ON APRIL 24 1996 during an international friendly in Tallinn, a unique moment in football history occurred when Iceland replaced one striker with another half his age. 

For the only time in international football history, a son came on for his father as 17-year-old Eidur Gudjohnsen replaced his 34-year-old dad Arnor. 

Eidur would go on to eclipse everything his father had achieved in the game, winning 15 more caps, scoring 12 more goals and playing for Iceland at a major international tournament. While his dad played professionally in four countries, Eidur would play in nine, winning two league titles with Chelsea and the treble with Barcelona — he is the only man from his country to win the European Cup.

Now his three sons have become the third generation of Gudjohnsen’s to play the game. His 20-year-old son Sveinn Aron is currently playing in Italy while his two youngest, Andri Lucas and Daniel Tristan, are currently enrolled in the Real Madrid academy. 

However, not everyone is fortunate enough to be the son of a professional footballer and in his role as an ambassador for Kia, Eidur Gudjohnsen is asking for fans to donate their old football boots so they can be given to Syrian refugees living in the Zaatari camp in Jordan. 

Since 2013, the Uefa Foundation for Children has been running a football project in Zaatari. As their communications officer Tania Baima explained: “The objective is to collect 2,000 pairs of boots to pass on to young people actively participating in our programmes.”

A home for over 80,000 people, Zaatari is now the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees. For some of the 3,185 boys and 1,295 girls aged between eight and 20 who take part in weekly sporting activities as an escape from the realities of everyday life, Gudjohnsen is hoping a pair of football boots can give to them the same feeling of joy as it would give to every other child in the world who wants to play the game. 

“I can’t remember the first boots that I gave to my children but that’s the point of it. If you ask them, they will remember their first pair. My first pair of football boots were Patrick’s — Keegan Kicks they were called. 

“I remember my first pair and I’m sure just about everyone else remembers their first pair of boots. We can make someone on the other side of the world happy and give them that memory in the future that they can look back and say: ‘I can remember the first pair that I got’.”

When asked to pick his favourite pair of football boots, Gudjohnsen acknowledges how fortunate he has been during his 22-year career. “Obviously, when you play at a high level, they are very willing to send over the boots for free. At the higher level you play, the more privileged you are. 

“The thing with me, I never liked new boots. I always wanted an old pair, worn in a little bit, they were always the most comfortable ones. Looking back they would probably be a Copa Mundial or Predator.”

Alongside David Seaman, he met fans at Westfield Stratford on Saturday as part of the Europa League Trophy Tour. It was a competition he never won as a player. 

“It has to be respected because it’s the oldest cup in European competition. We’ve seen it lifted by many legends in football. The recent format in the Europa League has got people excited again.” 

For Gudjohnsen, a Champions League winner with FC Barcelona as an unused substitute in the 2009 final, his greatest memory in the old Uefa Cup came playing against them for PSV Eindhoven in 1996.

“I came on as a substitute against Barcelona when I was 17 and I should have actually scored a couple of goals.”

In that PSV team, Gudjohnsen was a teammate of Brazil’s Ronaldo, yet it is difficult to for him to pick out his favourite strike partner from the 15 clubs he played for. “I think everyone knows about my relationship with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink [at Chelsea]. Everyone knows the heights and the standards that [Lionel] Messi has set. 

“Walking around on the same pitch as probably the all-time greatest footballer is a great honour. You don’t appreciate it maybe as much at the time as you do afterwards. I’m privileged to be able to say that I played with Lionel Messi. 

“I played with [Didier] Drogba, I played with [Frank] Lampard, Ronaldinho, the list just goes on and on and on. I was very fortunate in my career.”

Part of the first Iceland men’s team to play in a finals tournament during Euro 2016, Gudjohnsen admits they were only following in the footsteps of the country’s women’s team who also reached the last eight of the European championship three years earlier. 

He is full of admiration for current women’s captain Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir. “She is very vocal, she is a great leader for the team and someone for the younger generation, whether its boys or girls, to look up to. 

“Going back, we never had the success that our women’s team had. We were almost in the shadow a little bit of them. They went to major tournaments while we could never achieve that.

“It’s only in recent years where we have stolen the limelight a little bit because of the recent success. There’s always been a big excitement around women’s football in Iceland.”

Having recently taken charge of his country’s under-21 team, he is now relishing the opportunity to bring on the next generation of Icelandic footballers. 

“It’s exciting, it’s obviously a completely different thing to playing, but there’s definitely an adrenaline there. It’s great to give something back. 

“Starting with that age group, I felt, was perfect, they are very open. They take in everything that you say as a coach. I’m starting to realise what the stress is all about when you’re a manager.”

Last Friday, Gudjohnsen held a football coaching session for pupils at a school in Walton-on-Thames.

Anne Louise Payne, head teacher at Three Rivers Academy, said: “We are proud to support this amazing initiative by Kia and Uefa. Football is a global sport which is being used as a tool to help people globally. Our school is fully committed to the cause and we will do everything we can to support.”

Afterwards Gudjohnsen said: “I was delighted with the reception that I got from the children. They actually took their time to listen to what we have to say and make them realise how by donating an old pair of football boots, how happy they can make someone on the other side of the world.” 

For Gudjohnsen, the hope is he will have the chance to hand over some of the donated boots personally.

“That’s something I’d be very open to and raise even more awareness. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves how privileged we are just to be able to play football, just to own a pair of football boots is not something that everyone has the privilege of. 

“Hopefully we can get as many people involved and send as many football boots over and make a lot of children happy. One smile on someone’s face would make it all worthwhile.”

Eidur Gudjohnsen is one of several football stars taking part in the first ever Uefa Europa League Trophy Tour, Driven by Kia. As part of the tour, Kia has teamed up with the Uefa Foundation for Children, urging fans to donate their unwanted football boots to help Syrian refugees living in camps in Jordan. Fans can find their nearest participating dealerships by visiting www.kia.com/uk/trophytour2019.