Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson

Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson (born 6 August 1990) is an Icelandic footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bulgarian First League club Levski Sofia[4] and the Iceland national team. He is the son of Eyjólfur Sverrisson, former Iceland international and manager.[5][6][7][8]

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

Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson
Hólmar with Iceland U21 in 2010
Personal information
Full name Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson[1]
Date of birth (1990-08-06) 6 August 1990
Place of birth Sauðárkrókur, Iceland[2]
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Centre back, defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Levski Sofia
Number 5
Youth career
1995–1997 Tindastóll
1997–2007 HK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 HK 19 (0)
2008–2011 West Ham United 0 (0)
2009 → Cheltenham Town (loan) 4 (0)
2010 → Roeselare (loan) 9 (0)
2011–2013 VfL Bochum II 9 (0)
2011–2014 VfL Bochum 45 (1)
2014–2017 Rosenborg 65 (4)
2017–2018 Maccabi Haifa 16 (0)
2017–2018 → Levski Sofia (loan) 24 (1)
2018– Levski Sofia 35 (5)
National team‡
2006–2007 Iceland U17 12 (0)
2007–2008 Iceland U19 8 (0)
2007–2012 Iceland U21 27 (2)
2012– Iceland 14 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 August 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 January 2020

Club career

Handknattleiksfélag Kópavogs

Born in Sauðárkrókur, Iceland, Hólmar moved to Stuttgart, German when his father played for Stuttgart and stayed there for three years and spoke a little German.[9][10] Hólmar began his career at HK since joining them when he was ten and began taking football seriously. Hólmar was at FC Tindastóll when he was seven before moving to HK.[11]

After progressing through the ranks at the club, Hólmar finally made his HK debut on 13 May 2007, in the opening game of the season, in a 0–0 draw against Knattspyrnufélagið Víkingur, where he played the whole game, as well as, making his first start of his career.[12] Hólmar went on to finish his first season, making twelve appearance and helped the club finished ninth place, just two points away from relegation.

The following season, Hólmar continued to established himself in the first team and made seven appearance. His last appearance for the club came on 23 June 2008 against Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, which saw HK lost 3–0.[13] After his performances he was linked with German side Bayern Munich, who invited him a trial.[14]

West Ham United

Hólmar signed for West Ham United on 6 July 2008 from Icelandic team HK, where he previously made 19 first team appearances.[15]

Despite being praises in the pre-season at West Ham United,[16] Hólmar, however, never played a single match throughout the season and mostly spent the season on the reserve side and scored once during the season.[17]

On 1 October 2009, Hólmar signed on loan for Cheltenham Town[18] making his full debut on 3 October 2009 in the 1–1 home draw against Notts County.[19] He returned to West Ham in November 2009 having made four appearances for Cheltenham.[20] Following his return to West Ham United, Hólmar played in the reserve side[20] and once captained the side.[21]

On 9 January 2010, Hólmar joined Belgian Roeselare, on loan, until the end of the season.[22] Hólmar made his Roeselare debut on 16 January 2010, where he made his first start and played the whole game, in a 2–1 loss against Mechelen.[23] Then, on 9 May 2010, he provided an assist for Nikita Rukavytsya, in a 2–1 win over K.V.S.K. United.[24] He played 16 games for Roeselare but was unable to prevent the club's relegation to the Belgian Second Division.[25] He then left West Ham in May 2011 when his contract ran out without having played a first-team game for them.[26]

VfL Bochum

Hólmar signed for German 2. Bundesliga team, Bochum, on 27 June 2011, signing a three-year contract, keeping him until 2014.[27] Upon joining the club, the club's sports director Jens Todt commented on his move, quoting: "Holmar is a tough teamplayer who wants to get through like his father in Germany".[28]

However, weeks after joining the club, Hólmar suffered an injury that kept him out for two months after undergoing surgery.[29] After returning from injury around September, Hólmar spent the most of the rest of 2011 on the substitute bench and played three times on the reserve side. It wasn't until on 4 December 2011 when he made his Bochum debut, where he came on as a substitute for Marcel Maltritz as the late-substitute, in a 6–0 win over Erzgebirge Aue.[30] In a match against Hansa Rostock on 5 February 2012, Hólmar set up one of the goals, in a 2–1 win.[31] As the 2011–12 season progressed, Hólmar was then given a handful of first team appearances[32] and despite spending the most of the season on the substitute bench, he finished his first season, making eleven appearances in all competitions.

