Iceland鈥檚 football coaching revolution
Print Edition
SIGGI Eyolfsson had only modest success as a professional footballer abroad, but he worked wonders when he returned home to launch a coaching revolution that many credit for Iceland making their European Championship debut this year.
With a population of about 329,000 — roughly that of England’s football wonder-child Leicester — Iceland is the smallest nation to qualify for Euro 2016 in France next month, playing in a group with Austria, Hungary and Portugal.
Eyolfsson should take a bow.
As a 26-year-old with seven years at Icelandic clubs under his belt, he left to play for English and Belgium sides, where he had a modest career, before returning home in 2002.
On his return home Eyolfsson won successive domestic titles with KR Reykjavik, but then took over as head of education at the KSI, Icelandic football’s governing body, where he launched an overhaul of the coaching system.
Early results of Eyolfsson’s revolution showed up with the women’s national team qualifying for the Euros in 2009 and 2013.
“The KSI deserve so much credit for starting the coaching,” said Hermann Hreidarsson, who played in England for 15 years and won the FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2008.
Hreidarsson recalled his early days in England when he signed for Crystal Palace as a 23-year-old in 1997.
“My technical ability was no better than a 14-year-old’s today. The improvements have been immense,” he said.
Nearly every player Iceland’s Euro squad, all of whom play abroad, were coached in their teenage years in the new system.
There are other achievements. The overhaul of coaching in Iceland was matched by a huge investment in facilities. The boom years before the 2008 economic crash saw indoor “football houses” and artificial pitches arriving in large numbers.
“Football is no longer a six-month game in Iceland,” a KSI official said.
“Iceland is out-performing about 150 bigger countries and arguably is the best in the world in developing players,” said Eyolfsson, who helped to ensure that the coaching network extended even to the most remote villages.
“You don’t know where the next Eidur Gudjohnsen is going to come from,” Eyolfsson said, referring to the Icelandic midfielder who has played for top flight foreign clubs including Chelsea and Barcelona.
“It could be a small village, so you need a qualified coach in that village.”
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