Jonas Wallerstedt

Playing career

IFK Norrköping After playing for two local clubs, he joined IFK Norrköping in 1995. He would become a reliable force at top for his team, scoring 31 goals in 123 appearances, IFK Norrköping was relegated to Superettan after the 2002 season and Wallerstedt decided to try his luck elsewhere attending trials with both Norwegian club Bryne FK and with the Russian club FC Torpedo-Metallurg Moscow. He eventually moved to the Russian club, signing a three-year deal in February 2003, thus becoming the first Swedish player to play in the Russian Premier League.

GIF Sundsvall Wallerstedt returned to Allsvenskan 1 July 2003, after only 5 months in Russia. FIFA allowed the transfer to go through despite their 12-month rule because of FC Torpedo-Metallurg Moscow's administrative problems with both obtaining a visa for the player and paying his wages. This also meant that Wallerstedt transferred to his new team without a transfer fee as his three-year deal with the Russian club no longer was binding. Wallerstedt instantly became a starter and scored 4 goals in 15 starts during his first season, and missed almost the entire season, only able to make two more appearances for the team as a substitute. Despite that the team was involved in the relegation battle, the player extended his contract until the end of the 2008 season declaring that he would sign the contract if he didn't believe that the team would survive the relegation battle. The player would be proven wrong as the team had a hard time without their star and finished 13th (of 14) and was relegated to Superettan after six straight seasons in the top flight.

IFK Göteborg

2006 season Wallerstedt was purchased from GIF Sundsvall to Swedish giants IFK Göteborg for a reported sum of €50,000, along with his teammate and fellow striker Ali Gerba, to replace Peter Ijeh at the front. His debut in Allsvenskan came in the first game of the season when he replaced his former GIF Sundsvall teammate as a second half-substitute (as a part of an unusual triple substitution), in a disappointing 0–0 draw against newly promoted side Öster. His first start and first goal came 2 games later against Helsingborg. Early in the second half he received a sweeping cross from teammate Magnus Johansson that he sent in the net with a diving header. It was the last goal in the 2–2 match, the third straight draw in the team's disappointing start of the season. The rest of the season wasn't much better ending with ten starts and eleven matches coming in from the bench, scoring only 2 more goals,

2007 season The 2007 season was luckier for both Wallerstedt and IFK Göteborg as the team won Allsvenskan and finished as runners-up in Svenska Cupen. He was initially used as a substitute for Stefan Selakovic, who failed to make an impact and in the 10th game for the season Wallerstedt finally made it into the starting eleven. Faring much better than Selakovic and with the departure of fellow striker Marcus Berg to FC Groningen, he was regularly a starter in the latter half of the season, usually paired with Pontus Wernbloom at the top. The two strong and hard-working attackers proved to be a hard pair to defend against as IFK Göteborg finished the season with 14 straight games without a loss. He was also used as a winger several times during the season, a position he had problems with adapting to. Wallerstedt had at the end of the season played 25 matches (12 starts) and managed to score 7 goals in the league, but as the 2008 season approached neither of the players had transferred. Wallerstedt did however state that he was interested in returning to his former after his current contract had expired.

2008 season In his third season IFK Göteborg went into the season as one of the big favorites to win Allsvenskan and as the national champions would attempt to qualify to UEFA Champions League. The season came off to a flying start as IFK Göteborg won Supercupen with Wallerstedt as the big hero with two goals in the 3–1 win. The goal form continued to the league opener against Malmö FF where he found the net to secure a draw. The rest of the season was tougher for the striker as he had a hard time finding playing time as a striker, often placed on the bench and when on the pitch usually finding himself on the left midfield instead of as a striker. This was attributed to the rise of new star Robin Söder and to managers Stefan Rehn and Jonas Olsson preferring the speed injected by Tobias Hysén rather than Wallerstedt's strength. He did, however, participate in 28 games (17 starts), His first (and so far only) goal came in the second game against Murata when he scored the third goal in the 4–0 home win (9–0 total). IFK Göteborg was eliminated in the second qualifying round without Wallerstedt playing a single minute. After the season, he was rumoured to be unsatisfied with the amount of playing time and was linked with several clubs, including local rivals Örgryte IS and former club GIF Sundsvall.

Return to GIF Sundsvall On 24 February it was announced that Wallerstedt had signed for his former GIF Sundsvall, playing in the Swedish second division, Superettan. He scored already in his first game for the club, in a friendly against Umeå FC. Wallerstedt also scored the team's first competitive goal of the season as GIF Sundsvall won beat Falkenbergs FF 2–1. He finished the season with nine goals as GIF Sundsvall finished 5th in Superettan, missing playoff by four points.

International career Jonas Wallerstedt made his international debut for the Sweden national team against South Africa in Pretoria on 27 November 1999 as he came in from the bench replacing Marcus Allbäck. The team consisted of players only from the Scandinavian leagues. He won another two international caps against Denmark and Norway in La Manga between 31 January and 4 February 2000, coming in as a late substitute. Again, the team consisted of players from the Scandinavian leagues. Notably, of the 3 games he participated in, the team lost 2 and made 1 draw scoring only one goal. He has yet to make his competitive debut and his first international goal, but it is unlikely that he will get a chance to win a fourth cap as he has not been up for discussion in several years.

Career statistics

Honours IFK Göteborg Allsvenskan: 2007 Svenska Cupen: 2008 Supercupen: 2008