Pascal "Pagge" Simpson (born 4 May 1971) 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 forward. He represented

IF Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish football club located in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality. Brommapojkarna is t ...

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

, Vålerenga IF,

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

, and

Halmstads BK Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and approved membership in the Swedish ...

during a career that spanned between 1990 and 2003. He won two

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 in 1997 and also represented the Sweden Olympic team at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Early life

Simpson was born in

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

, Togo, to a Togolese father and a German mother, moved to Sweden at the age of six and was raised on Ekerö, Stockholm. His father had played professional football in Germany. He acquired Swedish citizenship in September 1991.

Club career

Simpson started his football career in Ekerö IK and joined

in 1988. He won the JSM för klubblag with the IF Brommapojkarna youth squad in 1989 and made his senior debut in 1990. He joined AIK and was part of the

squad that won the Swedish Championship in 1992, its first such championship in 55 years. Simpson contributed significantly to the win. He scored twice against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

in the 1997

Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

quarter-finals; at Camp Nou he stunned the Catalans by scoring in the first minute of play. He was also part of the AIK squad that won the Swedish cup in 1996 and 1997. In the 1996 cup final he scored the winning goal against

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 ...

. Simpson had severe leg and knee problems due to a ligament injury. He had surgery in 1997 but in the end this damage caused his footballing career to come to an early end. The knee injury has caused Simpson severe pain, stopping him from running and jogging. Despite this, he has stayed involved with football by coaching youth for Brommapojkarna and lower league clubs. In 2007, he was the coach for

IFK Eskilstuna IFK Eskilstuna is a Swedish football club located in Eskilstuna in Södermanland County. In their early seasons IFK had a proud record as an Allsvenskan club but they now play in Division 2 Västra Svealand, which is the fourth tier of Swedish ...

but left due to the club's financial problems.

International career

Simpson played seven matches for the Swedish Olympic football team in 1991 and 1992. He scored the qualifying goal for the Swedish Olympic football team against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

that landed the team a spot at the 1992 Olympics in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Simpson made his full international debut for the Sweden national team on 9 February 1997 in a 2–0 friendly win against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, playing for 67 minutes alongside Marino Rahmberg at forward before being replaced by Robert Steiner. He won his second and last

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 ...

four days later in a friendly 1–0 win against Japan, playing for 76 minutes before being substituted by Daniel Andersson.

Coaching career

Simpson managed Södertälje FK. In December 2015, it was announced that Simpson was taking over Swedish third-tier team Vasalund after Roberth Björknesjö. His first game in charge was a pre-season 5–4 victory over his old club AIK.

Honours

AIK * Swedish Champion: 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 ...

: 1995–96, 1996–97 FC Copenhagen *

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each ye ...

: 2000–01, 2002–03

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Pascal 1971 births Living people Association football forwards Swedish footballers Sweden international footballers Sweden under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers of Sweden Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics AIK Fotboll players F.C. Copenhagen players Vålerenga Fotball players Danish Superliga players Eliteserien players Swedish expatriate footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Norway Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Swedish people of German descent Swedish people of Togolese descent Togolese people of German descent Togolese emigrants to Sweden Swedish football managers IFK Eskilstuna managers Gröndals IK managers