Alfreð Gíslason (born 7 September 1959) is an Icelandic

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the German men's national team. He won titles in Iceland, Germany and Spain as a player before starting his coaching career in 1991 with Icelandic team KA as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. He later coached German club

SC Magdeburg The SC Magdeburg is a professional handball club from Magdeburg, Germany. The team plays in the highest German league, the Handball-Bundesliga and regularly in highest international competitions. They won the EHF Champions League in 1978, 1981, ...

, where he won the

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 ...

and the

EHF Champions League The EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men's com ...

, the Icelandic men's national team and German club

THW Kiel THW Kiel is a professional handball club from Kiel, Germany. Currently, they compete in the Handball-Bundesliga and are the record champion with 23 titles. 2007 and 2012 were the most successful years in the club's history, as THW completed t ...

, where he won six Bundesliga, six

DHB-Pokal The DHB-Pokal (English: German Handball Federation Cup) is an elimination handball tournament held annually in Germany. It is the second most important handball national title in the country after the Handball-Bundesliga championship. DHB-Pokal ...

and two EHF Champions League titles. Alfreð was the

Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year The Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year () is an annual award given to the best Icelandic sportsperson of the year. The winner is selected by the Icelandic Association of Sports Journalists. It was first given in 1956 to the triple jumper Vilhjálm ...

in 1989 and inducted into the National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland Hall of Fame in 2019.

Club career

Gíslason began his senior handball career at local club KA. In 1980, he transferred to fellow Icelandic team KR, where he spent three years and won the Icelandic Cup in 1982, before moving to German club

TUSEM Essen TUSEM Essen is a handball club from Essen, Germany. Currently, they compete in the 2. Handball-Bundesliga. Accomplishments *Handball-Bundesliga: 3 **: 1986, 1987, 1989 *DHB-Pokal: 3 **: 1988, 1991, 1992 *EHF Champions League: 1 **: 1988 * EHF ...

in 1983. Gíslason won the

in 1986 and 1987, and the

in 1988 with the team. He returned to KR in 1988 for one season and later joined Spanish club Bidasosa Irún in 1989, where he won the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

during a two-year stint. He returned to KA in 1991 as a

and won the Icelandic Cup in his last season as a player. Gíslason retired after the 1995 season.

International career

Gíslason was capped 190 times and scored 542 goals for the Icelandic national handball team. He competed at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

and the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

, where Iceland placed sixth and eight, respectively.

Coaching career

Gíslason began his coaching career as a

for Icelandic club KA upon his transfer to the club in 1991. He won the Icelandic Cup in his last season as a player in 1995 and went on to win the cup a second time in the following season, in addition to the Icelandic League Cup. Gíslason won the Icelandic Championships in 1997 and became the coach of German club VfL Hameln that same year. In 1999, he joined

team

, where he won the league, the

DHB-Supercup The DHB-Supercup (English: German Handball Supercup) is an handball tournament held annually between the Handball-Bundesliga champions and the DHB-Pokal champion. Results Total titles won See also * Handball-Bundesliga * DHB-Pokal The DHB- ...

, the

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previo ...

and the EHF Supercup in 2001. The team won the

and the EHF Supercup in the following season. From 2006 to 2008, he coached both the Icelandic men's national team and German club

VfL Gummersbach VfL Gummersbach is a professional handball club from the German city of Gummersbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. Currently, VfL Gummersbach competes in the Handball-Bundesliga and the DHB-Pokal. The club has seen great success, especially from the ...

. He led the Icelandic national team at the 2007 World Championship and the 2008 European Championship. Alfred Gislason Hand-ball bulletin federal 1989-3-1

Alfred Gislason Hand-ball bulletin federal 1989-3-1

Gíslason became the coach of German club

in 2008. He led the team to six Bundesliga and

titles each, five DHB-Supercup titles, two EHF Champions League titles, and one EHF Cup and

IHF Super Globe The Men's Super Globe is a handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a bal ...

title each across eleven seasons with the club, in addition to becoming the first coach to win the EHF Champions League with two different teams. In 2020, Gíslason became the coach of the German men's national team and led the team to a fifth-place finish at the 2020 European Championship. The national team placed sixth at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and twelfth at the 2021 World Championship. At the 2022 European Championship, Germany finished seventh, and placed fifth at the 2023 World Championship. Gíslason led the national team to a fourth-place finish at the 2024 European Championship in Germany and won the silver medal in the men's handball tournament at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Personal life

Gíslason was married to Kara Guðrún Melstað until her death on 31 May 2021.

Honours

Player

KR * Icelandic Cup: 1982

: 1986, 1987 *

: 1988 Bidasosa Irún *

: 1991 KA * Icelandic Cup: 1995 Individual *

: 1989

Manager

KA * Icelandic Championships: 1997 * Icelandic Cup: 1995, 1996 * Icelandic League Cup: 1996

: 2001 *

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

: 2001 * EHF Supercup: 2001, 2002

* Bundesliga: 2009,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

* DHB-Supercup: 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 * EHF Champions League:

* EHF Cup:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual * Bundesliga Coach of the Season: 2002, 2009,

* German Handball Coach of the Year: 2001, 2009, 2011, 2012 * Icelandic Coach of the Year: 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gislason, Alfred 1959 births Living people Alfred Gislason Alfred Gislason Alfred Gíslason Alfred Gislason Handball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Handball coaches of international teams Expatriate handball coaches Alfred Gislason Icelandic expatriate handball players in Germany Alfred Gíslason Coaches at the 2024 Summer Olympics Coaches at the 2020 Summer Olympics Icelandic expatriate handball players in Spain CD Bidasoa Irun players 20th-century Icelandic sportsmen