Axel Óskar Andrésson (born 27 January 1998) is an Icelandic professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with All ...

club

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, an ...

Club career

Axel started his career in the youth team of local side

Ungmennafélagið Afturelding Ungmennafélagið Afturelding, commonly known as Afturelding or UMFA, is an Icelandic multi-sports club from the town of Mosfellsbær located just north of the capital Reykjavík. The club was founded in 1909 and today is primarily known for its ...

before he was promoted to the first team at only the age of sixteen, going on to represent the side eleven times in the 2014 2. deild karla season. After impressing for Afturelding he was invited for a trial in England for the youth team at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Reading

In July 2014, Axel joined Reading permanently, signing a two-year scholarship with the club. In July 2016 he graduated from the under-18 side having already committed to signing his first professional contract with the club. Having moved up to the under-23 squad, Axel was sent out on loan to gain some first team experience at

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

in November 2016. Axel impressed during his time with the Romans scoring five goals from defence, and was even promoted to captain despite only being aged nineteen. He went on to make a total of eighteen appearances for Bath in all competitions. He was promoted to the first team upon his return to Reading in the summer of 2017, and made his professional and first team debut in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

win over Gillingham on 8 August. On 6 December 2017, Axel joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on a one-month youth loan deal until 6 January 2018. On 15 August 2018, Axel signed a new contract with Reading, until the summer of 2020, and then immediately joined Norwegian

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are p ...

club

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, having won 8 ...

on loan until the end of their 2018 season.

Viking

On 21 December 2018,

announced the signing of Axel on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. During the opening game of the 2019 season on 31 March against

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the tow ...

, Axel suffered a season-ending knee ligament injury.

Riga FC

On 8 February 2021, Axel signed for Latvian club

Riga FC Riga Football Club, commonly referred to as Riga FC, is a Latvian football club, founded in 2014. The club is based at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Since 2016 the club has been playing in the Virslīga. History The club was officially registered ...

. On 25 March 2022, Axel and Riga terminated their contract by mutual agreement.

Örebro

On 25 March 2022,

announced the singing of Axel to a three-year contract.

International career

Axel has represented Iceland at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. In December 2018, Axel got his first call-up for the

Iceland national football team The Iceland national football team (in ) represents Iceland in men's international Association football, football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland, and have been a FIFA member since 1947 and an UEFA member since 19 ...

. He made his debut for the squad on 11 January 2019 in a friendly against Sweden, as a 70th-minute substitute for Eiður Sigurbjörnsson.

Personal life

Axel is the son of

Andrés Guðmundsson Andrés Guðmundsson (born 17 April 1965) is a prominent former international strongman competitor and Highland Games competitor, and former holder of the World Strongman Challenge title. Biography Andrés Guðmundsson began his c ...

, a former international

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. These ...

competitor and former holder of the

World Strongman Challenge The World Strongman Challenge was one of the most enduring annual strongmen competitions, running in various guises for twenty years, with only two years break. In that time it attained the position of one of the most prestigious strongman contest ...

title. His younger brother is Jökull Andrésson, who is also contracted to Reading.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Viking FK *

: 2018 2018 Viking FK season#Table

References

External links