Mikael "Hella" Hellström (born 11 March 1972) is a

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 ...

retired

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 ...

. Throughout his whole professional career he represented

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differe ...

, as a one club man.

Early life

Mikael Hellström started playing football at the local club Västerhaninge IF, before joining

as a youth player in 1982, at age 10. As a youngster, he mostly played a central defender.

Club career

He advanced through the ranks at Hammarby and made his senior debut for the club in

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 ...

in 1990, aged 18. His first competitive appearance came as a substitute in a

local derby Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

on August 13 in a shocking 1-9 loss against

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

. He soon established himself as a regular starter during the 1990s, a period when Hammarby was known as a

yo-yo club A yo-yo club is a sporting side that is regularly promoted and relegated. The phrase is most typically used in association football in the United Kingdom, especially in reference to promotion to and relegation from the Premier League. The name ...

bouncing between the first and second tier. He usually played at a central midfield position, being known as a technically gifted player with a great set of leadership and work rate. During the later years of his career he repositioned himself playing as a left full back. His biggest achievement came in 2001 when Hammarby won Allsvenskan for the first time in the club's history. During the

2002–03 UEFA Champions League The 2002–03 UEFA Champions League was the 11th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since its rebranding in 1992, and the 48th European Cup tournament overall. The competition was won by Milan, w ...

qualification stage, he featured in both games as Hammarby got knocked out by the

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n side

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

in the second round (1-5 on aggregate). Mikael Hellström was forced into retirement in 2005, aged 33, due to a hip injury. In total, he made 301 league appearances for

and scored 18 goals. Hellström also captained the side in the seasons of 1999, 2000 and 2002. In 2004, Hellström was voted as Hammarby Fotboll's twelfth biggest profile throughout the history of the club. Between 2007 and 2008, he worked as a scout for said club during the reign of manager

Tony Gustavsson Tony Gustavsson (born 14 August 1973) is a Swedish professional football manager and former player who works as head coach of the Australia women's national team. He is best known for his managerial success in women's football, leading Tyres� ...

and director of football (as well as former teammate) Lars Eriksson.

International career

Hellström was a part of the Swedish under-20 national team during the

1991 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship was the eighth staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, an international football competition organized by FIFA for men's youth national teams, and the eighth since it was established in 1977 as the FIFA ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He won his first, and single cap, for the side in a 0-2 group stage loss against

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 ...

on 20 June in said tournament. In May 1999, he won his first and only cap for the Swedish national team, playing the whole game in a 2–1 friendly win against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Råsunda Stadium Råsunda Stadium (; also known as Råsunda Fotbollsstadion, Råsundastadion, Råsunda Football Stadium or just Råsunda) was the Swedish national football stadium. It was located in Solna Municipality in Stockholm and named after the district i ...

Honours

;Hammarby *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hellstrom, Mikael Swedish men's footballers Hammarby Fotboll players 1972 births Living people Sweden men's youth international footballers Sweden men's international footballers Allsvenskan players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Stockholm