SIGNING for Bolton Wanderers two-and-a-half years ago helped Jon Dadi Bodvarsson rediscover his passion for football but his time in Lancashire has not been without its problems too.
Before agreeing to join the club from Millwall in January 2022, the Icelandic striker had never had an operation, nor had he spent any significant time out of the game through injury.
But as he looked back over his time with the Whites, the 32-year-old cannot help but ponder what might have been had he been able to preserve that robust record and feature in more games than he did.
“It is such a strange thing because throughout my whole career I have been very lucky with injuries. I never had any issues ever, really,” he told The Bolton News.
“But I had the first surgery of my career at Bolton with my ankle, then all of a sudden I’d get hamstring or calf issues and it was all very random.
“It is such a hard thing for your momentum as a player because every time I was hitting form and feeling fit something clicked again. To describe this season in particular, it was just so imbalanced with playing time and the momentum of it all.
“There is nothing you can do about it, I guess, but it was very frustrating as well.”
Bodvarsson signed at Bolton in the same transfer window as Dion Charles but the pair started just 20 games together in total.
Last season he started five games alongside Dan Nlundulu in the cup competitions and won every one of them, yielding 10 goals between them.
In total, Bodvarsson made 94 appearances for the Whites and featured in 66 per cent of their available fixtures in league and cup from his debut against Shrewsbury Town onwards.
But establishing relationships as a starting player, rather than one coming off the bench, proved difficult, and Bodvarsson puts some of that down to the fact he played so much of his time without the same playing rhythm enjoyed by his team-mates.
“It wasn’t just the injuries that were frustrating but the knowledge that I would have to catch up again, get into form again,” he said.
“The manager is under pressure to get results and there are players already in my position who are fit.
“You would work to get your fitness back and get back into the team and then it would happen, it was like a yo-yo. The momentum was killed all the time.”
Despite his injury issues, Bodvarsson was able to add his name to the list of Icelandic players who have enjoyed calling Bolton home.
From Gudni Bergsson to Gretar Steinsson, Eidur Gudjohnsen to Arnar Gunnlaugsson, the striker knew his new club had a history of getting the best out of his countrymen.
“I knew the history of Icelandic football players and how successful they had been here,” he said. “There was a healthy pressure in that way and because they had done well, I wanted to do well too.
“There were a lot of things that added up to make me want to do well for Bolton but especially the supporters because from day one they took me in and made me feel welcome.
“When I came to Bolton I managed to express myself, find myself again, which to me is the most important thing, to make people come into the stadium with a smile on their face.
READ MORE: Jon Dadi Bodvarsson - Play-off pressure told on the day.
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“I have tried to be the best player and professional I could be and people have accepted me, which makes you want to do more every day.
“I feel like I owe a lot to the town in that way.”
Bodvarsson’s next move is yet to be decided. He still lives in Bolton and has a young daughter who started school locally last year.
But his football career took him from Iceland to Norway and Germany before a quartet of English clubs in Wolves, Reading, Millwall and Bolton, so weighing up what is best for his family and for himself will be a big call this summer.
“We are open for everything, as a family,” he said.
“We would like to stay in England, we are comfortable here and used to the environment. My daughter is getting older and is five years old now.
“It is crazy with kids how it changes your perspective on things. I am not the young player climbing up the ladder, it is now more important location-wise.
“We have lived abroad before, so that is not out of the question as well.
“Basically, it is a case of seeing what happens. I haven’t heard from my agent yet but he’ll come to me with whatever he has in his hands and we will go from there.
“England would be nice to continue because I know the environment really well.
“You know that it is family first now and that as my daughter, who has just been in reception, gets that bit older that she will feel it a little more moving away.
“I am relaxed about it all, though, whatever happens will happen, and something will pop up eventually. I am taking a bit of a breather at the moment and enjoying some time with family.
“I’m staying fit, obviously, which is a very boring thing to do, go out and jogging, I just want to play football. But it’ll be fine in the end.”
Bodvarsson has an optimistic view of his own future but admits it is harder to read what the next move will be for Bolton after their play-off failure in May.
What effect the disappointment will have on the existing squad remains to be seen, as does the extent Ian Evatt is willing to change the squad he has steadily built in the last few seasons at League One level to get him to this stage.
Bodvarsson will be willing on his former club next season even though he feels the task of securing promotion is harder than ever before.
“That’s the thing – I had some thoughts after how it all ended, will we be able to bounce back next season?” he said. “This next league is going to be stronger with some of the teams who have come into the division and it will be tough.
“Knowing the gaffer and the lads, the way they are, I think we should be up there, at least in the play-off spots. They will want this more than ever.
“But football is strange and it is so hard to predict. I know if I was still there as a player I’d be hungrier than ever to get promoted, so I hope that happens for Bolton, I really do.”
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