John Klebér Saarenpää (born 14 December 1975[1]) is a Swedish football manager and former player who was most recently in charge of Superettan club Helsingborgs IF.[2] A defender, he played for IK Sirius, Djurgårdens IF, IFK Norrköping, AaB, Hammarby IF, and Vejle during a career that spanned between 1992 and 2008. A full international between 2000 and 2001, he won 11 caps for the Sweden national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Klebér Saarenpää | ||
| Date of birth | 14 December 1975 | ||
| Place of birth | Uppsala, Sweden | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1981– | Stäppens IF | ||
| –1991 | Uppsala-Näs IK | ||
| 1991–1992 | IK Sirius | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1994 | IK Sirius | 46 | (2) |
| 1995–1996 | Djurgårdens IF | 34 | (1) |
| 1997–2000 | IFK Norrköping | 88 | (4) |
| 2001–2004 | AaB | 31 | (1) |
| 2005 | IK Sirius | 5 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Hammarby IF | 6 | (0) |
| 2007 | Vejle Boldklub | 10 | (2) |
| 2007–2008 | Hammarby IF | 13 | (0) |
| Total | 233 | (10) | |
| International career | |||
| 1991–1992 | Sweden U17 | 9 | (0) |
| 1993–1994 | Sweden U19 | 10 | (0) |
| 1995–1998 | Sweden U21 | 11 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Sweden | 11 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009–2010 | Hammarby IF (youth) | ||
| 2011 | Hammarby Talang FF | ||
| 2012–2013 | Syrianska | ||
| 2014 | Vejle BK (assistant manager) | ||
| 2014–2016 | Vejle BK | ||
| 2016 | Syrianska | ||
| 2017 | Hammarby IF (U19 manager) | ||
| 2018–2023 | IK Brage | ||
| 2024–2025 | Helsingborgs IF | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editSaarenpää was born in Uppsala to a Guinean mother and a Finnish father,[3] and he started his career in local team Stäppens IF.
Saarenpää represented Djurgårdens IF, IFK Norrköping, Hammarby IF and AaB (in Denmark). He made a contract with the Danish club Vejle Boldklub from 1 January 2007. On 10 March 2007, he debuted as captain for Vejle Boldklub and scored two goals. His contract with Vejle Boldklub only ran until 30 June 2007 and Saarenpää has therefore played his last match for the club. After that he returned to his old club Hammarby IF and signed a two-year contract with the Stockholm based club. He ended his career after the 2008 season.
International career
editInternationally, Saarenpää represented the Sweden U17, U19, and U21 teams a total of 30 times before making his full international debut for the Sweden national team on 31 January 2000 in a friendly game against Denmark.[4] He made his competitive debut for Sweden in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Slovakia, in which he played in all 90 minutes as Sweden won 2–0.[4] He appeared in four more qualifying games for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but missed the final tournament because of an injury.[5] He won a total of 11 caps between 2000 and 2001.[4]
Coaching career
editIn January 2014 Saarenpää signed a 2.5-year contract with Vejle Boldklub as an Assistant Manager.[6] In October of the same year he was promoted to Manager of Vejle Boldklub after the former Manager Tonny Hermansen withdrew from the position.[7] He was sacked on 23 April 2016.[8]
Personal life
editSaarenpää also has Finnish citizenship.[citation needed]
Career statistics
editManagerial statistics
edit- As of match played 12 January 2024
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Syrianska |  |
21 March 2012 | 31 December 2013 | 65 | 15 | 12 | 38 | 72 | 114 | −42 | 23.08 |
| Vejle BK |  |
20 October 2014 | 24 April 2016 | 50 | 22 | 12 | 16 | 78 | 65 | +13 | 44.00 |
| Syrianska | |
1 August 2016 | 31 December 2016 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 19 | +4 | 43.75 |
| IK Brage | |
1 January 2018 | 11 November 2023 | 203 | 83 | 47 | 73 | 310 | 279 | +31 | 40.89 |
| Helsingborgs IF | |
1 January 2024 | Present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | — |
| Total | 334 | 127 | 76 | 131 | 483 | 477 | +6 | 38.02 | |||
References
edit- ↑ "Klebèr Saarenpää — svenskfotboll.se". svenskfotboll.se. Archived from the original on 22 July 2014.
- ↑ Kuduzovic, Midhat (8 November 2025). "HIF och Klebér Saarenpää bryter avtalet i förtid - Helsingborgs IF" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 December 2025.
- ↑ "Superliga: Viborg-AaB 1-2". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). 22 October 2000. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
Svenskeren med en finsk far og en mor fra Guinea
[The Swede with a Finnish father and a mother from Guinea] - 1 2 3 4 "Klebér Saarenpää - Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ↑ "Saarenpää kan missa VM: Måste jag opereras är det kört". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 15 February 2002. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ↑ "Vejle Boldklub – Topfodbold i Regionen". Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ "Vejle Boldklub – Topfodbold i Regionen". Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ "Vejle Boldklub – Topfodbold i Regionen". Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
External links
edit- (in Danish) Vejle Boldklub profile Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- (in Danish) AaB profile
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