Eggert Jónsson

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a patronymic, not a family name; this person is properly referred to by the given name Eggert.
Eggert Jónsson

Jónsson playing football in blue kit

Jónsson (left) playing for Iceland in 2008
Personal information
Full name Eggert Gunnþór Jónsson
Date of birth (1988-08-18) 18 August 1988
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Midfielder / Defender
Club information
Current team
Fleetwood Town
Number 5
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2005 Fjarðabyggð 22 (5)
2005–2012 Heart of Midlothian 134 (8)
2012–2013 Wolverhampton Wanderers 4 (0)
2012Charlton Athletic (loan) 2 (0)
2013–2014 Belenenses 11 (0)
2015 FC Vestsjælland 14 (0)
2015– Fleetwood Town 8 (0)
National team
2004 Iceland U17 7 (0)
2005–2007 Iceland U19 12 (2)
2007–2011 Iceland U21 15 (0)
2007– Iceland 19 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 October 2015.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 November 2012

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 current plays for the English club Fleetwood Town.

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.[1]

Club career

Eggert made his debut as a 15-year-old for Fjarðabyggð in Iceland. After that he trained with Þór Akureyri.

Hearts

In 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.[2]

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[3] 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.[4] Eggert himself expressed his desire to do his best for the team regardless of which position he played.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] During his Hearts career, Eggert made 153 appearances in all competitions and scored nine goals.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 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.[9][10][11] The deal was officially completed when the January 2012 transfer window opened.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14] On 7 December 2012, he returned from his loan spell having made two appearances for the Addicks.[15]

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.[16]

Belenenses

Within 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. He will start looking for a professional contract in January 2015.[17]

International career

Jónsson received his first call-up to the Iceland national team in November 2007 for the Euro 2008 qualifier against Denmark on 21 November.[18] He made his debut as a 73-minute replacement for Emil Hallfreðsson in the 3-0 Group F defeat at the Parken Stadium.[19]

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.[1] 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

[20][21] As of 19 December 2014.

Club Season League League Cup League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Fjarðabyggð 2004 3. deild 155310000186
2005 2. deild 7010000080
Club total 225410000266
Hearts 2006–07 Scottish Premier League 3010100050
2007–08 281103000321
2008–09 303201000333
2009–10 283102000313
2010–11 290102100321
2011–12 161001030201
Club total 134860101301539
Wolves 2011–12 Premier League 3020000050
2012–13 Football League Championship 1000100010
Club total 4020100070
Charlton Athletic (loan) 2012–13 Football League Championship 2000000020
Club total 2000000020
Belenenses 2013–14 Primeira Liga 110000000110
Club total 110000000110
Career Total 173131211113019915

References

  1. 1 2 "U21 Euros preview". Sky Sport. 1 June 2011.
  2. "Hibernian 0-1 Hearts". BBC. 1 April 2007.
  3. Hearts youngster Eggert Jonsson signs new four and a half year deal; Daily Record, 28 March 2008
  4. "We must thank God for versatility of Eggert Jonsson, says Hearts manager". Daily Record. 17 April 2009.
  5. "Eggert Jonsson interview: Heart of fire, head of ice". Scotsman. 14 March 2009.
  6. "Aberdeen 0-1 Hearts". BBC. 27 February 2010.
  7. "Celtic v Hearts preview". Sky Sports. 10 September 2010.
  8. "Rangers 4-0 Hearts". BBC. 7 May 2011.
  9. "Hearts midfielder Eggert Jonsson to join Wolves in January". BBC. 21 December 2011.
  10. "Mick McCarthy scrambles for Eggert Jonsson signing". Shropshire Star. 21 December 2011.
  11. "Mick McCarthy warns of inflated January fees". Express & Star. 7 January 2011.
  12. "Wolves capture Hearts midfielder". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 21 December 2011.
  13. "Birmingham 0-0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 7 January 2012.
  14. "Charlton Athletic sign Eggert Jonsson and Dan Seaborne on loan". BBC Sport. 9 November 2012.
  15. "Jonsson returns to Wolves". Charlton Athletic F.C. 7 December 2012.
  16. "Wolves: Eggert Jonsson has contract cancelled at Molineux". BBC Sport. 12 July 2013.
  17. http://www.mbl.is/sport/fotbolti/2014/12/18/aftur_i_atvinnumennsku/
  18. "Jonsson credits Frail for first national call-up". Scotsman. 15 November 2007.
  19. "Iceland caught cold by eager Denmark". UEFA. 21 November 2007.
  20. http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=44728
  21. http://www.ksi.is/mot/motalisti/felagsmadur/?pLeikmadurNr=41001

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.