Grétar Steinsson

Football player infobox
playername = Grétar Steinsson
fullname = Grétar Rafn Steinsson


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|1|9
cityofbirth = Siglufjörður
countryofbirth = Iceland
height = Height|m=1.89
currentclub = Bolton Wanderers
clubnumber = 15
position = Right-back
youthyears = 1998
youthclubs = KS Siglufjörður
years = 1999–2004
2004–2006
2006–2008
2008–
clubs = IA Akranes
BSC Young Boys
AZ Alkmaar
Bolton Wanderers
caps(goals) = 76 (12)
19 0(3)
61 0(7)
23 0(1)
nationalyears = 2002–
nationalteam = Iceland
nationalcaps(goals) = 26 0(3)
pcupdate = 14:18, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 11:48, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Grétar Rafn Steinsson (born January 9, 1982 in Siglufjörður) is an Icelandic professional football player, playing for Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League.

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 16 January 2008 after a transfer fee of £3.5m was agreed between the two clubs. He made his debut against Newcastle United on the 19 January 2008. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bolton_wanderers/7189240.stm|title="Defender Steinsson joins Bolton"|accessdate=2008-01-16|date=2008-01-16|year= 2008|month=01 |publisher="BBC Sport"] 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. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7551165.stm|title=" Bolton 3-1 Stoke"|accessdate=2008-08-16|date=2008-08-16|year= 2008|month=08 |publisher="BBC Sport"]

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.

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.

References

External links

* [http://www.burndenaces.co.uk/players/profile.php?id=54 Bolton Wanderers Profile] at [http://www.burndenaces.co.uk/ Burnden Aces]
*soccerbase|id=30529|name=Gretar Steinsson
* [http://www.viplanet.nl/Spelers/Speler/GrtarRafnSteinsson.htm Career stats]