Björn Runström

Football player infobox
playername = Björn Runström
fullname = Björn Sandro Runström
height = height|m=1.86
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1984|3|1
cityofbirth = Stockholm
countryofbirth = Sweden
currentclub = OB
clubnumber = 10
position = Striker
youthyears = 1990-1996
1996-2000
youthclubs = Enskede IK
Hammarby IF
years = 2001-2002
2002-2003
2003-2004
2004-2006
2006-2008
2007
2007-2008
2008-present
clubs = Bologna
AC Chievo Verona
ACF Fiorentina
Hammarby IF
Fulham
→ Luton Town "(loan)"
→ Kaiserslautern "(loan)"
OB
caps(goals) = 000 00(0)
001 00(0)
002 00(0)
057 0(18)
001 00(0)
008 00(2)
028 00(4)
0013 00(2)
nationalyears = 2004-2006
nationalteam = Sweden U21
nationalcaps(goals) = 020 00(5)
pcupdate = 18 June 2008
ntupdate = 18 June 2008

Björn Sandro Runström (born 1 March 1984 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish footballer who currently plays as a striker for OB.

Club career

Björn grew up in the southern suburbs of Stockholm and went to Enskede school as a child. He started playing football for Enskede IK at the age of 6 years old, Björn's time in Enskede went well and at the age of 12 years he was rewarded with a move to a bigger club; Hammarby. Björn developed at a fast speed and when he was 16 he left Hammarby for Italy and Bologna. He stayed in Italy for 3 years and led Bologna to their first Italian Youth Championship in 19 years in 2001.

At 17 he was part of Bologna's first team but only made the bench in Serie A and Coppa Italia. In 2002 he was transferred to Chievo Verona and after that to Florentia Viola. His stay in Florence was not what he had dreamed of and when rumours spread in late 2003 that Fiorentina wanted to trade him for the Swedish international Kim Källström of Djurgårdens IF (Former club Hammarby's greatest rivals) he was outraged and declared that it was a transfer he would never accept. "Me playing for Djurgården would be like Di Canio going back to Italy to play for A. S. Roma, it won't happen, if I go back to Sweden the only club that I could think of is my old club Hammarby”.

Runström did return to Hammarby soon after and played three more seasons scoring 18 goals in 57 matches. This record attracted the attention of Premier League club Fulham (he had the chance to join the Cottagers in the January transfer window but declined saying "I didn't want to go on a free transfer in January even though I had an offer from Fulham already then, Hammarby have meant much to me and I wanted them to be well paid").

In July 2006, 22-year-old Runström joined Fulham on a three-year contract, for a fee of £700,000.

On 30 January 2007, Bjorn moved to Luton Town on loan for a month, after making only 2 appearances for Fulham. He returned to Fulham on 1 April 2007. Later that year, in July, he was loaned out to German club Kaiserslautern, for the 2007-08 season. On his return, in May 2008, Runström was released by Fulham.

On 4 June 2008, Runström signed a 3½-year contract with Danish club OB.

External links

*da icon [http://www.ob.dk/?ModulFunctionID=16&FBPlayerID=2184 OB profile]
*da icon [http://resol.dr.dk/sportservice_person.aspx?personid=362218 Career statistics] at Danmarks Radio
*soccerbase|id=33788|name=Björn Runström
*sv icon [http://www.bjornrunstromfans.com Official website]
* [http://www.runafans.webb.se Unofficial website]

Notes