Lárus Orri Sigurðsson (born 4 June 1973), known in English as ''Larus Sigurdsson'', 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 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 played most notably for Stoke City and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in England.

Club career

Sigurðsson was born in

Akureyri Akureyri (, locally ) is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's fifth-largest municipality, after Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær and Kópavogur, and the largest town outside Iceland's more populated southwest corner. Nickn ...

and played with

Þór Akureyri Íþróttafélagið Þór, commonly known as Þór Akureyri, simply Þór or Thór, is a multi-sport club in Akureyri, Iceland. It features departments in Basketball, football, Handball and Taekwondo. Its main rivals is another sport club from A ...

along with his father Sigurdur Larusson, who later became the manager. His cousin Þorvaldur Örlygsson who was playing in England for Stoke City recommended him to manager

Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Ken ...

and he joined Stoke on trial. Lárus impressed Macari so much that he played him against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

before he had signed him. He played 23 times in 1994–95 and his performances were so good he won 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 ...

award. He was an ever-present in 1995–96 as Stoke reached the play-offs where they lost to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. He missed just one match in 1996–97 in what was the club's final season at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

. He played in all but three matches in 1997–98 as Stoke suffered relegation to the third tier. he played 43 times in 1998–99 as Stoke failed to gain promotion and he was sold to

in August 1999 for a fee of £350,000 after making 228 appearances for Stoke. He scored once for Albion, his goal coming in a 5–0 win over Portsmouth on 23 February 2002. After his professional career in England, Sigurðsson went home to his old club, Þór, and played 15 games for them in 2005. In summer 2006, he was appointed player-manager at Þór, a position he held until 31 May 2010 when he resigned after conflict with the board. On 20 July 2010, he joined ÍA, the club he played in as a youngster. His first senior appearance for ÍA came in a 4–2 win over Fjarðarbyggð. At the start of the 2011 season Lárus was appointed as the manager of KF, retiring as a player.

International career

Sigurðsson won 42 caps, scoring two goals for

. He made his debut for

in a July 1995 friendly against

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 ...

, coming on as a substitute for Izudin Dervic.

Career statistics

Club

Source:

International

Source:

International goals

Honours

; Stoke City * Stoke City player of the year:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sigurdsson, Larus 1973 births Living people Larus Sigurdsson Men's association football defenders Larus Sigurdsson Larus Sigurdsson Larus Sigurdsson Stoke City F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Premier League players Expatriate footballers in England Larus Sigurdsson English Football League players