William Eskelinen

William Eskelinen

Personal information
Date of birth	(1996-09-03) 3 September 1996 (age 28)
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) [1]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	AC Oulu
Youth career
2001–2008	Skogås-Trångsund
2008–2013	Brommapojkarna
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013	Brommapojkarna	0	(0)
2014	Värmdö	11	(0)
2015–2016	Hammarby	0	(0)
2015	→ Värmdö (loan)	20	(0)
2016	→ Aspudden-Tellus (loan)	11	(0)
2016	→ Enskede (loan)	12	(0)
2017–2019	GIF Sundsvall	48	(0)
2019–2022	AGF	33	(0)
2022–2023	Örebro	56	(0)
2024	Vestri	26	(0)
2025–	AC Oulu	0	(0)
International career
2011	Sweden U17	1	(0)
2013	Sweden U19	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 September 2024

William Eskelinen (born 3 September 1996) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for Veikkausliiga club AC Oulu as a goalkeeper. ^[1]

Career

Eskelinen started playing football for Skogås-Trångsunds FF at the age of five. As a 12-year-old he moved to the IF Brommapojkarna academy. ^[2] Eskelinen started playing senior football at Division 2 club Värmdö IF in 2014. ^[3]

In March 2015, Eskelinen was signed by Hammarby IF on a one-year contract and was immediately loaned back to Värmdö IF. ^[4] In January 2016, Eskelinen extended his contract in Hammarby by one year. ^[5] In March 2016, he was loaned out to the Division 2 club IFK Aspudden-Tellus on a loan agreement until the summer. ^[6] In August 2016, Eskelinen was loaned out to the Ettan club Enskede IK. ^[7]

In January 2017, Eskelinen was signed by GIF Sundsvall on a three-year contract. ^[8] On 18 September 2017, Eskelinen made his Allsvenskan debut in a 2–1 win over AFC Eskilstuna, where he was substituted in the 35th minute for the injured Tommy Naurin. ^[9]

In July 2019, Eskelinen signed a five-year contract with Danish Superliga club AGF. ^[10] In March 2022, he returned to Sweden, signing a deal until the end of 2023 with Örebro SK. ^[11]

On 4 March 2024, Eskelinen signed with Vestri in Iceland. ^[12]

On 14 January 2025, Eskelinen signed with Veikkausliiga club AC Oulu on a one-year deal with a one-year option. ^[13]

Personal life

Eskelinen's father is the former professional footballer Kaj Eskelinen, who was a striker. ^[14] William is of Finnish descent through his father. ^[15]

Career statistics

As of 10 February 2025 ^[1]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup [a]		League cup [b]		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Brommapojkarna	2013	Allsvenskan	0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
Värmdö	2014	Swedish Division 2	11	0	2	0	–		–		13	0
Hammarby	2015	Allsvenskan	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	0	0
	2016	Allsvenskan	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	0	0
Värmdö (loan)	2015	Swedish Division 2	20	0	–		–		–		20	0
Aspudden-Tellus (loan)	2016	Swedish Division 2	11	0	–		–		–		11	0
Enskede (loan)	2016	Swedish Division 1	12	0	–		–		–		12	0
GIF Sundsvall	2017	Allsvenskan	3	0	4	0	–		–		7	0
	2018	Allsvenskan	30	0	1	0	–		–		31	0
	2019	Allsvenskan	15	0	0	0	–		–		15	0
	Total		48	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	53	0
AGF	2019–20	Danish Superliga	29	0	4	0	–		–		33	0
	2020–21	Danish Superliga	4	0	0	0	–		2 [c]	0	6	0
	2021–22	Danish Superliga	0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
	Total		33	0	4	0	0	0	2	0	39	0
Örebro	2022	Superettan	27	0	4	0	–		–		31	0
	2023	Superettan	29	0	1	0	–		–		30	0
	Total		56	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	61	0
Vestri	2024	Besta deild karla	26	0	0	0	1	0	–		27	0
AC Oulu	2025	Veikkausliiga	0	0	0	0	2	0	–		2	0
Career total			218	0	16	0	3	0	2	0	239	0

1. Includes Svenska Cupen, Danish Cup and Suomen Cup
2. Includes Icelandic League Cup and Finnish League Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

References

1. William Eskelinen at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
2. Velagic, Johan (4 March 2016). "FD:s talangserie – DEL 14: William Eskelinen". Fotbolldirekt.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 8 July 2017.
3. "Hammarby Fotboll | William Eskelinen" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
4. "Officiellt: Hammarby IF värvar William Eskelinen". Fotbolltransfers.com (in Swedish). 10 March 2015.
5. "Officiellt: Hammarby förlänger med William Eskelinen". Fotbolltransfers.com (in Swedish). 30 January 2016.
6. "Officiellt: IFK Aspudden-Tellus lånar William Eskelinen". Fotbolltransfers.com (in Swedish). 1 March 2016.
7. "Officiellt: William Eskelinen lånas ut till Enskede". Fotbolltransfers.com (in Swedish). 4 August 2016.
8. Rosenlund, Alexander (24 January 2017). "Eskelinen till Sundsvall: "Vill ta upp kampen"". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish).
9. Jönsson, Fredrik (18 September 2017). "Eskelinen, 21, efter debuten: "Fick godkänt av pappa"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish).
10. Tuhcic, Damir (17 July 2019). "Officiellt: William Eskelinen klar för AGF Århus". Fotbolltransfers.com (in Swedish).
11. ÖSK FOTBOLL VÄRVAR WILLIAM ESKELINEN, oskfotboll.se, 22 March 2022
12. "William Eskelinen til Vestra" [William Eskelinen to the West] (in Icelandic). Vestri. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
13. AC Oulu löysi ko­ke­neen maa­li­vah­din – William Es­ke­li­nen on pe­lan­nut Ruotsin ja Tanskan pää­sar­jois­sa, Kaleva, 14 January 2025
14. "Eskelinen, 21, efter debuten: "Fick godkänt av pappa"". Aftonbladet. 18 September 2017.
15. Pesonen, Seppo (19 November 1999). "Ruotsinsuomalaista ruumiinkulttuuria viisi vuosikymmentä ja vähän enemmänkin" (PDF) (in Finnish). The Archives of the Sweden Finns. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2019. ... Kaj Eskelinen s. 1969 Göteborgissa ...

External links

• William Eskelinen at the Swedish Football Association (in Swedish)
• William Eskelinen national team profile at SvFF (in Swedish) (archived) (archive)