Henrik Larsson

Larsson also played floorball at a competitive level in 1989. On 23 November 2008, he resumed his floorball career when he played his first Swedish Super League game for Helsingborg. In his second game for the club, he made two assists, and was voted man of the match.

In four years playing at senior level with Högaborg, Larsson scored 23 goals in 74 matches. In 1992, second division side Helsingborg (the main club of his home city) signed Larsson.

In November 1993, Dutch side Feyenoord signed Larsson for a fee of £295,000. He made his league debut on 21 November 1993 as a substitute for Regi Blinker in a 1–1 home draw against Vitesse. Larsson took time to adjust to working and living in a foreign country and could only muster a modest 6 goals in 27 appearances in his first season. His goalscoring record improved in subsequent seasons, but he continued to be unsettled and frustrated by a combination of ever-changing coaches, being played in unfamiliar positions and latterly the club's player-rotation policy which saw him being substituted fifty or sixty minutes into a match even when playing well.

Larsson scored 37 goals in 106 matches for the Sweden national team. He scored his first international goal in his debut on 13 October 1993, during the World Cup qualifications stage, in a 3–2 win against Finland.

Larsson won his first major winner's medal on 12 May 1994 when he played in the Feyenoord side that defeated NEC 2–1 in the final of the KNVB Cup. The following season, Larsson won his second winner's medal in the same tournament when Feyenoord won 2–1 against Volendam. He did record a hat-trick in a 4–3 win against Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1994–95.

On 21 June 1996, Larsson married Magdalena Spjuth, whom he had met in a restaurant at the age of 19. She is the daughter of a politician and an education director at the local municipality. They have one son, professional footballer Jordan Larsson (born 1997 and named after basketball player Michael Jordan), and one daughter, Janelle Larsson (born 2002), a member of the junior Swedish national show jumping team.

In 1997, Larsson told manager Arie Haan that he wished to leave the club. A bitter legal wrangle then ensued over a clause in his contract that Larsson claimed would allow him to be sold on if a fee of £600,000 was offered. Larsson won his case and in July 1997, he signed for Scottish side Celtic.

Following the contract dispute with Feyenoord, Larsson was signed by Celtic manager Wim Jansen in July 1997 for a fee of £650,000. In his first season at Celtic, he played the role of supporting forward alongside Darren Jackson, Simon Donnelly and later Harald Brattbakk.

In Larsson's Celtic debut, against Hibernian at Easter Road, he came on as a late substitute. He inadvertently passed the ball to Hibernian player Chic Charnley, who then went on to score, resulting in a 2–1 defeat for Celtic. He scored an own goal in his first European game, although Celtic did go on to win 6–3 against Austrian side Tirol Innsbruck. After his poor start to the season, he went on to score 19 goals in all competitions, and was Celtic's top scorer for the season. In November 1997, Larsson won his first medal for the club with a 3–0 win over Dundee United at Ibrox Stadium to give Celtic the Scottish League Cup. Larsson scored Celtic's second goal in the match. On the final day of the league season, he scored the opener with a powerful shot from 20 yards out in a 2–0 win against St Johnstone to clinch the championship for Celtic. It was the club's first league championship win since the double winning season 1987–88 and stopped Old Firm rivals Rangers from breaking Celtic's record of nine titles in a row.

The 1999–2000 season saw another change in management for Celtic. Former Liverpool and England international winger John Barnes replaced Vengloš to become manager at the club. The season started very brightly for Larsson as he notched up eight league goals in just nine games for the club. During Celtic's 1–0 defeat in a UEFA Cup tie against Lyon on 21 October 1999, Larsson suffered a career-threatening injury, breaking his leg in two places in a challenge with Serge Blanc. This resulted in him spending eight months on the sidelines, only returning on the last day of the 1999–2000 season. John Barnes cited Larsson's injury as being a significant factor in his sacking by Celtic after only months in the position. It was initially feared that Larsson had suffered a compound leg fracture, an injury which would normally result in an even longer absence – or possibly even end his professional career – but X-rays soon revealed that the injury was not as serious as originally feared. By the time Larsson had completed his rehabilitation, John Barnes had been sacked and replaced by director of football Kenny Dalglish as interim manager. Larsson made his comeback with a substitute appearance against Dundee United at Celtic Park on the final day of the SPL season.

