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Guðni Bergsson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 9th Chairman ofKSÍ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2017–2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Geir Þorsteinsson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Vanda Sigurgeirsdóttir | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1965-07-21)21 July 1965 (age 60) Reykjavík, Iceland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Guðni Bergsson (born 21 July 1965) is an Icelandic former professionalfootballer and former president of theIcelandic Football Association from 2017 to 2021.[2]
As a player, he was adefender who notably played in thePremier League forTottenham Hotspur andBolton Wanderers. He also played forValur and1860 Munich. He was capped 80 times byIceland, scoring 1 goal.
Born inReykjavík, Guðni started life in football with his local clubValur but soon harboured ambitions to play overseas. In 1985, he had a trial with English teamAston Villa but they did not follow up their initial interest.
In December 1988, he was to return to England withTottenham Hotspur, as then managerTerry Venables paid a fee of around £100,000 to Valur, a fee which was then a record sale for the Icelandic club who have since gone on to produce many other top Icelandic exports.
At Spurs, the central defender or full back teamed up with England internationalsPaul Gascoigne,Gary Mabbutt,Gary Lineker andChris Waddle. Understandably, he found it hard to make a regular breakthrough for theLondon club often filling in intermittently due to injuries or suspension. This did not stop him from becoming a regular for the Icelandic national team, where he eventually became captain winning in excess of 80 caps, which was a record for that country at the time.
He had his most successful spell at Spurs under the management of Venables, but he missed out on theFA Cup triumph of 1991. The appointment ofOssie Ardiles as the Tottenham manager effectively spelt the beginning of the end for Guðni, who feared a life away from football at one stage.
In 1995, after being told he could leave Spurs, Guðni began studying to become a lawyer. A trial game forCrystal Palace reserves alerted the thenBolton Wanderers managerBruce Rioch to Guðni's availability. Rioch could not understand why such a seasoned international was struggling to find a new club. A fee of £65,000 was agreed between Bolton and Tottenham, rising to £110,000 dependent on a certain number of clauses.
Guðni made his Bolton debut in the most extreme surroundings ofWembley Stadium when coming on as a substitute forScott Green in the1995 Football League Cup Final defeat to Liverpool. England wingerSteve McManaman had given Green a torrid time throughout the afternoon but Guðni's introduction gave Bolton renewed hope, as his first touch was to supply the cross forAlan Thompson to score. This was to be the start of a lifelong affection between Bolton Wanderers and Guðni.
On the eve of the 1995–96 season, he was promoted back to the Premiership with Bolton where he proved to be a cool and assured performer in an otherwise shaky Wandererer's defence. He scored a number of vital goals againstNewcastle United,Leeds United and most notably on his return toWhite Hart Lane as Bolton drew 2–2 withTottenham Hotspur. Unfortunately, that season ended in relegation for Bolton, but Guðni was eager to help the club bounce back at the first attempt. In 1996–97, the club finished the season as champions of the old Division One (now Championship), with Guðni chipping in with three vital league goals, two of which came in the 7–0 defeat of relegation-hauntedSwindon Town.
During the 1997–98 season, the team relegated again, but this time the club showed much more of a fight than in their previous stint in the top league, only losing out toEverton on goal-difference on the final day. Bolton's loss atChelsea coupled with Everton's draw againstCoventry City meant that Guðni and Bolton were back in Division One. That season, Guðni scored one of the goals of the season; on 26 December 1997, Bolton played a home match against fellow strugglersBarnsley with both needing vital league points to climb away from trouble. Guðni equalised for the Trotters shortly before half time with a 35-yard shot from right-back which sailed into the top corner past the goalkeeper David Watson. The next season saw Guðni suffer a series of niggling injury problems and was one of his most frustrating seasons at Bolton. Players such asMark Fish,Andy Todd,Jon Newsome andPaul Warhurst had all played in the heart of the defence in his absence, rumours even circulated that he may leave but this was soon dispelled.
The following 1999–2000 season saw Bolton and Guðni reach three domestic Semi-Final competitions, losing all of them. First, the club lost out toTranmere Rovers in a two-leggedLeague Cup semi-final, then were defeated by Premiership sideAston Villa on penalties in a hard-fought encounter atWembley in a game which Guðni picked up a hamstring injury. Finally they facedIpswich Town in the Divisional Play-offs in May 2000. Both sides had drawn 2–2 in the first leg at theReebok Stadium, this making for an excellent second leg in the return atPortman Road. The game was marred by 12 Bolton bookings, the sending off ofRobbie Elliott andMike Whitlow and three debatable Ipswich penalties. Bolton criticised the highly controversial performance of refereeBarry Knight claiming that the Orpington official had given Ipswich an unfair advantage. Ipswich later won the game 5–3 after extra-time and it looked as if Guðni would be retiring from football at the age of 35.
However, new Wanderers managerSam Allardyce persuaded the ever reliable Guðni to sign up for another year and he did not disappoint as he scored 10 goals from defence, putting in a string of excellent performances alongside the likes of Whitlow andColin Hendry, as Bolton ultimately returned to the Premiership following a 3–0 play off win overPreston North End at theMillennium Stadium inCardiff.
With rumours again circulating of Guðni's imminent retirement Allardyce talked him into staying for one last season. This proved to be a rocky season for Bolton, only staying up on the last day with a 2–1 victory againstMiddlesbrough at theReebok Stadium. Guðni almost scored against former club Tottenham in a game in March 2003 but his header rebounded back off the post.[3]
Guðni made his debut forIceland in 1984 and went on to earn 80 caps, scoring 1 goal.[4] His last international came in June 2003 againstLithuania. He is number four in Iceland's all-time international appearances list, behind record-holderRúnar Kristinsson,Hermann Hreiðarsson andEiður Guðjohnsen.
Following his retirement from playing, Guðni became the presenter of the football TV-showsBoltinn með Guðna Bergs (English: The ball with Guðni Bergs) and4-4-2[5] while also working as a lawyer.
On 8 August 2009, Guðni played in a Bolton Legends vs Bolton Legends match that took place beforeJussi Jääskeläinen'stestimonial. The Legends match finished 0–0.[6]
On 6 March 2012, a man attacked his fellow lawyer, Skúli Eggert Sigurz, at their firm with a hunting knife. Whilst subduing the attacker, Guðni was stabbed twice in the leg.[7][8] He was later released from hospital, however his colleague remained in a critical condition.[9] On 26 June 2012, the attacker was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Gudni received 800.000ISK in compensation.[10]
On 11 February 2017, Guðni was elected chairman of theIcelandic Football Association.[2] He resigned on 29 August 2021 following the2021 Icelandic FA sex scandals.[11]
On 14 November 2021, Guðni played in a charity match as part of a team ofBolton Wanderers Legends against the current Bolton first team with the match helping to raise money for the mother of Bolton playerGethin Jones, who had been diagnosed withMotor neuron disease. The Bolton first team won 7–4. Guðni was substituted off after eight minutes having picked up an injury.[12][13]
Tottenham Hotspur
Bolton Wanderers
