Torbjörn Anders Nilsson (born 9 July 1954) is a Swedish
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 lea ...
and manager who played as a
striker. Considered one of the best Swedish footballers of all time, he is best remembered for his time with
IFK Göteborg
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...
with which he won two
Swedish championship titles, the
1981–82 UEFA Cup
The 1981–82 UEFA Cup was the 11th edition of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden, and at the Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany. The final w ...
, and reached the semi-finals of the
1985–86 European Cup
The 1985–86 European Cup was the 31st season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football competition. The European Champion Clubs' Cup was won by Steaua București on penalties in the final against Barcelona. Steaua București became t ...
. He also represented
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 ...
in the Netherlands and
1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...
in Germany during a career that spanned between 1971 and 1990. A full international between 1976 and 1985, he won 28
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 Java ...
for the
Sweden national team and scored nine goals. He represented his country 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 ...
and was the 1982 recipient of
Guldbollen
Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish Association football, 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 betw ...
.
Playing career
Nilsson was born in
Västerås
Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...
on 9 July 1954, and raised in
Hallstahammar
Hallstahammar () is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Hallstahammar Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,478 inhabitants in 2010.
Overview
The King Gustaf Vasa built Strömsholm Castle along the lake about 1558. Its ...
. He and his family (father Göte, mother Daisy, the brothers Rolf and Bosse and sister Rose-Marie) moved to
Partille, outside
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
, before he started school, and he began his footballing career in
Jonsereds IF at the age of seven or eight.
Nilsson joined
IFK Göteborg
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...
for the 1975 season, and helped the club climb back to the top tier of Swedish football,
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 ...
, by winning
Division 2 in 1976.
He tried his luck abroad with
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 ...
, but returned to IFK after only one season. He then helped the team to a
treble in 1982, the
Swedish championship (IFK won both
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 ...
and the title-deciding play-off),
Svenska Cupen
Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, 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 ...
, and the
UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
. He was awarded
Guldbollen
Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish Association football, 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 betw ...
, the Swedish footballer of the year award, for his heroics.
Nilsson moved to
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...
in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, where he played two seasons, and was about to move to
Benfica when his former Göteborg manager
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager.
After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...
left that club.
Instead, Nilsson moved home to Gothenburg and his former club. When he ended his playing career after three seasons due to knee problems,
Nilsson had led the club to another Swedish Championship, and nearly a
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
final in 1986. IFK was eliminated by
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
after having won the home leg 3–0. They lost the away match by the same score. Nilsson still regrets not taking a penalty in the ensuing
penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
,
which forced two young and inexperienced players —
Roland Nilsson and
Per Edmund Mordt
Per Edmund Mordt (born 25 March 1965) is a retired Norwegian football defender and midfielder.
Mordt was born in Arendal. During his club career, Mordt played for Kolbotn IL, Vålerenga IF, IFK Göteborg, SK Brann and Drøbak-Frogn IL. In 19 ...
— to the spot. Both missed their penalties.
It is a mystery to a lot of Swedes how Nilsson with all his talent never really made it big when playing for PSV and Kaiserslautern, but according to himself he was too shy to make it in those rougher top club environments.
Despite Nilsson's so-so stays abroad, and his short career in the
Sweden national team – for whom he played only 28 matches and scored nine goals – he is considered to be one of the greatest Swedish footballers of all time.
He declined to play for the national team for four years in the early 1980s when he was at his prime, the most important reason for this was that Nilsson not felt comfortable in the national team and the coach
Lars Arnesson, who mixtured a lot with different formations, which did not suit the playing style that Nilsson liked.
He instead concentrated on his club team, but made a comeback in the national team in 1984, scoring a goal in the 3–1 win against
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
in the
1986 World Cup qualification
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
** Spain and Portugal ent ...
. Nilsson was elected to the Swedish football
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
in 2003.
In a March 2020 Sky Sports interview,
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager.
After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...
said that Nilsson was the best striker he had ever managed.
Coaching career
After ending his professional playing career, Torbjörn Nilsson acted as playing manager for his youth club Jonsereds IF,
before becoming manager of
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. ...
, then in
Division 1, in 1991. The club was relegated to
Division 2, but managed to advance two divisions into Allsvenskan the next year, thanks to the Swedish league system at the time. The luck did not last, however, and Örgryte was relegated from the highest league in 1993. Nilsson moved to
IK Oddevold
IK Oddevold is a Swedish football club located in Uddevalla. The club, formed on 3 July 1932, currently plays in Sweden's second-flight league, Superettan. They play most of their home games at Rimnersvallen and they also have a newly built tr ...
from
Uddevalla
Uddevalla is a Stad (Sweden), town in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It’s the seat of Uddevalla Municipality. In 2015, it had a population of 34,781, making it the largest town fully in Bohuslän. Uddevalla is located where the river Bäveån ...
, and brought the club to Allsvenskan for the first time in its history in 1995. He left his job after the season and did not take a new one for a year.
He then took the job as manager of
Västra Frölunda IF
Västra Frölunda Idrottsförening () is a Swedish football club based in Gothenburg. Founded on 2 January 1930, the club has spent a total of ten seasons in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. As of the 2025 season, Västra Frölund ...
in 1997, and for the third time coached a team to a promotion to Allsvenskan. He stayed as manager for Västra Frölunda for two seasons and led the club to a fifth and seventh place, the two best seasonal results the club has enjoyed. He took another one-year break before starting his fourth spell as manager for a Gothenburg club,
BK Häcken
Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg (Hisingen). It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Forme ...
, in 2001. He only stayed for one year, not being able to keep the club in the highest league. Instead he became the manager of the
Sweden under-21 team, leading the team through a successful qualification to the
2004 UEFA U-21 Championship, where the team narrowly lost the semi-final and third place matches after penalty shootouts and
extra time
Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
, respectively. He did not coach any team between 2004 and 2008, but then resumed his managerial career in Gothenburg's best women's team,
Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC.
Career statistics
Club
International
: ''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nilsson goal''.
Honours
;IFK Göteborg
*
UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
:
1981–82
*
Swedish Champion:
1982
Events
January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
,
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
*
Svenska Cupen
Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, 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 ...
:
1978–1979,
1981–82
Individual
*
Guldbollen
Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish Association football, 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 betw ...
: 1982
*
Allsvenskan top scorer:
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 ...
*
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
top scorer:
1984–85 (7 goals, shared with
Michel Platini
Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...
),
1985–86 (7 goals)
*
UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
top scorer:
1981–82 (9 goals)
*
Årets ärkeängel: 1979
Notes
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nilsson, Torbjorn
Swedish men's footballers
Swedish expatriate men's footballers
Allsvenskan players
IFK Göteborg players
PSV Eindhoven players
1. FC Kaiserslautern players
Bundesliga players
Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
1978 FIFA World Cup players
Swedish football managers
Örgryte IS managers
BK Häcken managers
Footballers from Gothenburg
Footballers from Västerås
1954 births
Living people
Sweden men's international footballers
IK Oddevold managers
Men's association football forwards
UEFA Europa League–winning players
UEFA Champions League top scorers
20th-century Swedish sportsmen