Swedish footballer
Lars Jesper Blomqvist
(
Swedish pronunciation:
[l?ː?
?j??sːp?r
?bl??mːkv?st]
; 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 Goteborg
, 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
Djurgarden
, where he won his final Allsvenskan title, before initially retiring in 2005. An injury crisis prompted a playing return for
Enkoping
in 2008.
A full international between 1994 and 2002, Blomqvist won 30
caps
for the
Sweden national team
and helped them to third place at the
1994 FIFA World Cup
in the United States.
Club career
[
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]
Image describing Blomqvist's goal against
Helsingborgs IF
in 1995
After an early spell at Tavelsjo, Blomqvist signed for then recently formed
Umea
in 1992. In the spring portion of his first season for the club, he helped them to the
Division 2 Norra Norrland
title, promoting the club to
Division 1 Norra
for the autumn.
[2]
At the time this was the second tier of Swedish football.
[3]
Subsequently, he signed for
IFK Goteborg
on 11 September 1993. Blomqvist played a part in the club's
Allsvenskan
win that year. He scored eight goals in 24 league appearances en route to the league title in 1994.
[4]
Furthermore, he played a part in
Sweden's
advance to the semi-finals of the
World Cup
and scored in the club's 3?1 win over Manchester United in the
Champions League
.
[5]
This performance caught the eye of United manager
Alex Ferguson
and helped the team qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament. Another title followed in 1995, with Blomqvist's goal against
Helsingborgs
, when he performed a variant of the
Pele runaround move
, voted goal of the season.
[6]
In his last season for Goteborg, he played against former club Umea, who had reached the Allsvenskan for the first time in their history. In 1996, Blomqvist was voted Fan's Player of the Year and Midfielder of the Year.
[6]
At the end of the 1996 season, he signed for newly crowned
Serie A
champions
Milan
.
Serie A
[
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]
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
Old Trafford
because he did not want a repeat of this season.
[7]
The defending champions had an equally disappointing season, finishing
eleventh in Serie A
and failing to qualify for European football. Blomqvist was subsequently sold to Serie A runners up
Parma
in the summer of 1997. Blomqvist enjoyed more regular football, although the club finished sixth in the league and missed out on the knockout stages of the
Champions League
. The Swede's sole league goal for the club was scored in a 4?0 win over
Napoli
at
Stadio San Paolo
.
[8]
Premier League
[
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]
Manchester United purchased Blomqvist as a backup to
Ryan Giggs
in the early stages of the
1998-99 season
, for a fee of £4.4 million, three years after manager
Alex Ferguson
had first attempted to sign him for United from IFK Gothenburg.
[9]
He featured in enough games to win a
Premier League
winner's medal in
the 1999 season
, scoring his only goal for the club in a 4?1 away win against Everton.
[10]
He received an
FA Cup
winners medal despite being an unused substitute in the
final
. He did, however, start against
Bayern Munich
in the
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
Old Trafford
before finally leaving when Ferguson persuaded Everton manager
Walter Smith
to offer the Swedish international a short term contract at
Goodison Park
, from November 2001 until the end of the season.
[12]
Blomqvist played on the
wings
opposite compatriot
Niclas Alexandersson
, and scored his first goal for Everton against Sunderland in January 2002.
[13]
Injury problems persisted, however, and new manager
David Moyes
allowed him to leave the club in June 2002. He had a trial at
Middlesbrough
, but was unhappy with the club's handling of the situation, labelling it "a bit unprofessional".
[14]
Instead he signed for
Alan Curbishley
's
Charlton Athletic
on a free transfer. His spell 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
[
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]
Again struggling with injury, Blomqvist returned to his native Sweden after only four games with Charlton. He signed on a short term deal with
Djurgarden
.
[15]
This proved unpopular among supporters of IFK Goteborg, who labelled him "Judas". Goteborg fans considered the decision to join Djurgarden 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
Enkopings
as a coach in 2008 and went on to make a playing return in the
Superettan
, the second tier of Swedish football. A shortage of players at the club due to injury forced Blomqvist's playing return. The player shortage was highlighted when Blomqvist was sent off in his second game for the club. This resulted in a suspension for Blomqvist, and Enkoping only having fifteen players available for the following match.
[17]
On 15 September 2008, he scored his first professional goal in five years in a 1?0 win against
IK Sirius
.
[18]
In total, he made ten Superettan appearances, but was unable to save Enkoping from relegation to
Division 1
for the
2009 season
. He left Enkoping after the season and later signed a contract with newly relegated
Hammarby
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 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
[
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]
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
[
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]
Blomqvist was born and raised in
Tavelsjo
, in the
Umea Municipality
of Sweden. He currently resides in Sweden, although he has also purchased property in
Croatia
.
[26]
After officially retiring in 2005, he became a
pundit
(football expert) for Swedish television station
TV4
. Blomqvist was the victim of an assault during a visit to his hometown
Umea
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
[
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]
Club
[
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]
International
[
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]
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
[
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]
Umea
IFK Goteborg
Manchester United
Djurgarden
Sweden
Individual
References
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]
External links
[
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]