Celtic met Portuguese side Boavista in the semi-final. Boavista took the advantage on away goals after a 1–1 draw in the first leg, in which Larsson scored the equaliser after missing a penalty. In the second leg, Larsson struck for Celtic after a one-two with John Hartson with only ten minutes remaining. The goal sent Celtic through to their first European final since 1970. The final in Seville against Porto saw Larsson equalise twice for Celtic with two headers, although the Scottish club eventually lost 3–2 after extra time. Larsson also finished runner-up to Porto's Derlei in the competition's goalscoring charts. Larsson described the pain of the defeat as being the worst moment of his career, including his leg break in 1999. More disappointment followed, as Celtic finished up runners-up to Rangers on the last day of the SPL season, by only a single goal on goal difference. 2003 also saw Larsson voted as the Greatest Swedish Footballer of the Last 50 Years as part of the UEFA Jubilee Awards. He also finished the season again the top SPL goalscorer with 28 goals from 35 games. Larsson ranked 14th (in 2001) and 12th (in 2003) in the final standings for the Ballon d'Or.

Larsson was also a consistent goalscorer in international competition. He scored two goals in the 2003 UEFA Cup final, although Porto went on to win 3–2. With 35 goals to his name, Larsson is the record goalscorer for Celtic in UEFA competitions. Celtic fans selected Larsson (the only player from outside Scotland) in the greatest ever Celtic team, when a vote was held in 2002.

Celtic defeated Rangers in all five Old Firm fixtures that season. Larsson's final Old Firm goal came in a 1–0 Scottish Cup win at Parkhead. His final competitive game at home for Celtic came in a league match against Dundee United on 16 May 2004, and he scored both goals as Celtic won 2–1. In his last competitive appearance for Celtic, he scored two goals to defeat Dunfermline Athletic on 22 May 2004 at Hampden and win the 2004 Scottish Cup final.

Larsson played a testimonial match on 25 May 2004 against Sevilla in front of a capacity crowd at Celtic Park. In all, he scored 242 goals for Celtic in 315 matches, and his performances saw fans nickname him The King of Kings.

Since leaving Celtic Park in June 2004, Larsson has returned to play for Celtic in testimonial matches three times. The first was in May 2005, for Jackie McNamara's testimonial against the Republic of Ireland, which Celtic lost 1–0, Robbie Keane scoring the only goal. His second guest appearance was in May 2008, when Larsson played as part of the Celtic 1998 championship-winning side against the Motherwell 1991 Scottish Cup-winning side. The match was played in memory of Larsson's former teammate Phil O'Donnell, who had died in December 2007 while playing in a match for Motherwell. Larsson, who scored an overhead kick in the 5–1 victory for Celtic, left Sweden's national training camp early to take part in the match. The third was on 9 August 2011, when Larsson played for the Celtic Legends against the Manchester United Legends for John Kennedy's testimonial. He scored a hat-trick and made a further assist for Bobby Petta as the Celtic side came back from 2–0 down to win 5–2.

At the end of the 2003–04 season, Larsson left Celtic on a free transfer and signed a one-year contract with Barcelona with an option for a second year. Larsson's contribution in Barça's La Liga win in his first season there was disrupted by serious injury. He scored 3 goals in 12 Liga games and one goal (against his former club Celtic) in four Champions League matches. After the match against Celtic, he said: "It was very difficult for me to celebrate my goal because I had so many great times here." On 20 November 2004, during the 3–0 victory in El Clásico against Real Madrid, Larsson tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in his left knee. Despite his injury-hit 2004–05 season, playing only 16 games, Barcelona took the option to extend his contract.

In December 2005, Larsson announced that at the end of his contract, which ended in July, he would leave Barcelona and return to Sweden to end his career. He revealed that he had refused an offer by club president Joan Laporta to extend his contract to the end of the next season. On the announcement of his departure, Ronaldinho said:

After Sweden's elimination from the 2006 FIFA World Cup on 24 June 2006, Larsson joined up with his former club, Helsingborg. He made his second debut for his home town club against Hammarby in the Swedish Cup on 6 July 2006. Helsingborg went on to win the competition, defeating Gefle 2–0 in the final on 11 November 2006, earning Larsson another medal. Larsson's eight league goals in 15 appearances also helped his team to a fourth-place finish in the Allsvenskan. This successful season earned Helsingborg a slot in the following season's UEFA Cup.

