Ólafur Gottskálksson

Ólafur Gottskálksson (born 12 March 1968 in Keflavík) is a retired Icelandic professional football goalkeeper. He played ten games for Icelandic national football team.[1]

Ólafur Gottskálksson
Personal information
Full name Ólafur Gottskálksson
Date of birth (1968-03-12) 12 March 1968 (age 56)
Place of birth Keflavík, Iceland
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Keflavik
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1990 IA Akranes 33 (0)
1990–1994 KR Reykjavík 71 (0)
1994–1997 Keflavik 63 (0)
1997–2000 Hibernian 64 (0)
2000–2002 Brentford 73 (0)
2003–2004 Grindavik 10 (0)
2004 Keflavik 11 (0)
2004 Margate
2004–2005 Torquay United 15 (0)
Total 340 (0)
International career
1988–1989 Iceland U21 6 (0)
1991–1998 Iceland 10 (0)

Basketball career
Career information
Playing career1983–1994
Career history
1983–1988Keflavík
1989–1990Keflavík
1990–1991Víkverji
1991–1992KR
1993–1994Keflavík
Career highlights and awards
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Football

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Club career

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Ólafur played for IA Akranes and KR Reykjavík before joining Scottish side Hibernian from Keflavik in July 1997 for a fee of £200,000. He played 70 times for Hibs before joining Brentford on a free transfer in May 2000. He went on to play 73 league games for Brentford, at one point having to pay for his own goalkeeping coach. He had a trial with Stockport County in July 2002 and was offered a two-year contract, but chose to remain with Brentford.[2] He was also linked with a move to Ipswich Town,[3] but in November 2002 was forced to retire due to a shoulder injury.[4]

He returned to Iceland and resumed his playing career with Grindavik.[5]

On his return to the United Kingdom in August 2004, he had a trial with Grimsby Town,[6] before joining Conference South side Margate,[1] moving to Torquay United the following month,[7] as a replacement for the departing Arjan van Heusden. He was one of seven goalkeepers used that season (the others being Phil Barnes, Bertrand Bossu, Kevin Dearden, Paul Jarvie, Andy Marriott and Arjan van Heusden) and played 15 league games for Torquay before disappearing in January 2005 when, according to then Torquay chairman Mike Bateson, doping testers arrived at Plainmoor for routine testing and Gottskálksson was chosen to give a sample. On viewing the list of banned substances he fled Torquay, leaving his girlfriend behind without an explanation, and went missing for ten days.[8][9] In June 2005, the Football Association announced that an independent disciplinary commission had banned Gottskálksson from football indefinitely for failing to take that drugs test.[10]

International career

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He played 10 times for the Iceland national side.[11] His last international match came in February 1998 in a 1–0 Cyprus International Football Tournament defeat against Norway.[11]

Basketball

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Ólafur played basketball for seven season in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla, averaging 5.5 points per game for his career. He won the Icelandic Basketball Cup in 1994.[12] He played 4 games for the junior national basketball teams.[13]

Honours

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Keflavík

Personal life

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Gottskálksson is the son of goalkeeper Gottskalk Gottskálksson and the brother of goalkeeper Elvar Gottskálksson.[14]

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In March 2010 Ólafur was sentenced to a ten months prison term in Iceland for housebreaking, robbery and violent attack.[15][16] In October 2011 he was sentenced to additional four months in prison for similar charges, including serious violence.[17]

On 25 July 2016, he was arrested after a police chase for driving under influences with his five-year-old son in the backseat.[18][9] He checked into rehab on 4 August but was rushed to the National University Hospital of Iceland two days later due to internal bleeding and broken ribs, injuries he claimed he sustained when the police arrested him.[19][20]

Honours

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Brentford

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Margate turn to Icelandic keeper". NonLeagueDaily. 28 August 2004. Archived from the original on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "Keeper stays at Brentford". BBC Sport. 2 August 2002. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  3. ^ "Icelandic keeper sorry to say his final Ole". The Scotsman. 23 November 2002. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  4. ^ "Brentford | News | Latest News | Latest News | OLI RETIRES". world.brentfordfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  5. ^ uefa.com (23 November 2002). "Gottskalksson headed for Grindavík – UEFA.com". www.uefa.com. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Slade makes Downey signing". BBC Sport. 17 August 2004. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  7. ^ "Gottskalksson joins Gulls". BBC Sport. 22 September 2004. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  8. ^ "Gottskalksson gets FA suspension". BBC Sport. 29 June 2005. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  9. ^ a b Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (18 November 2017). "Keyrði þúsund kílómetra tvisvar í viku eftir kókaíni". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Gottskalksson suspended". TheFA.com. 29 June 2005. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  11. ^ a b Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Ólafur Gottskálksson". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Leikur". gamli.kki.is. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  13. ^ Unglinga- og drengjalandslið Íslands
  14. ^ "Brentford Football Club". Archived from the original on 11 August 2002. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Vísir – Fyrrverandi landsliðsmarkvörður dæmdur í fangelsi". visir.is. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Fyrrverandi landsliðsmarkvörður dæmdur í fangelsi". Víkurfréttir. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Pressan.is". Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  18. ^ Ísleifsson, Atli (3 August 2016). "Óli Gott lagði á flótta undan lögreglu með fimm ára son sinn í aftursætinu". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  19. ^ Gylfason, Atli Már (8 August 2016). "Fyrrum landsliðsmarkvörður barinn með kylfum af lögreglu og fluttur á bráðamóttöku". Stundin (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  20. ^ "Ólafur Gottskálksson fluttur í skyndi af Vogi á Landspítalann: Brotið rifbein og innvortis blæðingar". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 8 August 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  21. ^ "Vale vault Brentford to lift Vans trophy". BBC Sport. 22 April 2001. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
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