Håkan Mild

Stig Håkan Mild (born 14 June 1971) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He is best remembered for his time with IFK Göteborg, with which he won four Swedish Championships. A full international between 1991 and 2001, he won a total of 74 caps for the Sweden national team and was a part of the Sweden team that finished third at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He also represented his country at the 1992 Summer Olympics and UEFA Euro 2000.

Håkan Mild

Personal information
Full name	Stig Håkan Mild
Date of birth	14 June 1971
Place of birth	Trollhättan, Sweden
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–1993	IFK Göteborg	92	(9)
1993–1995	Servette	21	(1)
1995–1996	IFK Göteborg	23	(5)
1996–1998	Real Sociedad	50	(1)
1998–2001	IFK Göteborg	66	(6)
2001–2002	Wimbledon	9	(0)
2002–2005	IFK Göteborg	65	(6)
Total		326	(28)
National team
1987	Sweden U17	2	(0)
1988–1989	Sweden U19	9	(3)
1990–1992	Sweden U21/O	23	(4)
1991–2001	Sweden	74	(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Trollhättan, Västra Götaland, Mild started his career with the local club Trollhättans FK, and was early on scouted by the at that time leading Swedish club IFK Göteborg which he joined in 1988. He made his debut in the first team of IFK Göteborg the same year, in a friendly match against IF Elfsborg, 29 September. He played his first league game the following season, when he came on as a substitute against Halmstads BK, 26 July. He then scored his first goal in a competitive match in 1990, and became Swedish champion for the first time that same year, playing in a majority of the club's matches during the season.

He became a regular in the team and won another championship title the next season, as well as winning Svenska Cupen. He also scored his first goal in Allsvenskan in 1991, and played four matches in the European Cup. He was at the time a member of the Swedish Olympic team that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where he played all four matches. He returned to European football and played all ten matches in the 1992–93 UEFA Champions League, against amongst others A.C. Milan and FC Porto. Mild also scored a goal against Lech Poznań in the qualifying round of the tournament. He became Swedish champion with IFK again in 1993.

Håkan Mild then moved abroad to Swiss club Servette FC where he won the Swiss Super League title the first season. He then played in the 1994 World Cup, where he was substituted on in two games, and played the last three games—quarter-final, semi-final and third place match—from start scoring one goal and assisting one. He returned to Servette FC to play another season but his first visit on the continent was not very successful and he returned to IFK Göteborg for the second half of the 1995 season. He led the club to another Swedish Championship the following season, but left the club again, this time to play in Spain and Real Sociedad.

He played 49 matches in Primera Division over two seasons, and was a member of the squad that finished third in 1997–98, the club's best result during the 1990s. He returned home to Gothenburg and IFK a second time, but had to tamper with injury problems the second half of 1998. He played another three seasons before trying his luck in another club abroad, this time Wimbledon F.C. in England. This proved to be his least successful stay abroad, playing only nine matches over a little more than one season. The low, but undisclosed, fee for his transfer to Wimbledon gave Mild a bad conscience, so he chose to not accept the almost 500,000 SEK (around US$50,000 at that time) of match bonuses he had not yet been paid.[1] This, amongst other things, has given Håkan Mild a special status amongst the IFK fans.

He returned in time to help IFK stay in Allsvenskan during the worst season of the club since 1976—when the club played in Division 2—as they barely avoided relegation by winning a play-off after the season's end. Mild then played another three seasons, partially interrupted by injury problems. He played his last match 11 December 2005 home against FC Lyn Oslo in the Royal League tournament, and his name was sung during all 90 minutes of the match, as a final farewell.[2] He then assumed the position of director of sports in the club.

He played a total of 459 matches over 18 years for IFK Göteborg, and is regarded as one of the club's greatest players ever not only due to his work on the field, but also for his club spirit, leader qualities and work ethics.[2] He has only represented one Swedish club on higher levels, and statements such as "IFK is my home"[3] and "IFK has always meant so much to me that it sometimes has become a problem"[4] has only cemented the view on him amongst supporters as one of the greatest.

He played 74 games for the Swedish national team, scoring eight goals, and besides participation in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1992 Summer Olympics, he also played in Euro 2000.

