Tim Sparv (born 20 February 1987) is a Finnish football coach and a 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 lea ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He is currently working as an assistant coach of the

Finland national football team The Finland national football team (, ) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body for football in Finland, which was founded in 1907. The team ...

. Sparv was born in

Oravais Oravais () is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality had a population of 2,189 (31 October 2010) and covered a land area of . The population de ...

, and started his football career in Norrvalla FF youth team before moving to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

's junior organisation. He began his senior club career playing for

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational urban areas of Sweden, city at the mouth of the Nissan (river), Nissan river, in the provinces of Sweden, province of Halland on the Sweden, Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat ...

, before signing with

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

in 2010. Sparv made his international debut for

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in February 2009, at the age of 21 and went on to make 84 caps, including appearing in 2010, 2014 and 2018

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

s. His family is a member of the

Swedish-speaking population of Finland The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names—see below; ; ) is a linguistic minority in Finland. They maintain a strong identity and are seen either as a separate cultural, ethnic or linguistic group or ...

Club career

Southampton

Born in

, Ostrobothnia, Sparv spent three years in the youth academy of Southampton. He was a member of Southampton's youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in 2005, where he played alongside

Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented England at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012 and won 47 caps, scoring eight goals. Walcott currently appears as a cl ...

, losing on aggregate to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

. He was named in the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

squad for 2006–07 season and made numerous reserve team appearances but, as Southampton had a plethora of midfielders from which to choose, he was unable to break through into the first team itself.

Halmstad

On 7 January 2007, he moved to

Halmstads BK Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish professional Association football, football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and app ...

to play in

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 ...

, on the advice of both his father and former Halmstads BK player

Michael Svensson Michael Lennart Svensson (born 25 November 1975) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He represented IFK Värnamo, Halmstads BK, Troyes, and Southampton during a career that spanned between 1995 and 2013. A fu ...

. He made his Allsvenskan debut on 9 April 2007 in a match against

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

when he replaced Andreas Johansson as a substitute for the second period. On 1 May 2008, he was

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

ed out to

Vaasan Palloseura Vaasan Palloseura, commonly referred to as VPS, is a Finnish football club, based in Vaasa. It currently plays in the first tier of Finnish football (''Veikkausliiga''). The club's current manager is Jussi Nuorela. The club plays its home matc ...

after suffering illness as well as a lack of playing time with Halmstads.

Groningen

In August 2009, he was close to a move to

, but Halmstad refused to let him go at that point. On 14 August, FC Groningen announced that Sparv would join them as of 1 January 2010. He made his

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

debut on 7 March 2010 in a 1–0 victory over

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

, coming on for Fredrik Stenman in the 78th minute. He scored his first goal for Groningen in the opening match of the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, a 1–1 draw against AZ. His goal came in the 76th minute.

Greuther Fürth

In May 2013 Sparv signed a three-year contract with Greuther Fürth. He made his 2. Bundesliga debut on 21 July 2013 in a match against

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia is most well known as ...

. He scored his first and only league goal for the club on 30 September 2013 in a 4–0 victory over

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

. The goal was the last of the game and came in the 86th minute.

FC Midtjylland

On 3 July 2014, Tim Sparv signed a four-year contract with

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 ...

side

FC Midtjylland Football Club Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which they ...

. On 20 August 2015, he scored against former club Southampton in the 2015–16 Europa League play-off first leg, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He also started the second leg in Denmark which Midtjylland won, to secure the Danish club a place in the group stage and send Southampton out of the competition.

AEL FC

On 26 August 2020, Sparv signed a two-year contract with

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club AEL. On 14 May 2021, there was an official announcement about the termination of the player's contract by mutual agreement.

HJK

On 22 July 2021, Sparv joined HJK. He made his debut on 12 August when he came in as a substitute for

Filip Valenčič Filip Valenčič (born 7 January 1992) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Veikkausliiga club Jaro. Club career Born in Ljubljana, Valenčič started his senior career with local side Interblock, before movin ...

on 82nd minute in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

match against Neftçi Baku.

