Tim Sparv

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Tim Sparv
Sparv in 2013
Personal information
Full name Tim Sparv
Date of birth (1987-02-20) 20 February 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth Oravais, Finland
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 FC Midtjylland
Number 3
Youth career
1993–2003 Norrvalla FF
2003–2006 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2007 Southampton 0 (0)
2007–2009 Halmstad 51 (1)
2008 → VPS (loan) 8 (0)
2010–2013 FC Groningen 98 (4)
2013–2014 Greuther Fürth 28 (1)
2014– FC Midtjylland 113 (3)
International career‡
2002 Finland U15 6 (1)
2003 Finland U16 10 (1)
2003–2004 Finland U17 12 (0)
2004–2005 Finland U18 14 (0)
2004–2006 Finland U19 5 (0)
2006–2009 Finland U21 19 (6)
2009– Finland 71 (1)
Medal record
Finland national football team
Second place Baltic Cup 2012
Third place Baltic Cup 2014
Greuther Fürth
Third place 2. Bundesliga 2014
Midtjylland
First place Danish Superliga 2015
Third place Danish Superliga 2016
First place Danish Superliga 2018
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 April 2019
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:38, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

Tim Sparv (born 20 February 1987) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland and is the captain of Finland national team. Sparv was born in Oravais, and started his football career in Norrvalla FF youth team before moving to Southampton's junior organisation.

Sparv made his international debut for Finland in February 2009, at the age of 21 and has since had over 60 caps, including appearing in 2010, 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifications. His family is a member of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland.[1]

Club career

Southampton

Born in Oravais,[2] Ostrobothnia, Sparv spent three years in the renowned youth academy of Southampton.[3] He was a member of Southampton's youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in 2005,[4] where he played alongside Theo Walcott,[5] losing on aggregate to Ipswich Town.[6] He was named in the first team squad for 2006–07 season[7] and made numerous reserve team appearances but, as Southampton had a plethora of midfielders from which to choose, he was unable to break through into the first team itself.

Halmstad

On 7 January 2007, he moved to Halmstads BK to play in Allsvenskan, on the advice of both his father and former Halmstads BK player Michael Svensson.[8] He made his Allsvenskan debut on 9 April 2007 in a match against Helsingborg when he replaced Andreas Johansson as a substitute for the second period.[9] On 1 May 2008, he was loaned out to Vaasan Palloseura after suffering illness as well as a lack of playing time with Halmstads.[10]

Groningen

In August 2009, he was close to a move to Groningen, but Halmstad refused to let him go at that point.[11] On 14 August, FC Groningen announced that Sparv would join them as of 1 January 2010.[12] He made his Eredivisie debut on 7 March 2010 in a 1–0 victory over VVV-Venlo, coming on for Fredrik Stenman in the 78th minute.[13] He scored his first goal for Groningen in the opening match of the 2010–11 season, a 1–1 draw against AZ. His goal came in the 76th minute.[14]

Greuther Fürth

In May 2013 Sparv signed a three-year contract with Fürth.[15] He made his 2. Bundesliga debut on 21 July 2013 in a match against Arminia Bielefeld.[16] He scored his first and only league goal for the club on 30 September 2013 in a 4–0 victory over Dynamo Dresden. The goal was the last of the game and came in the 86th minute.[17]

FC Midtjylland

On 3 July 2014, Tim Sparv signed a four-year contract with Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland.[18] On 20 August 2015, he scored against former club Southampton in the 2015–16 Europa League play-off first leg, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He also started the second leg in Denmark which Midtjylland won, to secure the Danish club a place in the group stage and send Southampton out of the competition.[19]

International career

Finland youth teams

Sparv was the second youngest player in the squad for the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship played at home but did not make an appearance in the tournament. He made his Finland U21 debut on 7 October 2006 and played a big part in the successful 2009 European Championship qualifying campaign, playing in 9 out of 10 games and scoring three goals. He was made team captain during the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and scored a penalty in a 2–1 defeat by England on 15 June 2009.[20]

Finland first team

On 4 February 2009, Sparv made his debut for the senior team in a friendly match against Japan, which ended in a 5–1 defeat.[21] He played his first FIFA World Cup qualification game on 10 October 2009 when Stuart Baxter chose him to the starting line up against Wales in Helsinki Olympic Stadium.[22] He was named captain of the national team for the first time for a match against Greece on 4 September 2015.[23]

