Sigríður Lára Garðarsdóttir (born 11 March 1994), often nicknamed "Sísí", is an Icelandic former

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 of her career as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

in the Úrvalsdeild kvenna, the top-tier women's football league in

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 ...

Career

Club

Sigríður Lára senior career started in 2009 for ÍBV in the Icelandic second-tier 1. deild kvenna. Two years later, she played her first match in the top-tier Úrvalsdeild kvenna in 2011. During her ÍBV career, she recorded 145 league appearances, scoring 22 goals. On 14 August 2018, with ÍBV in 5th place in the Úrvalsdeild, she was allowed to leave the club and sign with

LSK LSK (born Leigh Stephen Kenny, 26 July 1971 in Kent, England) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer based in Leeds, who uses a mix of reggae and hip hop. He originated a style that has been compared to The Streets, which is mentio ...

of the Norwegian

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in ...

. She returned to ÍBV in November 2018 after helping LSK win the Norwegian championship. In 2019, she left ÍBV and signed a 2-year contract with

Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (), commonly referred to as FH, is an Icelandic multi-sports club based in Hafnarfjörður. The club competes in football, handball, athletics, and fencing. It was founded in 1929 as a gymnastics club but soon start ...

. She left FH following its relegation from the Úrvalsdeild and signed with Valur in January 2021. She returned to FH in July 2021 after appearing in Valur's all eight league games, scoring two goals. In 2022, she appeared in 18 matches in the 1. deild kvenna for FH, scoring 2 goals. In March 2023, she announced her retirement from football due to arthritis.

International

Sigríður Lára represented Iceland at the

2011 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The 2011 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship was the fourth edition of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship. Spain women's national under-17 football team, Spain was the title holder. Like the previous tournaments, there were two qualifying rounds ...

, where Iceland finished fourth. She also represented her country in the qualifyings for the

2012 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, UEFA Women's U-19 Championship 2012 Final Tournament was held in Antalya, Turkey between 2 and 14 July 2012. Players born after 1 January 1993 were eligible to participate in this competition. Tournament s ...

and

2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, UEFA Women's U-19 Championship 2013 Final Tournament was held in Wales between 19 and 31 August 2013. Players born after 1 January 1994 were eligible to participate in this competition. It was the first time ...

. In both occasions, Iceland failed to qualify. Sigríður Lára debuted for the Icelandic senior team on February 14, 2016, in a 1–1 tie 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 ...

. She also played for her country at the

2017 Algarve Cup The 2017 Algarve Cup was the 24th edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place from 1 to 8 March. Format The twelve invited teams were split into three groups that played a roun ...

. On June 22, 2017, Sigríður Lára was included by coach

Freyr Alexandersson Freyr Alexandersson (born 18 November 1982) is an Icelandic association football, football Coach (sports), coach and former player who currently manages Eliteserien club SK Brann. He was the manager of the Iceland women's national football team ...

in the squad that represented Iceland at the

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship organised by UEFA for the ...

. She played two matches in the tournament, against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Personal life

In January 2018, it was reported that Sigríður had been diagnosed with

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

, at the age of 23, and would have to take medication for the rest of her life to keep the symptoms down.

References

External links

* * * 1994 births Living people Sigridur Lara Gardarsdottir Sigridur Lara Gardarsdottir Sigridur Lara Gardarsdottir Sigridur Lara Gardarsdottir Sigridur Lara Gardarsdottir Besta deild kvenna players Sigridur Lara Gardarsdottir Women's association football midfielders UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players {{Iceland-women-footy-bio-stub