Magnus Hedman

Early career

Hedman was born in Botkyrka, and began his footballing career with Vårby Gårds IF and IFK Stockholm. He signed with AIK in 1987 and made his Allsvenskan debut for the club during the 1990 Allsvenskan season at only 17 years of age. He won the 1992 Allsvenskan championship with AIK and eventually moved abroad to play for English club Coventry City in July 1997.

Coventry City

Aged 24 on 13 December 1997, Hedman debuted in a 4–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur and only lost his place again in February due to injury. Steve Ogrizovic however was on top form on his return and kept the number 1 shirt almost to the end of the season, Hedman returned for the final three league matches. Hedman made 17 appearances in his first season at Coventry City. Hedman began the 1998-99 campaign as number 1 keeper. Now 41, Ogrizovic was restricted to just two games and Hedman made 42 appearances in all competitions. Hedman remained number 1 in Ogrizovic's final campaign during 1999-2000. The next season saw youngster Chris Kirkland take the shirt from Hedman, but the Sky Blues were relegated from the Premier League during that campaign. Hedman regained his place following Kirkland's transfer to Liverpool after a single game of the 2001–02 season. Hedman's Coventry career came to an acrimonious conclusion towards the end of that season, when he was approached on the pitch during an away match against Preston North End on 6 April 2002 by a 'fan' who was questioning his…

Hedman was chosen as a backup for first-choice keeper Thomas Ravelli in the Sweden squad at the 1994 World Cup alongside Lasse Eriksson. He debuted for the Sweden national team in February 1997, and was chosen for the Sweden squad at the Euro 2000 where he played all Sweden's matches and conceded goals from Bart Goor and Emile Mpenza against Belgium and from Luigi Di Biagio and Alessandro Del Piero against Italy (both lost 2–1). The other match, against Turkey, was 0–0 draw. He won the 2000 Guldbollen award. He also played full-time for Sweden at the 2002 World Cup. He was chosen to represent Sweden at the Euro 2004, where he served as a back-up for keeper Andreas Isaksson.

International

He is divorced from Magdalena Graaf, a Swedish author, former model and pop singer. The couple have two sons together, including singer Lancelot.