| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ólafur Gottskálksson | ||
| Date of birth | 12 March 1968 | ||
| Place of birth | Keflavík, Iceland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Keflavik | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1988-1990 | IA Akranes | 33 | (0) |
| 1990-1994 | KR Reykjavík | 71 | (0) |
| 1994-1997 | Keflavik | 63 | (0) |
| 1997-2000 | Hibernian | 64 | (0) |
| 2000-2002 | Brentford | 73 | (0) |
| 2003-2004 | Grindavik | 10 | (0) |
| 2004 | Keflavik | 11 | (0) |
| 2004 | Margate | ||
| 2004-2005 | Torquay | 15 | (0) |
| – | Career totals | 340 | (0 ) |
| National team | |||
| -1997 | Iceland | 9 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Ólafur "Ole" Gottskálksson (born 12 March 1968 in Keflavík) is a retired Icelandic professional football goalkeeper. He played nine times for Iceland national side and also represented his country at basketball.[1]
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Ole Gottskálksson played for IA Akranes and KR Reykjavík before joining Scottish side Hibernian from Keflavik in July 1997 for a fee of £200,000. He played 70 times for Hibs before joining Brentford on a free transfer in May 2000. He went on to play 73 league games for Brentford, at one point having to pay for his own goalkeeping coach. He had a trial with Stockport County in July 2002 and was offered a two-year contract, but chose to remain with Brentford.[2] He was also linked with a move to Ipswich Town,[3] but in November 2002 was forced to retire due to a shoulder injury.[3]
He returned to Iceland and resumed his playing career with Grindavik.
On his return to the UK in August 2004, he had a trial with Grimsby Town,[4] before joining Conference South side Margate,[1] moving to Torquay United the following month,[5] as a replacement for the departing Arjan van Heusden. He was one of seven goalkeepers used that season (the others being Phil Barnes, Bertrand Bossu, Kevin Dearden, Paul Jarvie, Andy Marriott and Arjan van Heusden) and played 15 league games for Torquay before disappearing in January 2005 when, according to then Torquay chairman Mike Bateson, doping testers arrived at Plainmoor for routine testing and Gottskálksson was chosen to give a sample. On viewing the list of banned substances he fled Torquay, leaving his girlfriend behind without an explanation.[6] In June 2005, the Football Association announced that an independent disciplinary commission had banned Gottskálksson from football indefinitely for failing to take that drugs test.[7]
He played nine times for the Iceland national side. His last international match came in an October 1997 World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein.
Brentford