International career

Finland youth teams

Sparv was the second youngest player in the squad for the

2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, was the tenth edition of FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Championship. It was held in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Turku in Finland from 13 to 30 August 2003. Players born after 1 January 19 ...

played at home but did not make an appearance in the tournament. He made his Finland U21 debut on 7 October 2006 and played a big part in the successful 2009 European Championship qualifying campaign, playing in nine out of ten games and scoring three goals. He was made team captain during the

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship began on 15 June 2009, and was the 17th UEFA European Under-21 Championship. This was the first tournament after the competition reverted to a two-year format, following the single-year 2006–07 comp ...

and scored a penalty in a 2–1 defeat by

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 15 June 2009.

Finland first team

On 4 February 2009, Sparv made his debut for the senior team in a friendly match against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, which ended in a 5–1 defeat. He played his first

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

qualification game on 10 October 2009 when Stuart Baxter chose him to the starting line up against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Helsinki Olympic Stadium The Helsinki Olympic Stadium (; ), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country. The stadium is best known for being the centre of activities in the 1952 Summer ...

. He was named captain of the national team for the first time for a match against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

on 4 September 2015. Sparv was called up for the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

pre-tournament friendly match against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on 29 May 2021. In

UEFA Euro 2020 Group B Group B of UEFA Euro 2020 took place from 12 to 21 June 2021 in Copenhagen's Parken Stadium and Saint Petersburg's Krestovsky Stadium. The group contained host nation Denmark national football team, Denmark, Finland national football team, Finlan ...

he captained Finland in matches against

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 ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

but missed match against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Coaching career

Since his retirement, Sparv has worked for Sparta Prague as a youth coach and an assistant coach for Sparta Prague B. On 17 June 2024, he was named the assistant coach of

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

first team for the 2024–25 season, under the new head coach

Lars Friis Lars Friis (born 7 May 1976) is a Danish football manager. Playing career Lars Friis was born on 7 May 1976 in Feldborg, Denmark. He started playing youth football for local club, Feldborg-Haderup IF. Known for his technical ability and dedi ...

. Later in the same day, Sparv was also named an assistant coach of the

Personal life

Sparv is a

Swedish-speaking Finn The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names—see below; ; ) is a linguistic minority in Finland. They maintain a strong identity and are seen either as a separate cultural, ethnic or linguistic group or, ...

. Sparv is in a relationship with

Jitka Nováčková Jitka Nováčková (born 28 April 1992) is a Czech model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Czech Miss 2011 and subsequently represented the Czech Republic in the Miss Universe 2011 pageant. Early life Born in České Budějovice, No ...

, a Czech model and winner of the

Czech Miss The Miss Universe Czechia () is a national beauty pageant in the Czech Republic. The pageant was founded in 2005, where the winners were sent to Miss Universe. History The Czech Miss was established in 2005 and is organized and produced by M ...

2011

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

. Their daughter Leah Elissa was born on 11 January 2021. In September 2021, Sparv publicly criticized the conditions for migrant workers that had been constructing the stadiums for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

in an article in

The Players' Tribune ''The Players' Tribune'' is a new media platform that produces daily sports conversation and publishes first-person stories from professional athletes. The platform was founded by former professional Major League Baseball player Derek Jeter in ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sparv goal.''

Honours

HJK *

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

FC Midtjylland *

: 2014–15, 2017–18, 2019–20 *

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 ...

: 2018–19 Finland * Baltic Cup: runner-up

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

; bronze

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual *

Football Association of Finland The Football Association of Finland (, SPL; ) is the governing body of football (soccer), football and futsal in Finland. It was founded in Helsinki on 19 May 1907. The SPL organises the Finland national football team, men's and Finland women's ...

: Captain's Ball 2021 * Finland U21 Player of the Year: 2007 *

Player of the Year: 2015 * Finnish Footballer of the Year: 2015

References

External links

FC Midtjylland official profile

Tim Sparv
– SPL competition record * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sparv, Tim 1987 births Living people People from Vörå Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finland men's international footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Southampton F.C. players Halmstads BK players Vaasan Palloseura players FC Groningen players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players FC Midtjylland players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players Allsvenskan players Veikkausliiga players Eredivisie players 2. Bundesliga players Danish Superliga players Super League Greece players UEFA Euro 2020 players Expatriate men's footballers in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Swedish-speaking Finns Footballers from Ostrobothnia (administrative region) Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate football managers in the Czech Republic Football coaches Norrvalla Fotbollsförening players AC Sparta Prague non-playing staff