Tomas Antonelius

Tomas Antonelius

Personal information
Full name	Tomas Gustafsson-Antonelius
Date of birth	7 May 1973
Place of birth	Stockholm, Sweden
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1994–1996	Brommapojkarna	47	(0)
1996–1999	AIK	75	(2)
1999–2002	Coventry City[1]	15	(0)
2002–2003	Copenhagen[2]	27	(2)
Total		164	(4)
National team
1999–2002	Sweden	8	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Tomas Antonelius (born Tomas Gustafsson; 7 May 1973) is a Swedish former footballer, who became an economics student since his retirement. He began his career playing as "Tomas Gustafsson", before changing his name in 2001. The reason for this change was that "Gustafsson" is a very common name in Sweden and it caused a lot of confusion, he chose "Antonelius" as it was the married name of his older sister.^[3]

A self-confessed AIK supporter, Antonelius played for Brommapojkarna, AIK, Coventry City in the Premier League and Copenhagen in Denmark. He also had a brief stint with Canadian side Winnipeg Fury, during a year in college in North America.^[4]

Club career

Early career

Whilst at AIK, he played against Arsenal in the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League.^[5][6] At the time, Arsenal were playing their home European games at Wembley Stadium, giving Antonelius a run out at the famous ground.

Coventry City

In December 1999, Antonelius joined Coventry City for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.^[7][8] He made his debut against Arsenal, coming on as a late substitute for Youssef Chippo, as Coventry won 3–2.^[9][10]

Copenhagen

In February 2002, he joined Danish Superliga side Copenhagen.^[11] However, he suffered a serious knee injury, 1,5 years after joining the club and never played football again. He announced his retirement in September 2003, due to this failure to recover from the injury.^[12]

International career

He was part of the Swedish squad at Euro 2000^[13] and the 2002 World Cup.^[14]

Honours

AIK

Winner:

• Allsvenskan (1): 1998
• Svenska Cupen (2): 1996–97, 1998–99

Copenhagen

Winner:

• Danish Superliga (1): 2002–03

References

1. "Thomas Antonelius career stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
2. "Thomas Antonelius". Nipserstat (in Danish). Retrieved 15 February 2011.
3. Turner, Andy (24 July 2001). "Football: New name in City squad; Familiar face makes unusual switch.". Coventry Evening Telegraph (The Free Library). Retrieved 13 May 2012.
4. "Exilgnagare – AIK:are som spelat utomlands". AIK Fotboll official website (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 May 2012.
5. "Arsenal break Wembley hoodoo". BBC News (British Broadcasting Corporation). 23 September 1999. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
6. "Gunners sink battling Swedes". BBC News (British Broadcasting Corporation). 2 November 1999. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
7. "Swede with Coventry". New Strait Times. Reuters. 9 December 1999. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
8. Harris, Nick (7 December 1999). "Football: Guilty Forest fined pounds 25,000 over payments". The Independent (Independent Print Limited). Retrieved 14 May 2012.
9. "Coventry City 3–2 Arsenal". BBC News (British Broadcasting Corporation). 26 December 1999. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
10. Moore, Glenn (27 December 1999). "Football: Arsenal's ambition checked by Keane". The Independent (Independent Print Limited). Retrieved 12 May 2012.
11. Winther-Rasmussen, Michael (4 February 2002). "Antonelius til FCK". Ekstra Bladet (in Danish) (JP/Politikens Hus A/S). Retrieved 14 May 2012.
12. "Tomas Antonelius karriär är över". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 17 September 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
13. "Sweden squad". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 22 June 2000. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
14. "Squad Profiles – Sweden". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 3 May 2002. Retrieved 12 May 2012.