Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir (born 2 October 1976) is an Icelandic football coach and former player: She managed Swedish Damallsvenskan club Kristianstads DFF.[1] Elísabet was the head coach of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna team Valur for five seasons from 2003 to 2008, during which her team won four league titles and one cup title. From 2009 to 2023, Elísabet was the manager of Kristianstads DFF in the Swedish Damallsvenskan.
 Elísabet in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir | ||
| Date of birth | 2 October 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Reykjavík, Iceland | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1994 | Valur | 5 | (0) |
| 1995 | Stjarnan | 9 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Valur | 22 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2002 | ÍBV | ||
| 2004–2008 | Valur | ||
| 2005–2006 | Iceland (assistant) | ||
| 2005–2006 | Iceland U-21 | ||
| 2009–2023 | Kristianstads DFF | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
editClub
editElísabet started with Valur FC as a youth player and progressed to the senior team before moving to Stjarnan in 1995 and playing two seasons with the club. She then rejoined her mother club Valur FC in 1997 and played until 2001 when she decided to retire and take over IBV in the highest women´s league as the head coach. At the age of 24 years, Elísabet became the youngest ever female to work as a head coach in the highest division.[citation needed]
Coaching career
editYouth teams
editElísabet got her start in coaching at the age of 16 when she joined the youth program at Valur FC as an assistant coach. For nine years she coached different age groups at the club and played a big part in building one of the most organized and successful youth programs on the women's side in Iceland. She won many national trophies with her youth teams and was named Iceland's 1999 youth team coach of the year.[citation needed]
Senior teams
editIn 2001 Elísabet left her mother club Valur FC for the opportunity of coaching ÍBV in the Úrvalsdeild kvenna. After one year with ÍBV she took over Breiðablik's under-19 team and guided them to the Icelandic championship. In 2003, she was hired by Valur as the senior team's head coach, winning the club's first league title in 15 years and being named the 2003 Coach of the Year. Elísabet remained Valur's head coach for five consecutive seasons, leading the team to four league titles and one cup title. She took the team all the way to the quarter finals of the 2005–06 UEFA Women's Cup. Elísabet is known for making high-profile transfers for her teams and brought players like German world champion Viola Odebrecht and Scottish Julie Fleeting to Iceland to play for her at Valur FC.[citation needed]
Elísabet moved to Sweden in January 2009 to take over Kristianstads DFF of the Swedish Damallsvenskan. Through her time at the club Kristiantads DFF has signed some big names including Icelandic stars Margrét Lára Viðarsdóttir and Sif Atladóttir, Danish international Johanna Rasmussen and Swedish stars Hedvig Lindahl (sold to Chelsea 2015), Kosovare Asllani (sold to PSG 2012) and Josefine Öqvist (sold to Montpellier 2013). In September 2012 Elísabet signed a new two-year contract with the club.[citation needed]
In August 2014, Marija Banušić gave Kristianstads the lead in the Svenska Cupen (English: Swedish Cup) final, but Elísabet's team were defeated 2–1 by Linköpings FC.[2]
In November 2023, she stepped down as the manager of Kristianstads after 15 years at the helm.[3]
National teams
editElísabet served as an assistant to Jörundur Áki Sveinsson for the Icelandic women's national team and was also the head coach for the U-21 national team from 2005[4] til the end of 2006.[5] She managed Iceland for two game sin 2006 when Jörundur was suspended.[6]
When Freyr Alexandersson—Elísabet's former assistant and successor at Valur—was named Icelandic women's team coach in 2013, she agreed to scout opposition teams on his behalf.[7]
Honours
editIn 2024, she was awarded the Order of the Falcon for her contributions to women's soccer and other sports.[8]
Managerial honours
edit- Icelandic Champions (4): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
- Icelandic Cup: 2006
Individual
edit- Úrvalsdeild kvenna Coach of the year (4): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
- Damallsvenskan Coach of the year: 2017, 2020
- Runner-up: 2012
- Svenska Cupen Damer Runner-up (2): 2014, 2019
Personal life
editIn 2013, Elísabet appeared in the Sveriges Television documentary television series The Other Sport.[citation needed]
References
edit[1] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
- ^ a b Isländskan på blixtvisit - Sport - Kristianstadsbladet - Nyheter dygnet runt
- ^ Rogovitski, Dmitri (8 August 2014). "Ryazan and Linköping claim cups". Moscow: UEFA. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ^ Hjörtur Leó Guðjónsson (18 November 2023). "Fann fyrir svona tómleika en samt létti líka". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 18 November 2023.
- ^ "Nýir þjálfarar A og U21 kvenna ráðnir". Football Association of Iceland (in Icelandic). 9 December 2004. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Hafliði Breiðfjörð (7 December 2006). "Sigurður Ragnar og Guðni taka við kvennalandsliðinu". Fótbolti.net (in Icelandic). Retrieved 18 November 2023.
- ^ Magnús Már Einarsson (25 August 2006). "Jörundur Áki í tveggja leikja bann". Fótbolti.net (in Icelandic). Retrieved 18 November 2023.
- ^ "Elísabet njósnar fyrir Frey" (in Icelandic). RÚV. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- ^ "ORÐUVEITING". www.forseti.is (in Icelandic). 1 January 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
- ^ Iceland's Valur show ambition – UEFA.com
- ^ Iceland honours stars of the season – UEFA.com
- ^ Valur take Icelandic Cup – UEFA.com
- ^ Från botten till toppen för Gunnarsdóttir i Kristianstad — svenskfotboll.se
- ^ "Nomineringar till Fotbollsgalan 2012 — fogis.se". Archived from the original on 2013-12-05. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
- ^ Fótbolti - Titlar - Knattspyrnufélagið Valur
- ^ Þjálfarar ársins útnefndir hjá KÞÍ | Fræðsla | Knattspyrnusamband Íslands
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Guðbjörg, Þóra og Elísabet tilnefndar - mbl.is
External links
edit
- Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir on Twitter
- Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir at Football Association of Iceland
