Simon Sandberg

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

Simon Sandberg
Sandberg with Hammarby IF in 2021
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]
Position(s) Right back
Team information
Current team
 BK Häcken
Number 13
Youth career
0000–2009 Björndammens BK
2010–2012 BK Häcken
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 BK Häcken 61 (1)
2016–2017 Levski Sofia 5 (0)
2018–2022 Hammarby IF 122 (1)
2023– BK Häcken 18 (1)
International career‡
2011 Sweden U17 4 (0)
2012–2013 Sweden U19 15 (0)
2015–2016 Sweden U21 5 (0)
2020 Sweden 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 01:18, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

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 61 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 five league appearances for Levski Sofia.[11]

Hammarby IF

On 30 November 2017, ahead of the 2018 Allsvenskan, Sandberg returned to Sweden, 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 seven assists as Hammarby finished 3rd in the table, after eight straight wins at the end of the campaign.[2] After the season, he was nominated as Defender of the Year in Allsvenskan, but eventually lost out on the award.[14]

In 2020, a season postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sandberg was plagued by a hip injury and only featured in 20 games, as the side disappointedly finished 8th in the table.[15][16][2]

On 30 May 2021, Sandberg won the 2020–21 Svenska Cupen with Hammarby through a 5–4 win on penalties (0–0 after full-time) against his former club BK Häcken in the final.[17][18] Sandberg featured in both legs as the club was knocked out in the play-off round of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League by Basel (4–4 on aggregate) on penalties, where he scored his attempt.[19][20] On 7 November 2021, Sandberg scored his first competitive goal for the club in a 3–2 Allsvenskan home win against Örebro SK.[21]

Sandberg featured in the final of the 2021–22 Svenska Cupen, in which Hammarby lost by 4–5 on penalties to Malmö FF after the game ended in a 0–0 draw.[22][23] On 31 December 2022, Sandberg left Hammarby at the expiration of his contract. In total, he made 122 Allsvenskan appearances for the club.[24]

Return to Häcken

On 21 February 2023, Sandberg returned to his former club BK Häcken, signing a three-year contract.[25]

International career

Sandberg was called up to the Swedish senior squad for the training tour in early 2020.[26] He made his debut in a 1–0 friendly win against Kosovo on 12 January.[27]

Career statistics

Club
As of 6 November 2022[28]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
BK Häcken 2013 Allsvenskan 11000——110
2014 15041——191
2015 23040——270
2016 12120——141
Total 6111010000712
Levski Sofia 2016–17 First League 5020——70
2017–18 0000——00
Total 5020000070
Hammarby IF 2018 Allsvenskan 23020——250
2019 28040——320
2020 2001000—210
2021 241503[lower-alpha 1]0—321
2022 27060——330
Total 122118030001421
Career total 188230130002193
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

BK Häcken

Hammarby IF

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. "Simon - "Ett tufft år - men nu mår kroppen bra"" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  16. "Sandberg om tuffa skadan: "Saknat känslan att kunna bidra"" (in Swedish). Fotboll STHLM. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  17. "Hammarby cupvinnare efter straffdrama" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  18. "Historisk och dramatisk cupfinalseger mot Häcken" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  19. "Hammarby 3 – 1 Basel". UEFA. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  20. "Ett slut att glömma efter 210 minnesvärda minuter" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  21. "Ny sen hemmavändning gav vinst mot ÖSK" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  22. "Straffar gav MFF första cupguldet på 33 år" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  23. "Bajen golvat från elva meter i titelmatchen" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  24. "Ingen fortsättning för Simon Sandberg" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  25. "Simon Sandberg återvänder till BK Häcken" (in Swedish). BK Häcken. 21 February 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  26. "Truppen till januariturnén" (in Swedish). Swedish FA. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  27. "Andra 1-0-segern på turnén" (in Swedish). Swedish FA. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  28. "Simon Sandberg". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
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