Leif Tommy Svensson (born 4 March 1945) is a Swedish former

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 ...

manager and player. He is best known for playing for

Östers IF Östers Idrottsförening, commonly known as Östers IF or simply Öster, is a Swedish sports club located in Växjö, specializing in football, and playing in the second tier of Swedish football, Superettan. The club has previously also compet ...

and the

Sweden national football team The Sweden national football team ( sv, svenska fotbollslandslaget) represents Sweden in men's international football and it is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body of football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is F ...

. He won the

Guldbollen Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish football award given by ''Aftonbladet'' and the Swedish Football Association to the best male Swedish footballer each year. History The award was created by Bengt Liljedahl and between 1946 to 1965 it was ...

in 1969. He managed Sweden between 1991 and 1997 and led them to a bronze medal at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

. He is the son of Stig Svensson and the uncle of

Joachim Björklund Joachim Björklund (born 15 March 1971) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He is the assistant coach of Sarpsborg 08 in the Norwegian Eliteserien. Beginning his playing career with Östers IF and SK Brann ...

Early years

Tommy Svensson was born 4 March 1945 to father Stig Svensson. Stig was a footballer who played for

and dubbed Mr. Öster. Svensson, like his father, had a natural talent for football. At just eleven years-old, he debuted for Östers youth team, and allegedly scored eight goals in the match. However, news paper headlines said he was too weak. Tommy bought a barbell and trained. Morning, noon and night, he lifted weights in order to bulk up.

Playing career

His playing career took him to

as well as Belgian

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

. Throughout his career, he suffered from knee injuries. His injuries almost stopped him from competing in 1968. However, Svensson persevered. He was awarded ''

'' in 1969 and played at the 1970 FIFA World Cup.FIFA.com
/ref>

Managing career

After retiring, he started working as the Östers IF team manager while Lars "Laban" Arnesson was the coach. He later had a successful period with

Tromsø IL Tromsø Idrettslag is a Norwegian professional football club founded in 1920, based in the city of Tromsø. They play their home games at Alfheim Stadion. Tromsø play in the Eliteserien. Tromsø have won the Norwegian Cup twice, in 1986 and 19 ...

, and became

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

coach in 1991. He led the Swedish team to the 1992 European Football Championship semi final as well as a bronze medal at the

. He resigned in 1997 after failing to qualify for

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

and

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

, and later worked in television with match commentary as well as coaching Tromsø for a second period in 2001. Outside the

Azteca Stadium Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of above sea level. Wit ...

, there is a statue of the best players of each nation was erected. Sweden's representative was Tommy Svensson.

Honours

Player

Östers IF * Allsvenskan: 1968 Individual *

: 1969 * Stor Grabb: 1969

Manager

;Öster * Allsvenskan: 1978, 1980, 1981 *

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 ...

: 1976–77 ;Sweden *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

: Third Place

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

References

External links

Guldbollen 1969 (Aftonbladet.se)

Player profile at Standard de Liège
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svensson, Tommy 1945 births Living people Swedish footballers Swedish expatriate footballers Sweden international footballers Östers IF players Standard Liège players 1970 FIFA World Cup players Swedish football managers Östers IF managers Sweden national football team managers UEFA Euro 1992 managers 1994 FIFA World Cup managers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Tromsø IL managers Association football midfielders Belgian First Division A players Allsvenskan players People from Växjö Sportspeople from Kronoberg County