Fredrik Berglund

Fredrik Berglund
Berglund with IF Elfsborg in 2008
Personal information
Full name Jan Fredrik Berglund
Date of birth (1979-03-21) 21 March 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Borås, Sweden
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Winger, centre forward
Youth career
1986–1992 Byttorps IF
1993–1995 IF Elfsborg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2001 IF Elfsborg 118 (40)
2001–2004 Roda JC 42 (5)
2003 → IF Elfsborg (loan) 15 (4)
2004–2006 Esbjerg fB 99 (57)
2006–2007 F.C. Copenhagen 29 (7)
2007–2010 IF Elfsborg 35 (11)
2009 → Stabæk (loan) 26 (6)
Total 364 (130)
International career
1994–1995 Sweden U17 26 (8)
1996–1997 Sweden U19 13 (6)
1998–2001 Sweden U21 27 (6)
2001–2006 Sweden 12 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jan Fredrik Berglund (born 21 March 1979) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He started off his career with IF Elfsborg in 1995 and became the Allsvenskan top scorer during the 2000 season. He then went on to represent Roda JC, Esbjerg fB, FC Copenhagen, and Stabæk before retiring at IF Elfsborg in early 2011. A full international between 2001 and 2006, he won 12 caps and scored two goals for the Sweden national team.

Club career

Early years

Berglund started his professional career with IF Elfsborg and was a key player together with Anders Svensson and Tobias Linderoth, the three of them were nicknamed "The Headband Gang".[1] In the 2000 season he was top goalscorer of the Allsvenskan and he attracted interest from foreign based clubs and eventually signed for Dutch side Roda JC in a €750.000 deal.[1]

Roda JC

Berglund had a hard time in the Netherlands and after a year and a half, he was sent on loan back to Sweden and IF Elfsborg.[1] He returned to the Netherlands for the remaining of the 2003–04 season and played a few games.[1]

Denmark

In the spring of 2004 Berglund moved to Danish Superliga side Esbjerg fB who paid a record transfer fee of €150,000 for him.[2] He made his debut for Esbjerg on 14 March 2004 in a game against Brøndby IF away[3] scoring two goals and making three assists in a 6–1 win.[3]

Berglund played two and a half years in Esbjerg before he was transferred to Danish champions F.C. Copenhagen in the summer of 2006.[4] He played only one season with the club, playing 52 games (Danish Superliga, Danish Cup, Royal League and UEFA Champions League) and scoring 18 goals.[5] He once again played alongside former teammate Tobias Linderoth.[1]

On 26 November 2006, he beat Erik Bo Andersen's record of quickest person to score 50 goals in the Danish Superliga.[6] Andersen had used 97 matches to score the 50 goals, but Berglund could, with a goal against Randers FC, score his goal no. 50 after 93 matches.[6]

Return to Elfsborg

In the spring of 2007, F.C. Copenhagen brought in Brazilian striker Ailton Almeida whose arrival pushed Berglund out of the starting line-up and when the club in the summer of 2007 also signed the Danish international forward Morten Nordstrand, Berglund was suddenly fourth or fifth choice for one of the two slots in the F.C. Copenhagen attack. A few days after Nordstrand's arrival, Berglund moved back to Sweden and signed once again with IF Elfsborg.[7] The transfer fee was reported to be 4.9 million DKK, €750,000.[7]

Berglund played his first game for Elfsborg 12 July 2007 when he came on as a substitute in a 2–0 victory at home against AIK.[8]

Loan to Stabæk

On 31 March, ten minutes before midnight and the end of the Norwegian transfer window, 2008 champions Stabæk announced that they had signed Fredrik on a season-long loan deal.[9]

Retirement

On 10 January 2011, Berglund officially announced his retirement from football as a player. After being sidelined a long time with constant injuries, Berglund felt he no longer had the motivation to continue playing.[10]

International career

Berglund was capped 12 times for the Sweden national team and scored two goals.[11] He got his debut and scored his first international goal with the national side on 10 February 2001 against Thailand in the 2001 King's Cup.[11] He won his 12th and ultimately final international cap for Sweden on 15 November 2006 in a friendly game against the Ivory Coast.[11]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[11]
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 2001 3 1
2002 0 0
2003 0 0
2004 1 1
2005 4 0
2006 4 0
Total 12 2
Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Berglund goal.
List of international goals scored by Fredrik Berglund[11]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 10 February 2001 National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand  Thailand 3–1 4–1 2001 King's Cup [12]
2 17 October 2004 Easter Road Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland  Scotland 4–0 4–1 Friendly [13]

Honours

IF Elfsborg

Copenhagen

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c d e ""Jag behöver inte ens vara kaxig"". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Fredrik Berglund till Esbjerg". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Snacka om succédebut!". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Berglund klar för FC Köpenhamn". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  5. ^ "SvenskaFans". www.svenskafans.com. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  6. ^ a b Rommedahl, Daniel (27 November 2006). "Fredrik Berglund sætter rekord" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Fredrik Berglund klar för Elfsborg". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Comeback för Bella mot AIK". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Stabæk Fotball - Elfsborg-spiss til Stabæk i 12. Time". www.stabak.no. Archived from the original on 2 April 2009.
  10. ^ "Berglund lägger skorna på hyllan - Allsvenskan - Allt om allsvenskan!". fotboll.expressen.se. Archived from the original on 12 January 2011.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Fredrik Berglund - Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Thailand - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Skottland - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.