Joakim Persson
Personal information
Full name Björn Joakim Persson
Date of birth (1975-04-03) 3 April 1975
Place of birth Helsingborg, Sweden
Position(s) Midfielder, defender
Team information
Current team
 AC Horsens (Head coach)
Youth career
0000–1992 Högaborgs BK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1996 Malmö FF 54 (8)
1996–1997 Atalanta 12 (0)
1998–1999 IFK Göteborg 38 (4)
2000–2002 Esbjerg fB 69 (6)
2002–2005 Hansa Rostock 84 (1)
2005–2006 Stabæk 29 (2)
2007–2010 Landskrona BoIS 78 (2)
Total 364 (23)
International career
1992–1993 Sweden U19 5 (1)
1994–1998 Sweden U21 25 (8)
1995 Sweden B 1 (0)
1997 Sweden 3 (1)
Managerial career
2011–2015 Ängelholms FF
2016–2017 Kristianstad FC
2018–2023 Varbergs BoIS
2023– AC Horsens
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Björn Joakim Persson (born 3 April 1975) is a Swedish football manager and former player. He is the head coach of AC Horsens.

As a player, he represented Malmö FF, Atalanta, IFK Göteborg, Esbjerg fB, Hansa Rostock, Stabæk, and Landskrona BoIS during a career that spanned between 1992 and 2010. He also represented the Sweden national team, winning three caps and scoring one goal in 1997.

Club career

Born in Helsingborg, Persson began his career as a youth-team player with Högaborgs BK before moving to Malmö FF in 1992. He made his professional debut in a Swedish Cup game against Landskrona in 1994.[1]

Persson moved to the Italian Serie A club Atalanta in 1996. He returned to Sweden after less than two seasons in Italy, having very rarely played for Atalanta's first-team, joining IFK Göteborg in January 1998. Things went little better for him in Sweden. He was often singled out by the media as the main cause of his team's poor performances throughout his two seasons with Göteborg. After the 1998 season he was voted as the "most overrated player" in the Allsvenskan by his fellow players.[2]

At the end of the 1999 season, Persson left IFK Göteborg in order to escape the intense scrutiny he had been subjected to. He joined Esbjerg fB, of the Danish Superliga, midway through the league season, at the end of which they were relegated to the Danish 1st Division. Persson stayed with the club and helped them to win the first division championship, and promotion, at the first attempt.

In the summer of 2002, after one further season with Esbjerg, Persson moved to Hansa Rostock of the German Bundesliga. Along with Andreas Jakobsson, Marcus Lantz, Peter Wibrån, Magnus Arvidsson and Rade Prica, Persson was one of six Swedes playing for the Mecklenburg club. Under manager Armin Veh he played as a holding midfielder, making 26 appearances in his first season with the club. The following season began with four successive defeats, after which Veh handed in his resignation and was replaced by Juri Schlünz. Schlünz converted Persson from a midfielder into a defender and appointed him as the leader of the team's back four.[2] After making just one substitute appearance in the first six games of the season, Persson went on to start 27 of the last 28 games. He scored his only league goal for Hansa in a 1–1 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach on 1 November 2003. Hansa finished the season in ninth place. Persson made 30 league starts during the 2004–05 season but was unable to prevent Hansa from finishing second-bottom of the league and being relegated to the 2. Bundesliga.

Following Hansa Rostock's relegation, Persson left the club to join Stabæk in Norway's Tippeligaen. Although he had been offered a longer contract, Persson decided to return to Sweden after 18 months in Norway. Persson signed with Landskrona prior to the 2007 Superettan season.

International career

Persson made 25 appearances for the Sweden U21s, scoring eight goals. He also made five appearances for Sweden at junior level, scoring one goal.[3]

Persson also made three appearances for the Sweden national football team, all of which came in the 1997 King's Cup. He played in games against Romania and Japan before playing in the final against the hosts Thailand. Persson scored a goal in the final, helping the Swedes to a 3–1 win.[4]

Managerial career

After having managed Ängelholms FF and Kristianstad FC, Persson became manager of Varbergs BoIS in 2018.[5]

In June 2023 Persson left Varberg to becamoe new manager of the Danish club AC Horsens.[6]

Personal life

Persson is the father of three children.[3]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[7]
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 1997 3 1
Total 3 1
Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Persson goal.
List of international goals scored by Joakim Persson
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 16 January 1997 National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand  Thailand 2–0 3–1 1997 King's Cup [8]

Honours

Sweden

References

  1. ↑ "Joakim Persson klar för Landskrona". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). 2 February 2007. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Persson - vom Über- zum Unterschätzten" (in German). kicker.de. 26 January 2004. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Joakim Persson – en meriterad hemvändare" (in Swedish). Svenska Fotbollförbundet. 13 April 2007. Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Landskamper 1997" (in Swedish). Fotbollslandslaget. 13 April 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  5. ↑ Officiellt: Persson ny tränare i Varberg‚ fotbollskanalen.se, 28 November 2017
  6. ↑ "AC Horsens henter svensk cheftræner". bold.dk (in Danish). 28 June 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  7. ↑ "Joakim Persson - Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Thailand - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "King's Cup 1997". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
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