Guðlaugur Victor Pálsson (born 30 April 1991) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. He has previously played for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

, Hibernian,

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs Idrottsförening, commonly referred to as Helsingborgs IF, Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan, following releg ...

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German professional association football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was bri ...

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

and

Eupen Eupen (, , ; ; ; former ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Liège Province, province of Liège, from the Germany, German border (Aachen ...

Club career

Early career

Guðlaugur was born in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

to an Icelandic mother and a Portuguese father. His paternal grandfather was a native of

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. He played for

Fjölnir Fjölnir ( ) is a List of legendary kings of Sweden, legendary king in Norse mythology said to have been the son of Freyr (Frey) and his consort Gerðr (Gertha). The name appears in a variety of forms, including Fiolnir, Fjölner, Fjolner, and F ...

but he decided to move to the neighbouring club

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 ...

to get a chance to play on higher level. He then moved to Danish side

AGF Aarhus Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ) is a professional sports club based in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country where gymnastics and fencing were featured as its main sports. How ...

in 2007. Guðlaugur joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

team

in 2009. He played for Liverpool reserves and served as team captain but failed to make the breakthrough into the first-team. He went on loan to

in November 2010, making his debut for the Daggers in the 1st round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in a 1–1 draw with

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. He made three appearances for the club, including an

tie, before returning to Liverpool.

Hibernian

On 28 January 2011, Guðlaugur signed an 18-month contract with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

club Hibernian. Guðlaugur was given squad number 91, since 1991 was his birth-year. He made his debut in a 3–0 defeat against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

two days later. Guðlaugur scored his first goal for the club with a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in a 2–1 win against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

on 12 February. Guðlaugur played regularly under the management of

Colin Calderwood Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a centre-back who played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa and in the Football League for Mansfi ...

, but featured less regularly after Calderwood was replaced by

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland title ...

. On 10 January 2012, Hibernian announced that Victor had left the club with immediate effect after an agreement was reached to cancel his contract.

New York Red Bulls

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

'' reported on 24 January 2012 that Guðlaugur was close to agreeing to terms with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

. The signing was confirmed by New York on 10 February 2012. Guðlagur did not command a regular starting place in the New York starting lineup during the 2012 season.

Later career

In August 2012, the club loaned Guðlaugur to

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

until May 2013, including an option for permanent signing. On 31 December 2012, he was signed by NEC permanently on a free transfer. He signed a contract until the summer of 2016. After the relegation of NEC, Guðlaugur left the club and signed a contract in August 2014 with Swedish side

. He made his league debut for the club on 10 August 2014 in a 0–0 home draw with

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

. He came on as a substitute for

Arnór Smárason Arnór Smárason (born 7 September 1988) is an Icelandic footballer who plays for Icelandic first-tier Besta deild karla side ÍA Akranes. He can play in all the positions on the midfield. Early life Arnór was born in Akranes, Iceland, and ...

in the 75th minute. Guðlaugur signed a four-year contract with Danish side

on 31 August 2015. He made his league debut for the club on 14 September 2015 in a 4–2 home victory over

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

. He scored his first goal for the club in the 30th minute of this match. In July 2017 he signed a three-year contract with Swiss side

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

. He made his league debut for Zürich in a 2–1 home victory over

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

on 30 July 2017. He came on as a substitute for Sangoné Sarr in the 85th minute. He was captain of the

2017–18 Swiss Cup The 2017–18 Swiss Cup is the 93rd season of Switzerland's annual football cup competition. The competition started on 12 August 2017 with the first games of Round 1 and ended on 27 May 2018 with the final. FC Basel were the defending champions, ...

winning team. On 9 January 2019, Guðlaugur Victor signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with 2. Bundesliga side

SV Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German professional association football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was bri ...

. On 25 May 2021, he agreed to join

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

, newly relegated from

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, for the 2021–22 season, signing a two-year contract. On 27 July 2022, he joined

club

on a contract until the end of 2024 with an option for a further year. On 28 July 2023, Guðlaugur Victor returned to Europe when he joined

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

club

on a three-year deal, but the Pandas were relegated at the end of his first season there. On 25 July 2024, Guðlaugur Victor signed for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club

. He reunited with former D.C. United manager

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

, who had recommended his signing despite not being responsible for transfers at the club. Affected by injury and lack of form, he played only eight games before Rooney's resignation on 31 December.

International career

Guðlaugur has represented Iceland at Under-17, Under-19, Under-21, and full international levels. He helped Iceland qualify to the

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 18th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Denmark between 11 and 25 June 2011. The Danish bid was chosen by UEFA's Executive Committee on 10 De ...

. He scored his first goal for the senior team in a 4–1 win against Liechtenstein on 31 March 2021.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

FC Zürich *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

: 2017–18 Schalke 04 * 2. Bundesliga: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Voetbal International profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palsson, Victor 1991 births Living people

Victor Palsson The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

Men's association football midfielders

Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players

Hibernian F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Major League Soccer players NEC Nijmegen players New York Red Bulls players Helsingborgs IF players Allsvenskan players Scottish Premier League players FC Zürich players Swiss Super League players SV Darmstadt 98 players FC Schalke 04 players D.C. United players K.A.S. Eupen players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players 2. Bundesliga players

Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark

Expatriate men's footballers in England

Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland

Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands

Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States

Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland

Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Designated Players (MLS) English Football League players 21st-century Icelandic sportsmen