Swedish striker Ulf Ottosson came to Carrow Road on loan from
IFK Norrkoping in January 1997. He began his career with Degerfors
in 1987 for whom he scored 121 goals in 199 games before departing
in 1996. He joined Portuguese side Chaves but this was not his
first time abroad as he had spent 2 months on loan with Swiss
side Locarno in 1991/92. In the autumn of 1996, Ulf returned to
Sweden joining IFK Norrkoping.
Ulf showed initial promise at Carrow Road scoring twice on his
reserve team debut against West Ham on 15th January 1997. Unfortunately
the Canaries lost 3-2. He was quickly promoted into the first
team and made his full debut as an 81st minute substitute for
John Polston against Grimsby on January 18th. Ulf made a total
of 8 appearances for the Canaries scoring once in a 3-2 victory
at Sheffield United. Ultimately Ulf failed to impress Mike Walker who chose not to offer him a full contract.
Despite this disappointment, Ulf still regards his spell in Norfolk
as enjoyable. "The atmosphere was fantastic. The only thing that
mattered there was football and there was at least 14.000 - 18.000
spectators at every home match."
Returning to Sweden, Ulf initially joined Ljungskile before returning
to Degerfors IF in 1997. At the end of the 1999 season, Degerfors
were relegated to the Second Division and Ulf decided to move
on. Although he had made 270 appearances for them. He had also
started his own business making cabinets. Regular Flown To
The Nest contributor Dag
T Hoelseth informed me in February 2000 that Ulf has joined
Italian side Viterbese who play in Serie C1 Girone B. According
to Teamtalk on 19th June,
Ulf was homesick and looking to return to Sweden. Degerfors, Frolunda
and Assyriska were set to be interested. Ulf indeed returned to
Degerfors in June 2000 and scored twice in his first game back.
At the end of his second spell with Degerfors, Ottoson was said
to have started his own business making cabinets
Ottoson began coaching at Gullspångs IF in 2005, before
taking up a player role at Strömtorps IK in 2006. The following
year, he became coach of Strömtorps, but was fired in September
2007.
After taking a three year long timeout from football, Ottosson
returned as a player-manager for Swedish 7th level club Ängebäck
BK in 2011 He quit midway through the 2013 season.