Jesper Blomqvist

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Jesper Blomqvist
Blomqvist in 2005
Personal information
Full name Lars Jesper Blomqvist
Date of birth (1974-02-05) 5 February 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth Tavelsjö, Sweden
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Left midfielder
Youth career
Tavelsjö AIK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1993 Umeå 38 (8)
1993–1996 IFK Göteborg 73 (18)
1996–1997
Milan
 20 (1)
1997–1998
Parma
 28 (1)
1998–2001 Manchester United 25 (1)
2001–2002 Everton 15 (1)
2002–2003 Charlton Athletic 3 (0)
2003–2005 Djurgården 9 (1)
2008
Enköping
 10 (1)
2010 Hammarby IF 6 (0)
Total 227 (32)
International career
1989–1990
Sweden U16
 15 (0[1])
1990–1991
Sweden U18
 12 (1[1])
1993–1995
Sweden U23
 12 (3[1])
1994–2002
Sweden
 30 (0[1])
Managerial career
2008
Enköping
(player–coach)
2009–2010 Hammarby IF (player–assistant manager)
Medal record
Representing  Sweden
Men's Football
FIFA World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 1994 United States
Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lars Jesper Blomqvist (Swedish pronunciation: [lɑːʂ ˈjɛ̌sːpɛr ˈblʊ̂mːkvɪst]; born 5 February 1974) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a left midfielder.

Most recently he was the playing assistant manager of Superettan side Hammarby from December 2009 to November 2010. He played at IFK Göteborg, where he won four straight Allsvenskan league titles between 1993 and 1996, and Manchester United, where he was part of the team that won the treble in 1999, consisting of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. He returned to Swedish football in 2003 with Djurgården, where he won his final Allsvenskan title, before initially retiring in 2005. An injury crisis prompted a playing return for Enköping in 2008.

A full international between 1994 and 2002, Blomqvist won 30

Sweden national team and helped them to third place at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
in the United States.

Club career

Swedish football

Image describing Blomqvist's goal against Helsingborgs IF in 1995

After an early spell at Tavelsjö IK, Blomqvist signed for then recently formed

Milan
.

Serie A

In his first season of Italian football, Milan failed to win a trophy, and Blomqvist often sat on the bench. He nearly decided against going to

Stadio San Paolo.[8]

Premier League

See also: 1998–99 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United purchased Blomqvist as a backup to

Champions League final. He came close to scoring before eventually being replaced by Teddy Sheringham, who later scored a late equaliser after Bayern's early goal. United went on to win the match 2–1.[11]

Due to a serious knee injury suffered soon after the Champions League final, Blomqvist did not play football in the next two seasons, which resulted in Manchester United deciding not to renew his contract (During his time out, due to this injury, he did media work for MUTV, United's in-house television channel, and presented his own cookery show called "Cooking With Jesper"). He remained on a week-to-week deal at

The Valley was even briefer, and he made just three league appearances for the South London
side before calling time on an injury-hit five seasons in England.

Return to Sweden

Again struggling with injury, Blomqvist returned to his native Sweden after only four games with Charlton. He signed on a short term deal with Djurgårdens IF.[15] This proved unpopular among supporters of IFK Göteborg, who labelled him "Judas". Göteborg fans considered the decision to join Djurgården instead of them a betrayal.[16] Blomqvist played a part as the side became Swedish champions that year. Injury problems, however, restricted him to only nine league appearances. As during the stint with Manchester United, he remained at the club for another two seasons, before finally deciding to retire due to injury in 2005.[10]

Blomqvist joined

Division 1 for the 2009 season. He left Enköping after the season and later signed a contract with newly relegated Hammarby IF as assistant manager to Michael Borgqvist.[19]

In 2010 Blomqvist played again, coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute for Hammarby against Trelleborg FF in the Swedish Cup, being one of very few coaches actually playing a game for their team.[20] After a rough period at the club, he left Hammarby in a mutual consent in November 2010.[21]

In 2012, Blomqvist effectively retired as a footballer by focusing on his civilian career. He did this by initiating studies in commerce.[22]

International career

Blomqvist was part of the bronze medal-winning

Swedish national team at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He gained his first international cap against Colombia in 1994.[23] His only World Cup match in the starting eleven came against Cameroon, although he also replaced Henrik Larsson in the second half of a draw against eventual champions Brazil.[24] Each member of the squad was awarded a Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in recognition of their third place in the tournament. Blomqvist was also considered for the 2002 FIFA World Cup squad.[25] In total, Blomqvist has made 30 appearances
for his country, without scoring.

Personal life

Blomqvist was born and raised in

TV4. Blomqvist was the victim of an assault during a visit to his hometown Umeå in September 2006, when he was struck twice across the face. His attacker was prosecuted for the incident.[27]

