Johan Mjällby

Karl Johan Siward Mjällby (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈjûːan ˈmjɛ̌lːbʏ]; born 9 February 1971) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player who played as a centre back. He represented AIK, Celtic, and Levante during a career that spanned between 1989 and 2006. A full international between 1997 and 2004, he won 49 caps and scored 4 goals for the Sweden national team.[1] Mjällby was the team captain during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and also took part in UEFA Euro 2000 and 2004. He has been assistant manager of Bolton Wanderers and Celtic, working alongside former Celtic team-mate and manager Neil Lennon.[2]

Johan Mjällby
Johan Mjällby, 2014
Personal information
Full name Karl Johan Siward Mjällby
Date of birth (1971-02-09) 9 February 1971
Place of birth Järfälla, Sweden
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
1976–1984 IK Bele
1984–1989 AIK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1998 AIK 135 (8)
1998–2004 Celtic 144 (13)
2004–2005 Levante 3 (0)
2006 AIK 1 (0)
Total 292 (21)
International career
1990–1991 Sweden U21 7 (0)
1997–2004 Sweden 49 (4)
Managerial career
2010–2014 Celtic (assistant)
2014–2015 Bolton (assistant)
2016–2017 Västerås SK
2018 Gefle IF
2019–2020 FC Stockholm Internazionale
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Early career

Early on in Mjällby's sporting career he played both football and tennis and had the choice to turn professional in either. He made the decision to prioritise football and was signed by AIK in 1984 from IK Bele.

AIK

Mjällby spent the next fourteen years in AIK and established himself in the side with solid performances as a no-nonsense tackling midfield player. His performances at club level were noticed and he soon broke through to the Sweden national team. Although he was a squad member in 1992 when AIK won the league, he refused to accept the gold medal, stating that he felt he had not contributed enough. Therefore, it was a great day when lifelong AIK supporter Mjällby got his silverware in 1998 when he guided the club to a new league victory.

Celtic FC

His solid performances for club and country caught the eye of Jozef Venglos, coach at Celtic. In November 1998 Mjällby signed for Celtic for a fee of around £1,200,000 and was given 35 as his squad number, which he retained throughout his time at Celtic. Mjällby arrived at the club one year after compatriot and international team mate Henrik Larsson and they departed the club the same year in 2004. He made his debut for the Scottish side in the famous 5–1 victory over archrivals Rangers in the role of central defence. The rest of season 1998–99 saw Mjällby play increasingly in the role of central defence, a role in which he grew to prominence.

The 1999–2000 season saw Venglos move into the role of a scout with John Barnes coming in as head coach and Kenny Dalglish as director of football. Mjällby again took up his midfield role in Barnes' ill-fated 4–2–2–2 formation. He returned to his by now accustomed defensive role under Dalglish following the departure of Barnes in January 2000. It was under Dalglish that Mjällby won his first honour at Celtic in the League Cup win over Aberdeen.

Season 2000–01 saw Martin O'Neill replace interim manager Kenny Dalglish. Mjällby found himself a mainstay on the left hand side of O'Neill's three-man defence alongside Joos Valgaeren, Tom Boyd and/or Bobo Baldé. He was to pick up a further three medals as Celtic won the Domestic Treble of the Scottish Premier League, League Cup, and Scottish Cup.

It was in 2001–02 that Mjällby experienced his first taste of Champions League football in matches against FC Porto, Juventus and Rosenborg. Another Scottish Premier League title was added to his growing medal haul.

2002–03 saw Celtic, with Mjällby as prominent figure reach the final of the UEFA Cup. They lost out to FC Porto 3–2 aet. Celtic also went on to lose the Scottish Premier League and League Cup to Rangers.

Season 2003–04 was Mjällby's last at Celtic Park. After struggling with injury throughout most of the season, he decided to turn down Celtic's offer of a one-year deal.

Throughout his six years at Celtic Park he picked up 3 Scottish Premier League Winner's medals, 2 League Cup Winner's medals, 2 Scottish Cup Winner's medals, 2 Scottish Cup Runners Up medals, 1 League Cup Runners Up medal and 1 UEFA Cup Runners Up medal as well as featuring in the Champions League Competition of seasons, 2001–02 and 2002–03. During his time at Celtic, Mjällby captained the team on several occasions. Mjällby enjoyed a good relationship with the Celtic support in his time at the club and was often referred to as "Dolph" or "Big Dolph" given his perceived resemblance to his countryman, actor Dolph Lundgren.[3]

Levante UD

Mjällby was signed by newly promoted Spanish La Liga side Levante, signing a two-year contract.[4] However, he did not enjoy the same level of success as he had in Scotland and was forced to retire, having failed to recover from two operations on his knee.[5]

Return to AIK and retirement

Following his retirement Mjällby returned home to Sweden. After almost a year out of the game he made comeback and signed once again for his boyhood favourites AIK.

However, on 16 May 2006 he was forced to retire from professional football due to his injury.[6]

International career

Early career

Mjällby made 7 appearances for the Sweden U21 team before making his senior debut for Sweden on 12 March 1997 in a friendly game against Israel.[7] He made his competitive debut for Sweden in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against England, in which he also scored his first international goal.[7]

Euro 2000

At UEFA Euro 2000, Mjällby scored for Sweden in the opening match against Belgium, taking the ball after an error by Belgian goalkeeper Filip De Wilde. Although reducing Belgium's 2–0 lead from Bart Goor and Emile Mpenza to 2–1, Sweden failed to score an equalising goal and lost the game.

