Sigurður Jónsson (born 27 September 1966 in

Akranes Akranes () is a port town and municipality on the west coast of Iceland, around north of the capital Reykjavík. The area where Akranes is located was settled in the 9th century; however, it did not receive a municipal charter until 1942. His ...

), also known as The Icelandic Beast (and his son as The Icelandic Beast JR), is a retired Icelandic

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 ...

and former coach of Swedish club

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, , is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum Skansen, the small resident ...

. In 2008, he featured in a ten-man shortlist for Iceland's greatest footballer of all time.

Playing career

Club

Sigurður started his career at his hometown club IA Akranes before moving to English club

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

in February 1985. He spent four years at Wednesday, including a brief spell on loan to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in 1986, playing 67 times for them. He made his English league debut against

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 ...

in March 1985. He was signed by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in July 1989 for a fee of £475,000 and made his Arsenal debut at home against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on 14 October 1989. However his period at Arsenal was wrecked by injury and he made just ten appearances in all competitions for the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

side, scoring once in the league against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

in November 1989. He was part of the Arsenal side that won the old First Division in 1991 but only played in two matches, which was not enough to earn a winner's medal. Sigurður announced his retirement in December 1991, having failed to appear in a competitive game for Arsenal since October 1990, due to a back injury. He came out of retirement to rejoin IA Akranes in 1992 and later played for Swedish club

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

in the 1996 and 1997 Allsvenskan seasons. He signed for Scottish club

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

in November 1997, where again injury reduced his opportunities to play; he made 43 league appearances, scoring once against Motherwell. After having his contract terminated in April 2000, Sigurður signed for IA Akranes for the third time in his career the following month. He finally retired from playing in 2001.

International

Additionally, during his career Sigurður represented

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 ...

at international level 65 times, scoring three goals. He made his international debut in a Euro 84 qualifier against

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on 5 June 1983, aged just 16 years and 251 days. He came on at half time in a 1–0 win. This made him the youngest player to have appeared in a

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

qualifier, a record he held until it was taken by

Martin Ødegaard Martin Ødegaard (born 17 December 1998) is a Norwegian professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for and Captain (association football), captains both Premier League club Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and the Norway nati ...

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 ...

in 2014. He played his last game for the national team on 9 September 1999 against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Coaching career

As a coach, he had spells with FH, Vikingur and

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 ...

, before being appointed

manager in November 2006. In 2010, he signed on as

Enköping Enköping is a locality and the seat of Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 30,000 inhabitants in 2018. Geography Enköping is situated near Lake Mälaren, about 78 km west of Stockholm. A comparably large number of S ...

manager.

Honours

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

(shared) * Årets Järnkamin: 2007

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsson, Sigurdur 1966 births Living people Sigurdur Jonsson Sigurdur Jonsson Sigurdur Jonsson Sigurdur Jonsson Sigurdur Jonsson Sigurdur Jonsson Sigurdur Jonsson Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Örebro SK players Dundee United F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Allsvenskan players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll managers Expatriate football managers in Sweden Sigurdur Jonsson Sigurdur Jonsson Sigurdur Jonsson Sigurdur Jonsson Men's association football midfielders Sigurdur Jonsson 20th-century Icelandic sportsmen