Mathias Svensson
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Mathias Svensson (born 24 September 1974 in Boras, Sweden) is a Swedish professional footballer. He is a striker who currently plays for IF Elfsborg, having spent much of his career in England. He has won three full international caps for Sweden during his career.
Svensson began his career with Elfsborg before moving to England in 1996 to play for Portsmouth. He then moved to Crystal Palace and Charlton, and had a spell on loan with Derby County before joining Norwich in December 2003.
Norwich paid an initial fee of £50,000 for Svensson, which rose to £300,000 when the Canaries won promotion at the end of that season. It took Svensson some time to find his form at Norwich and he came in for criticism from many fans. However, he began scoring goals towards the end of the season - including 2 in a 5-3 win at Burnley and a long range effort in a televised match against Wigan - and ended the season with a first division championship medal as The Canaries won promotion to the Premiership.
Svensson scored 4 times in Norwich's premiership season of 2004-05, including 2 in a 3-2 win against Bolton Wanderers. Norwich were relegated at the end of the season and a clause in Svensson's contract allowed him to move to a top flight club in another country in the event that such a club showed interest to him. IF Elfsborg offered Norwich £100,000 for Svensson, and he returned to the club where he began his career.
