Göran Aral (born 3 July 1953 in Sweden) is a former

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. Göran Aral was born in 1953 and is a product of the

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, ''Kungliga Djurgården'' (), is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum ...

youth system. At the beginning of the 1970s he was considered such a promising player that he was selected to go to London and train with

Chelsea FC Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...

. However, a serious injury ended his career in 1977 at the age of 24. Aral was most recently with Swedish Allsvenskan side, Djurgården, serving as their Sport Director, overseeing the club's youth initiatives and technical system. He served at Djurgården in a number of capacities and was on the management team since the late 1990s. During this time, Aral was part of Allsvenskan-winning teams in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, he left Djurgården to work with the

Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association ( sv, Svenska Fotbollförbundet, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women – and the men's and women's nat ...

and remained there until 2008 when he returned to Djurgården to serve as technical director. During the 2010 season he was hired by

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

to serve as an assistant coach under fellow Swede

Hans Backe Hans Roland "Hasse" Backe (; born 14 February 1952) is a Swedish football manager and former player who most recently led Finland's national team. Prior to this he managed the New York Red Bulls. He has coached clubs in Sweden, Norway, Greece, ...

. He was hired to assist with the first-team and to oversee the club's academy system. At the end of the 2010 season, Aral left the club and was eventually replaced by Jan Halvor Halvorsen.

References

Living people 1953 births Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players Swedish footballers Swedish football managers Djurgårdens IF Fotboll directors and chairmen New York Red Bulls non-playing staff Association footballers not categorized by position {{Sweden-footy-bio-stub