1.
Tunavallen
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Tunavallen is a multi-use stadium in Eskilstuna, Sweden. It is currently used mostly for football matches, the stadium holds 7,800 seated spectators. The original stadium was one of the venues for the 1958 FIFA World Cup and it was also the venue for the replay of the Swedish bandy final in 1954. In 2002 a new arena was built and this is the home ground for the football team Eskilstuna City FK in division 1
2.
Eskilstuna
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Eskilstuna is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67359 inhabitants in 2015, with a municipal population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality. Eskilstuna has a large Sweden Finn population, the town is located on the River Eskilstunaån, which connects Lake Hjälmaren and Lake Mälaren. Eskilstunas history dates back to times when English monk Saint Eskil made Tuna his base and diocese of the South coast of Lake Mälaren. Saint Eskil was stoned to death by the pagan vikings of neighbouring town Strängnäs,30 kilometres east of Eskilstuna, Saint Eskil was buried in his monastery church in Tuna. Later the pagan city of Strängnäs was Christianised and was given the privilege of becoming diocese of South Lake Mälaren, later Eskil was added in to the word Tuna. However, the town of Eskilstuna did not receive municipal privileges due to its proximity to the city of Torshälla. The monastery of Saint Eskil was completely destroyed by Swedish king Gustav Vasa during the Protestant Reformation and was replaced with the castle of Eskilstuna House. The citys first city privileges were granted in 1659, and its boundaries included Tunafors, Karl Gustavs Stad was built around the iron forges of master smith Reinhold Rademacher, encouraged by King Karl X Gustav. The first products of the forges were small arms and artillery, Karl Gustavs Stad was a free town from 1771, where manufacturers and craftsmen were allowed to establish tax-free workshops and factories. The town was merged with the rest of Eskilstuna in 1879, the city grew enormously during the Industrial Revolution and became one of the most important industrial cities of Sweden, earning the nickname Stålstaden. Aside from firearms, the city also produced cutlery, scissors, keys, machine tools, as a tribute to the steel industry, the figure of a steel worker is included in the citys coat of arms. Eskilstuna is sometimes called The Sheffield of Sweden, Sheffield being a city famous for the quality of the steel produced there. Both cities at their peak were home to different companies involved in steel production. Mälardalen University, founded in cooperation with the city of Västerås, has a campus in the city. The city also has a zoo and amusement park - Parken Zoo. Parken Zoo, owned and operated by the municipality, has been criticized for its poor animal welfare. The hospital, Mälarsjukhuset is one of the largest in the region, the successful handball club GUIF remains in the top division
3.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
4.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
5.
Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today
6.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
7.
Allsvenskan
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Allsvenskan is a Swedish professional league for mens association football clubs. It was founded in 1924, and is the top flight of the Swedish football league system, operating on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan. Seasons run from late March or early April to the beginning of November, with the 16 clubs all meeting each other twice, resulting in a 30-match season, Allsvenskan is ranked 20th in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years. As it stands now, Allsvenskan is ranked highest of the leagues in Scandinavia, the current champions are Malmö FF, who won the title in the 2016 season. Allsvenskan started in the 1924–25 Allsvenskan season and the first winner was GAIS, the one-league twelve team Allsvenskan replaced the Svenska Serien, consisting of a southern and northern group that was held before. In 1931, the league started to decide the Swedish football champions, in the early years, Norrland and Gotland teams were not allowed to play on higher levels in the league system, which was gradually changed to include the Norrland and Gotland teams on higher levels. In the 1955–56 season, Lycksele IF became the first Norrland team to play in an Allsvenskan promotion play-off, for the 1959 Allsvenskan, the season start was changed from autumn to spring to be played in one calendar year. In 1973, it was expanded to contain 14 teams. C, from the 1982 season, the league introduced a play-off to determine the Swedish football champions. In the late 1980s, Malmö FF were dominant, winning the five times in a row. The 1990 season saw the introduction of three points per win, the play-off season years were followed by two years of continuation league, named Mästerskapsserien. The 1993 season saw a return to the format, again with 14 teams. IFK Göteborg won five Allsvenskan league titles in the 1990s, in the early 2000s, Djurgårdens IF won three titles. In 2004, Örebro SK lost its place in the due to financial problems. Since 2008, the league consists of 16 teams, the champions of the Allsvenskan are considered Swedish champions and gold medal winners. The runners-up are awarded the Large Silver medal, the third positioned team are awarded the Small Silver medal, there have been seasons with exceptions when the winners of Allsvenskan wasnt considered Swedish champions as well. The years 1982 through 1990 are also exceptions, the title was decided through play-offs during these years. The same was true for the years 1991 through 1992 when the title was decided through a league called Mästerskapsserien. Historically, there is though a big difference between the Allsvenskan winners before 1931 compared to the period between 1982 and 1992, since 2008 there are 16 clubs in Allsvenskan
8.
