Simon Thern

Simon Thern (born 18 September 1992) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a midfielder for IFK Norrköping. He is the son of Jonas Thern, former captain of the Swedish national team.

Simon Thern
Thern playing for Sweden U21 in 2013
Personal information
Full name Johan Simon Thern
Date of birth (1992-09-18) 18 September 1992
Place of birth Värnamo, Sweden[1]
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 IFK Norrköping
Number 21
Youth career
0000–2010 IFK Värnamo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 IFK Värnamo 26 (0)
2010–2011 Helsingborgs IF 23 (2)
2010 → IFK Värnamo (loan) 21 (8)
2012–2014 Malmö FF 71 (9)
2015–2017 Heerenveen 34 (7)
2017 → AIK (loan) 24 (1)
2018– IFK Norrköping 28 (5)
National team‡
2009 Sweden U17 2 (0)
2010 Sweden U19 3 (0)
2011–2013 Sweden U21 9 (1)
2012– Sweden 4 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:00, 12 January 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 January 2019

Club career

Early career

Thern started his professional career in IFK Värnamo. He was soon signed by Allsvenskan club Helsingborgs IF but was immediately loaned to Värnamo for the entire 2010 season. Thern made his Allsvenskan debut for Helsingborg in the home fixture against Syrianska FC on 22 April 2011.[2] He made his debut in the starting eleven against Djurgårdens IF away on 4 July 2011.[3] In total Thern played 23 matches and scored two goals in his debut season in Helsingborg who won a treble for the 2011 season. On 7 December 2011 Helsingborg announced that Thern had rejected a contract offer from the club and would leave when his contract runs out on 28 March 2012, several media has reported that Thern has signed a contract with Helsingborgs arch rivals Malmö FF.[4]

Malmö FF

On 23 December 2011, Malmö FF confirmed that Thern had signed a three-year deal with the club. This was following an agreement with Helsingborg to terminate Thern's contract early, so he could join his new club for pre-season.[5] He made his first competitive appearance for the club as a starter in the season opening game against Gefle on 2 April. Thern received more playing time than expected as he was used both in the central midfield but also on the left wing when needed. This was mainly due to the transfer of Jimmy Durmaz who played as left winger in the first half of the 2012 season and the fact that the competition for the starting spots in the central midfield much higher. Thern played 28 matches and scored 3 goals for Malmö FF in the league for the 2012 season.

For the league title winning 2013 season Thern played 29 matches and scored 4 goals. He also played five matches for the club in its participation for the qualifying stages of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League. Thern became the first player to win the league with both rival Helsingborgs IF and Malmö FF. During the season he scored against his former club for the first time in a 1–1 tie at Swedbank Stadion on 29 May 2013. During Malmö FF's 2014 league winning season Thern made 14 league appearances, missing parts of the season due to a broken bone.[6] Thern recovered during the latter part of the season to be available to play in three fixture in the group stage of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League.

Heerenveen

On 12 December 2014 it was announced that Thern would transfer to Dutch club Heerenveen. The transfer went through when the Dutch transfer window opened on 5 January 2015.[7] He made his debut on 18 January 2015 in the home game against Utrecht (2-1 win). Signed for IFK Norrköping January 15, 2018

International career

Sweden U21

Thern made his debut for Sweden U21 on 10 August 2011 in a 3–0 win against Netherlands U21.[8]

Sweden

Thern was selected for the annual training camp for the Sweden national team in January 2012 after Malmö teammates Mathias Ranégie and Ivo Pękalski had to withdraw from the squad. The squad selection for the camp traditionally feature the best Swedish players in domestic and other Scandinavian leagues.[9] Thern was selected for the training camp once again in 2013 where he played in the first match of the 2013 King's Cup against North Korea.

Career statistics
Thern playing for Malmö FF against AIK

Club
As of 29 January 2018.[10]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
IFK Värnamo 2008 7000—70
2009 19000—190
2010 21800—218
Total 47800—478
Helsingborgs IF 2011 2324140313
Total 2324140313
Malmö FF 2012 28310—293
2013 2942[lower-alpha 1]050364
2014 1426030232
Total 7199080889
Heerenveen 2014–15 18400—184
2015–16 1432000163
2016–17 4 0 2 0 — 6 0
Total 3474000387
AIK (loan) 2017 24 1 4 0 3 0 31 1
Total 24 1 4 0 3 0 31 1
Career total 1972721115023728
  1. One Appearance in Svenska Supercupen

International
As of 23 January 2013.[10]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Sweden 201211
201310
201921
Total42

International goals
Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first.[11]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.23 January 2012Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha Qatar4–05–0Friendly
2.11 January 2019Khalifa International Stadium, Doha Iceland2–12–2Friendly

Honours

Club
Helsingborgs IF
Malmö FF

Personal life

Simon Thern is the son of Jonas Thern who had a very successful career as a professional football player in clubs such as Malmö FF, Benfica, Napoli, Roma and Rangers. Jonas Thern also played 75 matches and scored six goals for Sweden. Both Jonas and Simon started their careers in IFK Värnamo before moving on to Allsvenskan.

Controversy

In the Scanian derby between Malmö FF and Helsingborgs IF on 24 September 2012 at Olympia in Helsingborg, a group of Helsingborg supporters unfurled a banner reading "Simon Thern skall dö" (Simon Thern shall die) along with an effigy of Thern hung from a noose. Officials allowed the game to continue. Thern had previously played for Helsingborg before moving to their rivals Malmö FF in early 2012.[12]

References
  1. "Simon Thern berättar: "Pappa träffar jag ofta"". expressen.se (in Swedish). Expressen. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  2. "HIF–Syrianska" (in Swedish). Helsingborgs IF. 22 April 2011. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  3. "Simon Thern gör allsvensk debut från start" (in Swedish). Helsingborgs Dagblad. 3 July 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  4. "Simon Thern lämnar HIF – uppges gå till MFF" (in Swedish). Sydsvenskan. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  5. "Simon Thern klar!" (in Swedish). mff.se. 23 December 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012.
  6. "Information om Simon Therns skada". mff.se (in Swedish). Malmö FF. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  7. "Simon Thern lämnar MFF". mff.se (in Swedish). Malmö FF. 12 December 2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  8. "U21 herr: Två mål av Guidetti mot Holland" (in Swedish). svenskfotboll.se. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  9. "Landslaget blir himmelsblågult: "Vi är stolta"" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  10. "Simon Thern". soccerway.com (in Swedish). Soccerway. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  11. "Simon Thern". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  12. "Vägrade tacka fansen efter hotet mot Thern" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
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