Guðmundur "Gunni" Torfason (born 13 December 1961, in

Vestmannaeyjar Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyja ...

) is an

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 former

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 ...

and manager.

Playing career

Club

A striker, he became top goalscorer in the Icelandic league in 1986 with 19 goals when he was also named the

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

. He moved to continental Europe with

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

sides

Beveren Beveren () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') is in Beveren, ...

and Winterslag who later merged with Waterschei to become

Racing Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk, Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four champ ...

. Guðmundur became the first ever goalscorer of the new club when he scored against KV Mechelen. He then had a spell with

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Rapid Vienna Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

, before joining St Mirren in 1989. He became club top scorer three seasons in a row. In 1992 Guðmundur left St Mirren for

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

. In 1995, he moved for a brief spell at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

. He returned to Iceland to play for second division

Fylkir Íþróttafélagið Fylkir is a multi-sport club in Árbær, in the eastern part of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. It features departments in football, handball, volleyball, gymnastics and karate. Kit The Fylkir official home kit is combi ...

and eventually ended his career after spending the 1996 season with

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town on the Southern Peninsula (Iceland), Southern Peninsula of Iceland not far from the tuya Þorbjörn (mountain), Þorbjörn. It is one of the few cities with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work in ...

International

Guðmundur made his debut for

in July 1985

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

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 ...

and has earned a total of 26 caps, scoring 4 goals. He represented his country in 5

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches and played his last international match for

in a November 1991 European Championship qualifying match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first.''

Managerial career

Guðmundur was a player-coach for

during the 1995 season. In November 1995, he was hired as the coach of

. He coached

Fram Fram may refer to: Ships * ''Fram'' (ship), an arctic exploration vessel from Norway * MS ''Fram'', expedition cruise ship owned by Hurtigruten Group Places and geography * Fram, Paraguay, a town in Itapúa, Paraguay * Fram Formation, a se ...

in 2000. On 30 October 2011 Guðmundur returned to Scottish football after being appointed as Rangers' Icelandic scout.Gunni joins Gers
- Football.co.uk

References

External links

*
Player archive
- Rapid Wien * 1961 births Living people Gudmundur Torfason Gudmundur Torfason Gudmundur Torfason Gudmundur Torfason Gudmundur Torfason Gudmundur Torfason K.S.K. Beveren players K.F.C. Winterslag players K.R.C. Genk players SK Rapid Wien players St Mirren F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Gudmundur Torfason Gudmundur Torfason Austrian Football Bundesliga players Expatriate footballers in Austria Gudmundur Torfason Expatriate footballers in Scotland Gudmundur Torfason Expatriate footballers in Belgium Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in England Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in England Scottish Football League players Association football forwards {{Iceland-footy-bio-stub