In 2001, he did a running test called the Pacer test and scored a record high of 19.2 which is the best ever recorded.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
IFK Göteborg	1988	Allsvenskan	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
	1989	Allsvenskan	1	0	0	0	0	0	11	1	12	1
	1990	Allsvenskan	19	0	1	1	0	0	21	3	41	4
	1991	Allsvenskan	28	2	6	0	4[5]	0	20	4	58	6
	1992	Allsvenskan	27	2	1	0	6[6]	1	18	1	52	4
	1993	Allsvenskan	21	5	1	0	4[6]	0	17	4	43	9
	Total		96	9	9	1	14	1	89	13	208	24
Servette	1993–94	Nationalliga A	11	1							11	1
	1994–95	Nationalliga A	10	0							10	0
	Total		21	1							21	1
IFK Göteborg	1995	Allsvenskan	9	2	1	0	0	0	6	1	16	3
	1996	Allsvenskan	14	3	3	1	2[6]	0	8	1	27	5
	Total		23	5	4	1	2	0	14	2	43	8
Real Sociedad	1996–97	La Liga	25	1			0	0			25	1
	1997–98	La Liga	24	0			0	0			24	0
	Total		49	1			0	0			49	1
IFK Göteborg	1998	Allsvenskan	10	1	2	1	3[7]	0	1	0	16	2
	1999	Allsvenskan	21	0	6	0	5[7]	1	6	0	38	1
	2000	Allsvenskan	23	2	6	4	0	0	2	1	31	7
	2001	Allsvenskan	12	3	2	2	0	0	1	1	15	6
	Total		66	6	16	7	8	1	10	2	100	16
Wimbledon	2001–02	First Division	9	0			0	0			9	0
	2002–03	First Division	0	0			0	0			0	0
	Total		9	0	?	?	0	0			9	0
IFK Göteborg	2002	Allsvenskan	8[8]	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	1
	2003	Allsvenskan	18	1	3	1	0	0	4	0	25	2
	2004	Allsvenskan	23	2	4	0	3[9]	0	2	0	32	2
	2005	Allsvenskan	18	2	1	0	14[10]	2	10	1	43	5
	Total		67	6	8	1	17	2	16	1	108	10
Career total			348	29	37	10	41	4	129	18	555	61

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[11]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	1991	6	1
	1992	3	0
	1993	1	1
	1994	11	2
	1995	5	2
	1996	8	0
	1997	9	0
	1998	5	0
	1999	8	0
	2000	9	0
	2001	9	2
Total		74	8

Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mild goal.

List of international goals scored by Håkan Mild

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	17 April 1991	Neas Philadelphias, Nea Filadelfeia, Greece	Greece	2–1	2–2	Friendly	[12]
2	10 November 1993	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Leopoldstadt, Austria	Austria	1–0	1–1	1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier	[13]
3	24 February 1994	Bulldog Stadium, Fresno, United States	Mexico	1–2	1–2	Friendly	[14]
4	16 July 1994	Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States	Bulgaria	2–0	4–0	1994 FIFA World Cup	[15]
5	8 June 1995	Elland Road, Leeds, England	England	1–0	3–3	Friendly	[16]
6				2–0
7	28 February 2001	National Stadium Ta' Qali, Ta' Qali, Malta	Malta	3–0	3–0	Friendly	[17]
8	10 November 2001	Old Trafford, Manchester, England	England	1–1	1–1	Friendly	[18]

Honours

Club

IFK Göteborg

• Allsvenskan: 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996
• Svenska Cupen: 1991
• Royal League runner-up: 2004–05

International

Sweden

• FIFA World Cup third-place: 1994

References

• Göransson, Mattias (2005). Blåvit gryning. Göteborg: Offside Fanatik. ISBN 91-85279-03-X
• UEFA.com (2005). IFK hero Mild gets his due. Retrieved 27 June 2006.
• Fagerlin, Hans (July 2006). Överkörd på mitten av Mild. Blått&Vitt, 6.
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Håkan Mild". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011.

Notes

1. Göransson, p. 108.
2. Uefa.com, IFK hero Mild gets his due
3. Fagerlin, p. 22
4. Göransson, p. 97.
5. European Cup matches only.
6. UEFA Champions League matches only.
7. UEFA Cup matches only.
8. Allsvenskan (6 matches, 1 goal) and Allsvenskan qualification play-off (2 matches, 0 goals).
9. Royal League matches only.
10. Royal League (10 matches, 2 goals) and UEFA Intertoto Cup (4 matches, 0 goals).
11. "Håkan Mild - Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
12. "Grekland - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
13. "Österrike - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
14. "Mexiko - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
15. "Sverige - Bulgarien - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
16. "England - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
17. "Malta - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
18. "England - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 January 2021.

External links

• Håkan Mild at WorldFootball.net
• Håkan Mild at SvFF (in Swedish)
• Håkan Mild at IMDb