Eggert Gunnþór Jónsson (born 18 August 1988) is an Icelandic international footballer who plays predominantly as a midfielder but is also capable of playing as a centre back or in both full back roles. He plays for the Icelandic club Austfjarða after joining them from FH.[2]
 Jónsson (left) playing for Iceland in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eggert Gunnþór Jónsson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 18 August 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Reykjavík, Iceland | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder / Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Austfjarða | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2007 | Heart of Midlothian | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2005 | Fjarðabyggð | 22 | (5) |
| 2006–2012 | Heart of Midlothian | 134 | (8) |
| 2012–2013 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4 | (0) |
| 2012 | → Charlton Athletic (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Belenenses | 11 | (0) |
| 2015 | FC Vestsjælland | 14 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Fleetwood Town | 51 | (4) |
| 2017–2020 | SønderjyskE | 43 | (1) |
| 2020 | FH | 61 | (0) |
| 2024– | Austfjarða | 7 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2004 | Iceland U17 | 7 | (0) |
| 2005–2007 | Iceland U19 | 12 | (2) |
| 2007–2011 | Iceland U21 | 15 | (0) |
| 2007– | Iceland | 21 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 June 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 January 2019 | |||
He joined Scottish Premier League side Hearts as a teenager and eventually established himself in the first-team where he displayed his versatility and even went on to captain the Edinburgh side on numerous occasions before moving to the English Premier League in January 2012 when he signed for Wolves, with whom he made only seven appearances during an eighteen-month stay.
He made his international debut at the age of 19 and is considered to be part of Iceland's golden generation along with the likes of Gylfi Sigurðsson and Kolbeinn Sigþórsson.[3]
Club career
editEggert made his debut as a 15-year-old for Fjarðabyggð in Iceland. After that he trained with Þór Akureyri.
Hearts
editIn July 2005, he signed for Hearts, signing a professional contract soon after he turned 18. He made his debut for Hearts on 20 September 2006, appearing as a substitute in a 4–0 League Cup victory over Alloa Athletic. He made his league debut as a substitute in Hearts' 1–0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Tynecastle on 10 February 2007. His first experience of an Edinburgh Derby came on 1 April 2007 as he appeared as a 66th-minute substitute in 1–0 victory at Easter Road.[4]
Eggert scored his first goal for the club against Heracles Almelo in a 5–1 friendly victory in July 2007. His first competitive goal came against St Mirren in 3–2 at Tynecastle on 19 April 2008. On 28 March 2008, Eggert signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract[5] with the Edinburgh team.
Having played mainly as a centre midfielder and occasionally a centre back for the first few years of his Hearts career Eggert began to display his versatility in the 2008–09 season. New manager Csaba László used Eggert almost exclusively as a right-back for the first few months of the season and during the course of the season he played across the midfield, as a centre back and as a left back. László praised Eggert for his consistent performances despite constantly changing position as well as his diligent attitude.[6] Eggert himself expressed his desire to do his best for the team regardless of which position he played.[7]
Following the departure of Christophe Berra to Wolverhampton Wanderers in January 2009, Eggert was given the number four shirt for the 2009–10 season. Perhaps the most memorable moment of his Hearts career came against Aberdeen as he scored an acrobatic overhead kick to give Hearts a 1–0 victory at Pittodrie on 27 February 2010.[8] Due to the absence of captain Marius Žaliūkas and vice-captain Lee Wallace, Eggert was made captain for the 3–0 defeat to Celtic F.C. at Parkhead on 11 September 2010.[9] He would go on to take the captain's armband for numerous matches while with the Jambos due to the unavailability of Žaliūkas. One such occasion came on 7 May 2011 as he was sent off for a challenge on Nikica Jelavić in a 4–0 away loss against Rangers.[10] During his Hearts career, Eggert made 153 appearances in all competitions and scored nine goals.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
editOn 21 December 2011, Eggert agreed to join English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £250,000 rising to £600,000.[11][12][13] The deal was officially completed when the January 2012 transfer window opened.[14]
Jónsson made his debut for Wolves playing the full 90 minutes against Birmingham in the FA Cup on 7 January, but this was one of only made five appearances in total during the remainder of the campaign during which the club suffered relegation.[15]
The player's first team prospects at Molineux failed to improve during Stale Solbakken's tenure as manager, with Jónsson only featuring in one league game as a substitute. To gain playing time he joined fellow Championship club Charlton Athletic on a one-month loan deal in November 2012.[16] On 7 December 2012, he returned from his loan spell having made two appearances for the Addicks.[17]
He did not make any further appearances during the remainder of the 2012–13 season and on 12 July 2013, Wolves announced that an agreement had been reached to terminate his contract with two years remaining.[18]
Belenenses
editWithin days of his release from Wolves, Jónsson joined Portuguese club Belenenses. Late in the summer of 2014 Eggert mutually terminated his contract with the Portuguese side, returning to Iceland to recover from injury.[19]
Fleetwood Town
editIn 2015, Fleetwood Town signed Jónsson on a one-year contract following expiration of his deal with FC Vestsjælland.[20] After making 63 appearances in all competitions for Fleetwood, in January 2017 he signed for Danish side SønderjyskE.[21]
SønderjyskE
editAfter joining SønderjyskE in 2017, Jónsson played 43 times for the club. During the 2020 COVID-19 hiatus, his contract was extended until July 2020.[22] Jónsson scored in the Super League game that relegated Silkeborg.[23]
Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar
editIn August 2020, Jonsson signed for Icelandic club Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar.[24]
International career
editJónsson received his first call-up to the Iceland national team in November 2007 for the Euro 2008 qualifier against Denmark on 21 November.[25] He made his debut as a 73-minute replacement for Emil Hallfreðsson in the 3–0 Group F defeat at the Parken Stadium.[26]
He was part of the Iceland under-21 team at the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, a squad which was considered to be the golden generation of Icelandic football.[3] Iceland were eliminated from Group A by a three-way tie-breaker as they finished with an identical record to both Belarus and Denmark, allowing Belarus to advance along with group winners Switzerland.
