Gretar Rafn Steinsson:
| Grétar Steinsson |
 |
| Personal information |
| Full name |
Grétar Rafn Steinsson |
| Date of birth |
January 9, 1982 (1982-01-09) (age 26) |
| Place of birth |
Siglufjörður, Iceland |
| Height |
1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in) |
| Playing position |
Right-back |
| Club information |
| Current club |
Bolton Wanderers |
| Number |
15 |
| Youth clubs |
| 1998 |
KS Siglufjörður |
| Senior clubs1 |
| Years |
Club |
App (Gls)* |
1999–2004
2004–2006
2006–2008
2008– |
IA Akranes
BSC Young Boys
AZ Alkmaar
Bolton Wanderers |
76 (12)
19 0(3)
61 0(7)
36 0(2) |
| National team2 |
| 2002– |
Iceland |
27 0(3) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 13:23, 30 December 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 22:52, 15 October 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)
|
Grétar Rafn Steinsson (born January 9, 1982 in Siglufjörður) is an Icelandic professional football player, playing for Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League.
[edit] Club career
He started his career with local team KS in Siglufjörður and later played for ÍA Akranes before going abroad to play professionally for Swiss club BSC Young Boys.
On July 2, 2007, AZ Alkmaar announced they had accepted a €3.5 million bid from Middlesbrough. Gareth Southgate had seen him as an ideal replacement for Stuart Parnaby. After the bid was accepted, however, AZ backtracked, claiming the price wasn't high enough and requested Middlesbrough to raise their bid to £4m. Instead, Middlesbrough turned their attention to Charlton Athletic right back Luke Young, who ended up making the move, ending Middlesbrough's interest in Steinsson.
He signed for Bolton Wanderers on January 16, 2008 after a transfer fee of £3.5m was agreed between the two clubs. He made his debut against Newcastle United on the January 19, 2008.[1] Steinsson has started every game so far since his arrival from AZ and Bolton did not concede a goal for 3 straight games since his arrival until their 1-0 loss to Portsmouth which was a dubious, offside goal.
He then helped Bolton fight relegation, despite most football pundits saying they would be relegated. Gary Megson and his side picked up a win against Middlesbrough, a draw against Tottenham , a win against Sunderland and a 1-1 draw against Chelsea to keep them up which could have also decided who won the Premier League title. He scored his first goal for Bolton in the 3-1 victory over Stoke City on 16th August 2008.[2]
[edit] International career
He also plays regularly for the Iceland national football team on the right wing. He made his debut in a March 2002 friendly match against Brazil as a substitute and scored after being only 17 minutes on the pitch.
[edit] Personal Life
Grétar Rafn married Manuela Ósk Harðardóttir in 2007. Manuela has one son from a previous relationship.
Manuela was crowned Miss Reykjavik and Miss Iceland 2002. She represented Iceland in Miss Scandinavia where she came 1st runner up. She also represented her country in Miss Universe 2003 but was hospitalized due to dehydration and could not compete.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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