David Elm (born 10 January 1983) is a Swedish former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

er who played as a striker. He played professionally for the Swedish clubs

Kalmar FF Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1910, the clu ...

Falkenbergs FF Falkenbergs Fotbollsförening, also known simply as Falkenbergs FF, Falkenberg or (especially locally) FFF, is a Swedish football club based in Falkenberg. Formed on 3 January 1928, the club plays in the second highest Swedish league, Superetta ...

and

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

– and also played for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in the

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

during a career that spanned between 2004 and 2017. He is the older brother of fellow former footballers

Rasmus Elm Rasmus Christoffer Elm (born 17 March 1988) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the assistant coach of Kalmar FF. During his career, he played for Kalmar FF in Sweden, for AZ in the Netherland ...

and

Viktor Elm Viktor Sebastian Elm (born 13 November 1985) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back and midfielder. He is best remembered for his time with Kalmar FF with which he won the 2007 Svenska Cupen and 2008 Allsvenskan ...

Club career

Early career

Elm began his career playing for youth clubs Johansfors IF and Emmaboda IS, alongside his younger brothers Rasmus and

Viktor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

(although he went on to play for

Nybro IF Nybro Idrottsförening (Nybro Athletic Association) is a Swedish association football club located in Nybro. Background Nybro IF was founded in 1906 and has played in Sweden's second-highest division in football and men's top division in men's ic ...

Falkenbergs FF

Elm moved to

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...

club

on a free transfer in 2004. Upon his arrival, he quickly established himself as first-choice. In his time there, he scored a total of 14 goals on 68 matches. He left Falkenbergs FF for

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

club

at the end of the 2006 season.

Kalmar FF

, Elm was mostly used as a substitute during his first season. However, after several departures, he became first-choice in the 2008 season, contributing 7 goals in 27 games, which saw Kalmar win the Swedish Cup. Kalmar also went on to win

for the first time in the club's history. This led to a possible move to

Fulham

On 1 September 2009, Elm signed for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around £500,000. Spokesman Patrick Mörk stated that Fulham chief scout Barry Simmonds held talks with Elm. He also stated that

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is a former English football manager and player. He managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstads BK in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to th ...

had personally attended the second leg between Kalmar and Hungarian club

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

in the Champions League first qualifying match, which Hodgson was interested in. He also suggests that Elm might come to be featured in the squad as a midfielder. On 23 September 2009, Elm made his Fulham debut on in a 2–1 away defeat to

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

third round, replacing Eddie Johnson in the 91st minute. On 9 February 2010, Elm scored his first goal for Fulham, netting the second in a 3–0 home win over Burnley in the Premier League, he also assisted Danny Murphy for Fulham's first goal. At the end of the 2009–10 season, he signed a contract extension lasting until the end of the 2011–12 season.

Elfsborg

On 24 January 2011, Elm signed a five-year contract with Swedish club

. The estimated transfer sum was around £500,000- £1,000,000, Elm transferred from Fulham due to lack of playing time. Elm was bought by Elfsborg because they had recently sold their top striker Denni Avdic to

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

for around £2,500,000 – £3,000,000. The similarities were the height of both of the players, even if David is more of a target man, exactly what the former head coach

Magnus Haglund Magnus Haglund (born 15 April 1973) is a Swedish football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Halmstads BK. He has previously managed IF Elfsborg and Lillestrøm SK, having signed a two-year contract starting in January 2012. ...

was looking for. During Elm's first season he played 25 matches, scored 7 times and assisted two times. He had a hard time in the beginning to get into the first squad, but after he scored in important matches he gained trust from the coach and the audience. In the 2010–11 season he scored the winning goal in a 3–2

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

win against

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

, netting in the 93rd minute.

Return to Kalmar FF and retirement

He returned to Kalmar FF during the summer of 2013. He retired from professional football after the 2017 season. He spent one season with his boyhood club Johansfors IF in Division 6 in 2018.

Style of play

Elm's favourite playing position is supporting striker, connecting his striking partner, with the wingers. At Fulham, his preferred partnership was with

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

, creating what was known as 'Jelm'. He has been compared to

Peter Crouch Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, and ...

, tall, strong and good with the head.

Personal life

He has two brothers, Rasmus and

who both plays for

. Elm is a fan of Swedish

indie band Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and The Boss. He has a child named Alve.

Honours

Kalmar FF *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Elfsborg *Allsvenskan:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elm, David 1983 births Living people People from Emmaboda Municipality Swedish footballers Association football forwards Falkenbergs FF players Kalmar FF players Fulham F.C. players IF Elfsborg players Premier League players Allsvenskan players Superettan players Sportspeople from Kalmar County