Marcus Olsson

For the Swedish ice hockey player, see Marcus Olsson (ice hockey). For the Swedish handball player, see Markus Olsson.

Marcus Olsson

Olsson in the colours of Halmstads BK in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Marcus Jonas Munuhe Olsson [1]
Date of birth	(1988-05-17) 17 May 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Gävle, Sweden
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Left-back
Team information
Current team	Halmstad
Number	21
Youth career
0000–2006	Högaborgs BK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2007	Högaborgs BK	1	(1)
2008–2011	Halmstad	100	(12)
2012–2016	Blackburn Rovers	104	(1)
2016–2019	Derby County	61	(1)
2020	Helsingborg	2	(0)
2022–	Halmstad	55	(1)
International career
2009	Sweden U21	1	(0)
2012	Sweden	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 November 2024

Marcus Jonas Munuhe Olsson (born 17 May 1988) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and a left-back for Halmstad.

Club career

Halmstads BK

Born in Gävle, Sweden, Olsson started his career at Högaborgs BK. In 2008, he signed a contract with Halmstad, ^[2] replacing Martin Fribrock as left winger as Fribrock departed for Esbjerg fB in the summer of 2008. Mainly featured as left winger, he also used as a forward in several games, during Josep Clotet Ruiz time at Halmstad and the lack of a natural left side defender, Olsson and Kujtim Bala took turns on playing on the position. ^[3] As Halmstads BK was relegated from Allsvenskan in 2011, Marcus announced that he would not sign a new contract with the club and that he would start searching for a new club to play for. ^[4]

Blackburn Rovers

After rejecting a contract from Djurgårdens IF, ^[5] and being linked to Standard Liège and Viking FK, ^{[6] [7]} Blackburn Rovers confirmed on 31 January that Olsson had signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the club, joining his twin brother there. ^[8]

Marcus Olsson made his debut for Blackburn Rovers in the 3–0 away defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League on 25 February 2012, playing on the left wing, in front of his twin Martin who played at left back, with both completing a full 90 minutes. ^[9] He scored his first goal for Blackburn in a 3–3 draw with Leeds United on 1 September 2012. ^[10]

Olsson was released by Rovers following the conclusion of his contract with the club on 1 July 2014, but after lengthy negotiations signed a new contract for the club on 11 July. ^[11]

He was voted Blackburn Rovers player of the season for the 2014–15 season. ^[12]

Derby County

On 26 January 2016, Olsson was transferred from Blackburn to Derby County for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. ^[13]

Olsson played his full debut on 6 February 2016 against Fulham, scoring an own goal after 17 minutes. ^[14] He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win over Nottingham Forest on 19 March 2016. ^[15]

He was released by Derby County at the end of the 2018–19 season. ^[16]

Return to Halmstads BK

Olsson missed most of the 2020 season and all of 2021 season due to cruciate ligament injury. Upon recovering, on 28 January 2022 he returned to Halmstad. ^[17]

International career

Marcus Olsson was called up to the annual January tour of the Sweden national team in 2012, facing Bahrain and Qatar U23. ^[18] He made his national team debut against Bahrain when he came on as a substitute for Tobias Hysén at half-time, ^[19] he made his second appearance against Qatar in the following match, again coming on as a substitute at half-time, this time replacing Jiloan Hamad. ^[20]

