarve Cup was the 24th edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place from 1 to 8 March. Format The twelve invited teams were split into three groups that played a rou ...

. Gunnhildur played all eight games of

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process decided all 24 teams which played in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the hosts France qualifying automatically. It is the eighth FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international wo ...

and scored four goals including her first career international brace in an 8–0 win against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. Iceland finished second in their qualifying group, missing out on the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

by one point. Gunnhildur once again started every game during

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying The UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying competition was a women's Association football, football competition that determined the 15 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts England women's national football team, England in the UEFA Women's E ...

as Iceland finished second in the group to Sweden with six wins, a draw and a loss. They qualified for their third successive Euro finals as one of the best-placed runners-up.

Personal life

Gunnhildur, also known as Gunny, has seven siblings: Tindur, Urður, Ilmur, Þórunn, Sigurður, Sæmundur, and Elfur; her parents are Laufey Sigurðardóttir and Jón Saemundsson. In October 2020, it was made public that Gunnhildur is in a relationship with Canadian footballer

. They married in January 2023.

Career statistics

Club summary

International summary

International goals

: ''As of match played 12 April 2022. Iceland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Jónsdóttir goal.''

Honors

Stjarnan * Úrvalsdeild: 2011 * Icelandic Cup: 2012 * Icelandic Super Cup: 2012

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsdottir, Gunnhildur 1988 births Living people People from Garðabær Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir Women's association football midfielders Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir Pepperdine Waves women's soccer players Arna-Bjørnar players IK Grand Bodø players Stabæk Fotball Kvinner players Vålerenga Fotball Damer players Utah Royals FC players Adelaide United FC (A-League Women) players Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir Orlando Pride players Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir Toppserien players National Women's Soccer League players A-League Women players Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir Expatriate women's footballers in Norway Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Lesbian sportswomen LGBT association football players Icelandic LGBT sportspeople UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players