Birkir Bjarnason (born 27 May 1988) 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

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club

Adana Demirspor Adana Demirspor Kulübü is a sports club based in Adana, Turkey. Founded by railway workers in 1940, the club is competitive in football, watersports, racquet sports and martial arts. Football team's thriving success at the Adana League an ...

and 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 ...

, where he is their all-time leader in appearances.

Club career

Viking FK

Birkir started playing football with local clubs in his hometown of

Akureyri Akureyri (, locally ) is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's fifth-largest municipality, after Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær and Kópavogur, and the largest town outside Iceland's more populated southwest corner. Nickname ...

. His family moved to Norway in 1999 and he joined the youth teams of

Figgjo Figgjo is a borough of the city of Sandnes in the west part of the large municipality of Sandnes in Rogaland county, Norway. The borough is located in the southern part of the city. It has a population (2016) of 2,213. The borough is mostly ru ...

. In the summer of 2005 Birkir joined

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and s ...

. In the 2006 season he scored his first goal for Viking against

Hamarkameratene Hamarkameratene (literally ''the Hamar Comrades''), often abbreviated to HamKam or Ham-Kam, is a Norwegian football club based in the town of Hamar. The club was founded in 1918, originally under the name Freidig. HamKam were most recently pr ...

. Following that he played consistently as a starter for Viking and was a key aspect in helping the club avoid relegation that year and helping them obtain a third-place finish in 2007 under trainer

Uwe Rösler Uwe Rösler (; born 15 November 1968) is a German football manager and former professional footballer. As a player he was a centre forward, notably playing in the Premier League for Manchester City, where he was the leading goalscorer for three ...

. In 2008 Birkir had a successful loan spell at newly promoted

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

side Bodø/Glimt, playing a big part in them finishing fourth in the league. His performances brought the attention of bigger clubs such as

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

club

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are ni ...

during January 2008, but he stayed at Viking until 2012. During this time he made 100 appearances for Viking in the Tippeligaen, scoring 16 league goals.

Standard Liège

On 12 January 2012, it was announced that Birkir would sign for

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

side

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the mo ...

on a five-year deal. He played 16 league matches in the Belgium Pro League for Standard.

Pescara

After the end of the 2011–12 season, in July 2012, Birkir joined the newly promoted

side

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated ci ...

on a season-long loan deal, for €300,000, with an option to sign for an additional €900,000. He scored his first goal for Pescara in a 5–1 away defeat at

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. After the 2012–13 season he stated that he was not interested in going down to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

with Pescara and, with two years remaining of his Standard Liège contract, he was unsure where he would be playing in the 2013–14 season. Pescara bought Birkir from Standard Liège on 9 June 2013 on a permanent transfer for a previously agreed fee, with the aim of selling him for a higher amount that summer with interest being reported from clubs in the top leagues in England including, Italy and Germany.

Sampdoria

On 2 September 2013, it was confirmed that Serie A side

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s ...

had signed Birkir on a co-ownership deal. In total he made 14 Serie A appearances during the 2013–14 season for Sampdoria.

Return to Pescara

On 20 June 2014, it was announced that Birkir would sign again for Pescara on 1 July 2014, after the club won the co-ownership bidding for the player from Sampdoria. Upon signing, he was appointed the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for the 2014–15 season. He scored 12 goals in 38 Serie B matches to help guide Pescara to a seventh-place finish and qualifying for the Serie B playoffs. Pescara beat

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and par ...

2–1 to qualify for the playoff semi-final. They beat

Vicenza Calcio L.R. Vicenza, commonly referred to as Vicenza, is an Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. Founded in 1902 as Associazione del Calcio in Vicenza, they became Lanerossi Vicenza in 1953, then Vicenza Calcio from 1990 to 2018, a year whi ...

3–2 over two legs in the semi-finals, with Birkir scoring the crucial match winning aggregate goal for Pescara on 2 June 2015 to help them qualify for the Serie B playoff final against

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. However, with a 1–1 aggregate score after two legs Bologna, being the highest-placed team, were promoted. On 27 June 2015, Pescara announced they had accepted an offer of €1 million for Birkir from

side

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

. It was later revealed in July, that the move had seemingly stalled as Birkir had been unable to agree personal terms with the club. A move to English side

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

also fell through.

