Hans Roland "Hasse" Backe (; born 14 February 1952) is a Swedish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player who most recently led Finland's national team. Prior to this he managed the New York Red Bulls. He has coached clubs in Sweden, Norway, Greece, England and the United States, and achieved his greatest successes in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

Playing career

Backe's playing career lasted through the 1970s, mostly in the Swedish lower divisions, including one stint with Brommapojkarna in 1977–1978. He took up coaching while playing for Bro, and led them from the fifth to the third tier.

Managerial career

Early career in Scandinavia

Backe began his managerial career with Djurgården in his native Sweden from 1982 to 1984, compiling a record of 38 wins, 20 draws and only 12 losses, which included a first-place finish in the 1982 Division 2 Norra. Following his early success with Djurgården he went on to manage Molde, Hammarby IF, Öster, AIK and numerous other top Scandinavian clubs. In 1989, he led Öster to a first-place finish in Division 1 Södra in which the club ended the season unbeaten in all 26 league matches and gained promotion to the Swedish

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

Denmark

He enjoyed his greatest success in Denmark, having won three Danish titles with

and

. In his first season in Danish football Backe led

to the 1998–99

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

title. He also helped guide the club to consecutive

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

finals in his two years at the club. During the 2001 season Backe returned to Denmark to lead top side

. During his time at the club, the Danish side would enjoy one of the club's most successful spells. During this period, Backe led Copenhagen to two

titles, one

title and two Danish Super Cup titles, which included a treble winning season during the 2003–04 season.

Panathinaikos

Backe was the manager of Panathinaikos in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

until 14 September 2006, when he was fired after just three games due to the team's poor performance in this time. Although Panathinaikos won two of three league matches, a 2–0 home loss to Ionikos and a 1–1 draw at home in a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

tie against Ukrainian side Metalurh Zaporizhzhia led to his dismissal.

Assistant to Sven-Göran Eriksson

In July 2007, he was appointed as assistant manager at Manchester City in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, working alongside fellow countryman Sven-Göran Eriksson. Prior to being appointed as Manchester City assistant manager, he worked as a senior advisor for Östers, as well as a football analyst and commentator for Swedish TV4. Backe briefly resigned his position at Manchester City after a family crisis in Sweden forced him to take compassionate leave shortly into his time at the club, but after a month was able to return at his former post. Along with Eriksson, Backe and first-team coach Tord Grip parted company with Manchester City, joining

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

with the two Swedes.

Notts County

On 27 October 2009, Backe was appointed as manager of Notts County; the Swedish coach signed a three-year contract with the club. He resigned just seven weeks later, on 15 December after a dispute about wages not being paid was announced. During his time with Notts County, Backe compiled four wins (including two

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

wins), three draws and two losses.

New York Red Bulls

On 7 January 2010, Backe was named manager of New York Red Bulls. After a blistering start to the 2010 season, club fans began to create shirts and flags with his likeness, and these honors culminated in the birth of the Hans Backe Viking Army, an offshoot of the

Empire Supporters Club The Empire Supporters Club, or ESC, is one of the oldest supporters clubs in Major League Soccer and the largest supporters club dedicated to the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer. History The club was founded in 1995 by members of the N ...

and Garden State Supporters. In his first season with New York, he coached the team to an Eastern Conference first-place finish. Then, on 9 November 2012, it was announced that Backe would not extend his contract with the Red Bulls.

Finland

On 12 August 2015, Backe was named manager of Finland national football team, starting on 1 January 2016. His first official match with the team was held on 10 January 2016 and ended in a 0-3 defeat by Sweden. Backe was fired as head coach of Finland's national football team 12 December 2016. Finland did not win one single game during Backe's time as head coach; 11 matches resulted in 9 defeats and 2 draws.

Managerial statistics

:''Statistics accurate as of match played 11 June 2017.''

Honours

Manager

; Djurgården * Division 2 Norra: 1982 ; Öster * Division 1 Södra:

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

; Aalborg *

: 1998–99 ; Copenhagen * Danish Superliga: 2002–03, 2003–04 *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

* Danish Super Cup: 2001, 2004 ; New York Red Bulls * Eastern Conference Regular Season:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

References