Blomqvist and his ex-wife Pauline have a son born in 2012.[28][29] They had divorced in 2016 but remain friends and share custody of their son.[30]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[4][31][32][33][34][35]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other[36] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Umeå 1992 Division 2 Norra Norrland/Höstettan Norra 27 6 – – – 27 6
1993
Division 1 Norra
 11 2 – – – 11 2
Total 38 8 – – – 38 8
IFK Göteborg 1993 Allsvenskan 6 1 0 0 – 0 0 – 6 1
1994 Allsvenskan 24 8 1 0 – 9 3 – 34 11
1995 Allsvenskan 18 3 3 1 – 2 1 – 23 5
1996 Allsvenskan 25 6 5 0 – 7 2 – 37 8
Total 73 18 9 1 – 18 6 – 100 24
Milan
 1996–97 Serie A 19 1 0 0 – – – 19 1
1997–98 Serie A 1 0 1 0 – – – 2 0
Total 20 1 1 0 – – – 21 1
Parma
 1997–98 Serie A 28 1 3 0 – – – 31 1
Manchester United 1998–99 Premier League 25 1 5 0 1 0 7 0 – 38 1
1999–2000 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 0
2000–01 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 0
Total 25 1 5 0 1 0 7 0 – 38 1
Everton 2001–02 Premier League 15 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 1
Charlton Athletic 2002–03 Premier League 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Djurgården 2003 Allsvenskan 9 1 0 0 – 1 0 – 10 1
2004 Allsvenskan 0 0 0 0 – 0 0 – 0 0
2005 Allsvenskan 0 0 0 0 – 0 0 – 0 0
Total 9 1 0 0 – 1 0 0 0 10 1
Enköping
 2008 Superettan 10 1 – – – 10 1
Hammarby 2010 Superettan 6 0 1 0 – – – 7 0
Career total 227 32 23 1 1 0 26 6 0 0 257 39

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[37]
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden
 1994 12 0
1995 2 0
1996 4 0
1997 6 0
1998 3 0
1999 2 0
2000 0 0
2001 0 0
2002 1 0
Total 30 0

Honours

Umeå

  • Division 2 Norra Norrland: 1992

IFK Göteborg

Manchester United

Djurgården

Sweden

Individual

  • Årets komet: 1994
  • Swedish Goal of the Year
    : 1995
  • Folkets lirare
    : 1996
  • Swedish Midfielder of the Year: 1996[6]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-91-86184-69-8
    .
  2. ^ "Division 2 (3rd level) 1992". Clas Glenning, RSSSF. Archived from the original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  3. ^ "Umeå FC" (in Swedish). Umeå FC. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Jesper Blomqvist-Manchester United FC". www.sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  5. ^ "UEFA Champions League". UEFA. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  6. ^ a b c "Swedish player awards" (in Swedish). Swedish FA. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
  7. ^ "Blomqvist unhappy at sub's role". The London Independent. Newspaper Publishing PLC. 18 July 1998. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  8. ^ "Italy Championship 1997/98". Maurizio Mariani. RSSSF. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  9. ^ "Soccernet England: Jesper Blomqvist". Soccernet. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  10. ^ a b "Jesper Blomqvist player profile". Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  11. ^ "United crowned kings of Europe". BBC. 26 May 1999. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  12. ^ "Smith confirms Blomqvist deal". Phil McNulty. BBC. 7 November 2001. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  13. ^ "Everton see off Sunderland". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 12 January 2002. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  14. ^ "Winger Blomqvist snubs "unprofessional" Boro". The Northern Echo. 1 September 2002. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  15. ^ "Sweden's Djurgarde sign Blomqvist". ESPNsoccernet. 11 July 2003. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  16. ^ "Blomqvist ska sänka sin gamla klubb". Carl Göransson (in Swedish). unt.se. 27 August 2008. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  17. ^ "Match information: Mjallby AIF 3:0 Enkoping" (in Swedish). Swedish FA. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  18. ^ "Match information: Enkoping 1:0 Sirius" (in Swedish). Swedish FA. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  19. ^ Urban Rybrink (8 December 2009). "Jesper Blomqvist: Bajen ledande på talangområdet". hammarbyfotboll.se (in Swedish). Hammarby IF. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  20. ^ "Stående ovationer för Blomqvist i comebacken" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  21. ^ "Ingen fortsättning för Jesper Blomqvist nästa år" (in Swedish). Hammarby IF. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  22. ^ "Det gör 94-laget i dag - så gick det sen, del två". Expressen (in Swedish). 3 July 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  23. ^ "Eight players who can illuminate this weeks quarter final". The Independent London. 26 February 1995. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  24. ^ "Brazil - Sweden". FIFA. Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  25. ^ "Blomqvist in world cup frame". BBC. 14 January 2002. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  26. ^ "Jesper eyes Swedish return". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  27. ^ "Blomqvist attacker prosecuted" (in Swedish). TV4. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  28. ^ "Jesper Blomqvist har blivit pappa". Aftonblader (in Swedish). 25 February 2012.
  29. ^ "Jesper Blomqvist nya kärlek – berättar om Erica". femina.se (in Swedish). 8 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  30. ^ "Blomqvist: "Mitt livs största förlust"". Expressen (in Swedish). 20 July 2017.
  31. ^ "League appearance and goal statistics as of 2004". Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  32. ^ "Blomqvist Career". footballdatabase.com. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  33. ^ "Jesper Blomqvist Swedish career statistics" (in Swedish). Swedish FA. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  34. ^ Endlar, Andrew. "Jesper Blomqvist". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  35. ^ "Jesper Blomqvist". Acmilan.pl. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  36. ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, FIFA Club World Cup
  37. ^ "Jesper Blomqvist – National Football Teams". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  38. ^ "Jesper Blomqvist: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  39. ^ "Man Utd 2–0 Newcastle". The Guardian. London. 22 May 1999. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  40. ^ "United crowned kings of Europe". BBC News. 26 May 1999. Retrieved 12 October 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jesper Blomqvist.

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