He retired from international football for the second time on 17 July 2006. "It is time to quit now. It feels right. I'm done with the national team", the 34-year-old Larsson told TV station Canal Plus.

Shortly after rejoining Helsingborg, Larsson was signed on loan by Manchester United from 1 January until 12 March 2007, coinciding with the Allsvenskan's off-season. He scored on his debut against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on 7 January 2007 at Old Trafford, facing his former Celtic manager Martin O'Neill. Larsson scored his first ever FA Premier League goal on 31 January in a 4–0 win over Watford.

After leaving Manchester United in March 2007, Larsson resumed his career with Helsingborg. Larsson helped the club through the preliminary stages of the UEFA Cup, where Larsson scored twice against Estonian side Narva Trans and once against League of Ireland side Drogheda United. The first round proper of the UEFA Cup that season saw a high-scoring tie between Helsingborg and Heerenveen, Larsson's side lost 5–3 in the Netherlands on 20 September 2007, with Larsson scoring twice. The return leg in Sweden on 4 October 2007 saw Helsingborg win 5–1, Larsson again scoring, to win the tie 8–6 on aggregate and qualify for the group stage. Helsingborg progressed from the group stage, with Larsson scoring against Panionios, Austria Wien and Bordeaux, and they qualified for the round of 32, where they lost 1–4 on aggregate to PSV in February 2008. Helsingborg could not match their league performances of the previous year, and finished in eight place in Allsvenskan in 2007. Helsingborg also failed to retain the Swedish Cup, losing 1–2 to BoIS in the fourth round in June 2007.

The 2008 Allsvenskan saw Larsson produce his best league goal-scoring tally since returning to Sweden, with his 14 goals helping Helsingborg to fourth place and qualification in 2009–10 for the rebranded UEFA Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup.

Sweden boss Lars Lagerbäck managed to lure Larsson out of international retirement once more and on 13 May 2008, the Swedish Football Association officially declared that Larsson had agreed to make a comeback and play for Sweden once again at Euro 2008. Larsson assisted Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a goal against Greece in the first group stage game, but could not help Sweden advance to the quarter-finals.

Following former team captain Fredrik Ljungberg's decision to quit the national side after the tournament, Larsson was chosen to become the new captain in a friendly match against France on 20 August 2008, He scored his 37th goal for Sweden in that match, although France ended up winning 3–2. He played his 100th game for Sweden on 6 September 2008, in a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Albania, which ended in a 0–0 draw.

In July 2009, Larsson scored three goals in the Europa League qualifying ties against Eastern European minnows Mika and Zestaponi. He broke his knee-cap during the first leg of the next qualifying round against Sarajevo on 30 July 2009, and was out for an estimated eight weeks. Some reports at the time suggested that this in fact was the end of his playing career, with this injury also coming on top of the recent death of his younger brother, Robert. However, he returned to the first team on 16 September 2009, appearing as a substitute in a 1–3 defeat against IFK Göteborg in the Swedish Cup, and then on 24 September 2009 in his first start since returning from injury, he scored two goals (including the winner) against league rivals AIK. He is Helsingborg's record goalscorer in UEFA competitions with 12 goals.

On 20 October 2009, Larsson announced his retirement from playing at the end of the 2009 Allsvenskan. The announcement followed a previous statement from the player declaring his intention to retire from international duty. Larsson had also stated his desire to move into coaching and expressed his intent to study for coaching badges in Scotland under the Scottish Football Association system. The announcement quickly sparked rumours of a return to Celtic as manager, even going so far as to suggest a link-up with former Celtic teammate Ľubomír Moravčík as his assistant. Larsson also discussed the possibility of taking up floorball on a full-time basis.

Larsson took to the pitch for the final time in Helsingborg's 2–0 Allsvenskan loss to Djurgården on 28 October 2009, and was given a standing ovation from the crowd.

On 11 October 2009, Larsson once again decided to retire from the national team.

On 14 December 2009 Larsson was appointed manager at Landskrona BoIS, a Swedish second division football club, on a one-year contract.

On 6 June 2009, before Sweden's 1–0 loss against Denmark, Larsson's younger brother Robert, who had a troubled personal life, was found dead in his flat in their hometown of Helsingborg. Henrik was not told until after the match had concluded. Henrik Larsson also has an elder half-brother, Kim.

