Niklas Alexander Backman (born 13 November 1988) is a Swedish former professional

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 le ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He played for

Skiljebo SK Skiljebo SK is a Swedish football club located in Västerås. Background Since their foundation on 4 March 1944 Skiljebo SK has participated mainly in the middle and lower divisions of the Swedish football league system. The club currently pl ...

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

Dalian Aerbin Dalian Professional Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, that participates in the China Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). Their home stadium is Dalian Sports Ce ...

, and AGF during a career that spanned between 2005 and 2021. A full international between 2011 and 2014, he won six

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the Sweden national team.

Club career

Backman started playing football for local

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås ...

team

as a youth. He played with Skiljebo SK until 2008 when he was transferred to

Väsby United Athletic Football Club Eskilstuna, also known as AFC Eskilstuna or simply AFC, is a Swedish football club located in Eskilstuna. The club has previously been known under the names FC Café Opera and Väsby United before switching ownership and th ...

in the Swedish second division

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...

. He played 56 games for the club and completed the 2009 season in style at Väsby keeping them in the Superettan. During the summer of 2009, his playing rights were transferred to

, but he continued playing matches for Väsby. He made no appearances for AIK during their championship-winning campaign. In 2010, he played his first match for

. On 14 October 2021, 32-year old Backman announced his retirement from football, after he experienced symptoms stemming from his previous head injuries.

International career

On 19 January 2011, he made his debut for

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

2–1 away win over

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

. He won his sixth and final

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

on 21 January 2014 in a friendly 2–0 win against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, coming on a substitute for

Pontus Jansson Pontus Sven Gustav Jansson (; born 13 February 1991) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Brentford, where he serves as club captain. Jansson started his career with local club Malmö FF before moving to Ita ...

in the 83rd minute.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

AIK *

Supercupen Svenska Supercupen, ''Swedish Super Cup'', was a one-off fixture in Swedish football played between the Allsvenskan champions and the winners of Svenska Cupen. The fixture was played in November, after the Allsvenskan season. In the event of ...

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

AGF HENTER SVENSK FORSVARSSPILLER I KINA
�� AGF, 18 January 2016

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Backman, Niklas 1988 births Living people Swedish footballers Swedish expatriate footballers Association football defenders Sportspeople from Västerås AIK Fotboll players AFC Eskilstuna players Dalian Professional F.C. players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Allsvenskan players Superettan players Danish Superliga players Sweden international footballers Sweden under-21 international footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in China Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in Denmark Chinese Super League players China League One players