Basel

On 7 July 2015, it was announced that Bjarnason had signed a contract with

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 seaso ...

club

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, a ...

for €1 million. On 9 July Basel confirmed the transfer, stating that he had signed a three-year contract with them. He joined Basel's first team for their 2015–16 season under head coach

Urs Fischer Urs Fischer (born 2 May 1973) is a Swiss-born contemporary visual artist living in New York City. Fischer’s practice includes sculpture, installation and photography. Education and early career Born to two doctors as the second of two children ...

. After playing in one test game Bjarnason played his domestic league debut for his new club in the away game in the

Letzigrund is a stadium in Zürich, Switzerland, and the home of the athletics club LC Zürich, and the football clubs FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich. LC Zürich is a spin-off of FC Zürich whose members constructed the stadium in 1925. Grasshopp ...

on 25 July as Basel won 3–2 against

Grasshopper Club Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

. In the Champions League third qualifying round on 5 August he scored his first goal for his new club during the 1–0 home win against

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. T ...

. It was the only goal of the game, in the first minute of overtime, and Basel qualified for the play-off round. He scored his first league goal for Basel on 26 September during the 3–1 home win against

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

. Under manager

Bjarnason won the

championship at the end of the 2015–16 Super League season. For the club it was the seventh title in a row and their 19th championship title in total. Bjarnason was also a regular starter for the team in Basel's 2016–17 season, frequently showing good performances in all competitions.

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

team

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

, following their relegation in the preceeding Premier League season, showed interest and on 25 January 2017 Basel announced that the club had signed the player. During his time with the club, Bjarnason played a total of 72 games for Basel scoring a total of 17 goals. 42 of these games were in the

, three in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference ...

, 19 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and eight were friendly games. He scored 14 goals in the domestic league and the other three were scored during European games.

Aston Villa

On 25 January 2017, Birkir signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with

English Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

side

. He scored his first goal for Aston Villa in an

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 ...

tie against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

on 22 August 2017.

Brescia

On 18 January 2020, Birkir returned to Italy, after signing a 1.5-year contract with

side

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Ise ...

, after a short spell in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

playing for Al-Arabi.

Adana Demirspor

On 13 August 2021 he joined Turkish

club, newly promoted,

. He scored his first goal in the Süper Lig against

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Rize. The club play in the TFF First League. The club was founded on May 19, 1953, with green-yellow as club colours, but later changed to blue-green. Since 1990, the team ...

on 18 September 2021.

International career

Birkir made his debut for the senior Iceland national team in 2010. He holds the all-time appearance record for the senior side, which stands at 105 caps. He has also represented them at Iceland U-21, Under 19 and Under 17 levels. He scored his first goal for Iceland against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

on 27 May 2012 in a 3–2 defeat. He also followed this up with goals for Iceland in

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil. The remaining 31 places were determined by ...

with goals against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

on 12 October 2012,

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

on 7 June 2013 and then against Albania again on 10 September 2013 in a 2–1 victory. Birkir's goals and performances played a crucial role in the qualifiers helping guide Iceland to the World Cup playoffs, however in November 2013 they lost 2–0 on aggregate over two legs to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He was called up to the national team again for

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

and achieved the honor of getting his country's first ever goal in a major tournament when he scored the equalizer against Portugal in their first group match. On 27 June 2016, Birkir played against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in the UEFA Euro 2016 round of 16 at the Stade de Nice, as Iceland upset England with a 2–1 victory to advance to the quarter-finals. In May 2018 he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Birkir goal.''

Honours

FC Basel *

: 2015–16 Aston Villa *

EFL Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

KSI profileProfile on the Swiss Football League homepageProfile at Viking
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjarnason, Birkir 1988 births Living people People from Akureyri Birkir Bjarnason Association football midfielders Birkir Bjarnason Birkir Bjarnason Birkir Bjarnason FIFA Century Club UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Viking FK players FK Bodø/Glimt players Standard Liège players Delfino Pescara 1936 players U.C. Sampdoria players FC Basel players Aston Villa F.C. players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players Brescia Calcio players Adana Demirspor footballers Eliteserien players Belgian First Division A players Serie A players Serie B players Swiss Super League players English Football League players Qatar Stars League players Süper Lig players Birkir Bjarnason Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate footballers in Norway Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate footballers in Qatar Icelandic expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey