Simon Strand

Simon Strand

Personal information
Full name	Simon August Love Strand [1]
Date of birth	(1993-05-25) 25 May 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth	Huddinge, Sweden
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [1]
Position(s)	Left-back or right-back
Team information
Current team	Hammarby
Number	21
Youth career
	Stuvsta
0000–2012	Djurgården
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012	Väsby United	25	(4)
2013	IK Frej	25	(0)
2014–2015	Huddinge	47	(1)
2016–2017	Assyriska FF	40	(1)
2017	Öster	14	(0)
2018	Lyngby	0	(0)
2018	Dalkurd	29	(1)
2019–2022	IF Elfsborg	98	(1)
2023–	Hammarby	33	(0)
International career
2008	Sweden U17	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 July 2024

Simon August Love Strand (born 25 May 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a left-back or right-back for Hammarby in the Allsvenskan.

Early life

Strand was born and raised in Huddinge, part of the Stockholm urban area, and started to play football with local club Stuvsta IF. He later joined the youth academy of Djurgården. ^{[2] [3]} In 2010, Strand reached the final of P19 Allsvenskan with the club, but lost 0–1 to Malmö FF. ^{[4] [5]}

Club career

Years in Division 1

In 2012, Strand joined Väsby United in Division 1, Sweden's third tier. He made 25 league appearances for the side, scoring four goals, in his first season at senior level. ^[6] At the end of the year, Strand was picked for the all-star game "Morgondagens Stjärnor" (English: "The Stars Of Tomorrow"), where two teams play against each other consisting of the best young players from the league. ^[7]

In 2013, Strand signed a one-year contract with IK Frej in the same league, making 25 appearances. ^[8] In 2014, he moved to Huddinge, a local rival of his youth club Stuvsta IF, playing 47 games across two seasons in Division 1. ^{[9] [10]}

Assyriska

On 8 February 2016, Strand signed a three-year contract with Assyriska FF in the Superettan, Sweden's second tier. ^[11] He established himself as a starter and made 28 league appearances, but was unable to help his club avoid relegation after a 2–4 defeat on aggregate to Norrby IF in the playoffs. ^{[12] [10]} In early 2017, he reportedly attracted interest from several Superettan clubs, most notably IF Brommapojkarna, but eventually remained with Assyriska. ^[13] He made 12 appearances for the club in Division 1 throughout the first half of the season, before leaving in July. ^{[14] [15]}

Öster and Lyngby

On 10 July 2017, Strand transferred to Öster in Superettan, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. ^[16] He went on to make 14 appearances for the club, that finished 5th in the table despite being recently promoted, during the second half of the season. ^[17]

On 4 January 2018, Strand transferred to Lyngby in the Danish Superliga, on a three-year deal. ^[18] However, he left the club only about a month later, on 7 February, without making any competitive appearances. His contract was terminated by mutual consent, due to Lyngby's financial difficulties that resulted in player salaries being paid late. ^[19]

Dalkurd

On 8 February 2018, Strand joined newly promoted Allsvenskan side Dalkurd on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract. ^[20] He made 29 appearances for the club throughout the season, his first in Sweden's top tier, scoring once, although the side finished 15th in the table and suffered a relegation. ^[10]

Elfsborg

On 25 February 2019, Strand transferred to Elfsborg in Allsvenskan, signing a three-year contract. ^[21] He soon broke into the side as a starter, making 25 appearances in his debut season, and was voted Elfsborg Player of the Year by the supporters of the club. ^{[22] [23]}

In 2020, Strand made 24 appearances as Elfsborg finished 2nd in Allsvenskan, nine points behind Malmö. ^{[23] [10]} On 13 January 2021, he signed a new three-year contract with the club. ^[24] The club finished 4th in the 2021 table, as Strand marked his 100th Allsvenskan appearance in a 3–0 away win against Djurgården on 18 October the same year. ^{[25] [23]}

After the 2022 season, in which he saw increased competition for playing time from both Oliver Zandén and Niklas Hult, Strand left Elfsborg. ^{[26] [23]} In total, he made 98 league appearances for the club across four seasons, scoring one goal. ^{[23] [10]}

