Friðþjófur Thorsteinsson Pétursson (28 August 1895 – 13 April 1967) was an Icelandic footballer, coach and former chairman of Fram. He is considered one of Iceland's first great footballers.

Early life and family

Friðþjófur was the son of the entrepreneur

Pétur J. Thorsteinsson Pétur Jens Thorsteinsson (4 June 1854 – 27 July 1929) was an Icelandic businessman, merchant and entrepreneur. He was one of the key founders of Milljónarfélagið along with Thor Jensen. Family Pétur was married to Ásthildur Guðmu ...

and Ásthildur Guðmundsdóttir. He was born in

Bíldudalur Bíldudalur () is a village situated on the coast of Arnarfjörður, one of the Westfjords in Iceland. It is situated in the Vesturbyggð municipality and has 238 inhabitants (as of January 2021). The village prospered in the 19th century than ...

, Iceland, and later grew up in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and

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 ...

. Among Friðþjófur's siblings were Gunnar Thorsteinsson, who for a time was the chairman of Fram and Samúel Thorsteinsson, one of the leading footballers that Iceland has produced and later a member of the

Denmark men's national football team The Denmark national football team ( or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark and Greenland in men's international football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing body for the football clubs wh ...

. They were all brothers of the artist Guðmundur "Muggur" Thorsteinsson.

Football career

Friðþjófur started participating in football while attending school in Denmark. After returning to Iceland he joined

Knattspyrnufélagið Fram ''Knattspyrnufélagið Fram'' (, ) is a professional Icelandic sports club, best known for its football and handball teams. It was founded on 1 May 1908 in Reykjavík. It was based at Safamýri, in the Háaleiti og Bústaðir district near Reyk ...

where he immediately established himself as one of the country's best players. He scored both goals for Fram in a famous victory over Fótboltafélag Reykjavíkur at the UMFÍ national tournament at Melavellir on 17 June 1911, a match considered the first official football match in Iceland. Friðþjófur studied commerce in

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1914 and stayed abroad for four years. During that time, he played football with the amateur team of the Scottish

Hibernian FC Hibernian Football Club (), commonly known as Hibs, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the , the top division of Scottish football. The club was founded in 1875 by members of Edinburgh's Irish commun ...

. In the summer of 1918, Friðþjófur returned to Fram. In the three games that season, he scored 12 of Fram's 14 goals, including six against

Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur (, ), commonly abbreviated to KR, is an Icelandic football club based in the Vesturbær district of the capital, Reykjavík. KR is the oldest and most successful club in Icelandic football, having won the Besta ...

. The following year he repeated the feat and scored six goals in a 9–0 win against Valur. Friðþjófur was a key member of the Icelandic select team that competed against

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (AB) is a Denmark, Danish professional football (soccer), football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The ...

in the first visit of a foreign football team to Iceland in the summer of 1919. He scored two of the four goals of the Icelanders victory in the first game between them. In 1922, Friðþjófur moved to Canada and lived there for 12 years, where he, among other things, played and coached football, including for St. Andrews FC. In 1934, Fram was in coaching trouble and the idea arose to see if Friðþjófur would be willing to return home and coach the team. He accepted and coached the team from 1934 to 1936, while also playing a few matches, and again in 1940. He also coached the Icelandic selection team that toured

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the summer of 1935. There he played his last official match at the age of 40. The Fram team improved greatly under his direction, as he introduced Icelanders to various innovations in football, including the short play. Friðþjófur was the chairman of Fram from 1919 and 1920 and again in 1935. On Fram's 30th anniversary in 1938, he was named an honorary member.

Honours, trophies and achievements

Titles

* Icelandic Championships (4): ** 1913, 1914,

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

Individual

* Icelandic tournament top goal scorer: **

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorsteinsson, Fridthjofur 1895 births 1967 deaths Men's association football forwards Fridthjofur Thorsteinsson Fridthjofur Thorsteinsson Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada Fridthjofur Thorsteinsson Fridthjofur Thorsteinsson Fridthjofur Thorsteinsson Fridthjofur Thorsteinsson