Anders Per Andersson

5'8.5" 11st.5lb.
b. Tomelilla (Sweden) 15 March 1974
 

Debut 9 August 1997 (22y 147d) Final Game 25 April 1998 (23y 41d)
First Goal 16 September 1997
CAREER: Svenstorps IF;Malmo FF Sum'90;Blackburn Rovers Jul'97 (£500,000);AAB Aalborg (Denmark) Oct'98 (Loan) Jun'99 (£250,000);Benfica (Portugal) '01 (free); Belenenses (Portugal) Jan'04 (free);Malmo FF Jun'05-‘08.
INTERNATIONALS Sweden 12 + 15 apps 3 gls
’94 v Mex(s).’96 v Aus(s).’97 v Sco(s),Rom,Tha(s),Jap 1gl,Tha.’98 v Lit(s),Est(s).’00 v Den,Nor 1gl,Ita,Aut,Den(s),Tur (s).’01 v Ice(s).’03 v Tun(s). ’04 v Gre(s),Pol(s),Egy(s),Eng,Por(s),Fin 1gl,Pol(s),Den.’05 v Sco,Fra(s).
HONOURS Swe Cp los (Malmo) ’96.Dan Ch (Aalborg) ’99.Dan Cp los (Aalborg) ’99.
SQUAD NUMBER 14 Aug’97- 18 Aug’98.
 

FL         1 + 3 apps           -1 wdn                                    12 ns
FAC      0 + 1 apps                                                             1 ns
FLC       3  apps        1 gl -1 wdn
UEFA                                                                                  1 ns
Total     4 + 4 apps  1 gl -2 wdn  + 11m -29m et 30  14 ns
 

Roy Hodgson first saw Andersson playing for his home village (population less than 250), where he had been spotted by Malmo's chief scout. The son of a local farmer he was only fifteen and so had to wait a year before signing for the Swedish first division club. By then Hodgson had moved on but within a year Andersson was playing in Malmo's midfield, partnering his namesake Patrick and later when Patrick left for a bigger club, Patrick's brother Daniel. A neat, tidy hard working blond, Andersson was conspicuous enough to gain international honours but many respected Swedish football men believed that he lacked a ruthless edge and would struggle in the English Premiership. Nevertheless when Hodgson took over at Ewood he remembered the youthful player and persuaded him to try his luck in English football. The experts proved correct the tidy, careful player was swept away in the maelstrom of English midfield war and never prospered. He slipped back into Scandinavian football in Denmark where he won championship honours but a Bosman move to Benfica did not greatly improve his reputation, although it helped him back into the national squad. He was later to allege that doping was widespread at the club during his stay there. He returned to Sweden and spent three years with Malmo before becoming a writer for Skanska Dagbladet.