The fantastic four- Icelanders in the EPL

In the wake of Hoffenheim midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson‘s loan move to Swansea, my small country of Iceland now has four current English Premier League players. For a country of 320,000 people, I believe that is a magnificent achievement. If we compare EPL players per capita to other countries, it would be the same as Germany if they had 1000 EPL players and Russia, if they had 1550 (they have three). Of course, we have to take into consideration that these two countries both have very strong leagues at home, but you get the picture.

If we compare it to smaller countries, that are yet bigger than Iceland – my country still has the lead. Our neighbours Denmark have five players, but they have a population of more than five million. Even bigger Norway has four players, just as Iceland, and Sweden only has three.

Countries such as Bulgaria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Mexico, Hungary and quite a few more have less players than Iceland in the English Premier League, despite a much larger population. In fact, Iceland has had a total of 15 Premier League players since the league was founded.

This fact should be a great encouragement to aspiring Icelandic footballers. Per capita, we seem to have a much bigger chance of success than most other countries. But why is that?

In short, the “smallness” of our country is probably our advantage. With less competition, it is far easier to become a successful player in Iceland than in many other countries. In our system, all the bigger teams have youth teams, so e.g. you start training with current Icelandic champions KR at the age of 4 or 5 if you‘re from that neighborhood. If you do good during the youth ranks, you will most likely get your chance with the senior team at a relatively young age. If you manage to excel in the Icelandic league, you‘re most likely to be on your way abroad.

Scouts from all over the world watch the Icelandic league, but most of them are from other Scandinavian countries. Most of our players who are good enough go from Iceland to the Scandinavian countries (Norway and Sweden mostly) but some (like Ajax striker Kolbeinn Sigþórsson) go straight to the Netherlands. Many players never reach further than that, but yet, some of them do! Here is a short summary of each of the Icelandic Premier League Players, the “fantastic four” if you like.

Heiðar Helguson (QPR)

Heiðar Helguson has enjoyed a rather successful career in England. Born in the small town of Dalvík (Population 2000), Helguson joined Norwegian side Lillestrom in 1998 at the age of 21. From there he went to Watford where he enjoyed a good six year spell in the Premier league and Championship league, scoring 55 goals in 174 matches.

From there he went to Fulham, where he played for two years before heading to Bolton, where he played very little. Then he went on loan to QPR during the 2008-09 season, and the Rangers decided to tie him up. But he did not really get into the team and got loaned to his old team Watford twice in 2009 and 2010, where he did relatively well. Last season, Neil Warnock decided to keep him and Helguson scored 13 goals in the Championship, helping QPR claim the top spot in the division. This year, Helguson has been playing well above expectations in the EPL and has scored seven goals for QPR. He is by far their leading goalscorer and recently got a new contract.

Grétar Rafn Steinsson (Bolton)

Steinsson has been a Bolton player since 2008, when he joined Gary Megson‘s troops from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar. Before that, he had played in Switzerland for Young Boys, but he came there from Icelandic side ÍA Akranes. Steinsson quickly became one of Bolton‘s key players but has found it tough to claim a spot in the team this season under Owen Coyle. Icelanders like to believe that it is no coincidence that Bolton sits at the bottom. Obviously it’s Steinsson’s absence! (Yeah right..)

His contract will expire after this season, but if he doesn’t sign with Bolton, he shouldn’t have a problem remaining in the Premier League.

Eggert Gunnþór Jónsson (Wolves)

Jónsson joined Wolves from Scottish side Hearts in the January transfer window after a long career in Scotland. Jónsson was only 17 years old when he joined Hearts from his home town club Fjarðabyggð in 2005, and spent six years in the Scottish capital. During that time, he became one of the team‘s key players, playing almost every position (mostly defence and midfield) and was rewarded with an offer from Wolves in the later days of 2011. He has yet to make his debut in the orange shirt, but this kid has a lot of potential and is bound to be a success in England‘s top flight.

Gylfi Sigurðsson (Swansea)

Sigurdsson rose to stardom in the 2009-10 season at Reading where he became one of the team‘s key players. “The Sig“ joined the Reading youth team at the age of 16 in 2005 and worked hard through the youth ranks. His work ethics paid off and loan spells at Shrewsbury and Crewe Alexandra in 2008 and 2009 respectively did him good. When he finally got the chance in the senior team in the autumn of 2009, there was no turning back and he did wonders, scoring 21 goals in 44 matches and was rightfully named Reading’s player of the season.

In 2010, he was bought by German side TSG Hoffenheim for seven million pounds, a record fee for Reading. Sigurdsson started well for Hoffenheim but they changed managers and that did not help him. An injury in the summer of 2011 after the Euro U21 did not help either, and this season he has lacked the chances. Brendan Rogers, the manager of Swansea, gave him his debut at Reading when he was young and will probably be looking forward to having a more mature Sigurdsson at his service for the remainder of this season.

Of course, Icelanders hope that these four players will be able to make an impact for the remainder of the 2011-12 season!

Written by Alexander EinarssonFollow him on Twitter @alexander_freyr