Thomas Sjöberg (born 6 July 1952) is a Swedish former 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 ...
who played as a
forward. A full international between 1974 and 1981, he won 45
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
for the
Sweden national team and represented his country at the
1978 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
Sjöberg played much of his career with
Malmö FF
Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association ...
in
Allsvenskan during the 1970s. Already during his first season for
Malmö FF
Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association ...
, the club, much to his goal scoring capacity won the top Swedish football league,
Allsvenskan in 1974, under English manager
Bob Houghton
Robert Douglas Houghton (born 30 October 1947) is an English football manager and former player. His career has spanned over 30 years and 10 countries. He is most famous for taking Swedish club Malmö FF to the 1979 European Cup Final, where th ...
. This was repeated the following season. When he then left for
Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DF ...
in the
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
during the 1976-77 season, his former Swedish club only came second in Allsvenskan, behind
Halmstad 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 ...
, which were led by another Englishman,
Roy Hodgson. As Sjöberg returned to Malmö FF they won Allsvenskan again! So during four years, Malmö FF won Allsvenskan at three occasions, in which Sjöberg participated during the three "golden years" only. With Malmö FF he won
Allsvenskan and became Swedish Champion in 1974, 1975 and 1977.
After scoring a goal for Sweden in the
1978 World Cup in Argentina against Brazil, the well bearded Sjöberg become interesting for an Arabian Sheik, who bought him for a club in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. This became a rather short adventure for him, and likewise a shorter time in the
old North American NASL league (not to be confused with current
Major League Soccer) and a club from
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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followed. This time he was absent from Malmö FF for less than 12 months. However he missed an indeed very important season for Malmö FF, and didn't participate in the club's most well known international achievement so far (also by summer of 2014), to reach the final of the
European Cup in
1978-79 season. (which though was lost to
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
by a single decider). He did though return to Malmö FF for a third time and for some more seasons. He ended his career in
Lunds BK
Lunds BK is a football club from Lund, Sweden founded in 1919. The club currently plays in Division 1 Södra.
Despite their relative success Lunds BK has never competed in the Allsvenskan or Superettan, but has played nine seasons in the second ...
.
International career
Sjöberg was capped 45 times for the
Sweden national football team and scored a goal against
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
in the
1978 FIFA World Cup.
Coaching career
He coached
BSC Young Boys with
Roland Andersson
Åke-Erik Roland Andersson (born 28 March 1950) is a former Swedish football player and coach. His most recent job was that as the assistant coach of the Nigeria national team under Lars Lagerbäck.
As a player, he played for Malmö FF and D ...
.
Career statistics
International
:''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sjöberg goal.''
Honours
Malmö FF
*
Swedish Champion:
1974,
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
,
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
*
Svenska Cupen
Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...
:
1973–74,
1974–75,
1977–78,
1979–80
Individual
*
Stor Grabb: 1976
References
External links
*
NASL stats
1952 births
Living people
Swedish footballers
Sweden international footballers
1978 FIFA World Cup players
Malmö FF players
Ittihad FC players
Chicago Sting (NASL) players
Helsingborgs IF players
Karlsruher SC players
Sportspeople from Helsingborg
Allsvenskan players
Bundesliga players
Expatriate footballers in Germany
Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
Swedish football managers
BSC Young Boys managers
Expatriate football managers in Switzerland
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia
Association football midfielders
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
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