Tim Sparv

Tim Sparv
Sparv in 2013
Personal information
Full name Tim Sparv
Date of birth (1987-02-20) 20 February 1987
Place of birth Oravais, Finland
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 FC Midtjylland
Number 3
Youth career
1993–2003 Norrvalla FF
2003–2006 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2007 Southampton 0 (0)
2007–2009 Halmstad 51 (1)
2008 → VPS (loan) 8 (0)
2010–2013 FC Groningen 98 (4)
2013–2014 Greuther Fürth 28 (1)
2014– FC Midtjylland 99 (1)
National team‡
Finland U16 6 (1)
Finland U17 22 (1)
Finland U19 19 (0)
2007–2009 Finland U21 19 (6)
2009– Finland 61 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 August 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 June 2018

Tim Sparv (born 20 February 1987) is a Finnish professional football midfielder who plays for Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland and represents Finland national team.

Club career

Southampton

Born in Oravais,[1] Ostrobothnia, Sparv spent three years in the renowned youth academy of Southampton.[2] He was a member of Southampton's youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in 2005,[3] where he played alongside Theo Walcott,[4] losing on aggregate to Ipswich Town.[5] He was named in the first team squad for 2006–07 season[6] and made numerous reserve team appearances but, as Southampton had a plethora of midfielders from which to choose, he was unable to break through into the first team itself.

Halmstad

On 7 January 2007, he moved to Halmstads BK to play in Allsvenskan, on the advice of both his father and former Halmstads BK player Michael Svensson.[7] On 1 May 2008, he was loaned out to Vaasan Palloseura after suffering illness as well as a lack of playing time with Halmstads.[8]

Groningen

In August 2009, he was close to a move to Groningen, but Halmstad refused to let him go at that point.[9] On 14 August, FC Groningen announced that Sparv would join them as of 1 January 2010.[10] He made his Eredivisie debut on 7 March 2010 in a 1-0 victory over VVV-Venlo, coming on for Fredrik Stenman in the 78th minute.[11] He scored his first goal for Groningen in the opening match of the 2010–11 season, a 1–1 draw against AZ. His goal came in the 76th minute.[12]

Greuther Fürth

In May 2013 Sparv signed a three-year contract with Fürth.[13] He made his 2. Bundesliga debut on 21 July 2013 in a match against Arminia Bielefeld.[14] He scored his first and only league goal for the club on 30 September 2013 in a 4-0 victory over Dynamo Dresden. The goal was the last of the game and came in the 86th minute.[15]

FC Midtjylland

On 3 July 2014, Tim Sparv signed a four-year contract with Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland.[16] On 20 August 2015, he scored against former club Southampton in the 2015–16 Europa League play-off first leg, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He also started the second leg in Denmark which Midtjylland won, to secure the Danish club a place in the group stage and send Southampton out of the competition.[17]

International career

Sparv was the second youngest player in the squad for the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship played at home but did not make an appearance in the tournament. He made his Finland U21 debut on 7 October 2006 and played a big part in the successful 2009 European Championship qualifying campaign, playing in 9 out of 10 games and scoring three goals. He was made team captain during the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and scored a penalty in a 2–1 defeat by England on 15 June 2009.[18]

On 4 February 2009, Sparv made his debut for the senior team in a friendly match against Japan, which ended in a 5–1 defeat.[19] He played his first FIFA World Cup qualification game on 10 October 2009 when Stuart Baxter chose him to the starting line up against Wales in Helsinki Olympic Stadium.[20]

International goals

#DateLocationOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.15 August 2012Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland Northern Ireland1–23–3Friendly

Career statistics

Club

As of 22 May 2018[21][22]
Club Season Division League Domestic Cups Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
VPS 2008 Veikkausliiga 80000080
Total 80000080
Halmstad 2007 Allsvenskan 1200000120
2008 Allsvenskan 1300000130
2009 Allsvenskan 2611000271
Total 5111000521
Groningen 2009–10 Eredivisie 1100000110
2010–11 Eredivisie 3423000372
2011–12 Eredivisie 3001000310
2012–13 Eredivisie 2321000242
Total 98450001034
Greuther Fürth 2013–14 2. Bundesliga 2814000321
Total 2814000321
Midtjylland 2014–15 Superliga 2902010310
2015–16 Superliga 31000141451
2016–17 Superliga 50001060
2017–18 Superliga 3112080411
Total 961402411232
Career total 28171402413187

International

As of 6 June 2016[23]
Finland national team
YearAppsGoals
200950
201070
201160
201291
201370
201490
201520
201640
Total491

Honours

International

Finland

Club

FC Midtjylland

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Tim Sparv aloittaa Pohjalaisen kolumnistina" (in Finnish). POHJALAINEN.fi. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "England out to start the party right". The Independent. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Town starlets win Youth Cup". Ipswich Star. 23 April 2005. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal: Theo Walcott must learn from Gareth Bale's ascent". The Telegraph. 2 March 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "GALLERY: Ipswich Town lift 2005 Youth Cup with win over Southampton". greenun24.co.uk. 11 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "Southampton squad 2006/07". footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Finländsk U21-landslagsman klar för HBK" (in Swedish). Svenskafans.com. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  8. ↑ "HBK lånar ut Sparv till Vaasa" (in Swedish). Hallandsposten.se. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  9. ↑ "Groningen fail in Sparv bid". skysports.com. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  10. ↑ "Sparv per 2010 naar FC Groningen" (in Dutch). fcgroningen.nl. 14 August 2009. Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  11. ↑ "Groningen vs. VVV - 7 March 2010 - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  12. ↑ "AZ vs. Groningen - 14 August 2010 - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  13. ↑ "Maajoukkuefutaaja Tim Sparv siirtyy Saksaan" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  14. ↑ "Greuther Fürth vs. Arminia Bielefeld - 21 July 2013 - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  15. ↑ "Greuther Fürth vs. Dynamo Dresden - 30 September 2013 - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  16. ↑ "Finsk landsholdsspiller på plads i FC Midtjylland" (in Danish). fcm.dk. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  17. ↑ "Midtjylland vs. Southampton - 27 August 2015 - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  18. ↑ Fletcher, Paul (15 June 2009). "England U21s 2–1 Finland U21s". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  19. ↑ "Sparv debuterade" (in Swedish). HBK.se. 4 February 2009. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  20. ↑ "Suomi löi Walesin ja varmisti kolmospaikan" (in Finnish). YLE Urheilu. 10 October 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  21. ↑ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Tim Sparv". National-football-teams.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  22. ↑ "Finland - T. Sparv - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  23. ↑ "Tim Sparv" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  24. ↑ "Kauden 2007 parhaat" (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga. 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  25. ↑ "Korpela ja Sparv Vuoden pelaajat" (in Finnish). Palloliitto. 20 October 2015. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015.
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