Gudjon Thordarson, Stoke City's promotion-winning manager, dies aged 71

Gudjon Thordarson, the Icelandic coach who took Stoke City up from the third tier of English league football in 2002, has died. He was 71. BBC Sport has reported the news.

He had been living with Parkinson's disease in recent years. The condition affects movement and balance, and it develops slowly over time.

Thordarson managed Iceland before he took charge at Stoke in 1999. The start of his time in Staffordshire was not easy. Stoke lost in the play-off semi-finals in each of his first two seasons. Play-offs are a set of end-of-season matches between clubs that finish just outside the automatic promotion places.

In his third season, Stoke went through the play-offs and won promotion. Thordarson left the club a few days after that success. Earlier, in 2000, his Stoke side had also won the EFL Trophy, a knockout cup for clubs from the lower divisions.

His management career went on in England. He managed Barnsley in 2003-04, Notts County in 2005-06 and Crewe Alexandra in 2008-09. Stoke, Barnsley, Notts County and Crewe all remember him as a manager who spent time at their clubs, and his time at Stoke is the one most often recalled.

Thordarson's career took him from Reykjavik to four English clubs. For Stoke supporters, the 2002 promotion remains the high point of his time in charge. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.