Career statistics

Club

As of 22 May 2018[24][25]
Club Season Division League Domestic Cups Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
VPS 2008 Veikkausliiga 8 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
Total 8 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
Halmstad 2007 Allsvenskan 12 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
2008 Allsvenskan 13 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
2009 Allsvenskan 26 1 1 0 0 0 27 1
Total 51 1 1 0 0 0 52 1
Groningen 2009–10 Eredivisie 11 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
2010–11 Eredivisie 34 2 3 0 0 0 37 2
2011–12 Eredivisie 30 0 1 0 0 0 31 0
2012–13 Eredivisie 23 2 1 0 0 0 24 2
Total 98 4 5 0 0 0 103 4
Greuther Fürth 2013–14 2. Bundesliga 28 1 4 0 0 0 32 1
Total 28 1 4 0 0 0 32 1
Midtjylland 2014–15 Superliga 29 0 2 0 1 0 31 0
2015–16 Superliga 31 0 0 0 14 1 45 1
2016–17 Superliga 5 0 0 0 1 0 6 0
2017–18 Superliga 31 1 2 0 8 0 41 1
Total 96 1 4 0 24 1 123 2
Career total 281 7 14 0 24 1 318 7

International

As of 13 August 2019[26]
Finland national team
Year Apps Goals
2009 5 0
2010 7 0
2011 6 0
2012 9 1
2013 7 0
2014 9 0
2015 7 0
2016 4 0
2017 3 0
2018 8 0
2019 6 0
Total 71 1

International goals

# Date Location Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 15 August 2012 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 1–2 3–3 Friendly

Honours

Club

FC Midtjylland

International

Finland

Individual

References

  1. ^ Template:`Cite web
  2. ^ "Tim Sparv aloittaa Pohjalaisen kolumnistina" (in Finnish). POHJALAINEN.fi. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  3. ^ "England out to start the party right". The Independent. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Town starlets win Youth Cup". Ipswich Star. 23 April 2005. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal: Theo Walcott must learn from Gareth Bale's ascent". The Telegraph. 2 March 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  6. ^ "GALLERY: Ipswich Town lift 2005 Youth Cup with win over Southampton". greenun24.co.uk. 11 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Southampton squad 2006/07". footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  8. ^ "Finländsk U21-landslagsman klar för HBK" (in Swedish). Svenskafans.com. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  9. ^ "Halmstad vände hemma mot Helsingborg" [Halmstad turned the match at home against Helsingborg] (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 9 April 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  10. ^ "HBK lånar ut Sparv till Vaasa" (in Swedish). Hallandsposten.se. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  11. ^ "Groningen fail in Sparv bid". skysports.com. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  12. ^ "Sparv per 2010 naar FC Groningen" (in Dutch). fcgroningen.nl. 14 August 2009. Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Groningen vs. VVV - 7 March 2010 - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  14. ^ "AZ vs. Groningen - 14 August 2010 - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Maajoukkuefutaaja Tim Sparv siirtyy Saksaan" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  16. ^ "Greuther Fürth vs. Arminia Bielefeld - 21 July 2013 - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  17. ^ "Greuther Fürth vs. Dynamo Dresden - 30 September 2013 - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Finsk landsholdsspiller på plads i FC Midtjylland" (in Danish). fcm.dk. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  19. ^ "Midtjylland vs. Southampton - 27 August 2015 - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  20. ^ Fletcher, Paul (15 June 2009). "England U21s 2–1 Finland U21s". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  21. ^ "Sparv debuterade" (in Swedish). HBK.se. 4 February 2009. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "Suomi löi Walesin ja varmisti kolmospaikan" (in Finnish). YLE Urheilu. 10 October 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  23. ^ "Tim Sparv: Tuntui uskomattoman hyvältä olla kapteeni tänään" [Tim Sparv: It felt incredibly good to be a captain today] (in Finnish). Yle. 5 September 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  24. ^ "Tim Sparv". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  25. ^ Tim Sparv at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  26. ^ "Tim Sparv" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  27. ^ "Kauden 2007 parhaat" (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga. 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ "Korpela ja Sparv Vuoden pelaajat" (in Finnish). Palloliitto. 20 October 2015. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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