| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Tim Sparv | ||
| Date of birth | 20 February 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Oravais, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Groningen | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–2003 | Norrvalla FF | ||
| 2003–2006 | Southampton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2006–2007 | Southampton | 0 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | Halmstad | 51 | (1) |
| 2008 | → VPS (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2010– | Groningen | 48 | (2) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007–2009 | Finland U21 | 16 | (5) |
| 2009– | Finland | 18 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 December 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Tim Sparv (born 20 February 1987) is a Finnish footballer who plays for FC Groningen as a midfielder.
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Born in Oravais, Ostrobothnia, Sparv signed for Southampton in 2003, leaving the Finnish third division outfit Norrvalla FF. He spent three years in the renowned youth academy of Southampton. He was a member of Southampton's youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in 2005, where he played alongside Theo Walcott, losing on aggregate to Ipswich Town. He was named in the first team squad for 2006–07 season and made numerous reserve team appearances but, as Southampton had a plethora of midfielders from which to choose, he was unable to break through into the first team itself. On 7 January 2007, he moved to Halmstads BK to play in Allsvenskan, on the advice of both his father and former Halmstads BK player Michael Svensson.[1] On 1 May 2008, he was loaned out to Vaasan Palloseura after suffering illness as well as a lack of playing time with Halmstads.[2]
In August 2009, he was close to a move to Groningen, but Halmstad refused to let him go at that point.[3] On 14 August, FC Groningen announced Sparv will be joining them as of 1 January 2010.[4] He scored his first goal for Groningen in the opening match of the 2010−11 season, in a 1−1 draw against AZ.
Sparv was the second youngest player in the squad for the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship played at home but did not make an appearance in the tournament. He made his Finland U21 debut on 7 October 2006 and played a big part in the successful 2009 European Championship qualifying campaign, playing in 9 out of 10 games and scoring three goals. He was made team captain during the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and scored a penalty in a 2–1 defeat by England on 15 June 2009.[5]
On 4 February 2009, Sparv made his debut for the senior team in a friendly match against Japan, which ended in a 5–1 defeat.[6]
| Finland national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2009 | 5 | 0 |
| 2010 | 7 | 0 |
| 2011 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 18 | 0 |
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