Lárus Orri Sigurðsson (born 4 June 1973), known in English as ''Larus Sigurdsson'', is an

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 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 lea ...

, who played most notably for Stoke City and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in England.

Club career

Sigurðsson was born in

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

and played with

Þór Akureyri Íþróttafélagið Þór (, ), commonly known as Þór Akureyri (), or simply Þór or Thór, is a multi-sport club in Akureyri, in the north of Iceland. It features departments in basketball, football, handball and taekwondo. Its main rival is ...

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

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

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 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 status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. 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. Histor ...

. 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 ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

, 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 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

West Bromwich Albion * West Bromwich Albion player of the year: 2000 * Football League First Division runners-up: 2001-02

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 men's footballers in England Larus Sigurdsson English Football League players