Teitur Thordarson

Teitur Thordarson

Personal information
Full name	Teitur Þórðarson
Date of birth	14 January 1952 (1952-01-14)
Place of birth	Akranes, Iceland
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
1968	IA Akranes
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1969–1977	ÍA	99	(51)
1977	Jönköping	21	(10)
1978–1981	Öster	87	(35)
1981–1983	Lens	48	(20)
1983–1984	Cannes	31	(9)
1984–1985	Yverdon-Sport	13	(6)
1985–1986	Öster	18	(6)
1987	Skövde	16	(0)
Total		285	(117)
National team‡
1972–1985	Iceland	41	(9)
Teams managed
1987–1988	Skövde
1988–1990	Brann
1991–1992	Lyn
1993	Grei
1994–1995	Lillestrøm
1995–1999	Estonia & Flora Tallinn
2000–2002	Brann
2002–2003	Lyn
2004–2005	Ull/Kisa
2006–2007	KR
2008–2010	Vancouver Whitecaps
2010–2011	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2012-	Barasat
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 September 2007. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 September 2007

Teitur Thordarson (Icelandic: Teitur Þórðarson, born 14 January 1952) is an Icelandic football coach. On 11 December 2007 he became coach of Vancouver Whitecaps FC. He is the older brother of Ólafur Thordarson.

Playing career

Club

Íþróttabandalag Akraness

Before embarking on his extensive career in coaching, Thordarson enjoyed a successful playing career as a striker for nearly two decades. He signed his first professional contract when he joined hometown club Íþróttabandalag Akraness in 1969. He went on to score 51 goals in 99 appearances for ÍA, with the striker claiming four Icelandic championship titles with the club between 1969 and 1977.

Sweden

After a season with Swedish second division club Jönköping in 1977, Thordarson helped Öster to three league championships in Sweden's top-flight Allsvenskan between 1978 and 1981.

France

He then made an influential move to French soccer when he joined Lens in 1981. It was at the northern French club that Thordarson scored 19 goals during the 1981–82 Ligue 1 season, with the striker finishing fourth in the French top-flight's goalscoring charts. It was also at Lens that Thordarson played for former Liverpool, Lyon, and France manager Gérard Houllier before he experienced the tutelage of another top coach in Arsène Wenger at Cannes. In the early 1980s, the current manager of English Premier League giants Arsenal was an assistant coach at Cannes.

Switzerland/Return to Sweden

Thordarson then had a spell in Switzerland with Yverdon-Sport before returning to Sweden in 1985 to complete his playing career with Öster and Skövde.

International

A former Iceland national team captain, Thordarson also had an impressive international career, as he scored nine goals in 41 appearances for his country between 1972 and 1985.

Coaching career

Skövde

Thordarson's extensive coaching resume spans over two decades. He started his coaching career in 1987 with the last club he played for in Swedish outfit, Skövde.

Norway

In 1988 he landed his first head-coaching role in Norway's top-flight Tippeligaen when he joined Brann. He led the Bergen club to the 1988 Norwegian Football Cup Final and spent the following two seasons at Brann before ending his first spell by moving to Lyn for two seasons in 1991. After a season with Norwegian Second Division club Grei, Thordarson took charge of Lillestrøm and led them to second- and fourth-placed Tippeligaen finishes in 1994 and 1995 respectively.

Estonia

In 1996, Thordarson moved to Estonia to become head coach of their national team and Estonian club Flora Tallinn. He led Flora Tallinn to 3 league championships, as they were crowned champions of the Estonian Meistriliiga in 1994–95, 1997–98 and 1998. He also led the club to the Estonian Cup and the Estonian SuperCup titles in 1998.^{[citation needed]}

With Estonia's national side, Thordarson helped the Baltic nation move up from 145th (January 1996) to 68th (November 1999) in the FIFA World Ranking. Though he was Estonia's first foreign coach since the country's independence in 1991, Thordarson's efforts in developing Estonian football earned him the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (4th class) from the President of Estonia in February 2000.

Return to Norway

The turn of the millennium saw Thordarson return to the Norwegian game for a second spell with Brann. He led the club to a second-place finish in the 2000 Tippeligaen season, and spent two more seasons with the Bergen outfit before making a return to another former club, Lyn in 2003. His final two years in Norway saw him coach second division club Ull/Kisa in 2004 and 2005.

KR Reykjavík

In 2006, Thordarson returned to his native Iceland to coach KR Reykjavík to a second-place finish in Iceland's top-flight Landsbankadeild, as well as a spot in the 2006 Icelandic Cup final.

Vancouver Whitecaps

With nearly four decades of experience in European soccer, Teitur Thordarson became the Vancouver Whitecaps men team's head coach after signing a two-year deal with the club on 11 December 2007. Thordarson is the sixth head coach in the club's history. Thordarson was at the helm when the Whitecaps claimed their second United Soccer Leagues First Division championship in three seasons after a 2–1 victory over Puerto Rico Islanders on 12 October 2008. The following season Thordarson made several key changes to the Vancouver squad, by releasing many veterans and opting to sign mainly young and experienced players to the roster. Though the Whitecaps struggled in the later part of the season Thordarson did manage claimed the league's final playoff berth. In their playoff run he led the defending champions to the finals again, where the Whitecaps would face the Montreal Impact. The match marking the first time in USL history where the final match would consist of two Canadian clubs. Unfortunately the Caps would end up losing the series 6-3 on aggregate. On 30 November 2009 Thordarson signed a one-year contract extension with the club.

On 1 September 2010, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC held a press conference and Thordarson was named as the coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps' first season in Major League Soccer. After producing only one win in three months of action, Thordarson was released from his contract on 30 May 2011 with Whitecaps Director of Operations Tom Soehn stepping in to replace him in the interim.

Barasat

On 15 January 2012, Cassius Management announced that Thordarson would be one of six foreign coaches hired for Premier League Soccer group stages beginning 15 March 2012. Subsequently he was bought by Basarat, under the ownership of Uro Infra Reality India Ltd. for US$210,000 on 30 January 2012.

Honours

Player

Íþróttabandalag Akraness

• Icelandic Championships: 1970, 1974, 1975, 1977

Östers IF

• Allsvenskan: 1978, 1980, 1980
• Svenska Cupen: 1976–77

Manager

Flora Tallinn

• Meistriliiga: 1997–98, 1998
• Estonian Cup: 1997–98
• Estonian SuperCup: 1998

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

• USL First Division: 2008

Barasat

• PLS: 2012

External links

• National football teams profile