Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson
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Sven-Göran Eriksson

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Sven-Göran Eriksson

Sven-Göran Eriksson (Swedish pronunciation: [svɛnˈjœ̂ːran ˈêːrɪkˌsɔn] ; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish football player and manager.

After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management between 1977 and 2001, winning 18 trophies with a variety of league clubs in Sweden, Portugal, and Italy. In European competition, he won the UEFA Cup in 1982, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1999, the last edition of the tournament before its abolition, the UEFA Super Cup in 1999, and reached the European Cup final in 1990.

Eriksson later managed the national teams of England, Mexico, the Philippines and the Ivory Coast, as well as Manchester City and Leicester City in England. Eriksson coached in ten countries: Sweden, Portugal, Italy, England, Mexico, Ivory Coast, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, China, and the Philippines.

Sven-Göran Eriksson was born on 5 February 1948 in Sunne and raised in Torsby, both in Värmland, Sweden. His father, also named Sven (born 1929), was a bus conductor whilst his mother, Ulla (1926–2011), worked in a textile store. He was nicknamed "Svennis" after his younger brother Lars-Erik's attempt to pronounce his name; Eriksson went on to become known, and is generally referred to in Sweden mononymously, by this nickname.

Eriksson made his debut for Swedish football Division 4 team Torsby IF at the age of 16. He switched clubs to SK Sifhälla after moving to Säffle to study economics. In 1972, he joined Swedish football Division 2 team KB Karlskoga, where he also worked as a physical education teacher in Örebro.

Eriksson was heavily influenced by Karlskoga's player-manager, Tord Grip, who favoured the English style of play that Bob Houghton and Roy Hodgson had brought to the country. Eriksson retired from playing in 1975 at the age of 27, after giving up on his dream of playing professional football; he summed up his brief playing career by saying: "I was looked upon as a distinctly average defender, but someone who rarely made mistakes".

Having retired as a player, Eriksson received an offer to become Tord Grip's assistant at Degerfors IF. A year later, Grip was appointed assistant manager of the Sweden national team, and Eriksson became Degerfors' manager. His stint as manager lasted from 1 January 1977 to 31 December 1978. He led the team to the playoffs in 1977 and 1978, winning the latter and promotion to Swedish Football Division 2.

Eriksson's success with assistant manager Tom Chadney by his side attracted the attention of much larger clubs, and Eriksson was appointed manager of IFK Göteborg on 1 January 1979. The move was such a surprise that many of the players had never even heard of him.

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