Larsson participated in the Soccer Aid football match at Old Trafford on 6 June 2010 for the Rest of the World team in aid of UNICEF. Larsson made a promise that at the end of his football career, he would play one season at his first club, Högaborg. When he retired at the end of the 2009 season, that promise was not fulfilled. In August 2010, however, Larsson played with Högaborg's veterans team and scored 16 goals in 5 matches.

The 2010 Superettan, the first season for Larsson as a manager, started off positively for Landskrona. With an aggressively attacking 4–3–3 formation Larsson's club lined up victories and fought for the premier seats and promotion to Allsvenskan, until the very end of the season. They ended, however, in fifth place. The Landskrona BoIS board was satisfied with the results, and therefore both Larsson and his assistant manager Hans Eklund renewed their contracts for another year.

On 23 March 2011, Landskrona BoIS announced the recruitment of the Swedish national team qualified midfielder Marcus Lantz from Helsingborg, a solicitation that was largely thanks to Larsson. With the recruitment of Lantz, Henrik Larsson announced a major effort to make the club win Superettan and be promoted to Allsvenskan, from which they were relegated in 2005.

Before the 2011 Superettan season, the managers of the other Superettan clubs had tipped Landskrona as the likely champion. But the season was about to become the club's worst in years. Instead of being in the top of the table, Landskrona was stuck at the bottom more than halfway into the season, with relegation looming. Some fans protested against both the board and Henrik Larsson, sarcastically suggesting that the club had used an impostor instead of the real Larsson. The crisis went so deep within the association that the board wanted Larsson himself to make a comeback as a player. Larsson played for 20 minutes with Landskrona's reserve team in a match against Mjällby AIF, but felt physically unprepared for playing in Superettan, even if the sporting director of Landskrona, Mats Aronsson, believed the opposite. However, Landskrona and Henrik Larsson avoided relegation and finished tenth largely because of the summer signing of goalkeeper Ivo Vazgec who achieved the best save percentage in the league.

On 21 November 2011, Larsson signed a new one-year contract, making him manager for Landskrona during the 2012 Superettan as well. Landskrona performed better in 2012, but only managed to finish in sixth place instead of achieving the third-place finish which would have meant qualification for a promotion play-off spot. In November 2012, Larsson confirmed he had left his position and would consider any available posts elsewhere.

In August 2012, Larsson came out of retirement for a brief spell at Swedish fifth division (Division 3) side Råå. He made one appearance, coming on as a substitute in a league match on 22 September 2012, a 1–1 draw against Höganäs. Larsson then registered as a player with Högaborg's senior-recreational side and played games with them. Due to the many injuries, Larsson was included in the first-team squad that beat Tenhult with 4–2 on 19 June 2013. He came off the bench in the 85th minute, and played alongside his son, Jordan. At age 42, Larsson took part in a further league match for Högaborg on 26 October 2013, when he played the first 66 minutes in a 2–0 win over IF Haga. At age 44, Larsson took part in a 7–1 friendly win for Helsingborg over IFK Malmö, in which he scored in the 89th minute of play.

On 4 December 2013, Larsson was appointed manager of Falkenberg, signing a one-year rolling contact with the newly promoted club. After securing Falkenberg's position in Allsvenskan, it was announced on 10 November 2014 that he would not manage the club for the 2015 season.

After leaving Falkenberg, Larsson was appointed manager of Helsingborg. In November 2016, Helsingborg were relegated to Superettan after losing a two-legged play-off against Halmstad. After the final whistle, a minor group of disappointed home fans attacked both Larsson and his son, Jordan. Following the end of the season, Larsson decided to leave the club.

On 16 June 2019, Helsingborg announced that Larsson had returned to the club as their new manager.

On 23 August 2019, Helsingborg announced that Larsson had decided to quit as head coach after being verbally assaulted on social media following the club's loss to third tier club Oskarshamns AIK in the qualification to Svenska Cupen group stage.

In September 2019 he began talks with English club Southend United about becoming their manager, but these collapsed when proposed assistant Tommy Johnson accepted another offer.

On 21 August 2020, FC Barcelona announced that Larsson alongside Alfred Schreuder have joined new head coach Ronald Koeman‘s coaching staff until June 30, 2022.