James Anders Mikael "Gädda" Hansson Finér (born 15 March 1968) 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 ...

who played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He represented Söderköpings IK,

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 ...

, and Stoke City during a career that spanned between 1988 and 2001. 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 in 1994.

Career

Hansson was born in Norrköping and played for Söderköpings IK and his home team

. He spent nine years at Idrottsparken in which time he won the Allsvenskan title with in 1992 as he made 206 appearances scoring 19 goals in Sweden's top flight. In November 1999 he left for English third-tier club Stoke City where he became a popular player with the club's supporters. He impressed as a speedy right back and in his first season with the club he helped them to win the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

and reach the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, losing out to Gillingham. During the 2000–01 season Hansson again helped Stoke reach the play-off but

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

proved to be too strong. He scored his only two league goals for Stoke against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

on 31 March 2001. Hanson's Stoke career was ended after he picked up an ankle injury in the summer of 2001 and he was never able to recover and so decided to retire from playing football.

Career statistics

Club

Sources:

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours

IFK Norrköping * Allsvenskan: 1992 *

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 ...

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, 1993–94 Stoke City *

: 1999–2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansson, Mikael 1968 births Living people Swedish men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players English Football League players IFK Norrköping players Sweden men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Footballers from Norrköping