Jan Erik "Janne" Hellström (born February 21, 1960) is a Swedish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a striker, most notably for

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and play thei ...

. He won six

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Sweden national team between 1986 and 1989 and represented the Sweden Olympic team at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Career

Hellström played Swedish top league football for

(247 games, 102 goals) and

Örgryte IS Örgryte Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as Örgryte IS, Örgryte () or (especially locally) ÖIS or Öis, is a Swedish sports club based in Gothenburg. It consists of four departments, namely bowling, football, athletics and wrestling. H ...

. He started his career in Örtomta GoIS as a youth, then moved, still in his teens, to IF SAAB from

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

. In 1977, his first season as a senior, in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, Hellström scored three goals in five games. SAAB was relegated and, in the following year, he had his real breakthrough as a senior playing, netting 25 goals. His achievements were soon recognised by clubs in the top level and, in 1981, he signed for Norrköping. Local rivals

Åtvidabergs FF Åtvidabergs Fotbollförening, also known simply as Åtvidabergs FF, Åtvidaberg, Åtvid or (especially locally) ÅFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Åtvidaberg. The club is affiliated with Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and ...

had tried to sign him since 1980, but nothing ever came of it. After the season 1984 and numerous goals for Norrköping, Hellström suddenly left for

from Gothenburg. He commented the move in an interview to Norrköping's fansite ''gopeking.net'':

"My decision to move was based on several factors. I did not feel the club was trying to invest in anything, the club only played the games, did not sign players and did not show any aspiration that they wanted anything. In addition, the football the coach at the time, Lars-Göran Qwist supported, was not a football I could support."

In 1988, even though his life was well both personally and at work, he eventually agreed on a return to Norrköping, with Tommy Wisell, manager/director at the club, playing an active role in convincing the player. Also during that year, Hellström had a breakthrough in his international career when he played for Sweden at the

Seoul Olympic Games The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

; he finished the tournament as the second best goalscorer in the group play with three goals, only behind

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

's Romário (four). Sweden got knocked out of the tournament in the quarterfinal 1–2 defeat against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. His total record for the Olympics (including the qualifiers) was eight goals in 15 games. In the following year,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, Hellström was crowned the league's topscorer for the first and only time in his career, with 16 goals, as IFK Norrköping won the Swedish national championship by defeating

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association ...

in the final games. However, a severe leg injury in left him out of action for a lengthy period, although he continued to play with the club until 1994. Subsequently, Hellström left for Hagahöjdens BK in the Swedish fourth division, where he remained until 1996. After two short half-season comebacks for Åby IF (in Norrköping), he ended his active career in 1999. During his career, he was linked to

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

(

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) and

Iraklis Thessaloniki FC Gymnastic Club Iraklis Thessaloniki Football Club ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής Θεσσαλονίκης) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. As of 2022, ...

(

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

) but remained faithful to Norrköping. After retiring, Hellström (considered one of the best players in the club's history) joined the board of directors.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hellstrom, Jan 1960 births Living people People from Söderköping Municipality Swedish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Allsvenskan players IFK Norrköping players Örgryte IS players Sweden men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Sweden Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Footballers from Östergötland County