Heiðar Helguson

Early career

Heiðar was born in Akureyri, in northern Iceland. He joined his first club, UMFS Dalvík, at the age of eight in 1985. He spent a further eight years in the club's development squads, progressing through the different youth team age brackets (Under-10s, Under-12s, Under-15s, etc.) and debuting for the club's reserves whilst he was still only 13. He was handed his first team debut in 1993 when he was 15 years old. He scored five goals in 11 league appearances before his performances earned him a transfer to Þróttur in 1994, aged 16. In three seasons, Heiðar scored 31 goals in 54 league appearances for Þróttur, his performances generating interest from several European clubs.

Lillestrøm

Heiðar arrived at Lillestrøm in the autumn of 1998. He made his first team debut in October, curiously wearing number 1 on his shirt. The next season Heiðar became one of the great surprises in Norwegian football when he scored sixteen league goals. In his debut season for Lillestrøm, he had managed only two goals. Heiðar was a very popular player, and even had his own fan-club named "The Helgusonsons".

Watford

Heiðar was signed by Watford manager Graham Taylor midway through the 1999–2000 season for a club record £1.5m. Brought in to boost the struggling club's striking department, Heiðar had a good debut at home to Liverpool, where he played well. Heiðar scored in his first game. He later picked up the display of the season award for this goal-scoring…

Heiðar made his debut for Iceland in an April 1999 friendly match against Malta, coming on as a substitute for Ríkharður Daðason, and as of October 2010 has earned 52 caps, scoring 12 goals. He was top scorer in the 2004 FA Summer Tournament with three goals. After playing in a friendly against Spain in August 2006, a long spell outside the national team followed during which Heiðar announced his retirement from international football, in June 2007. On 28 August 2008, Heiðar announced his return to international football and was immediately selected in the Icelandic team to face Norway and Scotland a few days later. He scored a goal against Norway in the World Cup qualifier as the match ended 2–2.

Club

International

Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Helguson goal.

Queens Park Rangers

Football League Championship: 2010–11 Cardiff City

Football League Championship: 2012–13