Albion newcomer Ivar Ingimarsson has joined the explosion of Ice men making their mark on the English game.

Ivar the Icelandic's move to this country was launched after forging his reputation at one of the most remarkable venues in world football with IBV Vestmann.

The remote Westmann Islands are a group of 15 volcanic islands off the south coast of Iceland.

Only one, Heimaey, is inhabited with a population of 5,000. Rather grandly self-described as the 'Capri of the north', it is also home to the world's largest colony of puffins.

The football ground, which lies between two huge mountains, can only be reached by air and it is not unknown for matches to be postponed due to volcanic rocks on the pitch.

Albion boss Steve Coppell said: "Apparently, if you go along the main street now and rub off the dust you could fry an egg on the molten lava which is still there."

Ingimarsson grinned when informed of his present and past manager's seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge. "He has done his homework," said the versatile 25-year-old, signed on Monday on a month's loan from Wolves.

His career with IBV was a world away from playing in front of packed houses at Molineux and over 40,000 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, in last season's Second Division play-off final for Coppell's Brentford against Stoke.

"We were semi-professional, so I had other other jobs as well," Ingimarsson explained. "I was the groundsman at one time and a builder and we only had crowds of of about 800.

"There was always live football on in Iceland and English was the most popular and exciting. Everyone wanted to come here.

"I am a Liverpool fan. They are having a tough time at the moment, so I hope that changes."

It was the much-maligned Ron Noades, not Coppell, that took Ingimarsson to Brentford.

He followed in the ski prints of Herman Hreidarsson, who moved from IBV to Crystal Palace in August 1997 when Coppell and Noades were with Albion's arch rivals.

Hreidarsson, now at Ipswich, went to Brentford in September 1998. Just over a year later Noades bought Ingimarsson for the Bees for £150,000 after a trial with Norwich and a month on loan at Torquay.

Ingimarsson, operating in the centre of defence, missed only four League games for Brentford over the course of the next two-and-a-half seasons.

Ever-present last term, he hit the winner against Albion at Withdean in Micky Adams' final match in charge, then opened the scoring in a 4-0 drubbing for Peter Taylor's Seagulls at Griffin Park 13 months ago.

Ingimarsson's Wolves career began well too following a summer switch on a Bosman free transfer.

He started the season as a regular in midfield, netting in successive League defeats against Wimbledon and Palace at Selhurst Park.

It has all gone wrong for him since then. The last of his dozen senior appearances for Wanderers was in the 1-1 home draw against Albion, so he is only too pleased to be reunited with Coppell again at last.

Coppell wanted to sign him more or less as soon as Steve Sidwell left for Reading, but the deal was put on ice because Wolves would not allow him to play against them.

Ingimarsson travelled down to witness their shock 4-1 defeat at Withdean last Saturday before a weekend hotel stay and his first training session with the Seagulls.

"I played very well in the games I have played in at Wolves, so it's not as if there has been a dip in my form," said Ingimarsson.

"I don't want to be on the bench or even in the stand, but I expect to work for my place here.

"I want to enjoy my football and do my best. Last Saturday showed that Brighton can stay up.

"I know they were playing well before that as well, so we can definitely get a lot more points."

Ingimarsson is not the first Icelandic international to represent Albion. Remember Valur Gislason?

The under-21 midfielder had a dismal month on loan from Arsenal for Steve Gritt's side in 1997-98, featuring in seven matches which yielded just two points.

Coppell is confident Ingimarsson will have a more positive impact. "He's just a determined young man who wants to do well in his career.

"A lot of the Scandinavian players see it as a ten-year career and Ivar has that mentality. He's determined to make the most of the talent he has.

"I have done a bit of scouting in Iceland before and it's totally alien to what you would expect a football enivornment in this country to be.

"It's very laid back, a harsh climate and the football conditions you would have to say are amateurish, but they are catching up very quick.

"There is an awful lot of raw material which is finding its way right across Europe."

You only have to look at Iceland's national team for evidence of the influx of players to this country.

Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, a former colleague of Reykjavik-born Ingimarsson at his home city club Valur, and Stoke midfielder Brynjar Gunnarsson face each other tomorrow in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

All three played in Iceland's 2-0 home defeat by Scotland in a Euro 2004 qualifier in October, together with Hreidarsson and West Brom's Larus Sigurdsson.

Ingimarsson is expected to feature in the return against the Scots at Hampden Park on March 29, by which time he could still be an Albion player.

His loan lasts five games, up to and including the visit of Rotherham on March 8, but if things go well he could stay for the rest of the season.