Aron Gunnarsson

Aron Einar Malmquist Gunnarsson (born 22 April 1989) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays for captains the Icelandic national team. He plays as a central midfielder, usually in a defensive capacity.

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Aron.
Aron Gunnarsson
Aron playing for Iceland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Aron Einar Malmquist Gunnarsson[1]
Date of birth (1989-04-22) 22 April 1989[1]
Place of birth Akureyri, Iceland
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
2004–2005 Þór Akureyri
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2006 Þór Akureyri 11 (0)
2006–2008 AZ 1 (0)
2008–2011 Coventry City 122 (6)
2011–2019 Cardiff City 271 (25)
2019–2023 Al-Arabi 79 (7)
International career‡
2005 Iceland U17 7 (2)
2006–2008 Iceland U19 16 (1)
2007–2011 Iceland U21 11 (1)
2008– Iceland 102 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:05, 13 September 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:36, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

He began his career at Þór Akureyri, and played one match for Dutch club AZ before joining England's Coventry City in 2008. After 133 matches and seven goals in three seasons for them, he transferred to Cardiff City, where he was a runner-up in the 2012 Football League Cup final and played in the 2013–14 Premier League.

Aron plays for Iceland at international level, having made his senior debut in 2008, and has earned over 100 caps for them. He has been Iceland's captain since mid-2012, captaining the team to the quarter-finals at their first major tournament, UEFA Euro 2016.

Club career

Early career

Born in Akureyri, Aron began playing football in his native Iceland on gravel pitches. During the winter months, snow and ice left football pitches unplayable and Aron instead played handball, making three appearances in the Icelandic handball League at the age of fifteen.[3] He began his football career with local side Þór Akureyri in 2005 and, after investment in indoor pitches by the Icelandic government, began to train all year round. At the age of seventeen, Aron moved to the Netherlands, joining the youth academy at AZ.[4] After initially struggling with homesickness, he settled in the country and made his debut for the club during the 2007–08 season.[5]

Coventry City

Aron signed for English Championship team Coventry City on 17 June 2008, signing a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee.[6] He made his debut on the opening day of the Championship season against Norwich City, where Coventry won 2–0.[7] He scored his first career goal on 14 February 2009 in an FA Cup match against Premier League side Blackburn Rovers.[8] During his time at Coventry, Aron attracted Premier League interest leading Coventry City to offer him an improved deal on 12 March.[9] His first league goal came against Crystal Palace.[10] At the end of his first season in England, Aron was voted the Coventry City Supporter's Player of the Year as well as the club's Community Award.[11]

The following season, Aron changed his shirt number from 12 to 17, to mirror the squad number of his brother, who is a professional handball player.[12] The following season, he continued as a vital part of the Coventry midfield, throughout the season he made 42 appearances and scored one goal against Middlesbrough.[13]

Coventry City started the 2010–11 season strongly looking like they were pushing for play-off places. Aron opened his season's goal scoring count with a goal against newly promoted, Millwall, despite Coventry losing 3–1.[14] After three years at Coventry, he scored his first goal at Coventry City's home ground, the Ricoh Arena, against Preston North End.[15] Three days later, Aron scored his second goal in two matches against Doncaster Rovers.[16] He was out of contract at the end of the season and on 10 December, Aron stated his desire to stay at Coventry.[17] However the following week, he received his first red card of his career against Norwich City.[18] However a deal for a new contract could not be reached between his agent and Coventry, and at the end of the season the club gave him a deadline date to agree to stay.[19]

However, due to Aron and his agent not being able to reach an agreement with Coventry, he was linked with moves away and his agent confirmed that fellow Championship outfit Cardiff City were favourites to sign him.[20]

Cardiff City
Aron playing for Cardiff City in 2012

On 8 July 2011, Gunnarsson agreed a three-year deal with fellow Championship team Cardiff City on a free transfer, as the fifth signing for new manager Malky Mackay. Coventry were due compensation via him being under the age of 24.[21]

He made his debut on 7 August in the first match of the new season, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 away win over West Ham United.[22] In his second match, Aron limped off with an ankle injury after only ten minutes against Bristol City, the injury sidelining him for a week.[23] He returned after the September international break, insisting his injury was behind him.[24] On 22 October, Aron scored two goals in a 5–3 victory against Barnsley, receiving the man of the match award.[25]

Aron played the entirety of the 2012 Football League Cup final, as City were beaten 3–2 on penalties after by Premier League club Liverpool at Wembley Stadium.[26]

Aron scored Cardiff's first goal in the Premier League on 25 August 2013, against Manchester City in a 3–2 win.[27] In June 2015 he signed a new contract with the club, until the summer of 2018.[28]

Following his return from Euro 2016, Aron was linked with a move away from the Welsh capital, with Derby County and Norwich City claimed to be interested. However, Cardiff City manager, Paul Trollope, described him as "a very important player" to the club.[29] His performances under Trollope and his eventual replacement Neil Warnock saw him awarded the club's Player of the Year award at the end of the season.[30]

