Career
He moved to English club Birmingham City and after failing to make an impression there, he moved on to spells with Swedish side IFK Norrköping, Bolton Wanderers and Austrian club Lustenau before making a return to ÍBV. He made a decent enough start at Stoke taking over from Gavin Ward until he made a mistake against Northampton Town in February 2000. He did retain his place in the side but after conceding three goals against lowly Cambridge United Ward was reinstated. He didn"t make an appearance in 2001-2002 and returned to Iceland playing for ÍBV and Fram Reykjavík.
He earned 74 caps for the Iceland national football team, over a period of sixteen years.
His last international match was against Italy in Reykjavík 15 August 2004, where Iceland beat Italy 2–0. Birkir Kristinsson turned 40 that day.