Personal life

His twin brother Martin Olsson is also a professional footballer and plays for Malmö FF. Their brother-in-law is former Dallas Mavericks basketball player Dirk Nowitzki, who married their older sister Jessica. ^[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 19 September 2023 ^[22]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Halmstad	2008 [23]	Allsvenskan	21	1	0	0	—		—		21	1
	2009 [23]	Allsvenskan	20	4	2	0	—		—		22	4
	2010 [23]	Allsvenskan	30	4	1	0	—		—		31	4
	2011 [23]	Allsvenskan	29	2	2	1	—		—		31	3
	Total		100	11	5	1	—		—		105	12
Blackburn Rovers	2011–12 [24]	Premier League	12	0	0	0	0	0	—		12	0
	2012–13 [25]	Championship	23	1	4	0	1	0	—		28	1
	2013–14 [26]	Championship	8	0	0	0	1	0	—		9	0
	2014–15 [27]	Championship	41	0	4	0	0	0	—		45	0
	2015–16 [28]	Championship	20	0	0	0	0	0	—		20	0
	Total		104	1	8	0	2	0	—		114	1
Derby County	2015–16 [28]	Championship	16	1	0	0	0	0	2 [a]	0	18	1
	2016–17 [29]	Championship	0	1	0	0	2	0	2 [b]	0	35	0
	2017–18 [30]	Championship	15	0	1	0	0	0	—		16	0
	2018–19	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [b]	0	1	0
	Total		61	1	2	0	2	0	5	0	70	1
Helsingborgs	2020	Allsvenskan	11	0	1	0	—		0	0	12	0
	2021	Superettan	0	0	2	0	—		0	0	2	0
	Total		11	0	3	0	—		—		14	0
Halmstad	2022	Superettan	10	0	1	0	—		0	0	11	0
	2023	Allsvenskan	17	0	0	0	—		0	0	17	0
	Total		27	0	1	0	—		—		28	0
Career total			303	13	19	1	4	0	5	0	318	14

1. Appearances in Promotion Play-offs
2. Appearances with Derby County U23

Honours

Individual

• Blackburn Rovers Player of the Year: 2014–15 ^[31]

References

1. "EFL: Retained list: 2015/16" (PDF). English Football League. p. 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
2. "Från HBK till HBK" (in Swedish). hbk.se. 12 April 2008. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
3. "Olsson vill radera Halmstads 0–13" (in Swedish). hallandsposten.se. 23 May 2011. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
4. "Spelarflykt hotar Halmstads BK: "Superettan lockar inte"" (in Swedish). fotbolltransfers.com. 25 September 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
5. "Uppgifter: "Marcus Olsson nobbar Djurgårdens IF"" (in Swedish). fotbolltransfers.com. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
6. "Marcus Olsson bekräftar: "Standard Liege intresserat"" (in Swedish). fotbolltransfers.com. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
7. "Viking Stavanger bekräftar sitt intresse för Marcus Olsson" (in Swedish). fotbolltransfers.com. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
8. "Marcus make Rovers move". Blackburn Rovers F.C. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
9. "Manchester City 3–0 Blackburn". BBC Sport. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
10. "Leeds 3–3 Blackburn". BBC. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
11. "Olsson signs one-year Blackburn extension" . Retrieved 7 December 2016.
12. "Rovers star Markus Olsson has been named Player of the Year for 2014–15". Blackburn Rovers F.C. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
13. "Marcus Olsson: Derby County sign Blackburn Rovers defender". BBC Sport. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
14. "Match at Craven Cottage, London". Fulham FC. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
15. "Derby 1–0 Nottm Forest". BBC Sport. BBC. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
16. "Ashley Cole: Former England left-back set to retire after Derby exit". BBC Sport. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
17. "Marcus tillbaka i HBK" (Press release) (in Swedish). Halmstad. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
18. "Med A-landslaget till Qatar" (in Swedish). hbk.se. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
19. "Herr: 2–0 mot Bahrain i Doha" (in Swedish). svenskfotboll.se. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
20. "Storseger mot Qatar" (in Swedish). svenskfotboll.se. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
21. "NBA Star, Dirk Nowitzki, Weds Fiancee Jessica Olsson in Kenyan Traditional Ceremony -Munaluchi Bride". 31 July 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
22. "M.Olsson" . Retrieved 19 September 2023.
23. "M. Olsson". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
24. "Games played by Marcus Olsson in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
25. "Games played by Marcus Olsson in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
26. "Games played by Marcus Olsson in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
27. "Games played by Marcus Olsson in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
28. "Games played by Marcus Olsson in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
29. "Games played by Marcus Olsson in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
30. "Games played by Marcus Olsson in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
31. Paul Wheelock (1 December 2015). "Player of the year Markus Olsson opens contract talks with Blackburn Rovers". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 27 October 2023.

External links

• Marcus Olsson at Soccerbase
• HBK Profile (in Swedish)