Pascal Simpson

Pascal Simpson (born May 4, 1971 in Lomé , Togo ) is a former Swedish football player who now works as a coach. The striker and midfielder made two appearances for the Swedish national team.

Career

Early years

Simpson came to Sweden from Togo when he was six. There he started playing soccer at Ekerö IK in 1978 before joining the youth team at IF Brommapojkarna in 1984 . In 1991 he moved from the second division to the traditional club AIK in Allsvenskan . Under Tommy Söderberg he won a regular place in the starting line-up and made his first division debut on the first day of the 1991 season in a 1-0 away win against Halmstads BK in Örjans vall . At the end of the regular season he qualified with the team for the Mästerskapsserien . In the final round he was used in all ten games and was able to score two goals, but AIK only finished last in the championship round.

Swedish champion

In the 1992 season , Simpson was one of the pillars of the team that won the ninth league title in the club's history. During the season he was on the side of Peter Larsson and Wadym Jewtuschenko , who also did not miss a game, in every game both the regular time and the championship finals. He was involved in the hard-fought 4-4 draw against arch-rivals Djurgårdens IF when he and his team-mate Kim Bergstrand each scored one goal and prepared two more. Although the team ended regular time nine points behind the leaders IFK Norrköping and started the final round with four points - the number of points was halved - behind. However, with six wins and two draws in the championship round, the competitor could still be intercepted. after a 3-2 win against Malmö FF on the last day of the final round with two goals from Jevtushenko and one from Gary Sundgren , the Von Rosens Cup was raised . Due to his strong performances over the course of the season, he had played his way into Nisse Andersson's notebook and was nominated for the football competition of the 1992 Olympic Games .

In the following two years, Simpson established himself as an accurate striker behind Dick Lidman , AIK's top scorer. In the 1994 season , the storm duo scored 24 goals before Simpson tore a cruciate ligament during the game against Örebro SK in August that year and was canceled the rest of the season. Without the striker, some of the penetration was missing and with 15 points behind champions IFK Göteborg , the club only finished sixth in the league. After another foot operation in February 1995, he was able to play his way back into the main lineup.

Highlights in the European Cup and national team

In May 1996 Simpson managed to win the second title of his career when he won the Svenska Cup with his team . The striker helped AIK to win the trophy for the fifth time in the club's history when he overcame opposing goalkeeper Jonnie Fedel to the decisive 1-0 winner in the final against Malmö FF . As a result, the club entered the 1996/97 European Cup Winners' Cup and thanks to a goal by Simpson, the team moved into the next round after a 1-0 away win with a 1-1 draw against KR Reykjavík . There he opened the scoring in the 3-1 away win at the French club Olympique Nîmes , so that AIK was able to hibernate in the European Cup for the first time.

The beginning of 1997 would be one of the heyday of Simpson's career. First he was appointed to the Swedish national team by national coach Tommy Svensson and made his debut in the national jersey as part of the King's Cup on February 9 , when the Romanian national team was defeated 2-0 by goals from Andreas Andersson and Jozo Matovac . Four days later he made his second and final appearance for the Swedish colors in a 1-0 win over Japan with a goal by Andersson. Less than a month later, on March 6, the club had to play in the European Cup at FC Barcelona in Camp Nou and Simpson caused a bang when he gave the Swedes the lead in the first minute of the game. However, the Catalans were able to turn the game around and, after a 3-1 win and a 1-1 draw at Råsundastadion, remain in the competition they ultimately won.

In the summer, Simpson helped defend the title of the Cup. Again he appeared with AIK in the Cup Winners' Cup, but failed with his club in the first round at Primorje Ajdovščina .

Abroad

After the 1997 season Simpson left Sweden after 207 competitive games and 69 goals in the league, cup and European Cup and moved to Norway to Vålerenga IF . He played for the club in the Tippeligaen until 2000 before moving to FC Copenhagen in the Danish Super League . In his first year he won the Danish championship with the club. After he could not be used regularly in his second season due to injury problems, the club loaned him to Halmstads BK in Sweden in autumn 2002 . Here he played again 11 games in the Allsvenskan and scored three goals. In the spring of 2003 he returned to FC Copenhagen for the second half of the season before ending his professional career in the summer.

Start of the coaching career

After the end of his active career, Simpson returned to Sweden in 2004 as a youth coach at his youth club IF Brommapojkarna. At the side of his former teammate at AIK Gary Sundgren, he returned as an active player at the amateur club FC Djursholm in 2006, but had to reduce his commitment when he was hired by fourth division IFK Eskilstuna to succeed Lars Zetterlund as coach. After two years, his contract was not renewed at the end of 2007.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Alla Spelare. S "- unofficial national team statistics on hem.passagen.se (accessed on July 8, 2008)
2. ↑ "Derbyt som hade allt!" - Match report on aik.se ( memento of the original from September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on July 8, 2008) 
3. ↑ "Fotbollsåret 1992 - SM-Guld, efter 55 år!" - Season report on aik.se ( memento of the original from September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on July 8, 2008) 

Web links

• "PASCAL SIMPSON - SJU FRAMGÅNGSRIKA ÅR PÅ 1990-TALET" - entry on the AIK website
• Profile at weltfussball.de