Career statistics
edit[27][28] Updated 19 December 2014.
| Club | Season | League | League | Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Fjarðabyggð | 2004 | 3. deild | 15 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 6 |
| 2005 | 2. deild | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Club total | 22 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 6 | ||
| Hearts | 2006–07 | Scottish Premier League | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2007–08 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 1 | ||
| 2008–09 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 3 | ||
| 2009–10 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 3 | ||
| 2010–11 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 1 | ||
| 2011–12 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| Club total | 134 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 153 | 9 | ||
| Wolves | 2011–12 | Premier League | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2012–13 | Football League Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Club total | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Charlton Athletic (loan) | 2012–13 | Football League Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Club total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Belenenses | 2013–14 | Primeira Liga | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Club total | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Career Total | 173 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 199 | 15 | ||
Honours
editSønderjyskE
References
edit- ^ The Bell's Scottish Football Review 2005.06. Cre8 Publishing. 2005. p. 26. ISBN 9-780954-855611.
- ^ Eggert Gunnþór í FH (Staðfest), 30 January 2017
- ^ a b "U21 Euros preview". Sky Sport. 1 June 2011.
- ^ "Hibernian 0–1 Hearts". BBC. 1 April 2007.
- ^ Hearts youngster Eggert Jonsson signs new four and a half year deal; Daily Record, 28 March 2008
- ^ "We must thank God for versatility of Eggert Jonsson, says Hearts manager". Daily Record. 17 April 2009.
- ^ "Eggert Jonsson interview: Heart of fire, head of ice". The Scotsman. 14 March 2009.
- ^ "Aberdeen 0–1 Hearts". BBC. 27 February 2010.
- ^ "Celtic v Hearts preview". Sky Sports. 10 September 2010. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010.
- ^ "Rangers 4–0 Hearts". BBC. 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Hearts midfielder Eggert Jonsson to join Wolves in January". BBC. 21 December 2011.
- ^ "Mick McCarthy scrambles for Eggert Jonsson signing". Shropshire Star. 21 December 2011. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- ^ "Mick McCarthy warns of inflated January fees". Express & Star. 7 January 2011.
- ^ "Wolves capture Hearts midfielder". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 21 December 2011. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012.
- ^ "Birmingham 0–0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 7 January 2012.
- ^ "Charlton Athletic sign Eggert Jonsson and Dan Seaborne on loan". BBC Sport. 9 November 2012.
- ^ "Jonsson returns to Wolves". Charlton Athletic F.C. 7 December 2012. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
- ^ "Wolves: Eggert Jonsson has contract cancelled at Molineux". BBC Sport. 12 July 2013.
- ^ "Aftur í atvinnumennsku".
- ^ "Fleetwood have signed Iceland international defender Eggert Jonsson". Sky Sports. 8 July 2015.
- ^ "Eggert Jonsson leaves Fleetwood Town in a permanent deal". Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "SønderjyskE forlænger fem spillere med en måned" (in Danish). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "Skuffede Silkeborg-fans efter exit fra Superligaen: - Det gør ondt" (in Danish). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "Overblik: Superligaens sommertransfers 2020" (in Danish). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "Jonsson credits Frail for first national call-up". The Scotsman. 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Iceland caught cold by eager Denmark". UEFA. 21 November 2007.
- ^ "Eggert Jonsson – Football Stats – Fleetwood Town – Age 28 – Soccer Base".
- ^ "Eggert Gunnþór Jónsson – Knattspyrnusamband Íslands".
External links
edit- Eggert Jonsson at Soccerbase
- Appearances Archived 3 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine at londonhearts.com
- Eggert Jónsson at National-Football-Teams.com
- Eggert Jónsson at the Football Association of Iceland (in Icelandic)