2002 World Cup

He captained Sweden at the 2002 FIFA World Cup after fellow defender Patrik Andersson had to withdraw because of injury. Mjällby formed a solid partnership with Andreas Jakobsson when Sweden won Group F ahead of England, Argentina, and Nigeria, before being eliminated by Senegal in the second round.[8]

Euro 2004 and retirement

Two years later Mjällby was in the squad for Euro 2004 but did not make any appearances. He made his last international appearance on 9 October 2004 in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Hungary.[7] In total Mjällby won a total of 49 caps, scoring 4 goals.[7]

Coaching career

On 25 March 2010, it was announced that Mjällby would assume the role of assistant manager at Celtic Football Club, alongside temporary boss, and former team-mate, Neil Lennon.[2] The appointment of Lennon and Mjällby was made after the sacking of Tony Mowbray as Celtic manager after a poor 2009–10 season for the club, culminating in a 4–0 defeat against St Mirren.[9]

When asked about the appointment by reporters, Mjällby stated, "Neil is like myself. He has a will-to-win and that is what we are both looking to instill in the current Celtic team. We want our players to go out on the park, and on the training pitch, and to wear that Celtic jersey with pride."[10] On 1 July 2010, Mjällby was confirmed as Neil Lennon's assistant manager at Celtic.[11]

On 22 April 2014, it was announced that Mjällby would leave Celtic at the end of the season to look for new challenges in football.[12]

On 12 October 2014, he was appointed as the Assistant Manager at Bolton Wanderers linking up again with his former Celtic colleagues Neil Lennon and Garry Parker.[13] In September 2015, he stepped down from his role at Bolton citing personal reasons and was replaced by Steve Walford.[14]

In February 2016, Mjällby became head coach of Swedish Division 1 team Västerås SK.[15]

Career statistics

Club

[16][17]

Club Season League Domestic Cup League Cup UEFA Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
AIK 1989 Allsvenskan 1 0 – – – – 1 0
1990 Allsvenskan 14 0 2 0 – – – 16 0
1991 Allsvenskan 16 0 5 0 – – 10* 0 31 0
1992 Allsvenskan 0 0 – – – – –
1993 Allsvenskan 7 0 2 0 – 2 0 – 11 0
1994 Allsvenskan 23 0 1 0 – 6 0 – 30 0
1995 Allsvenskan 19 0 4 0 – – – 23 0
1996 Allsvenskan 23 5 4 0 – 3 0 – 30 5
1997 Allsvenskan 7 1 3 1 – 4 0 – 14 2
1998 Allsvenskan 24 2 5 1 – – – 29 3
Total 134 8 26 2 – 15 0 10 0 185 10
Celtic 1998–99 Scottish Premier League 17 1 – – 17 1
1999–2000 Scottish Premier League 29 2 2 1 – 31 3
2000–01 Scottish Premier League 35 4 6 0 – 41 4
2001–02 Scottish Premier League 35 3 10 0 – 45 3
2002–03 Scottish Premier League 14 3 7 0 – 21 3
2003–04 Scottish Premier League 13 0 3 0 – 16 0
Total 143 13 28 1 – 171 14
Levante 2004–05 La Liga 3 0 – – – – 3 0
AIK 2006 Allsvenskan 1 0 – – – – 1 0
Career total 281 21 26 2 43 1 10 0 360 24

*Appearances in Mästerskapsserien.

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[7]

National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 1997 1 0
1998 7 1
1999 7 1
2000 11 2
2001 5 0
2002 10 0
2003 3 0
2004 5 0
Total 49 4

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 5 September 1998 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden  England 2–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier
2. 27 March 1999 Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  Luxembourg 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier
3. 10 June 2000 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium  Belgium 1–2 1–2 UEFA Euro 2000
4. 16 August 2000 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik, Iceland  Iceland 1–0 1–2 2000–01 Nordic Football Championship

Honours

AIK

Celtic

References
  1. FIFA Player Statistics|Johan MJALLBY FIFA.com
  2. "Neil Lennon and Johan Mjallby given chance to stake claim as Mowbray exits Celtic". The Scotsman. 26 March 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  3. "Johan Mjallby". thecelticwiki.com. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  4. "Mjallby joins Levante". BBC Sport. 2 July 2004. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  5. Acedo, Francisco (9 March 2005). "Mjallby retirement fears grow". Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  6. "Johan Mjällby lägger av". Archived from the original on 27 August 2006.
  7. "Johan Mjällby - Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  8. "Mjällby: Jag såg inte fram mot VM". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  9. "St Mirren 4–0 Celtic". BBC Sport. 24 March 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  10. WE CAN BECOME HEAD BHOYS SAYS MJALLBY Daily Express, 26 March 2010
  11. "Celtic appoint Johan Mjallby and Garry Parker". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  12. "Celtic: Johan Mjallby to leave assistant manager's post". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  13. Neil Lennon appointed Bolton Wanderers manager Bolton Wanderers FC, 12 October 2014
  14. "Steve Walford appointed Bolton Wanderers assistant manager". 18 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  15. "Officiellt: Johan Mjällby blir manager i Västerås SK". 5 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  16. "Johan Mjällby - Free - Stats - titles won". www.footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  17. "500 AIK:are - Johan Mjällby". www.aik.se. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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