Lárus Sigurðsson

Sigurðsson was born in Akureyri and played with Þór Akureyri along with his father Sigurdur Larusson, who later became the manager.[1] His cousin Þorvaldur Örlygsson who was playing in England for Stoke City recommended him to manager Lou Macari and he joined Stoke on trial.[1] Lárus impressed Macari so much that he played him against Portsmouth before he had signed him.[1] He played 23 times in 1994–95 and his performances were so good he won the player of the year award. He was an ever-present in 1995–96 as Stoke reached the play-offs where they lost to Leicester City.[1] He missed just one match in 1996–97 in what was the club's final season at the Victoria Ground.[1] He played in all but three matches in 1997–98 as Stoke suffered relegation to the third tier.[1] he played 43 times in 1998–99 as Stoke failed to gain promotion and he was sold to West Bromwich Albion in August 1999 for a fee of £350,000 after making 228 appearances for Stoke.[1]

He scored once for Albion, his goal coming in a 5–0 win over Portsmouth on 23 February 2002.[2] After his professional career in England, Sigurðsson went home to his old club, Þór, and played 15 games for them in 2005. In summer 2006, he was appointed player-manager at Þór, a position he held until 31 May 2010 when he resigned after conflict with the board. On 20 July 2010, he joined ÍA, the club he played in as a youngster. His first senior appearance for ÍA came in a 4–2 win over Fjarðarbyggð. At the start of the 2011 season Lárus was appointed as the manager of KF, retiring as a player.

Sigurðsson won 42 caps, scoring two goals for Iceland.[3] He made his debut for Iceland in a July 1995 friendly against Faroe Islands, coming on as a substitute for Izudin Dervic.

Stoke City

• Stoke City player of the year: 1995

• Lárus Sigurðsson at Soccerbase