In the 2012–13 season, Hólmar continued to remain in the first team despite being in the reserve on three occasions.[33] However, in a match against Dynamo Dresden on 8 December 2012, he was sent-off after a straight red card in the 35th minutes, in a 3–0 win.[34] At one point, with his first team at the club became increasingly limited, he was expected to be loaned out for the rest of the season, but stayed.[33] Two months later, on 15 February 2013, he made his return from suspension against 1860 Munich, but was sent-off again in the 17th minutes for a straight red card, in a 1–0 win.[35] Shortly after, he had his suspension overturned[36][37] and despite this, Hólmar finished his second season at the club, making nineteen appearance in all competitions.

In the 2013–14 season, Hólmar struggled to regained his first team and spent the most of the season on the substitute bench, due to facing new competitions.[38] Nevertheless, he regained his first team place, due to defensive crisis and by the end of September, he played seven times.[39] Despite on the substitute bench for the most of the season, Hólmar played a role in a match against St. Pauli on 15 February 2014 when he scored the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win[40] and played in the last game of the season, where he played the whole game, in a 1–0 win over Karlsruher SC. The win resulted the club being promoted to Bundesliga next season.[41] At the end of the 2013–14 season, Hólmar made nineteen appearance and scoring once in all competitions. Following this, Hólmar was released by the club after three years spell there.[42]

Rosenborg

On 11 August 2014, Hólmar joined Norwegian side Rosenborg, signing a one-year contract with the club, with an option of extending for two years.[43] Hólmar was previously linked with a move to Swedish side Helsingborgs,[44] before having a medical at Rosenberg.[45]

Hólmar made his Rosenberg debut on 24 August 2014, where he came on as a late substitute, in a 2–0 win over Sarpsborg 08.[46] Hólmar then scored his first goal for the club on 28 September 2014, in a 3–0 win over Aalesunds.[47] As the club finished second place at the end of the season, Hólmar finished the season, making ten appearance and scoring once in all competitions.

Ahead of the 2015 season, Hólmar signed a three-year contract with the club.[48] Despite suffering an injury at the start of the season,[49] Hólmar continued to established himself in the first team and after playing 25 minutes in the opening game of the season against Aalesunds.[50] Two weeks later, on 18 April 2015, he set up a goal for Tobias Mikkelsen, in a 1–1 draw against Strømsgodset.[51] After setting two goals against Lillestrøm on 2 August 2015,[52] he scored his first goal of the season, seven days later on 16 August 2015, against Vålerenga.[53] After helping the club win the league[54] and Norwegian Football Cup in his full season at the club,[55] Hólmar went on to make forty-eight appearance and scoring once in all competitions.

In the 2016 season, Hólmar continued to established himself in the first team for the first five league matches despite being absent for one match at the start of the season.[56] After his return from absent Hólmar then scored his first goal for the club on 24 April 2016, in a 4–0 win over Viking.[57] After helping the club win the league,[58] Hólmar scored his second goal of the season, in a 2–0 win over Bodø/Glimt on the last game of the season, which saw them relegated[59] and played the whole game against Kongsvinger in the final of the Norwegian Football Cup, which Rosenberg win 4–0 to win the Cup for the second time, just as it was in the league.[60] In his second full season at the club, Hólmar went on to make thirty-five appearance and scoring two times in all competitions and at the end of the season, Hólmar became a subject of a transfer bid from Maccabi Haifa.[61]

Maccabi Haifa

Hólmar Signed a 4.5-year contract for Israeli Premier League team Maccabi Haifa on 23 December 2016.[62] Upon joining the club, he was joined by his fellow Icelandic Viðar Örn Kjartansson, who is at Maccabi Tel Aviv.[63] Upon joining the club, Hólmar was given a number fifteen shirt.[64]

Levski Sofia

On 1 September 2017, Hólmar was loaned for four years to Bulgarian club Levski Sofia.[4][65] In the end of the 2017–18 season, he was permanently transferred to Levski for a fee of 500,000 €.[66] Hólmar suffered a serious injury in October 2018,[67] which kept him out of first team action until August 2019.