Swedish football league system
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Below those five levels, additional regional levels numbered six to ten exist but these lower leagues are controlled by the regional associations and not by the nationwide association. There is, however, promotion and relegation to and from all levels, as of 2013, there were a total of 2510 teams in the Swedish league system of which 299 of them were reserve teams. The table below shows how the current system works, for each division, its Swedish name and number of clubs is given. For level 6 to level 10, the number of clubs are as of 2013, in 2013 the two second tier divisions were combined in the new Elitettan
9.
Eskilstuna City FK
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Eskilstuna City FK is a Swedish football club located in Eskilstuna. The club is playing in Division 2, the club, formed on 1 November 1907 as IK City, is playing in Division 2 Södra Svealand, the fourth highest Swedish league. IK City played one season in the highest league of Sweden, Allsvenskan, in 1925–26, the club changed to its present name before the 2000 season. They play their matches at the Tunavallen in Eskilstuna. City FK is currently the biggest football club in Eskilstuna, as well, the club played in Division 2 for 23 straight years — from 1988 until their promotion in 2011. Since 2006, Eskilstuna Södra FF have had an agreement with Eskilstuna City FK. In November 2007, the City FK reached an agreement, called Eskilstuna Elitfotboll, the agreement stipulates that the City shall constitute the citys top team with a view to progressing to the Allsvenskan while IFK will play a development role. The agreement covers a period and it must then be re-negotiated and renewed every two years. In terms of the clubs playing history, the contractual implications may seem a little surprising given IFK’s stronger record. However, City now play in a division than IFK and are more solid financially. City promoted to Division 1 in 2011, after remaining in the Division 2 for 23 straight years, Eskilstuna City FK are affiliated to the Södermanlands Fotbollförbund
10.
AIK Fotboll
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Competing in Swedens first tier, Allsvenskan, the club was formed in 1891 in Stockholm City Centre and the football department was formed in 1896. League champions eleven times, winning their latest championship title in 2009, the club holds the record for having played the most seasons in the Swedish top flight. In addition, AIK is the club that has finished top three in Allsvenskan the most times in the current century, AIK is the only side from the Stockholm urban area to have qualified for the group stage of a UEFA competition. The club reached the quarter-finals of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners Cup, qualified for the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League group stage, the club is affiliated with the Stockholm Football Association. The name was chosen to reflect that the club was open for everyone, putting football into practice in 1896, AIK were runners-up in the championship only two years later, in 1898. AIK won its first Swedish championship title in 1900, beating Örgryte IS in the final, in 1901, AIK won another title, after a walk-over win against Örgryte IS team II. At the turn of the century, Swedish league football was dominated by Örgryte, however, in the period of 1898–1901 AIK won the championship twice and were runners-up three times. In 1899 the team faced Djurgårdens IF for the first time, AIK did not participate in the Swedish championships of 1902 and 1903, which meant these were played only with teams from Gothenburg. In 1902, AIK instead competed in Svenska bollspelsförbundets tävlingsserie, a competition open only to clubs from Stockholm. AIK competed with two teams in the first year of the competition, finishing fourth and last, as a result, the weaker AIK side was relegated, making the first team the only one from AIK in the highest division. The competition was played until 1909, with AIK winning it in 1908 and 1909, two years after the start of the tävlingsserie,1904, twelve teams participated in the championship, one of them being AIK for the first time since winning it. AIK went through to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by archrivals Djurgårdens IF, in 1905, AIK went just as far, this time being beaten by IFK Stockholm. AIK competed in the three times in 1906–1910 without any success, but in 1911 they won the championship for the third time after beating IFK Uppsala in the final. After that, AIK were eliminated in the semi-finals of 1912 and 1913, in 1915, AIK were again defeated by archrivals Djurgården in the semi-finals. In 1916, however, AIK came back and defeated future rivals IFK Göteborg in the semi-finals, in 1917, Djurgården mirrored AIKs achievement, winning against Göteborg in the semi-finals and then beating AIK with 3–1 in the final. Another couple of years passed by without any success for AIK, until 1923, from the years 1910 to 1924, a championship called Svenska Serien was played. AIK didnt win it, but were runners-up a couple of times, the status of this championship status increased in the beginning of the 1920s and it became more important than the Swedish championship. In 1924, Svenska Serien was replaced by the current highest league, the first years, the championship were dominated by teams from Gothenburg and by Hälsingborgs IF
11.
