Pär Bengtsson (21 July 1922 – 23 October 2007) was a Swedish professional

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 le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Club career

Halmstads BK

Bengtsson began playing for his local team,

Halmstads BK Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish Association football, football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and approved members ...

, who had just been promoted to the

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 highest level of football in Sweden. Although

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was going on at the time, Sweden was neutral, though playing sports in wartime did mean that the roster had to be rotated more often than normal. Because Halmstad had just been promoted, they struggled in the Allsvenskan, and they never finished higher than 6th (out of 12) before being relegated in 1946.

IF Elfsborg

When Halmstad was relegated, Bengtsson was transferred to

Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spe ...

, who had been a strong team, finishing second for three straight seasons between 1942 and 1945. The year Halmstad was relegated, however, they had faltered and finished 7th. After signing Bengtsson, the rebounded slightly, finishing fourth in 1946–47, but they finished just one point above relegation in 1947–48, and only one place above relegation in 1948–49.

Torino

Bengtsson was sold to

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

in Italy in 1949, just after the entire team had been killed in the

Superga air disaster The Superga air disaster occurred on 4 May 1949, when a Fiat G.212 of Avio Linee Italiane (Italian Airlines), carrying the entire Torino football team (popularly known as the ''Grande Torino''), crashed into the retaining wall at the back of th ...

. He played for one season with the Italian club, who came in sixth that year, scoring ten goals.

Nice

Bengtsson went on to play for

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...

, with whom he won the Division 1 in 1950–51. He finished as the t-10th top goalscorer with 15 goals. He and his fellow attacker

Jean Courteaux Jean Courteaux (1926–2003) was a French footballer who played as a striker. He was born in Dammartin-sur-Tigeaux and was best known for his three years at Nice, where he was an important part of two title-winning teams. Career Courteaux joine ...

scored a total of 42 goals, which was then Nice's most prolific partnership of all time (

Hervé Revelli Hervé Revelli (born 5 May 1946) is a French former footballer who played as a forward. He is well–known for having won the French Championship a joint–record seven times. Career Revelli scored 31 Ligue 1 goals during the calendar year of ...

and

Dick van Dijk Dirk Wouter Johannes "Dick" van Dijk (15 February 1946 – 8 July 1997) was a Dutch professional footballer who played for FC Twente and Ajax Amsterdam. He was a member of Ajax's European Cup victory in 1971. He earned seven caps for the Nethe ...

equalled the record in the 1972–73 season, but it has still never been beaten). The following season, he scored twelve goals, and though he was Nice's top scorer, and Nice won the Division 1 again, he was sold to a mid-table team in Division 2,

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

Toulouse

In the 1952–53 season, Toulouse skyrocketed to the top of the Division 2, but Bengtsson only played slightly more than half their games: He was aging, and he was 31 at the end of the season.

Rennes

Toulouse was promoted to Division 1, but Bengtsson stayed in Division 2, being transferred to

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pl ...

. In his first year at Rennais, he became a star forward for the team, scoring 21 goals in 35 games. The next season, however, he floundered. He played in only half the games, and he scored a mere seven goals.

International career

Bengtsson was part of Sweden's squad for the football tournament at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

, but he did not play in any matches. He made two appearances for the Sweden B team in 1947 and 1948.

After football

Bengtsson retired in 1955. He died in 2007 at the age of 85.

Honours

Nice *

French Division 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

: 1950–51, 1951–52 Toulouse *

French Division 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de ...

: 1952–53

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Par Bengtsson 1922 births 2007 deaths Swedish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Torino FC players OGC Nice players Toulouse FC (1937) players Stade Rennais F.C. players Sportspeople from Halmstad Footballers from Halland County