Quick Facts
TaurusBiography
Tomas Antonelius (born Tomas Gustafsson; 7 May 1973) is a Swedish former footballer, who became an economics student since his retirement. He began his career playing as "Tomas Gustafsson", before changing his name in 2001. The reason for this change was that "Gustafsson" is a very common name in Sweden and it caused a lot of confusion, he chose "Antonelius" as it was the married name of his older sister.
A self-confessed AIK supporter, Antonelius played for Brommapojkarna, AIK, Coventry City in the Premier League and Copenhagen in Denmark. He also had a brief stint with Canadian side Winnipeg Fury, during a year in college in North America.
Club career
Early career
Whilst at AIK, he played against Arsenal in the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League. At the time, Arsenal were playing their home European games at Wembley Stadium, giving Antonelius a run out at the famous ground.
Coventry City
In December 1999, Antonelius joined Coventry City for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut against Arsenal, coming on as a late substitute for Youssef Chippo, as Coventry won 3–2.
Copenhagen
In February 2002, he joined Danish Superliga side Copenhagen. However, he suffered a serious knee injury, 1,5 years after joining the club and never played football again. He announced his retirement in September 2003, due to this failure to recover from the injury.
International career
He was part of the Swedish squad at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup.
Honours
AIK
Winner:
- Allsvenskan (1): 1998
- Svenska Cupen (2): 1996–97, 1998–99
Copenhagen
Winner:
- Danish Superliga (1): 2002–03