Mathias Svensson

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 the CEO and co-owner of Effektiv, a company in the staffing-and-recruitment industry.

Mathias Svensson
Personal information
Full name Mathias Svensson
Date of birth (1974-09-24) 24 September 1974
Place of birth Borås, Sweden
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996 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 Elfsborg 48 (9)
Total 275 (67)
National team
1997–2001 Sweden 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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 four 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 six 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 remained at Elfsborg, with various duties.

Honours
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