Hoops History: “The King of Kings” Henrik Larsson

Part Three of our Hoops History will take a look at the prolific Celtic striker from Sweden, “The King of Kings” Henrik Larsson.

Renowned as one of the top Swedish players to ever grace the pitch, Larsson began his professional career at Swedish side Helsingborgs IF in 1992. He found goal 34 times in 31 appearances that first season, helping the club gain promotion to the top flight for the first time in 24 years. He followed that with 17 goals in 31 appearances in league and cup play the following year, garnering much attention from clubs across Europe.

He signed with Dutch club Feyenoord in November 1993, moving to the Eredivisie side for just under £300,000. He spent four seasons in Rotterdam, recording 42 goals in 142 appearances there and winning two league cups. During the 1994 World Cup, he scored four times for Sweden as they finished in third place, their best finish since 1958. After a drawn-out legal battle regarding his contract after requesting a move, he was sold to Celtic for around £650,000 in the summer of 1997.

In his first season at Parkhead, he helped push the Hoops to a league title for the first time in a decade, ending crosstown-rivals Rangers’ nine-year run. In that season, Larsson netted a respectable 16 times in 35 league appearances along with three goals in League Cup play.

The next season, however, would prove to be his Glasgow breakout. The Swede almost doubled his tally, netting a league-high 29 times in 35 league appearances along with four in UEFA Cup play while winning SPFA’s Players’ Player of the Year Award.

The 1999-2000 campaign would turn out to be a downturn for Larsson, as he suffered a broken leg in a 1-0 loss to Lyon in UEFA Cup play that threatened his ability to play. Before the injury, he looked to repeat his prior success, having scored seven goals in just nine league appearances at that point of the season. However, his leg was able to recover in time for him to make an appearance from the bench in the last match of that season.

Larsson would return to his league-leading goalscoring ways the following season under Martin O’Neill‘s arrival in Parkhead. In that first season in 2001, he would go on to score 53 goals in all play, with a league-leading 35 in 37 appearances as Celtic won the domestic treble for the first time since 1969.

The following season he scored another league-high 29 goals as the Hoops repeated as league champions. He was part of a prolific scoring squad that won the league by 18 points with only one loss on the season, racking up 103 points in league play.

In Martin O’Neill’s third season at Celtic, Larsson lead the squad to the UEFA Cup Final, where the squad came runners-up to FC Porto in a 3-2 loss in Seville, Spain. During this incredible European run, he managed to score 12 times in 12 appearances while also scoring another league-high of 28 goals domestically.

The 2004 campaign would see the club win another league title after losing out to Rangers on a 1 goal differential the season prior. In this season, he would continue his streak of goalscoring dominance in the Scottish Premier League with 30 goals on the campaign. While unable to recreate the season prior’s European success, the club did stun Catalan giants FC Barcelona in UEFA Cup play.

Unfortunately, this would be his last year in Parkhead, as he would leave for Barcelona on a free transfer that summer after seven seasons in Glasgow.

While at Celtic, however, his accomplishments were immense, including four SPFL titles, and two each of the Scottish Cup and League Cup titles. He also took home two Scottish Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year Awards (1999, 2001), two SPFA Players’ Player of the Year Awards (1999, 2001), and a European Golden Boot (2001).

In five of his seven seasons there, he lead the league in goalscoring, including breaking the then-record of 158 league goals which would not be broken again in 2009. He is also the record goalscorer for the Hoops in European play, with 35 goals, as well as holding the record for most goals in UEFA Cup/Europa League play at 40. By the end, he had 242 goals in 315 appearances for the club in all play behind only Jimmy McGrory and Bobby Lennox.

After departing he spent two seasons with FC Barcelona where he was limited by injuries, netting 19 times in 59 appearances there. While with the Blaugrana, he was a part of two La Liga titles, as well as their 2006 Champion’s League victory, even seeing time in the second half of the Final against Arsenal.

However, his career would be on the decline from this point on, returning to his professional roots in Helsingborgs for four seasons. In these four seasons, he would score 54 times in 107 appearances including a Swedish Cup victory. While there, he would be loaned out to Manchester United for two and a half months, where he would be a part of their 2007 Premier League title while three goals in 13 appearances.

Since 2010, he has been a manager for multiple Swedish clubs, including Landskrona (2010-2012), Falkenbergs (2014), and Helsingborgs (2015-2016, 2019). While not finding immense success as a manager in Sweden, he could be due for a return to Parkhead to learn under the tutelage of Neil Lennon as an assistant of some sort.

Regardless, his ability to score was unquestionable, and he should be regarded easily as one of the best to ever don the green and white hoops.