Grétar Steinsson

Iceland

Born in Siglufjörður, Grétar was spotted playing football when he was playing "seven-a-side football in the tiny fishing village" in his hometown, leading him to joining a youth team. Grétar started his career with local team KS in Siglufjörður, where he was a student at the time. before joining ÍA Akranes in 2000. Grétar made his ÍA Akranes debut in the opening game of the season, in a 1–0 win over KF on 18 May 2000. Until the end of 2000, he went on to make 13 appearances, while he was captain for the youth side. His breakthrough in the first team attracted interest from European clubs, such as Heerenveen, 1860 Munich and Sheffield United. The following 2001 season saw Grétar establish himself in the first team. He started the season well, scoring three times in the first five league matches. He later scored three more goals, including a brace against Valur on 13 August 2001. His performances at ÍA Akranes earned him a two–year contract extension. Grétar finished the season making 31 appearances and scored 7 times in the season while his club won the Icelandic title. He was also awarded the Most Promising Player and Team of the Year at the ceremony. In the 2002 season, Grétar retained his place in the first team and scored on 29 May 2002, in a 3–1 win over Grindavík. By the end of the 2002 season, Grétar had made the total of 31 appearances and scoring 2 times in all competitions. After the 2003 season, during which he scored two goals 17 appearances,

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Following his retirement, Grétar completed his studies on Football Management at Johan Cruyff Institute and holds the Level 5 (Technical Director) from the English FA. Two months after joining AZ Alkmaar, on 21 January 2015, Grétar returned to English football, being appointed as technical director at Fleetwood Town of League One. As a technical director, his role was to handle scouting, player recruitment and development for the club. His time at the club was successful and despite "having one of the smallest budgets", they finished fourth place at the end of the 2016–17 season in EFL League One. However in the 2018–19 season, the arrival of Joey Barton saw Grétar's role at Fleetwood Town was reduced with "the control of transfers". Grétar then joined Premier League club Everton in December 2018 as Head of Recruitment and Development. During his time at the club, he was not only involved in the "whole structure of the club, not just the first team and under-23s" but also in the scouting and attended matches at the youth academy. Grétar was also involved in the transfer recruitments and played a role of the player's developments, including Jarrad Branthwaite and Anthony Gordon. After almost three years at Everton, he left the club following the departure of Marcel Brands. On 2 July 2022, Grétar moved from a position as Technical Adviser to the Iceland FA and joined Tottenham Hotspur as Performance Director. After one season at the club, he left Tottenham Hotspur as part of…

After previously playing for all the youth levels representing Iceland, Grétar was called up for the senior team in February 2002. Upon learning of his call up, he described it as a dream come true. He made his debut in a March 2002 friendly match against Brazil as a substitute and scored after being only 17 minutes on the pitch, in a 6–1 defeat. With his first appearance for the national side, Grétar become the third player from Siglufjörður to play for them. Three years after making his senior team debut, Grétar was called up to the senior team again. His first appearance in three years came on 26 March 2005, in a 4–0 loss against Croatia. Later that year, Grétar scored two goals against South Africa and Bulgaria. Three years later, on 20 August 2008, Grétar scored again, in a 1–1 draw against Azerbaijan. A year later, Grétar was appointed as captain for the first time, in a 2–0 loss against Macedonia on 10 June 2009. Grétar was featured four times out of the five matches for Iceland throughout 2012. After becoming established in the side in 2005, Grétar played regularly and made 46 appearances, scoring 4 times.

While growing up, Grétar watched English Football since he was six years old. In addition to Icelandic, he speaks English, German and Dutch. In addition to playing football, he also played badminton but realised that he had a "brighter future in football than in badminton". Gretar is married to Georgina Steinsson. They share three children Elma, Max & Luna.