Hólmbert Aron Friðjónsson (born 19 April 1993) 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 ...

who plays as a striker for German club

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., simply as KSV Holstein or Kieler SV Holstein, commonly known as Holstein Kiel (), is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s thro ...

Club career

In July 2011 Hólmbert transferred to Fram Reykjavík after making his mark as a young player with HK in the Icelandic second tier.

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 ...

-born Hólmbert emerged as a stand out player during the 2013 season and his 10 goals were crucial to help Fram Reykjavík avoid relegation from the Icelandic top league. The player also scored three times for the team in the Icelandic Cup, which helped them win the competition for the first time in 24 years. Hólmbert scored Fram's first goal in the Cup final, a 3–3 draw with

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 ...

, then converted his kick as Fram won on a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, in a game that he described as "the highlight of my career". After trials in the Netherlands with

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

and in Scotland with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, Hólmbert signed a four-year deal to join the Glasgow giants, for a fee of around £100,000. Although officially signing for the team on 1 January 2014 for the next transfer window, the player started training with his new club at the beginning of December 2013. Hólmbert made the decision to join the Scottish club after speaking to teammates Steven Lennon and

Alan Lowing Alan Alexander Lowing (born 7 January 1988) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a right-back for Víkingur. Career Rangers Lowing was born in Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, ...

who both played previously in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

. Hólmbert joined

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

club Brøndby on loan in September 2014, after failing to feature in any competitive games for Celtic. During the loan, Hólmbert made eleven league appearances, scoring one goal. After returning to Celtic, he was released on 2 July 2015 without ever making a first team appearance. The same day, it was announced that he was returning to Iceland to play for

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 ...

on a 2.5-year contract. On 1 August 2016, he signed for Stjarnan on a loan deal for the remainder of the season. He then made the move permanent after the season. On 5 October 2020, he joined Italian club

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. In June 2021 it was announced Hólmbert would join 2. Bundesliga side

for the 2021–22 season. In the first half of the season, he struggled with injuries and played just 82 minutes. In January 2022 Hólmbert moved to

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

club

Lillestrøm SK Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwegian professional football club from the city of Lillestrøm, just outside of the capital Oslo. Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, playing in Eliteserien. The club was founded in 1 ...

on loan until the end of the year.

International career

Hólmbert received his first call-up for the Iceland national team on 16 January 2015 in a friendly against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He scored his first goal on 19 January 2015 in their return friendly against Canada.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hólmbert goal''.

References

External links