Marcus Forss

Marcus Forss (born 18 June 1999) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays for Championship club Brentford as a forward. He is a product of the West Bromwich Albion academy and is a current Finland international.

Marcus Forss
Personal information
Full name Marcus Forss[1]
Date of birth (1999-06-18) 18 June 1999
Place of birth Turku, Finland[2]
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Brentford
Number 15
Youth career
Ruskon Pallo
TuWe
0000–2012 FDS-WBA Finland
2012–2017 West Bromwich Albion
2017–2018 Brentford
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018– Brentford 24 (6)
2019–2020 → AFC Wimbledon (loan) 18 (11)
National team‡
Finland U17 4 (2)
2016–2017 Finland U18 5 (4)
2017–2018 Finland U19 6 (3)
2018– Finland U21 5 (2)
2020– Finland 3 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:00, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:30, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early years

A forward, Forss began his career in his native Finland with spells at FC Ruskon Pallo, TuWe and the FDS-Suomi football school.[4][5] At age 13,[6] he moved to England to join the academy at Premier League club West Bromwich Albion and progressed to sign a two-year scholarship deal in 2015.[7] He was called into the U21 squad for two EFL Trophy matches in the first half of the 2016–17 season and made one appearance,[8] with a start in a 2–0 group stage defeat to Gillingham on 8 November 2016.[9] Forss was released when his scholarship ended in May 2017.[10]

Brentford

On 22 June 2017, Forss joined the B team at Championship club Brentford on a two-year contract.[10] After scoring 11 goals in his first 23 B team appearances, he signed a new ​3 1⁄2-year contract in February 2018.[11] He finished the 2017–18 season as the B team's top scorer with 21 goals and won the team's Player of the Year award.[12] Forss was promoted into the first team squad for the 2018–19 season and despite missing five months of the campaign with a back injury,[13][14][15] he was a regular inclusion in matchday squads when fit and finished the season with 9 appearances and two goals.[16]

After one goal in three early-2019–20 season appearances,[17] Forss signed a new four-year contract and departed Griffin Park on a season-long loan.[18] The loan was ended early in January 2020,[19] due to a torn hamstring,[20] which required surgery and ended his season.[21] Forss returned fit for the 2020–21 season and the departures of Ollie Watkins and Saïd Benrahma elevated him to second-choice behind incoming forward Ivan Toney.[22][23][24] During the first half of the season he served predominantly as a substitute,[25] playing forward and wing roles.[26] By the time he signed a new ​5 1⁄2-year contract in December 2020,[27] Forss had scored seven goals in 21 appearances.[24]

AFC Wimbledon (loan)

On 2 September 2019, Forss joined League One club AFC Wimbledon on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.[18] He scored seven goals in his first seven appearances for the club and scored the first senior hat-trick of his career in a 4–1 victory over Southend United on 12 October.[17] Four goals in five appearances in October 2019 won Forss the EFL Young Player of the Month award.[28] Four further goals in December 2019 saw him nominated for the League One Player of the Month award.[29] By the time his spell was ended early by injury on 14 January 2020, he had scored 11 goals in 19 appearances.[30] Forss' performances during the season were recognised with the club's Young Player of the Year award.[31]

International career

Forss was capped by Finland at U17, U18, U19 and U21 level.[10][25] He captained the U19 team,[32] but was not included in the squad for the 2018 European U19 Championship on home soil due to club commitments.[33] Good goalscoring form at club level saw Forss receive his maiden call up to the senior team for a series of three matches in November 2020.[24][34] He made his debut with a start in a friendly versus France and scored the opening goal in the 2–0 victory.[35]

Personal life

Forss hails from a football family.[36] His father (Tero) and brother (Niclas) are both involved in football and his grandfather is former Finland international Rainer Forss.[36] He is a Manchester United supporter.[6]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 22 December 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
West Bromwich Albion U21 2016–17[9] ———1[lower-alpha 1]010
Brentford 2018–19[37] Championship 611021—92
2019–20[17] Championship 2000110031
2020–21[24] Championship 1650052—217
Total 2461084003310
AFC Wimbledon (loan) 2019–20[17] League One 181100—1[lower-alpha 1]01911
Career total 42171084205321
  1. Appearance in EFL Trophy

International
As of match played 18 November 2020[35]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Finland 202031
Total31

International goals
Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.
NoDateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.11 November 2020Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France1 France1–02–0Friendly

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/06/2017 and 30/06/2017" (PDF). The FA. p. 4. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  2. "Marcus Forss". www.thefinalball.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  3. "Marcus Forss – Forward – First Team". Brentford FC. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  4. "U19 (1999) maajoukkue". Suomen Palloliitto. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  5. "Int. Junior-Fussball Hallencup Schärding". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  6. Slavin, Chris. "Debut goal provides 'massive' boost for Marcus ahead of Shrewsbury". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  7. Whaling, James. "See the full West Brom Premier League squad list". mirror. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  8. "Marcus Forss Player Profile". ESPN FC. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  9. "Games played by Marcus Forss in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  10. "Brentford B add Marcus Forss to squad". brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  11. "Marcus Forss signs new contract". Brentford FC. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  12. "Marcus Forss scoops Mary Halder Award". Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  13. "Mads and Marcus promoted to First Team". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  14. "Head of Medical Neil Greig provides an injury update". Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  15. "Sheffield Wednesday vs Brentford preview". Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  16. "Marcus Forss Player Profile". ESPN FC. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  17. "Games played by Marcus Forss in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  18. "Marcus Forss signs new long-term contract and joins AFC Wimbledon on loan". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  19. "Marcus Forss returns to Brentford". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  20. Fifield, Dominic. "Brentford B: the globetrotting reserve team who rebelled..." The Athletic. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  21. "Going with youth pays dividends at AFC Wimbledon – as Hodges would like to sign replacement for Brentford striker". Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  22. "Ivan Toney interview: Brentford striker on exceeding expectations, proving doubters wrong and competition with Marcus Forss". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  23. "Levy eager not to miss out as Tottenham join race for Championship striker". teamtalk.com. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  24. "Games played by Marcus Forss in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  25. Marcus Forss at Soccerway. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  26. "Brentford knappar in på Norwichs försprång efter segermål av Marcus Forss: "Han är en killer i boxen – nätar varje gång jag sätter honom på planen"". svenska.yle.fi (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  27. "Forss signs new long-term contract". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  28. "Marcus Forss wins Young Player of the Month prize". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  29. "Marcus Forss misses out on Sky Bet League One Player of the Month prize". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  30. "Update: Marcus returns to Brentford after suffering injury". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  31. "Terell and Joe join a long list of Dons heroes". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  32. "Marcus Forss captains Finland Under-19". Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  33. "Jaakko named in Finland Under-19 squad". Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  34. "Marcus Forss gets Finland call-up". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  35. "Marcus Forss". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  36. "Två generationer Forss fortsätter i BK-46" (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  37. "Games played by Marcus Forss in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
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