Simon Strand

Simon Strand
Personal information
Full name Simon August Love Strand[1]
Date of birth (1993-05-25) 25 May 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Huddinge, Sweden
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Left-back or right-back
Team information
Current team
 Hammarby
Number 21
Youth career
Stuvsta
0000–2012 Djurgården
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012 Väsby United 25 (4)
2013 IK Frej 25 (0)
2014–2015 Huddinge 47 (1)
2016–2017 Assyriska FF 40 (1)
2017 Öster 14 (0)
2018 Lyngby 0 (0)
2018 Dalkurd 29 (1)
2019–2022 IF Elfsborg 98 (1)
2023– Hammarby 40 (0)
International career
2008 Sweden U17 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 November 2024

Simon August Love Strand (born 25 May 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a left-back or right-back for Allsvenskan club Hammarby.

Early life

Strand was born and raised in Huddinge, part of the Stockholm urban area, and started to play football with local club Stuvsta IF. He later joined the youth academy of Djurgården.[2][3] In 2010, Strand reached the final of P19 Allsvenskan with the club, but lost 0–1 to Malmö FF.[4][5]

Club career

Years in Division 1

In 2012, Strand joined Väsby United in Division 1, Sweden's third tier. He made 25 league appearances for the side, scoring four goals, in his first season at senior level.[6] At the end of the year, Strand was picked for the all-star game "Morgondagens Stjärnor" (English: "The Stars Of Tomorrow"), where two teams play against each other consisting of the best young players from the league.[7]

In 2013, Strand signed a one-year contract with IK Frej in the same league, making 25 appearances.[8] In 2014, he moved to Huddinge, a local rival of his youth club Stuvsta IF, playing 47 games across two seasons in Division 1.[9][10]

Assyriska

On 8 February 2016, Strand signed a three-year contract with Assyriska FF in the Superettan, Sweden's second tier.[11] He established himself as a starter and made 28 league appearances, but was unable to help his club avoid relegation after a 2–4 defeat on aggregate to Norrby IF in the playoffs.[12][10] In early 2017, he reportedly attracted interest from several Superettan clubs, most notably IF Brommapojkarna, but eventually remained with Assyriska.[13] He made 12 appearances for the club in Division 1 throughout the first half of the season, before leaving in July.[14][15]

Öster and Lyngby

On 10 July 2017, Strand transferred to Öster in Superettan, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract.[16] He went on to make 14 appearances for the club, that finished 5th in the table despite being recently promoted, during the second half of the season.[17]

On 4 January 2018, Strand transferred to Lyngby in the Danish Superliga, on a three-year deal.[18] However, he left the club only about a month later, on 7 February, without making any competitive appearances. His contract was terminated by mutual consent, due to Lyngby's financial difficulties that resulted in player salaries being paid late.[19]

Dalkurd

On 8 February 2018, Strand joined newly promoted Allsvenskan side Dalkurd on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract.[20] He made 29 appearances for the club throughout the season, his first in Sweden's top tier, scoring once, although the side finished 15th in the table and suffered a relegation.[10]

Elfsborg

On 25 February 2019, Strand transferred to Elfsborg in Allsvenskan, signing a three-year contract.[21] He soon broke into the side as a starter, making 25 appearances in his debut season, and was voted Elfsborg Player of the Year by the supporters of the club.[22][23]

In 2020, Strand made 24 appearances as Elfsborg finished 2nd in Allsvenskan, nine points behind Malmö.[23][10] On 13 January 2021, he signed a new three-year contract with the club.[24] The club finished 4th in the 2021 table, as Strand marked his 100th Allsvenskan appearance in a 3–0 away win against Djurgården on 18 October the same year.[25][23]

After the 2022 season, in which he saw increased competition for playing time from both Oliver Zandén and Niklas Hult, Strand left Elfsborg.[26][23] In total, he made 98 league appearances for the club across four seasons, scoring one goal.[23][10]

Hammarby

On 7 March 2023, Strand transferred to Hammarby in Allsvenskan, signing a three-year contract.[27]

International career

Strand was called up to the Sweden national team for the training tour in Portugal in early 2022,[28] that later was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[29]

Career statistics

As of 31 March 2024[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Väsby United 2012 Division 1 25 4 1 0 — 26 4
IK Frej 2013 25 0 4 0 — 29 0
Huddinge IF 2014 22 0 2 0 — 24 0
2015 25 1 4 0 — 29 1
Total 47 1 6 0 0 0 53 1
Assyriska FF 2016 Superettan 28 1 4 0 2[a] 0 34 1
2017 Division 1 12 0 0 0 — 12 0
Total 40 1 4 0 2 0 46 1
Östers IF 2017 Superettan 14 0 1 0 — 15 0
Lyngby BK 2017–18 Danish Superliga 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Dalkurd FF 2018 Allsvenskan 29 1 3 0 — 32 1
2019 Superettan 0 0 3 0 — 3 0
Total 29 1 6 0 0 0 35 1
IF Elfsborg 2019 Allsvenskan 25 1 2 0 — 27 1
2020 24 0 4 0 — 28 0
2021 26 0 4 1 6[b] 0 36 1
2022 23 0 2 0 2[b] 0 27 0
Total 98 1 12 1 8 0 118 2
Hammarby IF 2023 Allsvenskan 26 0 3 0 2[b] 0 31 0
2024 1 0 3 0 — 4 0
Total 27 0 6 0 2 0 35 0
Career total 208 8 40 1 12 0 260 9
  1. ^ Appearances in the Superettan relegation play-offs.
  2. ^ a b c Appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League.

References

  1. ^ a b c Simon Strand at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Unga landslagsspelare" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Tre till P93-landslaget" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Inför DIF-Malmö FF" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Segrande lag genom åren" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Niklas Pentillä till Väsby - Yosif Ayuba lånas ut" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Allsvensk fyndmarknad – rankas som morgondagens stjärnor" (in Swedish). Fotbolldirekt. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Simon Strand till IK Frej" (in Swedish). Wagnsson Sports & Entertainment. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Spelarpresentationer" (in Swedish). Huddinge IF. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Simon Strand" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Simon Strand klar för Assyriska: "Jag ska kriga mig fram"" (in Swedish). Assyriska FF. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Hur var det här, då!?" (in Swedish). Huddinge IF. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Halmstad, Dalkurd, BP och Syrianska jagar Simon Strand" (in Swedish). Fotbolltransfers. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Simon Strand: "Det har varit en ära att spela för detta landslag"" (in Swedish). Assyriska FF. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Simon Strand klar för Östers IF" (in Swedish). Assyriska FF. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  16. ^ "Simon Strand sommarens andra nyförvärv" (in Swedish). Östers IF. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  17. ^ "Simon Strand sommarens andra nyförvärv" (in Swedish). Östers IF. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Simon Strand sommarens andra nyförvärv" (in Danish). Lyngby Boldklub. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Fire spillere forlader De Kongeblå" (in Danish). Lyngby Boldklub. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Välkommen till Dalkurd, Simon Strand". Dalkurd FF (in Swedish). 8 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  21. ^ "Välkommen Simon Strand!" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  22. ^ "Elfsborgsgalan 2019" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  23. ^ a b c d e "Tack för allt Simon Strand" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  24. ^ "IFE förlänger med Simon Strand" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  25. ^ "100 allsvenska matcher för Simon Strand" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  26. ^ "Elfsborgs Oliver Zandén jagas av Toulouse" (in Swedish). Expressen. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  27. ^ "Simon Strand till Bajen" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  28. ^ "Janne om januariturnén" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  29. ^ "Landslagslägren i januari ställs in" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2023.