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Ólafur Ingi Skúlason (born 1 April 1983) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Iceland national under-19 football team and the Iceland national under-15 women's team.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ólafur Ingi Skúlason[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1 April 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Reykjavík, Iceland | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Iceland U-19 (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Fylkir | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2000–2001 | Fylkir | 20 | (0) |
| 2001–2005 | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 2003 | → Fylkir (loan) | 14 | (1) |
| 2005–2007 | Brentford | 16 | (1) |
| 2007–2009 | Helsingborgs IF | 37 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | SønderjyskE | 41 | (3) |
| 2011–2015 | Zulte Waregem | 99 | (6) |
| 2015–2016 | Gençlerbirliği | 25 | (0) |
| 2016–2018 | Karabükspor | 41 | (3) |
| 2018–2020 | Fylkir | 39 | (2) |
| Total | 332 | (16) | |
| International career | |||
| 1999 | Iceland U-17 | 9 | (1) |
| 2000–2001 | Iceland U-19 | 9 | (0) |
| 2002–2005 | Iceland U-21 | 12 | (0) |
| 2003–2018 | Iceland | 36 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021– | Iceland women's U-15 | ||
| 2021– | Iceland U-19 | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ólafur was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, where he played for Fylkir. After the Icelandic season had come to a close, he was looking for new employment, and found it with Arsenal on 1 July 2001.[3] Ólafur was loaned back to Fylkir over a part of the 2003 season, and was voted the best young player in the Icelandic league 2003.[4]
His Arsenal debut came on 2 December 2003 in a 5–1 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers, replacing Justin Hoyte after 55 minutes of the match.[5] Ólafur was released by Arsenal on 28 May 2005.[6] He signed for Brentford on 22 June 2005.[7] Upon his arrival at Brentford, the club's website quoted him as saying: "I look at this as a very important move for my career, knowing that manager Martin Allen had been interested in signing me for a while was a huge compliment for me."[7]
In the second game of the 2005–06 season, Ólafur suffered a cruciate and medial ligament injury resulting from a tackle with Chesterfield's Derek Niven, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.[8] He was passed fit for the start of the 2006–07 season and completed his comeback by scoring the winner in a 1–0 win over Blackpool, the first game of the season.[9] He signed for Helsingborgs IF on 21 February 2007.[10] After three successful years in Helsingborg, Ólafur turned down a new contract offer and signed for Danish team SønderjyskE on 6 December 2009.[11]
A year later Ólafur signed for Zulte Waregem in Belgium and stayed there for four years. He then plied his trade in Turkey for a few years before returning to Fylkir.[12][13]
Ólafur returned to former club Fylkir in 2018.[14]
Ólafur earned his first cap for Iceland in a friendly against Mexico on 20 November 2003 as a substitute, replacing Veigar Páll Gunnarsson.[15] He has also captained their U21 team.[16]
Although playing almost 30 international games for over ten years, Ólafur never quite managed to become a regular first team member of the Icelandic team.[17] He was, however, a useful squad member and played three games as a substitute in Iceland's successful qualification for Euro 2016, including Iceland's famous win over the Netherlands in Amsterdam.[18] He was not selected for Iceland's Euro 2016 team.
In May 2018 he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[19]
- Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ólafur goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 September 2009 | Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland |  Georgia | 2–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
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