IK Sleipner
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Idrottsklubben Sleipner is a sports club in Norrköping, Sweden, the main sports are football and ten-pin bowling. It was founded in 1903, and named after the deity Odins horse Sleipnir from Norse mythology, currently, the clubs senior mens team plays football in Division 2. They are mostly known for winning Allsvenskan in 1938, but have since been overshadowed by local rivals IFK Norrköping both locally and nationally, the club is affiliated to the Östergötlands Fotbollförbund. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, in recent seasons IK Sleipner have had the following average attendances, A. ^ The title of Swedish Champions has been awarded to the winner of four different competitions over the years, between 1896 and 1925 the title was awarded to the winner of Svenska Mästerskapet, a stand-alone cup tournament. No club were given the title between 1926 and 1930 even though the first-tier league Allsvenskan was played, in 1931 the title was reinstated and awarded to the winner of Allsvenskan. Between 1982 and 1990 a play-off in cup format was held at the end of the season to decide the champions. After the play-off format in 1991 and 1992 the title was decided by the winner of Mästerskapsserien, since the 1993 season the title has once again been awarded to the winner of Allsvenskan. IK Sleipner SvenskFotboll. se – IK Sleipner
12.
Bandy
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Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing teams goal. Based on the number of participating athletes, bandy is the second most popular winter sport after ice hockey. Bandy also is the two winter sport in tickets sold per day of competitions at the sports world championship compared to the other winter sports. The sport is considered a form of hockey and has a background with association football, ice hockey. Like football, the game is played in halves of 45 minutes each, there are eleven players on each team. It is played on ice like ice hockey, but like field hockey, players use bowed sticks, a variant of bandy, rink bandy, is played to the same rules but on a field the size of an ice hockey rink and with fewer people on each team. Bandy is also the predecessor of floorball, which was invented when people started playing with plastic bandy-shaped sticks, Russian monastery records dating back to the 10th to 11th centuries record games which may be ancestors of bandy. A game that could be recognized as essentially modern bandy was played in Russia by the early 18th century, although the rules used differed from those invented in England at a much later date. In modern times, Russia has held a top position in the bandy area, Russians see themselves as the creators of the sport, which is reflected by the unofficial title for bandy, Russian hockey. The first match, more recently dubbed the original match, was held at The Crystal Palace in London in 1875. However, at the time, the game was called hockey on the ice, the name bandy comes from Britain, which has played an important role in the sports development. Bando, a game played in Wales in the Middle Ages and it was played throughout the country in varying forms and is still found in some areas. The earliest example of the Welsh-language term bando occurs in a dictionary by John Walters published in 1770–94, the game became particularly popular in the Cynffig-Margam district of the Vale of Glamorgan where wide stretches of sandy beaches afforded ample room for play. As a winter sport, British bandy originated in the Fens of East Anglia where large expanses of ice formed on flooded meadows or shallow washes in cold winters, members of the Bury Fen Bandy Club published rules of the game in 1882, and introduced it into other countries. The first international took place in 1891 between Bury Fen and the then Haarlemsche Hockey & Bandy Club from the Netherlands. The same year, the National Bandy Association was started in England, the first national bandy league was started in Sweden in 1902. Bandy was played at the Nordic Games in Stockholm in 1905, a European championship was held in 1913 with eight countries participating. The highest altitude where bandy has been played is in the capital of the Tajik autonomous province of Gorno-Badakhshan, as a precursor to ice hockey bandy has influenced its development and history – mainly in European and former Soviet countries
13.
Kalmar FF
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Kalmar Fotbollsförening, also known simply as Kalmar FF, Kalmar or KFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 10 January 1910 as IF Göta, the club have won one championship title. The club is playing in Allsvenskan, where the season lasts from April to November. Kalmar FFs local rivals are Kalmar AIK and Östers IF, on 15 June 1910, the club IF Göta was created, however they were not allowed to enter the Riksidrottsförbundet due to a conflict regarding the name. The name was taken by Stockholms-Göta and Karlstads-Göta. Later in 1912 the club changed its name to IF Gothia and was accepted by Riksidrottsförbundet. In 1927 Kalmar Idrotts Sällskap changed its name to Kalmar FF, in their first game they defeated KIS Malmö FF with 6–0. Between 1950 and 1955 the club went up and down between Allsvenskan and Division 2, in 1976 the club played its 100th game in Allsvenskan against GIF Sundsvall, however this ended with 9–2 defeat and led to manager Kay Wiestål being fired. In 1988 Kalmar FF won Division 2 without a defeat which is a record in Division 2. Between 1989 and 1997 the club spent most of its time in second highest league, after returning to Allsvenskan in 1998, but in 1999 the club fell out again, the only good thing was that the economy had been restored and was in good shape again. During the 2000 season club had to fight to avoid relegation from the second highest league and was able to do it in the end of the season. During the 2002 the first Brazilian, Alysson, arrived at the club, the spell in Superettan 2003 became only one year as Kalmar won the league well ahead of Trelleborgs FF, purchase of Daniel Mendes and Dudu helped the club a lot. The two following seasons,2005 and 2006, Kalmar ended up in 3rd and 5th respectively, then in 2007 they made a great run from start to finish and finally ended up in second place after champions IFK Göteborg. They won Svenska Cupen the same year by beating IFK Göteborg with 3–0 at Fredriksskans in Kalmar, the club had to wait until the last match of the season against Halmstads BK in Halmstad before they could become champions. Before the final match Elfsborg was behind with 3 points and 9 goals, the match against Halmstads BK ended 2–2 placing the club 1 point ahead of Elfsborg. Patrik Ingelsten also became the top goalscorer of the season with 19 goals scored. The team reached the final in Svenska Cupen yet again and also this year against IFK Göteborg, however this year IFK won 5–4 on penalties after full-time, the club also had the chance to reach the group stage of the UEFA Cup
14.
