Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson Explained

Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson
Fullname:Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson[1]
Birth Date:26 February 1991[2]
Birth Place:Akranes, Iceland
Height:1.87 m
Position:Forward
Youthclubs1:ÍA
Years1:2007–2008
Clubs1:ÍA
Caps1:30
Goals1:6
Years2:2009–2012
Clubs2:Lillestrøm
Caps2:70
Goals2:17
Years3:2012–2016
Clubs3:Wolverhampton Wanderers
Caps3:69
Goals3:7
Years4:2014
Clubs4:Molde (loan)
Caps4:15
Goals4:3
Years5:2015
Clubs5:Copenhagen (loan)
Caps5:14
Goals5:1
Years6:2016–2017
Clubs6:Molde
Caps6:38
Goals6:20
Years7:2018–2020
Clubs7:Rostov
Caps7:38
Goals7:8
Years8:2020
Clubs8:APOEL (loan)
Caps8:0
Goals8:0
Years9:2020–2021
Clubs9:Lillestrøm
Caps9:7
Goals9:1
Years10:2021–2022
Clubs10:Molde
Caps10:1
Goals10:0
Years11:2023
Clubs11:ÍA
Caps11:0
Goals11:0
Nationalyears1:2006–2007
Nationalteam1:Iceland U-17
Nationalcaps1:5
Nationalgoals1:0
Nationalyears2:2007–2008
Nationalteam2:Iceland U-19
Nationalcaps2:7
Nationalgoals2:2
Nationalyears3:2010–2012
Nationalteam3:Iceland U-21
Nationalcaps3:7
Nationalgoals3:4
Nationalyears4:2011–2018
Nationalteam4:Iceland
Nationalcaps4:17
Nationalgoals4:1
Pcupdate:20 May 2023
Ntupdate:9 September 2018

Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson (born 26 February 1991) is an Icelandic former footballer who played as a forward.

He began his career with ÍA in his native Iceland before a three-year spell at Norwegian side Lillestrøm, during which time he made his international debut. In July 2012, he moved to English side Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported £2.4m fee.[3] His contract with Wolves expired in June 2016 without renewal.[4]

Club career

ÍA

Björn made his debut for his hometown club ÍA in the 2007 Úrvalsdeild. He was mostly employed as a substitute in his first season, but became a regular first team player during the next season. However, ÍA suffered relegation to the second level.

He did not remain at ÍA after their relegation, though, and instead signed a three-year contract with Norwegian club Lillestrøm in January 2009.[5]

Lillestrøm

After making his club debut on 22 March 2009 against Viking,[6] Björn's first season in the Tippeliga was troubled by numerous lower back injuries. He did manage to make 12 appearances, scoring once (against Bodø/Glimt on 20 September).[7]

In the 2010 season, he became regular player for the club, a position he has held ever since. In Autumn 2011, his contract was extended further to run until 2014, though this news was not made public.[8]

In the 2012 season, Björn scored seven times in the first eleven league games, as well as four goals in two cup ties.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 18 June 2012, Björn's club officially announced that they had accepted an undisclosed bid for him from English side Wolverhampton Wanderers, believed to be in the region of £2.4 million.[9] [10] After passing to a medical and agreeing to personal terms for a four-year contract, the deal was finalised on 17 July 2012.[11]

The Icelandic striker made his Wolves debut as a substitute in an opening day defeat at Leeds United.[12] He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win at Peterborough in late September,[13] the first of five goals during a campaign that ended in relegation to League One.

In the 2013–14 season, under his third different manager during his time at Wolves, Björn failed to hold down a regular place in Wolves' team and, on 31 January 2014, he was loaned to Norwegian side Molde for the remainder of 2014 in order to complete the Norwegian league season.[14] During this loan spell he won the league and cup double with Molde.

On 1 January 2016, he came on as a 67th-minute substitute for James Henry in a 1–0 Championship win at Brighton & Hove Albion, his first Wolves appearance for over two years.[15] Björn went on to often be used during the second half of the season, frequently as a lone forward, but failed to score during these 15 appearances, meaning his final goal for Wolves had come almost three years prior in August 2013.

At the conclusion of the season, Wolves announced they would not be renewing his contract.[4] He had made 75 appearances in total for the club, scoring seven times.

Molde

On 12 July 2016, Björn joined Norwegian club Molde on a free transfer.[16] This came after his short loan spell with the club in 2014. He made his debut for Molde on 28 March 2014 in a 2–0 home win against Vålerenga. In this match, he also scored his first goal for Molde. It came in the 29th minute, and was the first of the game. He was subbed off in the 82nd minute of that match, being replaced by Tommy Høiland.[17]

Rostov

On 5 January 2018, Björn signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with the Russian club Rostov.[18]

On 22 January 2020, he was loaned to Cypriot club APOEL.[19]

Return to Lillestrøm

On 14 August 2020, he returned to Lillestrøm and signed a contract until the end of 2020.[20]

Return to Molde

On 1 February 2021, Molde announced the return of Sigurðarson on a two-year contract.[21]

International career

Björn has represented Iceland at numerous youth levels, most recently playing for their Under-21 team in the qualifying competition for the 2013 European Under-21 Championship. He played two matches in the 2011 European Under-21 Championship Finals in Denmark.

