Mats Goberg Solheim (born 3 December 1987) is a former Norwegian

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 defender.

Career

Sogndal

Solheim started his career at the local club Loen IL, continuing at

Stryn TIL Stryn Turn- og Idrettslag is a Norwegian multi-sports club from Stryn, Vestland. It has sections for association football, team handball, basketball, track and field, Nordic skiing, alpine skiing, gymnastics, and cycling. The club was founded on ...

in the lower divisions. He initially played as a striker. He attracted interest from the professional club

Sogndal Sogndal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansverk is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages ...

, then playing in the Norwegian second tier, during the summer of 2006. He subsequently joined the club and went on to enjoy a promotion to

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

four seasons later, in 2010. During his time at Sogndal he got known as a

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

, being used in almost every outfield position. He has since established himself as a natural wing back on either flanks. Solheim played a total of 25 games, scoring 4 times, during the 2011 Tippeligaen-season. He attracted interest from several other Norwegian clubs after the successful campaign, but opted to move abroad, signing for

Kalmar FF Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1910, the clu ...

in the Swedish

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football le ...

Kalmar FF

He had a rough start to his stint at Kalmar FF, when he injured his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in February 2012 during the pre-season. He was forced to the sideline throughout the rest of the year. Solheim made his competitive debut for Kalmar on 2 April 2013 against

Syrianska FC Syrianska Football Club, also known as Syrianska FC or simply Syrianska, is a Swedish professional football club based in Södertälje in Stockholm County. The club was founded by Syriac-Aramean immigrants in 1977 as Suryoyo Sportklubb, or Sury ...

, on the first match day of the

2013 Allsvenskan The 2013 Allsvenskan, part of the 2013 Swedish football season, was the 89th season of Allsvenskan since its establishment in 1924. The 2013 fixtures were released on 14 December 2012. The season started on 31 March 2013 and ended on 3 November 2 ...

. He crowned his debut for the side by scoring in a 3–0 victory. He played as a regular at Kalmar during the upcoming two seasons, featuring in a total of 50 games in Allsvenskan, scoring on 5 occasions.

Hammarby IF

On 31 March 2015, the last day of the Swedish transfer window,

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differ ...

announced that they had signed Solheim on a three year-contract. He reunited with his former manager

Nanne Bergstrand Kurt Arne "Nanne" René Bergstrand (born 28 April 1956) is a Swedish football manager and former football player. He has previously coached Helsingborgs IF, Östers IF, Kalmar FF and Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan. His over ten-year tenure as manage ...

, who first had brought him to Sweden, at the Stockholm-based outfit. Solheim established himself as a first choice left defender at Hammarby during the 2015 season. He missed out on the whole first half of the 2016 season due to another, less serious, knee injury.

Stabæk

In November 2019, Solheim returned to Norwegian football, joining Stabæk on a three-year contract. He retired in August 2021 to become a banker.

Career statistics

Honours

;Sogndal *

Norwegian First Division The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

Mats Solheim
at NIFS {{DEFAULTSORT:Solheim, Mats 1987 births Living people People from Stryn Norwegian men's footballers Stryn TIL players Sogndal Fotball players Kalmar FF players Hammarby Fotboll players Stabæk Fotball players Norwegian First Division players Eliteserien players Allsvenskan players Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Men's association football utility players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Vestland