Hammarby

On 7 March 2023, Strand transferred to Hammarby in Allsvenskan, signing a three-year contract. ^[27]

International career

Strand was called up to the Sweden national team for the training tour in Portugal in early 2022, ^[28] that later was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[29]

Career statistics

As of 31 March 2024 ^[1]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Väsby United	2012	Division 1	25	4	1	0	—		26	4
IK Frej	2013		25	0	4	0	—		29	0
Huddinge IF	2014		22	0	2	0	—		24	0
	2015		25	1	4	0	—		29	1
	Total		47	1	6	0	0	0	53	1
Assyriska FF	2016	Superettan	28	1	4	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	34	1
	2017	Division 1	12	0	0	0	—		12	0
	Total		40	1	4	0	2	0	46	1
Östers IF	2017	Superettan	14	0	1	0	—		15	0
Lyngby BK	2017–18	Danish Superliga	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Dalkurd FF	2018	Allsvenskan	29	1	3	0	—		32	1
	2019	Superettan	0	0	3	0	—		3	0
	Total		29	1	6	0	0	0	35	1
IF Elfsborg	2019	Allsvenskan	25	1	2	0	—		27	1
	2020		24	0	4	0	—		28	0
	2021		26	0	4	1	6 [lower-alpha 2]	0	36	1
	2022		23	0	2	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	27	0
	Total		98	1	12	1	8	0	118	2
Hammarby IF	2023	Allsvenskan	26	0	3	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	31	0
	2024		1	0	3	0	—		4	0
	Total		27	0	6	0	2	0	35	0
Career total			208	8	40	1	12	0	260	9

1. Appearances in the Superettan relegation play-offs.
2. Appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League.

References

1. Simon Strand at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
2. "Unga landslagsspelare" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
3. "Tre till P93-landslaget" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
4. "Inför DIF-Malmö FF" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
5. "Segrande lag genom åren" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association . Retrieved 7 March 2023.
6. "Niklas Pentillä till Väsby - Yosif Ayuba lånas ut" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
7. "Allsvensk fyndmarknad – rankas som morgondagens stjärnor" (in Swedish). Fotbolldirekt. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
8. "Simon Strand till IK Frej" (in Swedish). Wagnsson Sports & Entertainment. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
9. "Spelarpresentationer" (in Swedish). Huddinge IF . Retrieved 7 March 2023.
10. "Simon Strand" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association . Retrieved 7 March 2023.
11. "Simon Strand klar för Assyriska: "Jag ska kriga mig fram"" (in Swedish). Assyriska FF. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
12. "Hur var det här, då!?" (in Swedish). Huddinge IF. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
13. "Halmstad, Dalkurd, BP och Syrianska jagar Simon Strand" (in Swedish). Fotbolltransfers. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
14. "Simon Strand: "Det har varit en ära att spela för detta landslag"" (in Swedish). Assyriska FF. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
15. "Simon Strand klar för Östers IF" (in Swedish). Assyriska FF. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
16. "Simon Strand sommarens andra nyförvärv" (in Swedish). Östers IF. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
17. "Simon Strand sommarens andra nyförvärv" (in Swedish). Östers IF. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
18. "Simon Strand sommarens andra nyförvärv" (in Danish). Lyngby Boldklub. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
19. "Fire spillere forlader De Kongeblå" (in Danish). Lyngby Boldklub. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
20. "Välkommen till Dalkurd, Simon Strand". Dalkurd FF (in Swedish). 8 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
21. "Välkommen Simon Strand!" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
22. "Elfsborgsgalan 2019" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
23. "Tack för allt Simon Strand" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
24. "IFE förlänger med Simon Strand" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
25. "100 allsvenska matcher för Simon Strand" (in Swedish). IF Elfsborg. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
26. "Elfsborgs Oliver Zandén jagas av Toulouse" (in Swedish). Expressen. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
27. "Simon Strand till Bajen" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
28. "Janne om januariturnén" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
29. "Landslagslägren i januari ställs in" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2023.

External links

• Simon Strand at FootballDatabase.eu
• Simon Strand at the Swedish Football Association (in Swedish)