| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Atli Eðvaldsson | ||
| Date of birth | (1957-03-03)3 March 1957 | ||
| Place of birth | Reykjavík, Iceland | ||
| Date of death | 2 September 2019(2019-09-02) (aged 62) | ||
| Place of death | Reykjavík, Iceland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1974–1980 | Valur | 93 | (31) |
| 1980–1981 | Borussia Dortmund | 30 | (11) |
| 1981–1985 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 122 | (38) |
| 1985–1988 | Bayer 05 Uerdingen | 72 | (10) |
| 1988–1989 | TuRU Düsseldorf | 23 | (6) |
| 1989–1990 | Gençlerbirliği | 23 | (4) |
| 1990–1993 | KR Reykjavík | 48 | (16) |
| 1994 | HK Kópavogur | 11 | (1) |
| Total | 422 | (117) | |
| International career | |||
| 1974 | Iceland U19 | 2 | (0) |
| 1978 | Iceland U21 | 1 | (0) |
| 1976–1991 | Iceland | 70 | (8) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1995–1996 | ÍBV | ||
| 1997 | Fylkir | ||
| 1998–1999 | KR Reykjavík | ||
| 1999–2003 | Iceland | ||
| 2005–2006 | Þróttur Reykjavík | ||
| 2009 | Valur | ||
| 2013 | Reynir Sandgerði | ||
| 2014 | Afturelding | ||
| 2017–2018 | Kristianstad FC | ||
| 2018 | Hamar | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Atli Eðvaldsson (3 March 1957 – 2 September 2019) was an Icelandic professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder, widely regarded as one of the most influential players to come from Iceland. During his career, he won theIcelandic championship three times and theIcelandic Cup four times.[1]After retiring from playing, he became a well-known manager. In 1999, he guidedKnattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur to its first championship in 31 years.[1] Atli played 70 games for theIcelandic national team from 1976 to 1991. He later coached the national team from 1999 to 2003.[1]
Atli started atValur and later became very successful in the GermanBundesliga withFortuna Düsseldorf and Bayer Uerdingen.[citation needed] On 6 June 1983, he became the first foreign player to score a five goals in one game in the Bundesliga, when he scored five goals for Fortuna Düsseldorf in a 5–1 victory againstEintracht Frankfurt.[2] Straight after the game, he and teammatePétur Ormslev, where flown to Iceland where Atli scored the winning goal in Iceland's 1–0 victory againstMalta the following day.[3] For the season, he scored 21 goals in 34 matches for Düsseldorf, finishing second in the league.[4]
After a year in Turkey, he finished his playing career back in Iceland, where he became player-manager.[5]
He made his debut forIceland in 1976 and went on to win 70 caps, scoring eight goals[6] and captaining the team 31 times. He played his last international match in a September 1991 friendly game againstDenmark. AfterÁsgeir Elíasson became Iceland's manager in 1991, he announced that Atli was not in the future plans of the team. At the time he was Iceland's record cap.[7]
After his playing days ended, Atli went on to manage three Icelandic club teams before taking the helm at the national team in 1999 where he stayed for four years. On 4 July 2009, Atli was appointed manager ofÚrvalsdeild karla clubValur until the end of the season.
He last coachedHamar in the4. deild karla in 2018.[8]
Chapman Pincher alleged that Atli was the owner of certain documents that might add further weight to the case againstRoger Hollis, that Hollis was a Russian spy at the head of MI-5 in the UK.[9] As Pincher, who died in 2014, stated "I have been unable to extract a copy of the interrogation report from Atli", p. 603. The interrogation report was alleged by Pincher to have been written by his deceased father,Evald Mikson.
Atli was the younger brother of former international playerJóhannes Eðvaldsson. His father,Evald Mikson (Icelandic: Eðvald Hinriksson), was a goalkeeper in theEstonian national football team between 1934 and 1938. Evald was theTallinn chief of police during theGerman occupation of Estonia during World War II.
Atli's daughterSif Atladóttir is a member of the women's national football team.[10]
In December 2018, he revealed in an interview withRÚV that he had been battling a serious illness for two years and that initially the doctors only gave him two weeks to live.[11][12] On 2 September 2019, Atli died from cancer.[13]
The first, Atli Edvaldsson, quite amusingly netted five for Dusseldorf against Frankfurt in 1983
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
