Marel Jóhann Baldvinsson (born 18 December 1980) 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 ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

forward who last played for

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan (, ), commonly known as Stjarnan (), is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær. Basketball Men's basketball As of the 2017–2 ...

Club career

He started his career in Breiðablik, but moved to

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 ...

early in his career. In October 1997, Marel went on trial with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. After a fruitless trial with

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien (football), Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles ...

, he signed with Stabæk with a deal worth 600,000 Euro. In January 2003 he was sold to the Belgian club

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

for just half of what Stabæk paid for him, 300,000 Euro, but with a clause giving 25% of the total transition in a later resale. In 2006, he was forced to cut short his career as a professional footballer due to injury

He rejoined Breiðablik in his native Iceland. After many impressive displays in the 2006 season, he was recalled into the Iceland national football team, Icelandic national team to face

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in August 2006. A few days later he returned to professional football when he signed for Norwegian club

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

, in a deal worth 1,5 million Euro. In 2007, after two seasons at

, Marel had his contract terminated. On 30 December 2007 he signed a three-year contract with Breiðablik, starting his third stint at the club. He scored six goals in 19 games for the club and following a dispute with the club's management, reportedly revolving around wages, he left the club on 22 April 2009 and was signed by Valur. He started his career at Valur well, scoring three goals in his first five games, including a late equalizer against

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town in the Southern Peninsula district of Iceland, not far from Þorbjörn, a tuya (a type of flat-topped, steep-sided volcano). It is one of the few towns with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work ...

and a winning goal against local rivals Fram. On 24 March, it was declared that he would join

and play with them the following season. He played seven games in the 2010 season but hasn't played football since.

International career

Marel made his debut for

in an August 2001 friendly match against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Tryggvi Guðmundsson Tryggvi Guðmundsson (born 30 July 1974) is an Icelandic former professional association football, footballer. He is Iceland's all-time top scorer in the Úrvalsdeild. He is the highest scoring male Icelandic footballer of all time in associati ...

. He played 17 senior international games in total, as well as 16 times at youth level.

External links

Marel Baldvinsson profile
at ''moldefk.no'' *
Profile
on the official

KSÍ The Football Association of Iceland (, , KSÍ) is the governing body of football in Iceland. It was founded on 26 March 1947, joined FIFA the same year, and UEFA in 1954. It organises the football league, Úrvalsdeild, and the Iceland men's na ...

website
Profile and stats
– Lokeren {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldvinsson, Marel 1980 births Living people Marel Baldvinsson Marel Baldvinsson Marel Baldvinsson Marel Baldvinsson Marel Baldvinsson Marel Baldvinsson Marel Baldvinsson Marel Baldvinsson K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players Molde FK players Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Marel Baldvinsson Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Belgian Pro League players Marel Baldvinsson Men's association football forwards 21st-century Icelandic sportsmen