Antonio Hysén (born Glenn Anton Hysén 13 December 1990) is a Swedish

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 lea ...

who plays as a defender.

Football career

He was given a trainee contract with

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg (Hisingen). It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Forme ...

from 2007 to 2009, but was hindered by injuries and instead joined Utsiktens BK in 2010 after spending the spring of 2010 at North Carolina Wesleyan College in

Rocky Mount, North Carolina Rocky Mount is a city in Nash and Edgecombe counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population was 54,341 as of the 2020 census, making it the 20th-most populous city in North Carolina. The city is east of Raleigh, the st ...

. In 2014, he played with the American fourth division team

Myrtle Beach FC The Myrtle Beach Mutiny were an American soccer team based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States. The Myrtle Beach Mutiny was owned by Coast FA. Kit provider During the 2018 season, the Mutiny's kit was provided by Capelli Sport, which ...

. In 2015, he signed with Torslanda IK.

Personal life

Hysén is the son of former Swedish international

Glenn Hysén Glenn Ingvar Hysén (; born 30 October 1959) is a Swedish former professional association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender. Starting off his career with IFK Göteborg in 1978, he went on represent PSV ...

, and was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, when his father was playing for

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

Antonio Hysén came out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

to the Swedish football magazine ''Offside'' in March 2011. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

called him "a global one-off". Hysén was profiled on Swedish broadcaster TV4 on 9 March 2011, in a debate show moderated by Lennart Ekdal titled ''Får även bögar spela fotboll?'' ("Can gays play football too?"). His older brothers are football players

Tobias Hysén Glenn Tobias Hysén (born 9 March 1982) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward or as a winger. Starting his career with Lundby IF in 1998, he went on to represent BK Häcken, Djurgårdens IF, Sunderland, IFK Göte ...

(half-brother) and Alexander Hysén. He won the seventh season of '' Let's Dance'', being the first openly gay person to win this competition. He is the great-grandson of the footballer Erik Hysén.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hysen, Anton 1990 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool Swedish men's footballers Men's association football defenders BK Häcken players Dancing with the Stars winners 21st-century Swedish LGBTQ people Swedish gay sportsmen 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Swedish LGBTQ footballers Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Hysén family Utsiktens BK players Torslanda IK players