International career

Capped previously at U-16 and U-17 level, Hólmar was a key player at the 2007 European U-17 Championship and, although Iceland failed to make it beyond the group stage, was named by UEFA as one of the tournament's players to watch in future.[68] Those finals in Belgium also saw him show his versatility as he played in a holding midfield role, although he prefers to play at the back.

After being called by Iceland U21 for the first time on 6 November 2007,[69] Hólmar made his U21 debut on 16 November 2007 while still in the U19's and had an instant impact, helping Iceland to their first win of the 2009 European Championship qualifying campaign with a 2–1 victory in Belgium.[70] He was in the starting line-up for the next three games. Though Iceland failed to make the play-offs, he became a regular starter in the U21 team and was chosen for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship squad, where he played three times.[71] After captaining the U21 side for the first time on 6 October 2011 against England U21,[72] He scored his first international goal in a 9 October 2011 in the 2011 European Championship qualifier, which Iceland won 8–0 against San Marino.

Hólmar received his first call-up to the Iceland national team in May 2012 in a friendly against Sweden.[73] Shortly after, he made his senior debut on 30 May 2012, where he came on as a substitute for Kári Árnason in the 83rd minutes, in a 3–2 loss.[74] Four years on, Hólmar was called up by the national team for the UEFA Euro 2016 squad, but was on the stand-by instead.[75]

In May 2018 he was named in Iceland’s 23 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[76]

Personal life

In November 2015, Hólmar became a father when his partner, Jona, gave birth to a baby girl.[77][78]

Career statistics

Club
As of 24 January 2020[3][6][8]
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Iceland League Icelandic Cup Europe Total
2007HKÚrvalsdeild12010—130
20087010—80
England League FA Cup Europe Total
2008–09West Ham UnitedPremier League0000—00
2009–10Cheltenham TownLeague Two4000—40
Belgium League Belgian Cup Europe Total
2009–10K.S.V. RoeselarePro League9030—120
England League FA Cup Europe Total
2010–11West Ham UnitedPremier League0000—00
Germany League DFB-Pokal Europe Total
2011–12VfL Bochum IIRegionalliga West30——30
2012–1330——30
2013–1430——30
2011–12VfL Bochum2. Bundesliga11000—110
2012–1316030—190
2013–1418110—191
Norway League Norwegian Cup Europe Total
2014RosenborgTippeligaen1010000101
201528170130481
20162712061352
Israel League Israel State Cup Europe Total
2016–17Maccabi HaifaIsrael Premier League1600000160
Bulgaria League Bulgarian Cup Europe Total
2017–18Levski SofiaFirst League2416000301
2018–191222000142
2019–201531000163
Total Iceland 1902000210
England 40000040
Belgium 903000120
Germany 5414000581
Norway 65390191934
Israel 1600000160
Bulgaria 5169000606
Career total 2161027019126211

International
Statistics accurate as of match played 19 January 2020.[79]
Iceland
YearAppsGoals
201210
201300
201410
201510
201620
201710
201861
201900
202021
Total142

International goal
Scores and results Iceland's goal tally first.[80]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.15 January 2020Championship Soccer Stadium, Irvine, United States Canada1–01–0Friendly

Honours

Rosenborg

gollark: ++magic reload_ext telephone
gollark: Anyway, I think I fixed the check.
gollark: It is, actually.
gollark: Oh, it's *not*, weird.
gollark: Hm. I'll have to look at that.

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