Sven Markus Holgersson (born 16 April 1985) is a Swedish former professional

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 defender. He played professionally in Sweden, the United States, England, Cyprus, Denmark, and Spain before retiring in 2019. He won one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the Sweden national team.

Club career

Sweden

Having spent his youth years at

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

, he returned to Helsingborg after a four-year spell at Helsingborg's

feeder club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

Ängelholms FF Ängelholms FF is a football club based in Ängelholm, Sweden. The club is affiliated to Skånes Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Ängelholms IP. The club was formed in 1976 as a merger between Ängelholms IF and Skörpinge GIF. The c ...

. Upon returning to Helsinborg, Holgersson became an instant starter at right back. During the 2011 season Holgersson helped the club in becoming the first team in Swedish history to win a treble, consisting of

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

, League and Swedish Cup titles. On 2 January 2012 Helsingborg confirmed that Holgersson had rejected to renew his contract with the club.

United States

Holgersson was rumoured to be in talks with

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and on 3 January 2012 Red Bulls coach

Hans Backe Hans Roland "Hasse" Backe (; born 14 February 1952) is a Swedish football manager and former player who most recently led Finland's national team. Prior to this he managed the New York Red Bulls. He has coached clubs in Sweden, Norway, Greece, ...

indicated that the player had agreed to join the club. On 12 January 2012, it was confirmed that Holgersson would be joining the Red Bulls. In his first year with New York Holgersson was an undisputed starter at centerback starting 31 games and scoring 3 goals. The following season Holgersson retained his starting position starting in 32 league matches as New York captured its first major title the

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 1 ...

. Holgersson and the club agreed to part ways following the season.

Wigan Athletic

Holgersson joined

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on 5 February 2014 after being a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He was released from his contract at the end of the season after making only one appearance. After leaving Wigan, Holgersson went on trial with Championship side

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

on trial and his performance in the friendly match left him impressed by Manager

Mark Robins Mark Gordon Robins (born 22 December 1969) is an English football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Coventry City in the EFL Championship. As a player, he was a striker and is best known for his time in the Premier League ...

Later career

After leaving Wigan, Holgersson returned to Sweden by rejoining

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superet ...

until the end of the 2014 season. On 28 August 2014 he signed a two-year contract with

Anorthosis Anorthosis Famagusta ( el, Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου, translit=Anorthosi Ammochostou), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Anorthosis Famagusta multi-sport club fou ...

of Cyprus. On 14 April 2016 it was confirmed that Holgersson had signed a pre-contract with Danish Superliga-club, AaB, starting from the summer 2016. His contract was terminated on 12 July 2017. On 14 July 2017, Holgersson signed for Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

side

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lorca, Spain, Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in the Region of ...

. On 8 August 2018, Holgersson returned to

, now competing in

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 ...

, Sweden's second tier.

International career

After a successful 2011 season, Holgersson received his first call up to join

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

for its friendly matches against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

on 18 January 2012 and

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

on 23 January 2012. He made his debut with Sweden on 23 January 2012 going the full 90 in a 5–0 victory over Qatar.

References

External links

* *
Profile fotbolltransfers.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holgersson, Markus 1985 births Living people Footballers from Skåne County Swedish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Allsvenskan players Superettan players Ängelholms FF players Helsingborgs IF players Major League Soccer players New York Red Bulls players English Football League players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Danish Superliga players AaB Fodbold players Lorca FC players Sweden men's international footballers Swedish expatriate men's footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Segunda División players