| Ólafur Ingi Skúlason | |
| Fullname: | Ólafur Ingi Skúlason[1] |
| Birth Date: | 1983 4, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Height: | 1.84 m |
| Currentclub: | Iceland U-19 (head coach) |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Youthclubs1: | Fylkir |
| Years1: | 2000–2001 |
| Clubs1: | Fylkir |
| Caps1: | 20 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2001–2005 |
| Clubs2: | Arsenal |
| Caps2: | 0 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Clubs3: | → Fylkir (loan) |
| Years3: | 2003 |
| Caps3: | 14 |
| Goals3: | 1 |
| Clubs4: | Brentford |
| Years4: | 2005–2007 |
| Caps4: | 16 |
| Goals4: | 1 |
| Clubs5: | Helsingborgs IF |
| Years5: | 2007–2009 |
| Caps5: | 37 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Clubs6: | SønderjyskE |
| Years6: | 2010–2011 |
| Caps6: | 41 |
| Goals6: | 3 |
| Clubs7: | Zulte Waregem |
| Years7: | 2011–2015 |
| Caps7: | 99 |
| Goals7: | 6 |
| Clubs8: | Gençlerbirliği |
| Years8: | 2015–2016 |
| Caps8: | 25 |
| Goals8: | 0 |
| Clubs9: | Karabükspor |
| Years9: | 2016–2018 |
| Caps9: | 41 |
| Goals9: | 3 |
| Years10: | 2018–2020 |
| Clubs10: | Fylkir |
| Caps10: | 39 |
| Goals10: | 2 |
| Totalcaps: | 332 |
| Totalgoals: | 16 |
| Nationalyears1: | 1999 |
| Nationalteam1: | Iceland U-17 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 9 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 1 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2000–2001 |
| Nationalteam2: | Iceland U-19 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 9 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2002–2005 |
| Nationalteam3: | Iceland U-21 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 12 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2003–2018 |
| Nationalteam4: | Iceland |
| Nationalcaps4: | 36 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 1 |
| Manageryears1: | 2021– |
| Managerclubs1: | Iceland women's U-15 |
| Manageryears2: | 2021– |
| Managerclubs2: | Iceland U-19 |
Ólafur Ingi Skúlason (born 1 April 1983) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Iceland national under-19 football team and the Iceland national under-15 women's team.[2]
Ólafur was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, where he played for Fylkir. After the Icelandic season had come to a close, he was looking for new employment, and found it with Arsenal on 1 July 2001.[3] Ólafur was loaned back to Fylkir over a part of the 2003 season, and was voted the best young player in the Icelandic league 2003.[4]
His Arsenal debut came on 2 December 2003 in a 5–1 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers, replacing Justin Hoyte after 55 minutes of the match. Ólafur was released by Arsenal on 28 May 2005.[5] He signed for Brentford on 22 June 2005.[6] Upon his arrival at Brentford, the club's website quoted him as saying: "I look at this as a very important move for my career, knowing that manager Martin Allen had been interested in signing me for a while was a huge compliment for me."
In the second game of the 2005–06 season, Ólafur suffered a cruciate and medial ligament injury resulting from a tackle with Chesterfield's Derek Niven, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.[7] He was passed fit for the start of the 2006–07 season and completed his comeback by scoring the winner in a 1–0 win over Blackpool, the first game of the season.[8] He signed for Helsingborgs IF on 21 February 2007.[9] After three successful years in Helsingborg, Ólafur turned down a new contract offer and signed for Danish team SønderjyskE on 6 December 2009.[10]
A year later Ólafur signed for Zulte Waregem in Belgium and stayed there for four years. He then plied his trade in Turkey for a few years before returning to Fylkir.[11] [12]
Ólafur returned to former club Fylkir in 2018.[13]
Ólafur earned his first cap for Iceland in a friendly against Mexico on 20 November 2003 as a substitute, replacing Veigar Páll Gunnarsson.[14] He has also captained their U21 team.[15]
Although playing almost 30 international games for over ten years, Ólafur never quite managed to become a regular first team member of the Icelandic team.[16] He was, however, a useful squad member and played three games as a substitute in Iceland's successful qualification for Euro 2016, including Iceland's famous win over the Netherlands in Amsterdam.[17] He was not selected for Iceland's Euro 2016 team.
In May 2018 he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[18]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iceland | 2003 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2005 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2006 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2007 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2008 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2009 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 2010 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2011 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Total | 36 | 1 | ||
Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ólafur goal.