Jóan Símun Edmundsson (born 26 July 1991) is a Faroese 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 for Belgian club Beveren and the Faroe Islands national team.

Club career

B68 Toftir

Edmundsson started his career with

B68 Toftir B68 Toftir is a Faroese football club, playing in the village of Toftir in Betri deildin. History After being promoted to the 1. deild (now called Effodeildin) in 1980, they won the league 3 times: in 1984, 1985, and 1992. In 2004 they were ...

Newcastle United

In December 2009, Edmundsson joined

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

on loan until the end of the season, with a view to a permanent deal, after a successful trial during a reserve friendly against Hibernian. He signed a permanent deal in June as a hot prospect for the future. He made his first team debut for Newcastle in a friendly against Norwich City on 25 July 2010. On 7 January 2011, Edmundsson joined

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

on a 28-day loan. He made his Gateshead debut on 8 January 2011 against

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. He scored his first goal for Gateshead on 15 January 2011 in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

in a 6–0 win against Hampton & Richmond Borough. He featured regularly for the reserves between 2010–12, however he failed to reach first team football for Newcastle.

Viking and return to Faroe Islands

Edmundsson signed for Viking Stavanger on 15 February 2012. Following his stint at Viking he returned to the Faroe Islands playing for AB and HB.

Vejle and OB in Denmark

In December 2014 Edmundsson signed a two-year contract with Vejle Boldklub. In January 2016 Edmundsson signed a 2.5-year contract with Danish Superliga club

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga ...

. On 28 November 2015, Edmundsson scored what Danish TV3+ commentators later dubbed as "The Goal of the Century" in Danish football, and made comparisons with high-profile players such as

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...

and

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

. In a 1–3 loss against

Silkeborg IF Silkeborg Idrætsforening, (; commonly known as Silkeborg IF or SIF in short) is a professional football club based in Silkeborg, Denmark. The club was founded in 1917, reached the highest level of Danish football in 1987, and afterwards became ...

in the

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991 the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the forma ...

, Edmundsson shook off most of the Silkeborg midfielders, and danced through the middle into the box, evading three more challenges, before hitting a placed shot in the back of the net. In December 2015, Edmundsson won the TV3+ "Best Goal of the Year award", beating notable players such as Neymar and

Arminia Bielefeld

In May 2018, it was announced Edmundsson would join

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

side

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...

from Odense BK for the 2018–19 season having agreed a contract until summer 2020. On 6 August 2018, Edmundsson became the first Faroese goalscorer in German professional football when he scored in his debut against

FC Heidenheim 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 is a German association football club from the city of Heidenheim, Baden-Württemberg. History The current day club was formed in 2007 through the separation of the football section from parent association ''Heidenheimer ...

. On 26 September 2020, Edmundsson made his debut in the

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 ...

against

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...

. Having come from the bench for Sergio Córdova in the second half, he scored the winning goal, becoming the first Faroese to ever play and score in the Bundesliga. On 30 June 2021, Edmundsson was released by

after reaching the end of his contract.

Beveren

On 26 June 2021, he joined Belgian side Beveren.

International career

Edmundsson was capped at under-19, under-21, during which he scored a memorable goal in a shock 1–0 win over

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and full international level while playing in his homeland, making his debut 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 ...

in August 2009. He scored his first senior goal in the 2–1 defeat to

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

on 11 August 2010, this was the first goal of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying. On 14 November 2014, he scored the only goal of the game to defeat

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

, the Faroes' first competitive victory since June 2011.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Faroe Islands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Edmundsson goal.''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edmundsson, Joan Simun 1991 births Living people People from Toftir Faroese footballers Association football midfielders Association football forwards Faroe Islands international footballers Faroe Islands under-21 international footballers Faroe Islands youth international footballers B68 Toftir players Newcastle United F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Viking FK players FC Fredericia players Argja Bóltfelag players Havnar Bóltfelag players Vejle Boldklub players Odense Boldklub players Arminia Bielefeld players S.K. Beveren players Faroe Islands Premier League players National League (English football) players Eliteserien players Danish 1st Division players Danish Superliga players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Faroese expatriate footballers Faroese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Faroese expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate footballers in Norway Faroese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Faroese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium