Anders Limpar
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Anders Erik Limpar | ||
Date of birth | 24 September 1965 | ||
Place of birth | Solna, Sweden | ||
Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team |
Sollentuna Fotbollsklubb (Assistant coach) | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1981–1986 | IF Brommapojkarna | 77 | (20) |
1986–1988 | Örgryte | 47 | (9) |
1988–1989 | Young Boys | 27 | (7) |
1989–1990 | Cremonese | 24 | (3) |
1990–1994 | Arsenal | 96 | (17) |
1994–1997 | Everton | 66 | (5) |
1997 | Birmingham City | 4 | (0) |
1998–1999 | AIK | 22 | (2) |
1999–2000 | Colorado Rapids[1][2] | 36 | (3) |
2000 | Djurgårdens IF | 0 | (0) |
2001–2002 | IF Brommapojkarna | ||
2008 | Sollentuna United | 0 | (0) |
Total | 399 | (66) | |
International career | |||
1987–1996 | Sweden | 58 | (6) |
Managerial career | |||
2008– | Sollentuna United (Reserve Team) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Anders Erik Limpar (born 24 September 1965) is a Swedish former professional footballer and coach who played as a winger.[3][4][5]
Limpar featured for clubs IF Brommapojkarna, Young Boys, Cremonese, Arsenal, Everton, Birmingham City, AIK, Colorado Rapids and Djurgårdens IF.[4] Limpar was as well capped 58 times by Sweden, scoring 6 goals altogether.[3]
Club career
Early career
Born in Solna with Hungarian roots, Limpar started playing football in Brommapojkarna, famous for its production of footballing talent. He then played for Örgryte, joining in the wake of its sensational Swedish championship title in 1985. Limpar quickly became one of the hottest properties in Swedish football, and as so he was offered the chance to journey to Switzerland with Bern club Young Boys. He followed this up in a one-season spell in Italy with Cremonese during the 1989–90 season.
Arsenal
His club career peaked when he signed for Arsenal in the summer of 1990 from Cremonese for £1m.[6] He went on to win the league title in the 1990–91 season, but sat on the sidelines injured for Arsenal's 1993 wins in both the League and the FA Cups.[7][8] He played a particularly notable part in the 1990–91 season, scoring some important goals, and impressing in his first season with exciting wing play and crowd-pleasing displays. These included a hat-trick against Coventry City in a 6–1 win on the final day of the league season, by which time Arsenal were already champions. He managed a total of 13 goals that season, with 11 of them coming in the league.[9][6] He won the Guldbollen – Sweden's Player of the Year award – in 1991.[10] Limpar scored 20 goals from 116 appearances for Arsenal where he was popular with the fans. He and manager George Graham eventually fell out and with his contract due to come to an end in May 1994, Limpar, who was seeking a new deal at the club, was not offered one by Graham.[11]
Everton
On transfer deadline day[12] in March 1994, Limpar transferred to Everton for £1.6 million.[12][13] Whilst playing for the toffees he won the FA Cup for the first time in 1995.[8] Limpar went on to play a vital role in the Cup final at Wembley, with a run from inside his own half leading to Everton's winning goal being scored by Paul Rideout. He also hit a memorable 50-yard reverse-pass which led to an Everton break-away that BBC commentator Barry Davies described as the 'pass of the match'.[5]
He also went on to win the Charity Shield of 1995 with Everton.[14] As so, Limpar eventually fell out of favour at Goodison Park after 1995–96, making only two appearances for the club during the 1996–97 season.
Birmingham City
On 20 January 1997, Limpar was signed by Birmingham City for a fee of £100,000.[15][16] He made his league debut on 1 February 1997, in a 1–2 away defeat against Bolton Wanderers.[15] The move proved to be unfruitful, as he made only four appearances, before the club later ended his stay in April 1997.[16]
Later career
Moving back to Sweden on a free transfer to AIK in the summer of 1997, he won the Swedish championship also known as the Allsvenskan in 1998.[14] After two years in Stockholm, he signed for Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids in February 1999 where he stayed until November 2000. He then returned to Sweden to sign for Djurgårdens IF. However he failed to make an appearance for them and shortly went on to IF Brommapojkarna, where he started his club career. He eventually retired from the game in March 2001 at the age of 35, due to persistent injuries.[7]
International career
In total, Limpar won 58 caps for Sweden, scoring 6 goals. He was a member of one of the most successful Sweden squads ever, the team that finished third at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. However, he did not have a large role during the tournament, making just one substitute appearance, in the 3rd-place match.[3][17]
Coaching career
Limpar began coaching the youth team at Djurgårdens IF. He was later appointed assistant manager for the Swedish second division team Sollentuna United.[5] In October 2008, aged 43, he played a one-off game for Sollentuna United's reserve side in the position of left back.[18]
Personal life
After retiring from football in 2001, Limpar opened a bar, The Limp Bar, in central Stockholm, although it has since closed.[13] In 2012 Limpar, together with colleague Mikael Crona, founded Swedish company Super Lock which produces plastic boxes. He currently is the CEO of betting site BestBetToday.com.[13]
Honours
Club
Arsenal
- First Division (1): 1991[9]
- FA Cup (1): 1993
- English League Cup (1): 1993
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1994
Everton
AIK
- Allsvenskan (1): 1998[14]
- Svenska Cupen (1): 1999
Djurgårdens IF
- Superettan (1): 2000
International
Sweden
- King's Cup (1): 1996
- FIFA World Cup (1): 1994 Third place[17]
Individual
- Guldbollen (1): 1991[10]
- IF Brommapojkarna Hall of Fame: 2014[19][20]
References
- ^ "Colorado Rapids 1998/99 players stats". Infoplease.com. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ "Colorado Rapids 1999/2000 players stats". Infoplease.com. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ a b c "Anders Limpar: Stats". 11 v 11.com.
- ^ a b "Anders Limpar: Profile". World Football.net.
- ^ a b c "Anders Limpar is an Evertonian – and Cup medal donation proves it". Liverpool Echo.co.uk.
- ^ a b "Anders Limpar". Sporting Heroes.net.
- ^ a b "The Sublime Swede: Whatever happened to Anders Limpar?". Vavel.com.
- ^ a b c "Snapshot: Anders Limpar". Everton FC.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Anders Limpar: Feature". Arsenal.com.
- ^ a b "Guldbollen". Fogis.se (in Swedish).
- ^ "Playing for George Graham was like living in Iraq, says Anders Limpar". The Guardian.com.
- ^ a b Haylett, Trevor (25 March 1994). "Football: Peacock goes but Francis stays: Mixed day at Queen's Park Rangers while Limpar joins Everton and Beagrie hops to City". The Independent. London. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- ^ a b c Bletsoe, Dai (15 February 2015). "The Sublime Swede: Whatever happened to Anders Limpar?". vavel.com. Vavel. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Anders Limpar". Eurosport.com.
- ^ a b "Anders Limpar career stats". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- ^ a b Davies, Ian (16 April 1997). "Boro given final piece of fixture jigsaw". The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- ^ a b "World Cup 1994: Match for third place". FIFA.com.
- ^ "Snapshot: Anders Limpar". Everton F.C. official website. 17 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
- ^ "BPTV: ANDERS LIMPAR I BP:S HALL OF FAME". Solid Sport.com (in Swedish).
- ^ "Hall of Fame". IFBP.se (in Swedish).
External links
- Anders Limpar on Twitter
- Anders Limpar at National-Football-Teams.com
- Living people
- 1965 births
- People from Solna Municipality
- Association football midfielders
- Swedish footballers
- IF Brommapojkarna players
- Örgryte IS players
- BSC Young Boys players
- U.S. Cremonese players
- Arsenal F.C. players
- Everton F.C. players
- Birmingham City F.C. players
- AIK Fotboll players
- Colorado Rapids players
- Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players
- Allsvenskan players
- Premier League players
- English Football League players
- Serie A players
- Serie B players
- Major League Soccer players
- Swedish people of Hungarian descent
- 1990 FIFA World Cup players
- 1994 FIFA World Cup players
- UEFA Euro 1992 players
- Sweden international footballers
- Olympic footballers of Sweden
- Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Major League Soccer All-Stars
- Expatriate footballers in England
- Expatriate footballers in Italy
- Expatriate footballers in Switzerland
- Expatriate soccer players in the United States
- Swedish expatriate footballers
- Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England
- Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy
- Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
- Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- Djurgårdens IF Fotboll non-playing staff