Per Örjan Persson (27 August 1942) is a Swedish former football player. He played for Scottish clubs

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

and Rangers in the 1960s. He also represented Sweden at the 1970 FIFA World Cup in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and the European Championship qualifiers in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

Career

Persson was the first of five Scandinavian imports signed by Dundee United manager

Jerry Kerr John 'Jerry' Kerr (1 June 1912 – 8 November 1999) was a Scottish football player and manager, best known as manager of Dundee United from 1959 to 1971. He is credited with taking the club from third bottom of the Scottish League to being an ...

who was one of the first managers in Scotland to tap into the Scandinavian market to find talented and experienced players at an affordable price. Persson moved to Tannadice from

Örgryte IS Örgryte Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as Örgryte IS, Örgryte () or (especially locally) ÖIS or Öis, is a Swedish sports club based in Gothenburg. It consists of four departments, namely bowling, football, athletics and wrestling. H ...

on 2 December 1964, the first overseas player to join the club. As there was no professionalism in Swedish football in the 1960s United did not have to pay a transfer fee. He made his debut along with the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

striker Finn Døssing. United had made a poor start to the 1964-65 First Division season and appeared to be heading towards relegation, which would have undone the great work done by Kerr since leading the team to promotion in 1959-60. Since then the club had enjoyed their longest ever spell in the top flight and were becoming established as a permanent fixture in the First Division although relegation in the Spring of 1965 may have doomed the club to obscurity. Kerr had taken a gamble in bringing players with no experience in Scottish football, like Mogens Berg and Lennart Wing, to the club to help fight relegation. The gamble paid off, and Persson’s classy play on the wing and pinpoint crosses being complementary to Døssing's huge goal scoring talent. United managed mid-table security by the end of the season. In the following 1965-66 season Persson played a crucial role in helping United to finish in 5th place in the league qualifying for Europe for the first time. The 1966-67 was to be Persson's last at Tannadice, but arguably his most successful. Scoring 11 goals in 29 appearances from the wing as well as helping United to two victories over

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

and one over Juventus in the

Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (no ...

. Persson was immensely popular at United playing in 101 matches and scoring 17 goals. He has the distinction (shared with fellow countryman Lennart Wing) of being the first Dundee United player to win a full international cap. He won a total of 9 Sweden caps while with United. He moved to Rangers in May 1967 where he played 113 games, scored 31 goals (often spectacular ones) and won 6 caps, representing his country at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in 1970. Later that year he returned to

and went on to play for Sweden at the 1974 World Cup.

References

External links

Orjan Persson
Neil Brown * {{DEFAULTSORT:Persson, Orjan 1942 births Living people People from Uddevalla Municipality Dundee United F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Örgryte IS players Swedish footballers Sweden international footballers 1970 FIFA World Cup players 1974 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate footballers in Scotland Allsvenskan players Scottish Football League players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Association football midfielders Swedish expatriate footballers Sportspeople from Västra Götaland County