Tobias Jan Håkan Linderoth (Swedish pronunciation: [tʊˈbǐːas ˈlɪ̂nːdɛˌruːt]; born 21 April 1979) is a professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Swedish club Varbergs BoIS. He played as a midfielder, and played professionally in Sweden, Norway, England, Denmark, and Turkey before injuries forced him to retire in 2010. Born in France, he won 76 caps for the Sweden national team and represented them at two FIFA World Cups (2002 and 2006) and two UEFA European Championships (2004 and 2008).
Linderoth with Sweden during the 2006 FIFA World Cup
| |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Tobias Jan Håkan Linderoth[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1979-04-21) 21 April 1979 (age 45) | ||
| Place of birth | Marseille, France | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Varbergs BoIS (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1985–1992 | Mjällby AIF | ||
| 1992–1995 | IFK Hässleholm | ||
| 1995–1996 | Feyenoord | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995 | IFK Hässleholm | 7 | (0) |
| 1996–1998 | IF Elfsborg | 57 | (4) |
| 1998–2001 | Stabæk | 68 | (9) |
| 2001–2004 | Everton | 40 | (0) |
| 2004–2007 | Copenhagen | 82 | (4) |
| 2007–2010 | Galatasaray | 13 | (0) |
| Total | 267 | (17) | |
| International career | |||
| 1994–1995 | Sweden U17 | 15 | (1) |
| 1997–1998 | Sweden U19 | 11 | (0) |
| 1998–2001 | Sweden U21 | 22 | (0) |
| 1999–2008 | Sweden | 76 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021–2023 | Skövde AIK | ||
| 2024– | Varbergs BoIS | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Linderoth played for Stabæk and then an unremarkable spell at Everton marred by injury, where he scored once against Charlton Athletic in the League Cup,[2] before he joined Copenhagen in the summer of 2004. He was a regular first team player for three seasons in Copenhagen and was made captain for the team that won two Danish championships and qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
On 12 June 2007, Linderoth signed a three-year contract with Turkish side Galatasaray, where he wore the number 6.
On 22 January 2010, Linderoth was released by Galatasaray prematurely.[3] On 12 November 2010, Linderoth officially announced the end of his career as a player.[4] He stated he was aiming to become a coach like his father.[4] He now works as a youth team coach at Elfsborg.[5]
Linderoth was eligible for France because he was born there but he chose the Sweden national team.
Linderoth was a midfield dynamo on the Sweden national team where he also was assistant captain. Tobias played for Sweden in the Euro 2004 and Euro 2008, as well as in the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup tournaments. In one game at the World Cup in 2002, he ran 14.6 kilometres (9.1 mi) during the 96 minutes of the match – not an unusual feature for the hard-working midfielder.
On 26 May 2008, Linderoth scored his second international goal, the only goal in a 1–0 win over Slovenia in a pre-Euro 2008 friendly warm-up.
On 6 September 2008, during a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Albania, he was injured and had to be substituted in the 6th minute – this was to be the last game he played for Sweden.
After retiring, Linderoth spent a decade as the manager for Elfsborg's youth academy. On 18 November 2020, Linderoth was named the manager of Skövde AIK.[6]
He is the son of football coach Anders Linderoth, a former Swedish international who played in the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina,[7] and Tobias was born in France during Anders' spell at Marseille. On 25 October 2006, Tobias and his wife Maria became parents when she gave birth to their first child.
| Club | Season | League | Cup[nb 1] | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| IFK Hässleholm | 1995 | Division 1 Södra | 7 | 0 | – | 7 | 0 | |||
| Elfsborg | 1996 | Division 1 Södra | 10 | 0 | – | 10 | 0 | |||
| 1997 | Allsvenskan | 25 | 1 | – | 25 | 1 | ||||
| 1998 | Allsvenskan | 22 | 3 | – | 22 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 57 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 57 | 4 | |||
| Stabæk | 1999 | Tippeligaen | 23 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 3 |
| 2000 | Tippeligaen | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 5 | |
| 2001 | Tippeligaen | 21 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | 24 | 2 | ||
| Total | 68 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 79 | 10 | ||
| Everton | 2001–02 | Premier League | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 11 | 0 | |
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | Premier League | 27 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 29 | 1 | ||
| Total | 40 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | 46 | 1 | |||
| Copenhagen | 2004–05 | Danish Superliga | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | Danish Superliga | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 35 | 1 | |
| 2006–07 | Danish Superliga | 24 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 37 | 4 | |
| Total | 82 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 105 | 5 | ||
| Galatasaray | 2007–08 | Süper Lig | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 1 |
| 2008–09 | Süper Lig | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | Süper Lig | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 25 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 267 | 17 | 24 | 1 | 28 | 3 | 319 | 21 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 1999 | 1 | 0 |
| 2000 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 13 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 14 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 3 | 1 | |
| Total | 76 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 February 2001 | Supachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand |  China |
2–0 | 3–0 | 2001 King's Cup |
| 2 | 26 May 2008 | Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden |  Slovenia |
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Skövde | 
|
18 November 2020 | Present | 62 | 29 | 18 | 15 | 95 | 70 | +25 | 046.77 |
| Career total | 62 | 29 | 18 | 15 | 95 | 70 | +25 | 046.77 | |||
IF Elfsborg
FC Copenhagen
Galatasaray
Individual
