| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mats Rune Werner | ||
| Date of birth | (1953-06-01)1 June 1953 (age 72) | ||
| Place of birth | Värnamo, Sweden | ||
| Position | |||
| Youth career | |||
| Hammarby IF | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1971–1984 | Hammarby IF | 251 | (46) |
| 1984 | Vasalunds IF | 14 | (5) |
| Total | 265 | (51) | |
| International career | |||
| 1970–1971 | Sweden U19 | 7 | (0) |
| 1972–1979 | Sweden U21 | 7 | (1) |
| 1978 | Sweden B | 1 | (0) |
| 1976–1979 | Sweden | 6 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Mats Rune "Matte" Werner (born 1 June 1953) is a Swedish former professionalfootballer. He played forHammarby IF throughout most of his career.[1]
Trained in the youth ranks ofHammarby IF, Werner made his debut inAllsvenskan, the domestic top tier, for the club in 1971, at age 17.[1]
Between1971 and1976, Hammarby consistently finished mid-table, being unable to produce any sort of challenge for the Swedish champion title. During this period, Werner became one of Hammarby's most important players, together with experiencedTom Turesson and other younger talents likeJan Sjöström,Kenneth Ohlsson andRonnie Hellström.[2]
Hammarby reached the final ofSvenska Cupen in1977, the main domestic cup, but lost 0–1 toÖsters IF.[3]
In1979, Werner had re-positioned himself from a tough defender to a physical forward, a move that proved highly successful. The same season, he became the first ever top scorer in Allsvenskan to represent Hammarby, scoring 14 goals in 26 league games.[4]
The highlight of Werner's career came in1982 when Hammarby finished second in the table, going unbeaten the whole season. In the following playoff to decide the Swedish champion, the club went on to beatÖrgryte in the quarter-finals andElfsborg in the semi-finals. In the finals againstIFK Göteborg, Hammarby won 2–1 in the first leg away, but lost 1–3 in the home game atSöderstadion to a record crowd, missing out on the gold medal.[5][6][7]
Throughout his time at Hammarby, Werner went on trial with German giantsBayern Munich and reportedly attracted interest fromStandard Liège,Kaiserslautern andToronto Blizzard.[8][1] However, he remained with the club for the most of career, making 251 league appearances and scoring 46 goals in total.[9][1]
Halfway through 1984, Werner joined fellow Stockholm-based clubVasalunds IF inDivision 1, Sweden's second tier. He played the remainder of the season with the club before retiring from football at the end of the year, aged 31.[10][1]
In 2004, Werner was voted as Hammarby's eleventh biggest profile throughout its history.[11]
In a period of three years, Werner won 6 caps forSweden.[12] He scored his only international goal in a 6–0 friendly win againstFinland on 11 August 1976, home atMalmö Stadion.[13]
He is married to Yvonne Werner, who has been the long-term head chef at Hammarby's training ground Årsta IP.[9][8]
Individual
Hammarby IF
