Henrik Larsson

Henrik Edward Larsson born 20 September 1971in Helsingborg, Sweden is a Swedish football player-manager. Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK as a youth player. As a senior, he moved to Helsingborg, where he was one of the key players when they qualified to Allsvenskan 1993. Larsson then moved to Feyenoord for four years before leaving for Celtic in 1997. He won four league titles in seven years with Celtic, scoring 242 goals in 315 competitive matches, before moving to Barcelona in 2004, where he won two league titles and the 2006 Champions League, in which he assisted both of Barcelona's goals as they won 2–1 against Arsenal. Following the expiration of his contract at Barcelona, Larsson returned to his hometown club of Helsingborg, and joined Manchester United on a brief loan spell between January and March 2007. He announced his retirement from football on 20 October 2009.

Early Career

Celtic

Following a contract dispute with Feyenoord, he was signed by Celtic manager Wim Jansen in July 1997 for a fee of £650,000. He won 4 SPL titles, 2 Scottish League Cups and 3 Scottish Cups during his tenure. He was the top goalscorer in the Scottish Premier League for five of the six seasons that he competed in, the only exception being the 1999–2000 season, most of which Larsson missed due to a severe leg break suffered in Lyon. Larsson was also a consistent goalscorer in international competition. He scored two goals in the 2003 UEFA Cup Final, although Portuguese opponents Porto went on to win 3–2. Celtic fans selected Larsson (the only player from outside Scotland) in the greatest ever Celtic team, when a vote was held in 2002.

1997-98

In Larsson's Celtic debut against Hibernian at Easter Road, he came on as a late substitute. He inadvertently passed the ball to Hibernian player Chic Charnley who then went on to score, resulting in a 2–1 defeat for Celtic. He scored an own goal in his first European game, although Celtic did go on to win 6–3 against Tirol Innsbruck. After his poor start to the season he went on to score 18 goals in all competitions, and was Celtic's top scorer for the season. Initially Larsson played the role of support striker alongside Darren Jackson, Simon Donnelly and later Harald Brattbakk.

1998-99

Larsson's second season with the club saw a change in management with Jozef Venglos taking the Parkhead hotseat following Wim Jansen's resignation. The 1998–99 season proved ultimately disappointing as Celtic finished runners up to rivals Rangers in both the newly established SPL and in the Scottish Cup. During this season Larsson also made the scoresheet for the first time in an Old Firm match chalking up a brace in a 5–1 victory in November and scoring the equaliser in the 2–2 New Years Day match at Ibrox Stadium.

1999-2000

The 1999–2000 season saw another change in management for Celtic. Former Liverpool and England winger, John Barnes replaced Venglos to become manager at the club. The season started very brightly for Larsson as he notched up 8 league goals in only 9 games for the club. During Celtic's 1–0 defeat in a UEFA Cup tie against Lyon on 22 October 1999, Larsson suffered a career-threatening injury, breaking his leg in two places in a challenge with Serge Blanc.

This resulted in him spending eight months on the sidelines, only returning on the last day of the 1999–2000 season. John Barnes cited Larsson's injury as being a significant factor in his sacking by Celtic after only months in the position. It was initially feared that Larsson had suffered a compound leg fracture, an injury which would normally result in an even longer absence - or possibly even end his professional career - but X-rays soon revealed that the injury wasn't as serious as originally feared.

By the time Larsson had completed his rehabilitation John Barnes had been sacked and replaced by Director of Football Kenny Dalglish as interim manager. Larsson made his comeback with a substitute appearance against Dundee United at Celtic Park on the final day of the SPL season.

2000-01

 

Following the arrival of Martin O'Neill in the summer of 2000, Larsson had his most successful season for Celtic. As Henrik Larsson forged a prolific partnership with new arrival Chris Sutton he scored 35 league goals in 38 league games to become SPL top goalscorer and to win the European Golden Boot. The season saw Celtic lift the domestic treble of the Scottish League Cup, Scottish Cup and the Scottish Premier League. Larsson scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Kilmarnock at Hampden Park to win the Scottish League Cup as well as a brace in the Scottish Cup in a 3–0 win over Hibernian.

Testimonials

Since leaving Celtic Park in June 2004, Larsson has returned to play for Celtic in testimonial matches twice, first in May 2005, for Jackie McNamara's testimonial against Ireland. Celtic lost 1–0 to a Robbie Keane goal. His second guest appearance was in May 2008 for the Phil O'Donnell memorial match. Larsson played as part of the Celtic 1998 championship-winning side against the Motherwell 1991 Scottish Cup winning side. The match was played in memory of Larsson's former team mate Phil O'Donnell, who died earlier in the season in a match for Motherwell against Dundee United. Larsson, who scored an overhead kick in the 5–1 victory for Celtic, left Sweden's national training camp early to take part in the game.