Heiðar Helguson

Heiðar Helguson (born 22 August, 1977 in Akureyri; first name commonly Anglicisation to Heidar) is an Icelandic football (soccer) currently playing for FA Premier League team Bolton Wanderers F.C. as a striker.

Helguson, who is also an Iceland national football team, previously played for Watford F.C. and Lillestrøm S.K.. He joined Bolton in the 07/08 off-season for an undisclosed fee from Fulham, moving on a three-year deal.

Playing career

Lillestrøm

Helguson came to Lillestrøm S.K] at a young age from Icelandic club Þróttur R. He made his first team debut in 1998, curiously wearing number 1 on his shirt. The next season Helguson became one of the great surprises in Norwegian football scoring 16 league-goals. Helguson was a very popular player, and even had his own fan-club.

Watford

Helguson was signed by Watford manager Graham Taylor (football manager) mid-way through the 1999-00 season for a club record £1.5m. Brought in to boost the struggling club's striking department, Helguson had a torrid debut at home to Liverpool FC, where he suffered from the physical presence of Liverpool's Sami Hyypiä. However, Helguson endured and scored in his first game. He later picked up the Display of the Season award for this goal scoring debut against one of the finest clubs in English football. He did so five more times that season. His goals weren't enough to keep Watford up, and the Hertfordshire club were relegated after only one year in the FA Premier League.

Back in Division 1, Helguson was part of a Watford side that was undefeated for the first 15 games of the season, topping the league. However, when the side's form slumped in late 2000, Helguson suffered a crisis of confidence - one of several during his first few years at Watford - and was well below his best for a large amount of that campaign.

At the end of the season Taylor retired and was replaced by Gianluca Vialli. Under the Italian's somewhat bizarre tactics Helguson was deployed out of position as a right wing-back, which, understandably, didn't suit him.

With Ray Lewington in charge for the 2002-03 season, Helguson showed a marked improvement. Although still prone to injury (he didn't start the season until late September), he finished the season Watford's top goal scorer with 13, including goals in Watford's run to the FA Cup semi-Finals. In 2003-04 injury kept Helguson out of most of the first half of the season. On his return he put in some notable performances, the most notable being his leading of the line against Chelsea in the FA Cup.

2004-05 was Helguson's best season in a Watford shirt. Relatively free of injury, he scored 20 goals and picked up the "Goal of the Season," "Display of the Season" and "Player of the Season" awards at the end of season awards ceremony. Inevitably his goal tally brought about interest from Premiership clubs and with Watford needing money, the offer from Fulham F.C. was accepted.

Fulham

Helguson signed for Fulham on June 27, 2005 and was largely confined to the bench at the beginning of the campaign. He scored his first goal for Fulham in the 5-4 Football League Cup victory over Lincoln City F.C.. More recently he has been enjoying an excellent run in the side, and the front pair of Heidar and Brian McBride caused trouble to the best defences in the Premiership. Heidar scored against Chelsea F.C. (penalty), Aston Villa (penalty), West Ham United(open play - left foot) and Manchester United (open play - header), a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over West Bromwich Albion, Bolton Wanderers (header as a result of a free kick) and against Middlesbrough F.C. (penalty). At Fulham he has become a fan's favourite due to his 100% work rate. Many commentators say that he has the best work rate in the Premiership and a very good header and finish. For the start of the 2006-07 season he was moved from No. 10 to No. 9 at Fulham.

Bolton Wanderers

On July 20 2007 it was announced that Helguson was leaving Fulham F.C. to join Bolton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee, as part of Sammy Lee squad restructuring. Helguson reportedly has signed a three-year contract with Bolton Wanderers F.C., having been forced to consider his options following the signings of David Healy and Diomansy Kamara.

He made his Bolton debut as a substitute for the injured Kevin Davies on August 11 2007 with Wanderers already trailing to Newcastle United. Four days later he returned to Fulham for the first time since leaving and got on the scoresheet in a 2-1 Wanderers defeat.

Playing style

Helguson is known for his aerial prowess. Despite being only 5'10, his giant leap and positioning skills make him a lethal header of the ball. His other notable characteristic is his huge work-rate - many times in a game will a defender encounter Helguson baring down on him at full pelt. Early in his Watford career this occasionally spilled over into dangerous and reckless tackles, but thankfully this part of his game has since been curbed. He has a sharp finish, is a good penalty taker and has scored against many top clubs.

Unfortunately Helguson is fairly injury prone. During his time in England he has been out for sustained periods of time in every season.

Name

The name Helguson is not a surname but a matronym, meaning "son of Helga", where Helga is the first name of the player's mother. See Icelandic name.