Kennet Andersson
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Bernt Kennet Andersson is a Swedish former footballer, who played as a striker. He was a key member of the Swedish national team finished third in the 1994 World Cup. On club level, Andersson played for Tunafors SK, Eskilstuna, Göteborg, Mechelen, Norrköping, Lille, Caen, Bari, Bologna, Lazio, Fenerbahçe, for Sweden, Andersson made 83 appearances and scored 31 goals, both near the top in national history. He played in the 1992 and 2000 European Championships and he led the Swedish team in scoring with five goals in the 1994 World Cup, a feat which tied him for third place as the tournaments leading goalscorer. Scores and results list Swedens goal tally first, Andersson was considered one of the top-class strikers of his generation. IFK Göteborg Allsvenskan,1990,1991 Svenska Cupen, 1990–91 Bologna UEFA Intertoto Cup,1998 Lazio UEFA Super Cup,1999 Fenerbahçe 1. Lig, 2000–01 Turkish Cup, Runner-up 2000–01 FIFA World Cup, Third place 1994 Allsvenskan top scorer,1991 FIFA World Cup Bronze Boot,1994
15.
Seb Larsson
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Sebastian Bengt Ulf Seb Larsson is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Sunderland and the Sweden national team. After beginning his career at hometown club IFK Eskilstuna, Larsson was signed by Arsenal and he made three league appearances for the Gunners, before joining Birmingham City, initially on loan for the 2006–07 season, before a permanent transfer in the summer of 2007. Larsson spent five years at Birmingham, experiencing promotion to, and relegation from and he joined Sunderland on 1 July 2011 upon the expiry of his contract, after Birmingham suffered relegation. Larsson is renowned for being a set-piece specialist, a full international since 2008, Larsson played for Sweden at the European Championship in 2008 and 2012. Larsson was born in Eskilstuna and initially played football for his hometown team and he joined Arsenal aged 16 during the summer of 2001, on a four-year professional contract. He played in two further League Cup matches that season and he made his Premier League debut on 1 February 2006, replacing Sol Campbell at half time as Arsenal lost 3–2 at home to West Ham United. Larsson joined Championship club Birmingham City on a loan from Arsenal in August 2006. He made an impact, scoring late winners in his first few games, against Crystal Palace. He also scored two goals against Newcastle United in the FA Cup, at the end of January 2007, Larsson signed permanently for Birmingham City on a four-year deal for a £1 million fee. He scored Birminghams goal of the season, against Sheffield Wednesday in April 2007, running half the length of the field with the ball, in the 2006–07 season, Larsson was used mainly on the right wing, occasionally filling in at right-back or left-back when players were injured. His performances on the right of midfield in the 2007–08 season, in particular a man-of-the-match showing against Bolton. He scored half of his six goals that season with direct free kicks and he again provided an assist, this time for Craig Gardner, in his sides first home game, a 2–1 win against Blackburn Rovers. Away to Fulham on 27 November, Alexander Hleb made a run and a slide-rule pass to Larsson, who opened the scoring with his first goal of the season. Larsson played his part in Birminghams run to the 2011 League Cup Final and he scored from the penalty spot before Nikola Žigić headed an 84th-minute winner in the quarter-final against local rivals Aston Villa. In the first leg of the semi-final against West Ham United, roger Johnson flicked on Larssons corner for Žigić to give his team an unexpected lead in the final at Wembley against firm favourites Arsenal. No new contract was agreed, and following relegation to the Championship, on 22 June 2011, Sunderland confirmed that Larsson would join the club on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling on 1 July. Linking up with former Birmingham manager Steve Bruce and he was given squad number 7 for the 2011–12 season. His second Sunderland goal, direct from a kick, put his team 4–0 up against Stoke City at the Stadium of Light in their first win of the season
