Mathias Svensson
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mathias Svensson | ||
| Date of birth | 24 September 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Borås, Sweden | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1996 | IF Elfsborg | 22 | (15) |
| 1996–1998 | Portsmouth | 45 | (10) |
| 1998 | Tirol Innsbruck | 6 | (1) |
| 1998–2000 | Crystal Palace | 32 | (10) |
| 2000–2003 | Charlton Athletic | 70 | (8) |
| 2003 | → Derby County (loan) | 10 | (3) |
| 2003–2005 | Norwich City | 42 | (11) |
| 2005–2008 | IF Elfsborg | 48 | (9) |
| Total | 275 | (67) | |
| National team | |||
| 1997–2001 | Sweden | 3 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 June 2007. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Mathias Svensson (born 24 September 1974 in Borås, Sweden) is a retired Swedish footballer. He played as striker and his last team was IF Elfsborg, having spent much of his career in England. He won three full international caps for Sweden during his career. He is currently assistant manager at Elfsborg.
Svensson began his career with Elfsborg, and was their top scorer when they won promotion to Allsvenskan in 1996. Following his success, he moved to England in the same year 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, making his debut for the Canaries in the East Anglian Derby against Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
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 some City supporters. However, he began scoring goals towards the end of the season – including two 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 two 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.
After his return to Elfsborg Svensson played his first Allsvenskan game on 4 July 2005 against Kalmar FF, and he scored the only goal of the game. The 2006 season was very successful for Svensson. He started all games and scored 6 goals, and at the end of the season he won the first title of his career, as Elfsborg were crowned Swedish champions. In 2008 he was forced to retire due to a knee injury. He has remained at Elfsborg, with various duties.
Honours
- Football League First Division (2003–2004)
- Allsvenskan (2006)