Hermann Hreiðarsson

Hermann Hreiðarsson

Personal information
Date of birth	(1974-07-11) 11 July 1974
Place of birth	Reykjavík, Iceland
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Left back
Club information
Current club	ÍBV (player-manager)
Number	7
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1993–1997	ÍBV	66	(5)
1997–1998	Crystal Palace	37	(2)
1998–1999	Brentford	41	(6)
1999–2000	Wimbledon	24	(1)
2000–2003	Ipswich Town	102	(2)
2003–2007	Charlton Athletic	132	(3)
2007–2012	Portsmouth	123	(8)
2012	Coventry City	2	(0)
2013	ÍBV	4	(0)
National team
1995	Iceland U-21	6	(1)
1996–2011	Iceland	89	(5)
Teams managed
2013	ÍBV (player-manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 September 2013. † Appearances (Goals).

Hermann Hreiðarsson (born 11 July 1974) is an Icelandic footballer who plays as a left back. He was appointed manager of Icelandic club ÍBV before the 2013 season and will also play with the team. Hermann has been relegated from the Premier League five times, a record he holds jointly with Nathan Blake.

Club career

Early career

In 1993, Hermann started playing for his local club ÍBV, where he took part in five seasons with the team. He only played 3 games out of 18 in his first season as the club finished 8th out of 10, but played all the matches in the next two seasons with the club finishing 8th and then 3rd. He then played every match but one in his fourth season as the club finished 4th. He left before the completion of his last season, but the club ended up as champions of Iceland for the second time and for the first time in 18 years, with Hreiðarsson playing a big role in the turnaround of the club's fortunes.^[1]

In 1997, Hermann was scouted by Premier League newcomers Crystal Palace.^[2] Hermann came into English football in August that year when Palace signed him up. He was one of the team's few stand-out players in a season where Palace were relegated. At Palace, Hermann scored league goals against Sheffield Wednesday^[3] and Chelsea, with the latter goal briefly giving Palace the lead at Stamford Bridge.^[4] He also scored once in the League Cup against Torquay United.^[5]

Brentford

In September 1998, Hermann opted to move further down the Football League and followed recently departed Crystal Palace chairman Ron Noades to Brentford, where Noades was now chairman as well as the manager. He joined Third Division side in a deal worth £750,000.

Brentford were champions of the Third Division and Hermann scored six goals, but in October 1999, he signed for Premier League side Wimbledon in a deal worth £2.5 million. They were later relegated from the top flight that season. During his time at Wimbledon, he scored once against West Ham United.^[6]

Hermann has been relegated from the Premier League a record five times with five different teams (every Premier League club he has played for). In the 1997–98 season he was a part of the Crystal Palace squad which was relegated at the end of the season. He also has managed to be relegated with Wimbledon in the 1999–2000 season, Ipswich Town in the 2001–02 season and with Charlton Athletic in the 2006–07 season. He suffered his fifth relegation playing for Portsmouth in the 2009–10 season.

Ipswich Town

A £4.5million move before the 2000–01 season saw him become newly promoted Ipswich Town's record signing. Ipswich finished fifth in the club's first season back in the Premier League, thus securing a UEFA Cup place. The following season, there was a complete reversal of fortunes, and they were relegated. Ipswich trimmed their squad to save on finances, but Hermann turned down a move to newly promoted West Bromwich Albion at the start of the 2002–03 season – reportedly due to West Bromwich offering him vastly reduced wages compared to what he was currently receiving, and also Hermann not wanting to face another relegation battle.^[7] At Ipswich he scored league goals against Manchester City^[8] and West Ham United^[9] and scored once in the UEFA Cup against Helsingborg.^[10]

Charlton Athletic

In March 2003, Hermann moved on from Ipswich, joining Premier League side Charlton Athletic. He signed a three-and-a-half year contract, with the club paying £800,000, plus a further £100,000 if they were not relegated in the 2003–04 season to Hermann. He was able to move to Charlton outside the Premier League's transfer window as Ipswich were in administration, although he would not be eligible to play for the club for the remainder of that season.

Hermann proved his worth for Charlton after making his debut in a 3–0 home defeat at the hands of Manchester City. He would miss only five games in his debut season, and would be regular starter in subsequent years.

