Simon Sandberg

Simon Sandberg (born 25 March 1994) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a right back for Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan.[2]

Simon Sandberg
Sandberg with Hammarby IF in 2018
Personal information
Full name Simon Christer Sandberg
Date of birth (1994-03-25) 25 March 1994
Place of birth Partille, Sweden
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Right back
Club information
Current team
 Hammarby IF
Number 2
Youth career
0000–2009 Björndammens BK
2010–2012 BK Häcken
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 BK Häcken 60 (1)
2016–2017 Levski Sofia 5 (0)
2018– Hammarby IF 51 (0)
National team‡
2011 Sweden U17 4 (0)
2012–2013 Sweden U19 15 (0)
2015–2016 Sweden U21 5 (0)
2020– Sweden 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 November 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 January 2020

Early life

Sandberg grew up in Partille and played both football, with the local club Björndammens BK, and handball during his youth. His father Dennis Sandberg is a professional handball coach.[3] In 2009, at age 15, he was invited to train with Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan, the Swedish top tier, but was not offered a contract.[4] Instead, he signed with BK Häcken the same year and joined their youth academy.[3]

Club career
Sandberg playing for BK Häcken in 2014

BK Häcken

Sandberg signed his first professional contract with BK Häcken in 2012, and made his competitive debut in Allsvenskan on 23 May 2013 in a 3–0 win against Syrianska FC.[3] He soon established himself as a starter at Häcken,[5] playing both as a central defender and full back.[6] Sandberg would move on to make a total of 60 league appearances for Häcken, scoring once, between 2013 and 2016.[7]

Most notably, Sandberg scored the decisive penalty when Häcken won the 2015–16 Svenska Cupen, the club's first ever domestic title, beating Malmö FF in the final after a 2–2 draw (5–6 on penalties).[8]

Levski Sofia

On 9 July 2016, Sandberg was sold to Levski Sofia in the Bulgarian First League, signing a three year-deal.[6] A transfer fee of around 2 million Swedish kronor (approximately £0,12 million) was suggested, as he only had six months left on his contract with the Swedish club.[9]

Sandberg saw his playing time limited at Levski Sofia, with his stint at the club being plagued by several serious injuries. He also fell out of favour with manager Elin Topuzakov soon after his arrival.[10] Sandberg left the club in November 2017 by mutual consent, after only making 5 league appearances for Levski Sofia.[11]

Hammarby IF

Ahead of the 2018 Allsvenskan, Sandberg returned to his native country, signing a two year-contract with Hammarby IF.[7] He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 home win against IK Sirius on 1 April.[12] During the season, Sandberg played 23 league games for Hammarby as the club finished 4th in the table.[2]

On 4 May 2019, Sandberg signed a three and a half-year extension with Hammarby, running until 2022.[13] Throughout the 2019 season, Sandberg played 28 league games and provided 7 assists as Hammarby finished 3rd in the table.[2] After the season, he was nominated as "Defender of the year" in Allsvenskan, but eventually lost out on the award.[14]

International career

Sandberg was called up to the Swedish senior squad for the training tour in early 2020.[15] He made his debut in a 1–0 friendly win against Kosovo on 12 January.[16]

Honours

Club

BK Häcken

References
  1. Petrov, Stefan (12 July 2016). "Симон Сандберг: бързо ще науча всичко и ще пасна на "Левски" (in Bulgarian). temasport.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  2. "Simon Sandberg" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  3. "Häcken är nummer ett för Simon" (in Swedish). Partille Tidning. 27 June 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  4. "Sandberg hittade tillbaka till Hammarby" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  5. "En pratstund med Simon Sandberg" (in Swedish). BK Häcken. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  6. "Simon Sandberg till Levski Sofia" (in Swedish). BK Häcken. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  7. "Simon Sandberg klar för Hammarby" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  8. "Historia" (in Swedish). BK Häcken. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  9. "Simon Sandberg nära att lämna Häcken" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  10. "Simon Sandberg: "Jag var livrädd"" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  11. "Hammarby nära snuva rivalerna på försvararen" (in Swedish). Expressen. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  12. "Hammarby-IK Sirius, Allsvenskan, 2018-04-01" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 1 April 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  13. "Hammarby överens med Simon om förlängning" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 4 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  14. "De nominerade till Allsvenskans Stora Pris 2019" (in Swedish). Allsvenskan. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  15. "Truppen till januariturnén" (in Swedish). Swedish FA. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  16. "Andra 1-0-segern på turnén" (in Swedish). Swedish FA. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
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