Members News: Ex Sky Blues Iceland International Is 46 Today. ‘Happy Birthday’, Bjarni!!
We welcomed Bjarni Guðjónsson, an Icelandic former Sky Blue midfielder, to the CCFPA in June 2021. Bjarni is a “Birthday Boy” and today is his 46th birthday, so we have even more reason to rejoice! Bjarni, happy birthday!
His father, Guðjón, was a professional football player and is currently a manager. His brothers, Þórður and Jóhannes, also have footballing ancestry and, interestingly, were all previously teammates on the same Genk squad!
Bjarni has played for teams in Belgium, Germany, and the UK in addition to his native country.
Born on February 26, 1979, in Akranes, Iceland, Bjarni started his football career with his hometown team, ÍA Akranes, from 1995 to 1997, scoring an incredible 20 goals in 33 games.
Newcastle United signed the 18-year-old for £0.5 million because of his strike rate, but in his little more than a season on Tyneside, he was not a mainstay in their first squad.
This was fixed when he transferred to Genk, a top Belgian team, where he played 26 games without scoring in two seasons.At the end of the 1999–2000 season, Bjarni returned to England after being signed for £250,000 by Stoke City (run by his father!).
Prior to his departure from the Potteries in 2003, the team had been promoted to Division One, and Bjarni continued to play for Stoke City even after his father, Guðjón Þórðarson, was fired.
Bjarni moved to Germany on a free transfer to join brother Þórður at VFL Bochum after playing 161 games and scoring 16 goals while wearing the Red and White colors.
In 2004, after battling to maintain a first team spot at Bochum CCFC, Bjarni was loaned to the then-First Division Sky Blues by their “gaffer,” Eric Black, who is now a fellow member of the CCFPA and today’s “special” visitor at the Sky Blues F.A.Cup game.
On January 24, 2004, he made his debut as a substitute in a home Fourth Round F.A.Cup 1-1 draw against Colchester United. Two weeks later, he made his full debut in a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest on February 7 and scored his first Sky Blue goal in their subsequent away game, a 3-0 victory at Wimbledon.
Later that year, CCFC signed Bjarni on a free agent contract after he gave several brilliant performances under Black. But Bjarni struggled for playing time under City’s new manager, Peter Reid (who is now also a member of the Association), finally losing favor and departing the Ricoh with just three goals in 34 first team appearances.
Having played for his island nation’s U17 team since 1994, Bjarni advanced through the Iceland U19 and U21 teams to earn 23 full caps (one goal) between 1997 and 2010 (including time with the Sky Blues).
Bjarni joined Plymouth Argyle, City’s Championship opponents, during the 2004–05 season. He was a fan favorite there and played for two years, scoring once in 27 games before rejoining his hometown team in 2006.
After three seasons and seventeen goals, Bjarni was acquired by another Icelandic team in the capital, KR (Reykjavík), in 2008. He lasted there for six years before hanging up his boots to enter management in 2013.
Bjarni has management experience with KR (Reykjavík) (2014 & assistant 2018), Vikingur R (assistant 2017), and Fram (2013), all of whom were in Iceland. Bjarni most recently oversaw the U19 group at Swedish top division team IFK Norrköping starting in 2021.
We hope you have an amazing birthday today, Bjarni, and we hope to see you at an Association event in Coventry soon.
Leave a Reply