Anders Limpar


Anders Erik Limpar is a Swedish former professional footballer and coach who played as a winger.
Limpar featured for clubs IF Brommapojkarna, Young Boys, Cremonese, Arsenal, Everton, Birmingham City, AIK, Colorado Rapids and Djurgårdens IF. Limpar was as well capped 58 times by Sweden, scoring 6 goals altogether.

Club career

Early career

Born in Solna with Hungarian roots, Limpar started playing football in Brommapojkarna, famous for its production of footballing talent. He then played for Örgryte, joining in the wake of its sensational Swedish championship title in 1985. Limpar quickly became one of the hottest properties in Swedish football, and as so he was offered the chance to journey to Switzerland with Bern club Young Boys. He followed this up in a one-season spell in Italy with Cremonese during the 1989–90 season.

Arsenal

His club career peaked when he signed for Arsenal in the summer of 1990 from Cremonese for £1m. He went on to win the league title in the 1990–91 season, but sat on the sidelines injured for Arsenal's 1993 wins in both the League and the FA Cups. He played a particularly notable part in the 1990–91 season, scoring some important goals, and impressing in his first season with exciting wing play and crowd-pleasing displays. These included a hat-trick against Coventry City in a 6–1 win on the final day of the league season, by which time Arsenal were already champions. He managed a total of 13 goals that season, with 11 of them coming in the league. He won the GuldbollenSweden's Player of the Year awardin 1991. Limpar scored 20 goals from 116 appearances for Arsenal where he was popular with the fans. He and manager George Graham eventually fell out and with his contract due to come to an end in May 1994, Limpar, who was seeking a new deal at the club, was not offered one by Graham.

Everton

On transfer deadline day in March 1994, Limpar transferred to Everton for £1.6 million. Whilst playing for the toffees he won the FA Cup for the first time in 1995. Limpar went on to play a vital role in the Cup final at Wembley, with a run from inside his own half leading to Everton's winning goal being scored by Paul Rideout. He also hit a memorable 50-yard reverse-pass which led to an Everton break-away that BBC commentator Barry Davies described as the 'pass of the match'.
He also went on to win the Charity Shield of 1995 with Everton.
As so, Limpar eventually fell out of favour at Goodison Park after 1995–96, making only two appearances for the club during the 1996–97 season.

Birmingham City

On 20 January 1997, Limpar was signed by Birmingham City for a fee of £100,000. He made his league debut on 1 February 1997, in a 1–2 away defeat against Bolton Wanderers. The move proved to be unfruitful, as he made only four appearances, before the club later ended his stay in April 1997.

Later career

Moving back to Sweden on a free transfer to AIK in the summer of 1997, he won the Swedish championship also known as the Allsvenskan in 1998. After two years in Stockholm, he signed for Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids in February 1999 where he stayed until November 2000. He then returned to Sweden to sign for Djurgårdens IF. However he failed to make an appearance for them and shortly went on to IF Brommapojkarna, where he started his club career. He eventually retired from the game in March 2001 at the age of 35, due to persistent injuries.

International career

In total, Limpar won 58 caps for Sweden, scoring 6 goals. He was a member of one of the most successful Sweden squads ever, the team that finished third at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. However, he did not have a large role during the tournament, making just one substitute appearance, in the 3rd-place match.

Coaching career

Limpar began coaching the youth team at Djurgårdens IF. He was later appointed assistant manager for the Swedish second division team Sollentuna United. In October 2008, aged 43, he played a one-off game for Sollentuna United's reserve side in the position of left back.

Personal life

After retiring from football in 2001, Limpar opened a bar, The Limp Bar, in central Stockholm, although it has since closed. In 2012 Limpar, together with colleague Mikael Crona, founded Swedish company Super Lock which produces plastic boxes. He currently is the CEO of betting site BestBetToday.com.

Honours

Club

Arsenal
Everton
AIK
Djurgårdens IF
Sweden