Martin Olsson

Footballer

Birthday May 17, 1988

Birth Sign Taurus

Birthplace Gävle, Sweden

Age 35 years old

Nationality Sweden

Height 1.77 m

Weight 82 kg

#19041 Most Popular

1931

At the end of the season, Olsson made 31 appearances in all competitions for Rovers as they were relegated after finishing in 19th place in the Premier League with just 31 points to their name.

After picking up a minor injury in pre-season, Olsson made his comeback as an unused substitute on 28 August, against Milton Keynes Dons at Stadium mk in a 2–1 defeat as Blackburn were knocked out in the second round of the League Cup.

1988

Martin Tony Waikwa Olsson (born 17 May 1988) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a left back for Malmö FF and the Sweden national team.

2005

Olsson was working his way through the youth setup at the club in 2005–06.

2006

Olsson signed for Blackburn Rovers from Högaborgs BK in January 2006.

His talent attracted the attention of football clubs in Europe and in January 2006 Premier League club Blackburn Rovers signed him for their youth academy.

2007

He made his Blackburn debut in the UEFA Cup qualifier in the 2007–08 season as a late substitution for Stephen Warnock.

He made his Premier League debut against Derby County in a 2–1 victory on 30 December 2007, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for Morten Gamst Pedersen at Pride Park, in front of a crowd of 30,048 spectators and the referee was Peter Walton.

He was voted Blackburn's Young Player of the Year for the season 2007–08.

2008

In May 2008, Olsson signed a new four-year contract, keeping him at Blackburn until June 2012.

On 24 September 2008, Olsson scored his first Blackburn goal, scoring the winning goal in a League Cup tie against Everton.

The goal turned out to be the only goal of the match.

2009

On 23 November 2009, Olsson was sent off for two yellow card offences on Tottenham Hotspur winger Aaron Lennon.

He scored his first Premier League goal on 10 February against Hull City at Ewood Park in a 1–0 victory.

2010

A full international since 2010, Olsson has won more than 50 caps for the Sweden national team and has represented his country at UEFA Euro 2012 and 2016 as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Olsson began his playing career in Sweden by playing for Högaborgs BK, where former national star Henrik Larsson began his career.

On 20 January 2010, he scored a spectacular overhead kick in a 6–4 League Cup semi-final defeat against Aston Villa in the 63rd minute at Villa Park.

Olsson made his 25th league appearance at home to Birmingham City on 24 March 2010 in a 2–1 win.

On 28 March 2010, when he made his 40th appearance for Blackburn against Burnley in the East Lancashire derby at Turf Moor in the 1–0 victory, he caused controversy when he looked like he had dived inside Burnley's penalty area, consequently by winning a penalty after taking the ball round Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen.

Subsequently, the penalty was scored by David Dunn.

On 29 March 2010, Olsson admitted to the dive, Rovers manager, Sam Allardyce defended Olsson by saying he was his man of the match and created havoc and chaos in and around the eighteen yard box all match.

In June 2010, Olsson signed a new five-year-deal at Blackburn Rovers that would keep him at the club until summer 2015.

At the start of the 2010–11 season, Olsson acquired the number three jersey by manager Sam Allardyce, which he had for most of pre-season.

He featured in Rovers' opening 2010–11 Premier League match against Everton at Ewood Park on 14 August 2010, playing the full 90 minutes on the left-wing in a 1–0 victory.

2011

He scored his first league goal for Blackburn against Liverpool inside 32 minutes on 5 January 2011 in a 3–1 victory at Ewood Park.

On 12 February 2011, Olsson made his 50th Premier League appearance for the club when he started at left-back against Newcastle United playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw.

On 30 April 2011, he scored with a left-foot shot on 20 minutes against local rivals Bolton Wanderers at home.

On 22 May, Olsson started and played the full 90 minutes against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 3–2 win at Molineux which kept both teams up for another season in the Premier League.

At the end of the season, he made 32 appearances for Rovers in total and scored two goals in all competitions.

Now considered a key player, Olsson started off the season at left back covering for Gaël Givet who himself was covering for various injuries at centre back.

Olsson provided an assist in a 4–3 victory over Arsenal.

After running from the halfway line to the by-line, he pulled back a cross for Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny to score an own goal.

2012

After helping Sweden qualify for UEFA Euro 2012, Olsson returned from international duty to put in a Man of the Match performance on the left wing against Queens Park Rangers in a 1–1 draw at Loftus Road.

2013

In 2013, Premier League side Norwich City signed him for an undisclosed fee.

On 10 July 2013, Olsson was signed by Premier League side Norwich City for an undisclosed fee.

He signed a four-year deal at Carrow Road.

He scored his first goal for the club against Bury in the League Cup on 27 August 2013.

Olsson made 37 appearances in all competitions but could not prevent his new team from relegation in his return to Premier League football.

2017

In January 2017, he left Norwich to join Swansea until 2019.

2020

In 2020, he signed with Allsvenskan club Helsingborgs IF in his native Sweden before moving on to represent both BK Häcken and Malmö FF.