Folke Adamsson (1911–1977) was a Swedish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He represented

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differe ...

during his whole playing career and later went on to coach the club for 18 years, as the longest-serving manager in its history.

Club career

He grew up in

Fagersta Fagersta is a locality and the seat of Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden, with 11,130 inhabitants in 2010. Geography The city is located at the junction of two railways between Ludvika-Västerås and Avesta (Krylbo)-Örebro, ...

and started to play youth football with local club Fagersta AIK. In 1931, at age 19, Adamsson moved to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Between 1931 and 1943, Adamsson made 187 league appearances for Hammarby, mostly in the Swedish second tier. In

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

, Hammarby played one season in

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

, the domestic top league, but was relegated immediately. In 1943, Adamsson retired from playing due to a persistent knee injury.

Managerial career

Folke_Adamsson,_manager_of_Hammarby_IF,_in_1961

After his playing career, Adamsson was the coach of Huvudsta IS and Hagalunds IS. In 1946–47, Hammarby finished last in Division 2, and got relegated to

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success o ...

due to a restructuring of the Swedish league system. The next season, Adamsson took over as head coach of Hammarby, replacing Sven Bergqvist. The economy had collapsed and the club's entire existence was now threatened.Persson, p. 76. Up on his return to Hammarby, Adamsson said: Adamsson would, together with team manager

Lennart Nyman Lennart Nyman (25 June 1917 – 25 August 1998) was a Swedish football coach and sports administrator, best known for being the first ever manager of the Sweden national team between 1962 and 1965. He was also the chairman of multi-sport club Ham ...

, lead Hammarby IF from Division 4 back to Allsvenskan in just six seasons.Persson, p. 76. The duo is credited with implementing a sense of work ethic and professionalism in the club. In the 1953–1954 season, the second tier was won without a single loss, whilst using only 15 players.Persson, p. 81. Hammarby went on to compete in Allsvenskan during the majority of Adamsson's stint at the club, before he decided to step down as manager at the end of 1965, being replaced by Georg Kraemer.

Other sports

In 1939, Adamsson was part of the first squad as Hammarby established a handball section.

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamsson, Folke 1911 births 1977 deaths Association football midfielders Swedish football managers Hammarby Fotboll managers Hammarby Fotboll players Swedish footballers People from Fagersta Municipality Allsvenskan players Sportspeople from Västmanland County