Björn Runström

Björn Sandro Runström (born 1 March 1984) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a striker.

Björn Runström
Personal information
Full name Björn Sandro Runström
Date of birth (1984-03-01) 1 March 1984
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1990–1996 Enskede IK
1996–2000 Hammarby IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 Bologna 0 (0)
2002–2003 Chievo 1 (0)
2003–2004 Fiorentina 2 (0)
2004–2006 Hammarby IF 57 (18)
2006–2008 Fulham 1 (0)
2007 → Luton Town (loan) 8 (2)
2007–2008 → 1. FC Kaiserslautern (loan) 28 (4)
2008–2011 OB 30 (7)
2010 → Molde (loan) 17 (1)
2011–2012 Hammarby IF 24 (3)
2012 New England Revolution 3 (0)
Total 171 (35)
International career‡
2001 Sweden U17 6 (3)
2003 Sweden U19 3 (0)
2004–2006 Sweden U21 20 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 June 2012
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 June 2008

Career

Early life

Runström grew up in the southern suburbs of Stockholm and went to Enskede school as a child.

He started playing football for Enskede IK at the age of six years, Runström's time in Enskede went well and at the age of 12 years he was rewarded with a move to a bigger club; Hammarby IF. Runström developed at a fast speed and when he was 16 he left Hammarby for Italy and Bologna. He stayed in Italy for three years and led Bologna to their first Italian Youth Championship in 19 years in 2001.

Italy

At 17 he was part of Bologna's first team but only made the bench in Serie A and Coppa Italia. In 2002, he was transferred to Chievo Verona and after that to Florentia Viola. His stay in Florence was not what he had dreamed of and when rumours spread in late 2003 that Fiorentina wanted to trade him for the Swedish international Kim Källström of Djurgårdens IF (one of former club Hammarby's biggest rivals) he was outraged and declared that it was a transfer he would never accept. "Me playing for Djurgården would be like Di Canio going back to Italy to play for A. S. Roma, it won't happen, if I go back to Sweden the only club that I could think of is my old club Hammarby".

Return to Hammarby IF

Runström did return to Hammarby soon after and played three more seasons scoring 18 goals in 57 matches. This record attracted the attention of Premier League club Fulham (he had the chance to join the Cottagers in the January transfer window but declined saying "I didn't want to go on a free transfer in January even though I had an offer from Fulham already then, Hammarby have meant much to me and I wanted them to be well paid").[1]

Fulham

In July 2006, Runström joined Fulham on a three-year contract, for a fee of £700,000.

Loans

After making just one Premier League appearance against Tottenham Hotspur,[2] on 30 January 2007, Runström moved to Luton Town on loan for a month. He returned to Fulham on 1 April 2007, having scored twice for Luton, against Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City.[3][4] Later that year, in July, he was loaned out to German club 1. FC Kaiserslautern, for the 2007–08 season. On his return, in May 2008, Runström was released by Fulham.[5]

OB

On 4 June 2008, Runström signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Danish club OB.[6]

Loan to Molde

On 23 February 2010, Molde FK signed the Swedish forward on loan from Danish club Odense BK until the end of the season.[7] He made his competitive debut on the opening day of the Norwegian Premier League on 14 March against the defending champions Rosenborg. He scored on his debut, a 35-yard cracker in a 2–1 loss. After this match Runström spent the rest of the season mainly on the bench, only making brief appearances not succeeding in making a mark on the matches. Runström was towards the end of the season considered redundant in Molde and the club terminated the contract with the player and sent him back to Denmark.

Departure

Runström and OB parted company in February 2011.

Second return to Hammarby IF

On 27 February, Runström signed for The superettan side Hammarby, On 3 July, Runström scored twice against Öster.

MLS and retirement

On 28 March 2012, Runström was signed to the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.[8] New England declined the option of his contract on 27 June 2012 and Runström became a free agent.[9] He announced his retirement from professional football in early 2013.[10]

References
  1. "Runström: Det känns helt rätt" (in Swedish). metro.se. 13 July 2006. Archived from the original on 26 June 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  2. "Tottenham 0–0 Fulham". BBC. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  3. "Luton 3–2 Sheff Wed". BBC. 20 February 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  4. "Luton 2–3 Norwich". BBC. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  5. "Björn Runström är optimistisk" (in Swedish). fotbollsverige.se. Archived from the original on 24 August 2010.
  6. "Allsvenskt intresse för Björn Runström" (in Swedish). fotbolldirekt.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2009.
  7. "Runström nära en flytt till Molde: Är med dem nu" (in Swedish). fotbollskanalen.se. 20 February 2010. Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  8. "Revs sign forward Bjorn Runstrom". revolutionsoccer.net. 28 March 2012. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  9. "Mid-Week Update: June 27, 2012". revolutionsoccer.net. 27 June 2012. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  10. "Björn Runström om sitt beslut att sluta". expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
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