He has seven caps for the full Icelandic national team, having made his debut as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Cyprus during Euro 2012 qualification on 6 September 2011.[22] He scored his first goal for the Iceland senior team in a 2–1 World Cup Qualifying win against Kosovo. The goal came in the 25th minute.[23]

He played at China Cup 2017, where Iceland won silver medals[24] [25]

In May 2018, he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[26]

Personal life

Björn has three half-brothers, Bjarni Guðjónsson, Þórður Guðjónsson and Joey Guðjónsson, who have all been professional footballers as well as playing for the Icelandic national team. Joey also played for Wolves.

Career statistics

Club

[27]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
ÍA2007[28] Úrvalsdeild1121172195
2008194103121256
Total30621103214411
Lillestrøm2009[29] Tippeligaen12100121
201025410264
201120533238
2012137451712
Total7017887825
Wolverhampton Wanderers2012–13Championship3750020395
2013–14League One182100020212
2014–15Championship00000000
2015–161401000150
Total697202020757
Molde (loan)2014Tippeligaen1532000173
Copenhagen (loan)2014–15Danish Superliga1413100172
Molde2016Tippeligaen1140000114
2017Eliteserien271631colspan="2"-3017
Total382031004121
Rostov2017–18Russian Premier League6161
2018–19265265
2019–20621072
Total3881000398
Lillestrøm2020OBOS-ligaen7171
Molde2021Eliteserien10107181
Molde2022Eliteserien00000000
Career total282632211123922032779

International

[30]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Iceland201110
201200
201300
201400
201500
201620
201761
201880
Total171

Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Björn goal.

Honours

Molde

Individual

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/02/2014 and 28/02/2014. The Football Association. PDF. 6. 6 April 2014.
  2. Web site: 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia: List of players: Iceland . FIFA . 13 . 10 June 2018 . 10 June 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180619164139/https://tournament.fifadata.com/documents/FWC/2018/pdf/FWC_2018_SQUADLISTS.PDF . 19 June 2018 . dead .
  3. News: Wolves' bid for Bjorn Bergmann Sigurdsson accepted. Express & Star . 18 June 2012.
  4. News: Contract decisions revealed. Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 9 May 2016. 9 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160509220844/http://www.wolves.co.uk/news/article/news-contract-decisions-revealed-3105709.aspx. 9 May 2016. dead.
  5. News: Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson til Lilleström staðfest. is. Fotbolti.net. 20 October 2008.
  6. News: Lillestrøm 1–1 Viking . Altomfotball. no . 22 March 2009.
  7. News: Lillestrøm 2–2 Bodø/Glimt . Altomfotball. no . 20 September 2009.
  8. Web site: Signerte i all hemmelighet. Romerikes Blad. no. 24 April 2012.
  9. News: Wolves' bid for Bjorn Bergmann Sigurdsson accepted. Express & Star. 18 June 2012.
  10. News: Deal agreed for Sigurdarson. Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 19 June 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120914010235/http://www.wolves.co.uk/page/News/0%2C%2C10307~2816063%2C00.html. 14 September 2012.
  11. News: Wolves confirm Sigurdarson deal . Sky Sports . 17 July 2012.
  12. News: Leeds 1–0 Wolves. BBC Sport. 18 August 2012.
  13. News: Peterborough 0–2 Wolves. BBC Sport. 22 September 2012.
  14. News: Molde sign Bjorn Sigurdarson from Wolves. BBC Sport. 31 January 2014.
  15. News: Brighton 0-1 Wolves. 1 January 2016. BBC Sport. 1 January 2016.
  16. News: Bekreftet: Sigurdarson har skrevet under kontrakt for Molde. dagbladet.no. 12 July 2016. 17 July 2016.
  17. Web site: Molde vs. Valerenga - 28 March 2014 - Soccerway.
  18. Web site: FC Rostov. http://www.fc-rostov.ru/press/news/11452. ru:Бьорн Сигурдарсон – игрок «Ростова»!. 5 January 2018. ru. 5 January 2018. 5 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180605002349/http://www.fc-rostov.ru/press/news/11452. dead.
  19. APOEL. Συμφωνία δανεισμού με FC Rostov για Björn Sigurdarson. 22 January 2020. el.
  20. Web site: Lillestrøm. SIGURDARSON TILBAKE I LSK: - DET ER HER JEG VIL VÆRE. 14 August 2020. no.
  21. Web site: BJÖRN BERGMANN SIGURÐARSON ER KLAR FOR MOLDE FK . moldefk.no/ . Molde FK . 2 February 2021 . Norwegian . 1 February 2021.
  22. News: Iceland beat Cyprus to break Group H duck. UEFA . 6 September 2011.
  23. Web site: Kosovo vs. Iceland - 24 March 2017 - Soccerway.
  24. Web site: Iceland vs. Chile - 15 January 2017 - Soccerway.
  25. Web site: China PR vs. Iceland - 10 January 2017 - Soccerway.
  26. Web site: Smith . Jamie . Injured Gylfi Sigurdsson in Iceland's World Cup squad . Goal . 12 October 2019 . 11 May 2018.
  27. Web site: B.Sigurðarson. soccerway.com. Soccerway. 5 January 2018.
  28. Web site: Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson. ksi.is. ksi. 5 January 2018.
  29. Web site: Björn Bergmann Sigurdarson. nifs.no. nifs. 5 January 2018.
  30. Web site: Björn Sigurðarson . National-Football-Teams.com . 5 January 2018.