The following season, Aron failed to nail down a consistent place in the starting eleven, due to a number of injuries throughout the first half of the season.[31] Despite his injury problems, Cardiff offered him a new contract, which was later rejected by the player.[32] Aron returned to the side for the final run-in, where he scored the winning goal against Nottingham Forest and ultimately helped Cardiff gain promotion to the Premier League.[33]

In July 2018, Aron signed a new one-year deal.[34][35]

Al-Arabi

In March 2019, it was announced that Aron would leave the club at the end of the season, and would join Qatar Stars League club Al-Arabi.[36] In July 2019, he joined Al-Arabi.[37][38] In June 2022, he extended his contract by an additional year.[39]

International career
Aron playing for Iceland in 2012.

Aron made his international debut for Iceland on 2 February 2008.[40] Aron was called up to the 2011 European Under-21 Championship Iceland squad, which took place in Denmark. In the first match, Iceland beat hosts Denmark 3–1. This was followed with a 2–0 loss to Belarus, where Aron was sent off.[41] The two losses saw Iceland go out of the tournament via a tie breaker. Aron has been a regular player in the senior side since debuting despite helping the U-21 side when they qualified for the UEFA Under-21 Championship.

Aron was named as the permanent captain of the national team before a friendly match against the Faroe Islands in August 2012 at the young age of 23, ahead of his 29th cap.[42] Under his captaincy, Iceland qualified for the play-off round of FIFA World Cup qualification for the first time,[43] where they lost 2–0 on aggregate to Croatia.[44]

On 10 October 2014, Aron scored his first senior international goal in Iceland's 3–0 away win against Latvia in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.[45] He scored again in a 2–1 defeat of the Czech Republic on 12 June 2015.[46] On 6 September, he was sent off in the last minute of a goalless draw at Laugardalsvöllur in Reykjavík against Kazakhstan, a result which put Iceland into their first major international tournament.[47]

Aron captained Iceland at their first major international tournament, UEFA Euro 2016 in France. After their first match, a shock 1–1 draw with Portugal in Saint-Étienne, opposing skipper Cristiano Ronaldo accepted to trade shirts with him in the dressing room.[48] Iceland finished second in their group, after beating Austria and drawing against Hungary, and then knocked out England in the round of 16.[49] They were defeated by France, 5–2, in the quarter-final. Aron played in all five games.[50]

In May 2018, he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[51] On 6 November 2022, he played his 100th match for Iceland in a friendly match against Saudi Arabia.

On 26 March 2023, Aron scored his first ever hat-trick for Iceland on his 101st appearance in a 7–0 away win against Liechtenstein in a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying fixture, to be the oldest hat-trick scorer for his country, having previously scored twice in his first 100 appearances for Iceland.[52]

Personal life

His older brother Arnór Þór Gunnarsson plays handball for the Icelandic national team.[53]

Career statistics

Club
As of 13 September 2022[54][55][56][57][58][59]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Þór Akureyri 2005 1. deild karla 501050—110
2006 1. deild karla 603030—120
Total 1104080—230
AZ 2006–07 Eredivisie 00———00
2007–08 Eredivisie 10———10
Total 10———10
Coventry City 2008–09 Championship 4015120—472
2009–10 Championship 4012000—421
2010–11 Championship 4242000—454
Total 12269120—1337
Cardiff City 2011–12 Championship 42500602[lower-alpha 3]0505
2012–13 Championship 4580000—458
2013–14 Premier League 2312000—251
2014–15 Championship 4541020—484
2015–16 Championship 2820010—292
2016–17 Championship 4030010—413
2017–18 Championship 2010000—201
2018–19 Premier League 2810000—281
Total 27125301002028625
Al Arabi 2019–20 Qatar Stars League 172—20—192
2020–21 Qatar Stars League 20230202[lower-alpha 4]1273
2021–22 Qatar Stars League 21210612[lower-alpha 4]0303
2022–23 Qatar Stars League 7000000070
Total 6564010141838
Career total 470372013016152640
  1. Includes Icelandic Cup, FA Cup, Emir Cup
  2. Includes Icelandic League Cup, Football League Cup, Qatari Stars Cup
  3. Appearances in Championship play-offs
  4. Appearances in Qatar FA Cup

International
Aron (left) playing for Iceland in 2014
As of match played 16 October 2023[5]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Iceland 200890
200970
201050
201140
201280
201380
201481
201561
2016130
201780
201850
201960
202040
202160
202230
202323
Total1025
Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Aron goal.
List of international goals scored by Aron Gunnarsson
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 10 October 2014 Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia  Latvia 2–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying [60]
2 12 June 2015 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Czech Republic 1–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying [61]
326 March 2023Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein Liechtenstein3–07–0UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying[62]
44–0
55–0

Honours

Cardiff City

References
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  4. Aron Gunnarsson (4 June 2018). "There Be Ice Dragons Here". The Players' Tribune. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
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