Lárus_Sigurðsson
Lárus Sigurðsson
Icelandic footballer and manager
Lárus Orri Sigurðsson (born 4 June 1973), known in English as Larus Sigurdsson, is an Icelandic former professional footballer, who played most notably for Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion in England. [1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lárus Orri Sigurðsson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1973-06-04) 4 June 1973 (age 50)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Akureyri, Iceland[1] | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–1994 | Þór Akureyri | 79 | (6) |
| 1994–1999 | Stoke City | 200 | (7) |
| 1999–2004 | West Bromwich Albion | 116 | (1) |
| 2005–2009 | Þór Akureyri | 52 | (4) |
| 2010 | ÍA | 2 | (0) |
| Total | 449 | (18) | |
| International career | |||
| 1995–2003 | Iceland | 42 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006–2010 | Þór Akureyri | ||
| 2011–2013 | KF | ||
| 2017–2018 | Þór Akureyri | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Sigurðsson was born in Akureyri and played with Þór Akureyri along with his father Sigurdur Larusson, who later became the manager.[1] His cousin Þorvaldur Örlygsson who was playing in England for Stoke City recommended him to manager Lou Macari and he joined Stoke on trial.[1] Lárus impressed Macari so much that he played him against Portsmouth before he had signed him.[1] He played 23 times in 1994–95 and his performances were so good he won the player of the year award. He was an ever-present in 1995–96 as Stoke reached the play-offs where they lost to Leicester City.[1] He missed just one match in 1996–97 in what was the club's final season at the Victoria Ground.[1] He played in all but three matches in 1997–98 as Stoke suffered relegation to the third tier.[1] he played 43 times in 1998–99 as Stoke failed to gain promotion and he was sold to West Bromwich Albion in August 1999 for a fee of £350,000 after making 228 appearances for Stoke.[1]
He scored once for Albion, his goal coming in a 5–0 win over Portsmouth on 23 February 2002.[2] After his professional career in England, Sigurðsson went home to his old club, Þór, and played 15 games for them in 2005. In summer 2006, he was appointed player-manager at Þór, a position he held until 31 May 2010 when he resigned after conflict with the board. On 20 July 2010, he joined ÍA, the club he played in as a youngster. His first senior appearance for ÍA came in a 4–2 win over Fjarðarbyggð. At the start of the 2011 season Lárus was appointed as the manager of KF, retiring as a player.
Sigurðsson won 42 caps, scoring two goals for Iceland.[3] He made his debut for Iceland in a July 1995 friendly against Faroe Islands, coming on as a substitute for Izudin Dervic.
Club
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Þór Akureyri | 1990 | Úrvalsdeild karla | 13 | 1 | — | — | — | 13 | 1 | |||
| 1991 | 1. deild karla | 16 | 2 | — | — | — | 16 | 2 | ||||
| 1992 | Úrvalsdeild karla | 18 | 1 | — | — | — | 18 | 1 | ||||
| 1993 | Úrvalsdeild karla | 17 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||||
| 1994 | Úrvalsdeild karla | 15 | 2 | — | — | — | 15 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 79 | 6 | — | — | — | 79 | 6 | |||||
| Stoke City | 1994–95 | First Division | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| 1995–96 | First Division | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 55 | 0 | |
| 1996–97 | First Division | 45 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 0 | |
| 1997–98 | First Division | 43 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 49 | 1 | ||
| 1998–99 | Second Division | 38 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 43 | 4 | |
| 1999–2000 | Second Division | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | |
| Total | 200 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 228 | 7 | ||
| West Bromwich Albion | 1999–2000 | First Division | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 2000–01 | First Division | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2001–02 | First Division | 43 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 1 | |
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 32 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | First Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 116 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 128 | 1 | ||
| Þór Akureyri | 2005 | 1. deild karla | 15 | 1 | — | — | — | 15 | 1 | |||
| 2006 | 1. deild karla | 11 | 1 | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | ||||
| 2007 | 1. deild karla | 13 | 2 | — | — | — | 13 | 2 | ||||
| 2008 | 1. deild karla | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| 2009 | 1. deild karla | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 52 | 4 | — | — | — | 52 | 4 | |||||
| ÍA | 2010 | 1. deild karla | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 449 | 18 | 14 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 489 | 18 | ||
- Two Appearances in First Division play-offs and two in Anglo-Italian Cup
- Appearances in Football League Trophy
- Appearance in First Division play-offs
International
Source:[5]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iceland | 1995 | 1 | 0 |
| 1996 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 2 | |
International goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 13 May 1998 | Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Cannes, France |  Saudi Arabia | 1–1 | Draw | Friendly | |||||
| 2. | 31 March 1999 | NSC Olimpiyskyi, Kyiv, Ukraine |  Ukraine | 1–1 | Draw | Euro 2000 qualifying | |||||
| Correct as of 22 November 2016[6] | |||||||||||
Stoke City
West Bromwich Albion
- West Bromwich Albion player of the year: 2000
- Football League First Division runners-up: 2001-02
- Stoke City 101 Golden Greats. Desert Islands Books. 2002. ISBN 1-874287554.
- "West Brom 5–0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. BBC. 23 February 2002. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
- Luis Fernando Passo Alpuin; Jostein Nygård. "Iceland – Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- Lárus Sigurðsson at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
- Lárus Sigurðsson at National-Football-Teams.com
- "Lárus Sigurðsson - national football team player". eu-football.info. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
- Lárus Sigurðsson at Soccerbase
