Elisabet Gunnarsdottir

Elisabet Gunnarsdottir (born 2 October 1976) is an Icelandic football coach. Gunnarsdottir was the head coach of the Icelandic champions team FC Valur from 2003 to 2008; during which her team won 4 league titles and one cup title. Gunnarsdottir became head coach of Kristianstads DFF in the Swedish women's football league, Damallsvenskan in January 2009. Gunnarsdottir can be seen in the Sveriges Television documentary television series The Other Sport from 2013.
Playing career
Club
Gunnarsdottir started with Valur FC as a youth player and played with the youth teams and up to the senior team till she moved to Stjarnan in 1995 and played two seasons with the club . She then joined her mother club Valur FC again 1997 and she played till 2001 when she decided to retire and take over IBV in the highest women´s league as the head coach. Gunnarsdottir was the youngest femaile coach in history taking over as a head coach in the highest division, 24 years old.
Coaching career
Youth teams
Gunnarsdottir got her start in coaching at the age of 16 when she started as an assistant coach in the youth program at Valur FC. She coached different age groups for 9 years at the club and played a big part in building of the most organized and successful youth programs on the women’s side in Iceland. Gunnarsdottir won many national trophys with her youth teams and was named youth team coach of the year 1999 in Iceland.
Senior teams
Gunnarsdottir left her mother club Valur FC 2001 for the opportunity of coaching ÍBV in the women´s top league. After one year with IBV she took over Breidabliks U-19 and won the Icelandic championship with the team. 2003 she was hired on by Valur FC as the head coach for the senior team, winning the club's first league title in 15 years and being named the 2003 Coach of the Year. Gunnarsdottir stayed as a head coach in Valur FC for 5 consecutive seasons leading the team to 4 league titles and 1 cup title. She took the team all the way to the quarter finals of the Champions League 2005. Gunnarsdottir in known for doing great signings for her teams and got players like the German world champions Viola Oderbrecht and the Scottish Julie Fleeting to Iceland to play for her in Valur FC.
Gunnarsdottir moved to Sweden in January 2009 to take over Kristianstads DFF in the Swedish Damallsvenskan. She has been leading the team as a head coach for 5 consecutive seasons and has helped the club building their organization and showed some good results from season to season. Through her time at the club Kristiantads DFF has signed some big profiles like Icelandic stars Margret Lara Vidarsdottir and Sif Atladottir, Danish international Johanna Rasmussen and Swedish stars Hedvig Lindahl, Kosovare Asllani (sold to PSG 2012) and Josefine Öqvist (sold to Montpeliier 2013). In September 2012 Gunnarsdottir signed a two years contract with the club.
National teams
Gunnarsdottir served as an assistant to Jörundur Áki Sveinsson for the Icelandic women´s national team and at the same as the head coach for the U-21 national team 2005-2007.
Honours
Managerial honours
Valur FC
* Icelandic Champions 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008
* Icelandic Cup 2006
Individual
* 2004 Coach of the year in the Icelandic women´s league
* 2006 Coach of the year in the Icelandic women´s league
* 2007 Coach of the year in the Icelandic women´s league
* 2008 Coach of the year in the Icelandic women´s league
* 2012 Nominated as the coach of the year in Dammallsvenskan (Sweden)

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