Arnar Grétarsson (born 20 February 1972 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic former professional football player and former manager of Valur.

Arnar Grétarsson
Personal information
Full name Arnar Grétarsson
Date of birth (1972-02-20) 20 February 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1987 Breiðablik
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1997 Breiðablik 139 (27)
1989–1990Rangers (loan) 0 (0)
1997 Leiftur 6 (0)
1997–2000 AEK Athens 67 (2)
2000–2006 Lokeren 157 (36)
2006–2009 Breiðablik 60 (5)
2015 Augnablik 1 (1)
International career
1987 Iceland U16 6 (4)
1988–1990 Iceland U18 12 (2)
1991 Iceland U21 4 (0)
1991–2004 Iceland 71 (2)
Managerial career
2009 Breiðablik (assistant)
2010–2012 AEK Athens (Director of Football)
2013–2014 Club Brugge (sporting Director)
2015–2017 Breiðablik
2019 Roeselare
2020–2022 KA Akureyri
2022–2024 Valur
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

edit

Arnar started his career in Breiðablik, where he played for several years until he joined Leiftur in 1997, where he stayed for one year. His next club was AEK Athens FC, where he stayed for three years. After his contract expired in 2000, Arnar signed for Belgian club K.S.C. Lokeren, where he played until 2006, when he moved back to his homeland to play for Breiðablik again.

International career

edit

Arnar made his debut for Iceland in the famous 5–1 shock defeat of Turkey in a September 1991 friendly match. He has been capped 71 times for Iceland, scoring two goals.[1] His last international match was an October 2004 World Cup qualifying match against Malta.

Coaching career

edit

In 2009, Arnar was appointed Assistant Manager of Breiðablik. In April 2010, Greek side AEK Athens F.C. appointed him as Director of Football. He left the club due to reorganization in the summer of 2012.[2]

In 2013, he was appointed as Sporting Director with Belgian team Club Brugge.[3]

In late 2014 he was appointed as Manager of Breiðablik ahead of the 2015 season.

In a major reshake in the fall of 2022 he was appointed by Valur as their manager soon after he was sacked as manager of KA Akureyri, after having notable success as manager in the northern capital the Icelandic giants hope to bring stability to their setup.

His older brother, Sigurður, was also an Iceland international.

References

edit
  1. ^ Iceland – Record International Players – Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
  2. ^ "Arnar quit AEK". fotbolti.net. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Victor Vazquez verlengt contract bij Club Brugge" [Victor Vazques extends contract]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 21 March 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
edit