Ólafur Gottskálksson (born 12 March 1968 in

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, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

) is a retired

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic professional football goalkeeper. He played ten games for Icelandic national football team.

Football

Club career

Ólafur played for IA Akranes and KR Reykjavík before joining

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

side Hibernian from Keflavik in July 1997 for a fee of £200,000. He played 70 times for Hibs before joining

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

on a free transfer in May 2000. He went on to play 73 league games for

, at one point having to pay for his own goalkeeping coach. He had a trial with

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

in July 2002 and was offered a two-year contract, but chose to remain with Brentford. He was also linked with a move to Ipswich Town, but in November 2002 was forced to retire due to a shoulder injury. He returned to

and resumed his playing career with Grindavik. On his return to the United Kingdom in August 2004, he had a trial with

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, before joining

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

side

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

, moving to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

the following month, as a replacement for the departing Arjan van Heusden. He was one of seven goalkeepers used that season (the others being

Phil Barnes Philip Kenneth Barnes (born 2 March 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Barnes was active between 1996 and 2019, spending his first thirteen seasons in professional football in a career that began at ...

, Bertrand Bossu, Kevin Dearden, Paul Jarvie, Andy Marriott and Arjan van Heusden) and played 15 league games for Torquay before disappearing in January 2005 when, according to then Torquay chairman

Mike Bateson Mike Bateson is an England, English businessman and former chairman of Torquay United F.C., Torquay United Football Club. Bateson was brought up in Blackpool and after a spell in the Scots Guards made his fortune selling double glazing in the Sou ...

, doping testers arrived at

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United F.C., Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National Leagu ...

for routine testing and Gottskálksson was chosen to give a sample. On viewing the list of banned substances he fled Torquay, leaving his girlfriend behind without an explanation, and went missing for ten days. In June 2005,

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

announced that an independent disciplinary commission had banned Gottskálksson from football indefinitely for failing to take that drugs test.

International career

He played 10 times for the

national side. His last international match came in February 1998 in a 1–0

Cyprus International Football Tournament The Cyprus International Football Tournament was an annual winter association football friendly competition for national teams that takes place in Cyprus. It was traditionally held in February as a friendly tournament since at least 1997, and last ...

defeat against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Basketball

Ólafur played basketball for seven season in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla, averaging 5.5 points per game for his career. He won the Icelandic Basketball Cup in 1994. He played 4 games for the junior national basketball teams.

Honours

Keflavík * Icelandic Basketball Cup: 1994

Personal life

Gottskálksson is the son of goalkeeper Gottskalk Gottskálksson and the brother of goalkeeper Elvar Gottskálksson.

Legal history

In March 2010 Ólafur was sentenced to a ten months prison term in Iceland for housebreaking, robbery and violent attack. In October 2011 he was sentenced to additional four months in prison for similar charges, including serious violence. On 25 July 2016, he was arrested after a police chase for driving under influences with his five-year-old son in the backseat. He checked into rehab on 4 August but was rushed to the

National University Hospital of Iceland National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

two days later due to internal bleeding and broken ribs, injuries he claimed he sustained when the police arrested him.

Honours

Brentford *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

runner-up: 2000–01

References

External links

Football

Club career

International career

Basketball

Honours

Personal life

Legal history

Honours

See also

References

External links