Portsmouth

On 25 May 2007, Hermann exercised a clause in his contract with Charlton which allowed him to leave on a free transfer if they were relegated and signed a two-year deal with fellow Premier League club Portsmouth.^[11] On 29 September, Hreiðarsson scored his first goal for Portsmouth in a 7–4 Premier League win at home against Reading. He followed that up with another goal the following weekend against Fulham. On 20 April 2008, Hermann was sent off for a professional foul on Darius Vassell at the City of Manchester Stadium against Manchester City, but his season ended well by lifting the FA Cup after a 1–0 victory over Cardiff City at Wembley Stadium.^[12]

Hermann scored two goals in two games for the second season running in 2009, when he netted with headers against both Liverpool and Manchester City. In December 2009, he scored the first goal in a 2–0 victory against Burnley. On 27 March 2010, Hermann snapped his achilles tendon in an away match against Tottenham Hotspur and was ruled out for the rest of the season.^[13] After the match, Spurs and former Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp commented, "The game was soured by Hermann's injury. The lads said they heard it pop." Due to this injury, Hreiðarsson was unable to play in the 2010 FA Cup Final.

After Portsmouth were relegated from the Premier League, it became unknown whether Hermann would stay at the club. However, on 8 October, he signed a new one-year contract.^[14] For most of the 2010-11 season, Hermann remained on the bench, as manager Steve Cotterill preferred loan signing Carl Dickinson, but in the latter part of the season, he became first-choice ahead of Dickinson and made his 500th league appearance against Barnsley on 19 February 2011.^[15] He signed a new one-year contract with Portsmouth on 8 July.^[16]

Coventry City

On 14 January 2012, after a long injury spell and limited playing time, it was announced that Hermann would sign for fellow Championship side Coventry City on a six-month contract.^[17] Unfortunately he was injured after only two appearances an could not play for the rest of the season. Hermann was released by Coventry City when his contract ran out at the end of the 2011–12 season. Coincidentally, both Coventry City and Portsmouth were relegated from the Championship that season.

Portsmouth trial

On September 4, 2012 a rumour circulated that Hermann was to offer his services to Portsmouth and play for nothing. On September 5 the rumour was confirmed by Portsmouth's local paper "The News". In an online article Michael Appleton had apparently stated "Hermann will come in and train with us towards the end of the week and we will see where he is from a fitness point of view. He tells me he wants to play for nothing but we will assess him. I am certainly not ruling it out. We will see how his fitness is, like we would do with any triallist". Hermann intended to play in a League 1 match the following Sunday against Crawley Town. ^[18] The defender's trial officially started on September 6. Due to his appointment as manager of his hometown club ÍBV, he won't be playing for Portsmouth.

International career

Hermann made his debut for Iceland in a June 1996 friendly match against Cyprus, coming on as a substitute for Alexander Högnason. He since become a strongly established member of the team, collecting 89 caps^[19] and captaining the side in his later years.

Managerial career

Hermann reached an agreement with his hometown club ÍBV on 19 September 2012 to become their manager for the 2013 Úrvalsdeild season.^[20] He would later sign former English international David James for the 2013 season.

Career statistics

Club

^[21][22][23]

Updated on 5 May 2013

(*) Community Shield

(**) Icelandic Super Cup

International goals

Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 September 1999	Laugardalsvöllur, Iceland	Andorra	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying
2	24 March 2001	Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	1–0	1–2	FIFA World Cup 2002 Qualifying
3	11 June 2003	Kaunas, Lithuania	Lithuania	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
4	7 September 2005	Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	2–0	3–2	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
5	2 September 2006	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying

Honours

Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja

• 1: 1997

Brentford

• 1: 1998/99

Portsmouth

• 1: FA Cup: 2008

Personal life

Hermann is married to fellow Icelander Ragna Lóa Stefánsdóttir, herself a former football player (not to be confused with the jazz singer Loa Stefansdottir). They have two daughters, Telma and Ýda, in addition to Ragna Lóa's own children, Stefán and Elsa.^[24]

References

External links

• Hermann Hreiðarsson – FIFA competition record
• Hermann Hreiðarsson career stats at Soccerbase
• Hermann Hreiðarsson at National-Football-Teams.com