Kjell Olofsson (born 23 July 1965 in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

) is a former

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

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 le ...

who played as a striker.

Career

Dundee United

1996–97 season

Olofsson joined Scottish club

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

during the 1996–97 season. Brought in by then manager

Tommy McLean Thomas McLean Jr. (born 2 June 1947 in Larkhall) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. McLean played for Kilmarnock, Rangers and Scotland as a midfielder. He managed Morton, Motherwell, Hearts, Raith Rovers and Dundee ...

, he made his debut as a trialist in the 1–0 victory over Hearts at Tannadice on 26 October 1996, along with fellow Scandinavian

Erik Pedersen Erik Stensrud Pedersen (born 11 October 1967) is a former Norwegian footballer who played as left back. Pedersen spent most of his career in Norway, but had a spell in Scotland with Dundee United. Playing career Pedersen played youth football ...

. Kjell scored his first goal seven days later in a 3–1 win over

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

Fir Park Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. Mo ...

and he instantly became a fan-favourite. In his first season, he finished top goal scorer with a total of 13 goals in 28 games. He played his part in impressive wins over both Rangers and

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and United only lost four matches in which he appeared and finished in third place in the Premier Division, having been promoted from the First Division the previous season.

1997–98 season

In his second season, he again finished top goalscorer with 23 goals. The season started promisingly for United, with an early 17–0 aggregate

UEFA cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

win over

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

n side

CE Principat Club Esportiu Principat was an Andorran football club created in 1989, based in the city of Andorra la Vella. Was one of the most successful football clubs in Andorra along with FC Santa Coloma and UE Sant Julià, having won three times the And ...

which saw Olofsson score his first, and only, European goal for the club. However, despite Kjell's goals United failed to live up to the glory of the previous season and only finished 7th in the Premier Division. He scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over Hibernian, which condemned the Edinburgh side to relegation to the First Division. The season did provide Kjell a medal, sadly for him and United fans it was only a runners up medal in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

(they lost a distinctly one-sided final 3–0 to Celtic).

1998–99 season

His final season at United was less successful. He failed to score and United failed to win in the opening six games and this was followed by the sacking of manager Tommy McLean. However, he was firmly in the plans of new manager

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former association football, football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances betwe ...

, and in Sturrock's second game in charge (a 2–2 draw with local rivals

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

) he netted his first goal of the season. Though 7 days later, in a match that would be United's first win of the season, it would turn sour for Kjell as he received only his second caution and first ever red card in Scottish football in the 3–1 win over

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

on 26 September 1998. He was suspended for the following game, a 1–0 win over

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, though despite the win he was straight back in the team the next week. United fans had to wait another seven games to see his second goal of the season, which came in the 3–0 win against Aberdeen on 28 November 1998. On 2 January 1999 Kjell scored his third goal of the season in the 3–1 win over Dundee, a game that would trigger Kjell's scoring form as he scored seven goals in the next 12 games. His final goal for the club came at

Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for Association football, football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen ...

against Aberdeen in the 4–0 win on 17 April 1999, while his final appearance was in a 2–1 loss to Celtic on the final day of the season (23 May 1999). Several years later Kjell made a cameo appearance at

Tannadice Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...

, dressed as Terry The Terror (the club

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

) before a home league game.

Moss FK

Olofsson's last known club was the club from which he joined Dundee United -

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club

Moss F.K. Moss Fotballklubb is a Norway, Norwegian football (soccer), football club, founded on 28 August 1906. They play in the 2. divisjon, the third highest division in the Norwegian football league system. They played in the Eliteserien, Norwegian top ...

He retired as a professional player in 2002 and returned to his family's

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business. He still plays amateur football at the age of 46 on Tronvik Fk.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olofsson, Kjell 1965 births Living people Swedish men's footballers Moss FK players Örgryte IS players Dundee United F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Eliteserien players Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Swedish expatriate men's footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Men's association football forwards Footballers from Gothenburg