Ralf Sigvard Edström (born 7 October 1952) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as Sweden's best player in the 1970s, he started off his career with Degerfors IF in the late 1960s and went on to represent Åtvidabergs FF,

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

, IFK Göteborg, Standard Liege, and AS Monaco before retiring at Örgryte IS in 1985. A full international between 1972 and 1980, he won 40 caps for the Sweden national team and scored 15 goals. He represented his country at the 1974 and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s and was awarded Guldbollen as Sweden's best player in 1972 and 1974.

Club career

Starting his career in Degerfors IF, a club known to produce many young talents, Edström moved to Åtvidabergs FF and became national champion in 1972. He moved to

in 1973 and was part of the team that became national champion in 1974/75 and 1975/76. On club level, he became not only Swedish Champion, but also Dutch (twice) and French Champion. He also won the Swedish, Dutch and Belgian Cups and was voted Swedish player of the year twice (1972 and 1974, winning Guldbollen). He injured his knee while at AS Monaco which prevented him from playing any games for Örgryte IS and ultimately led to his retirement from professional football in 1985.

International career

Edström made 40 appearances for the Sweden national team and scored 15 times. He is most noted for his performance in the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

where he had a big part in Sweden finishing fifth, and he made six appearances and scored four goals during this tournament.FIFA profile
/ref> While representing Sweden at the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

in Argentina, Edström was arrested for speaking to a person in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

; however, the Argentine military released him upon recognising its error (that he was not one of its citizens but a professional footballer who was in the country for the tournament it was hosting).

Personal life

He has been an expert radio commentator since the 1980s.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Edström goal''.

Honours

Åtvidabergs FF *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

* Svenska Cupen: 1970–71 PSV Eindhoven *

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

: 1974–75, 1975–76 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 1973–74, 1975–76 IFK Göteborg * Svenska Cupen: 1978–79 Standard Liege *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

AS Monaco * French Division 1: 1981–82 Individual * Allsvenskan top scorer:

* Guldbollen: 1972, 1974 * ''World Soccer'' World XI: 1975 *''Sport Ideal European XI'': 1975 *Swedish Football Hall of Fame: 2003

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edstrom, Ralf 1952 births Living people Swedish men's footballers Åtvidabergs FF players Degerfors IF players IFK Göteborg players PSV Eindhoven players AS Monaco FC players Örgryte IS players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Standard Liège players Sweden men's international footballers 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Swedish expatriate sportspeople in France Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Allsvenskan players Ligue 1 players Eredivisie players Belgian Pro League players Swedish association football commentators Men's association football forwards People from Degerfors Municipality Footballers from Örebro County 20th-century Swedish sportsmen