Erik Nilsson

Erik Nilsson

Nilsson in 1952
Personal information
Date of birth	6 August 1916
Place of birth	Limhamn, Sweden
Date of death	9 September 1995 (aged 79)
Place of death	Höllviken, Sweden
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Left back
Youth career
0000–1933	Limhamns IF
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1934–1953	Malmö FF	326	(2)
National team
1938–1952	Sweden	57	(0)
Honours Men's Football Competitor for  Sweden London 1948 Team Competition Helsinki 1952 Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Erik Nilsson (6 August 1916 – 9 September 1995) was a Swedish football player. Nilsson played his youth days with Limhamns IF, before he moved in 1934 to Allsvenskan club Malmö FF, where he played until 1953. There he won five league titles and five Swedish Cups. During his playing days he rejected an offer from A.C. Milan.

Career

Nilsson played 57 times for the Sweden national football team,^[1] and participated in several international tournaments. He played in the 1938 FIFA World Cup, where Sweden finished fourth. He took part in the 1948 London Olympics, where Sweden celebrated its best international result with a gold medal, defeating Yugoslavia 3:1 in the final. Two years later he competed in the 1950 FIFA World Cup where Sweden finished third, thus becoming one of only two players to play in World Cups before and after World War II (the other being Switzerland's Alfred Bickel). In the 1950 World Cup, Nilsson was also elected into the All-Star team of the tournament. He won another medal in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where Sweden won the bronze after defeating West Germany 2:0.^[2][3]

In 1950, Nilsson was awarded the Guldbollen as the year's best Swedish football player.^[4] In 2003, he was inducted into the SFS Hall Of Fame.

Honours

Club

Malmö FF

• Swedish Champions: 1943–44, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53
• Division 2 Södra: 1934–35, 1935–36
• Svenska Cupen: 1944, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1953

International

Sweden

• 1948 Summer Olympics: gold medal winner
• 1952 Summer Olympics: bronze medal third place
• 1950 FIFA World Cup: third place
• 1938 FIFA World Cup: fourth place

Individual

• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1950
• Guldbollen: 1950
• SFS Hall Of Fame: 2003

References

1. "Sweden national football team stats". passagen.se (in Swedish).
2. Erik Nilsson. sports-reference.com
3. Erik Nilsson. Swedish Olympic Committee
4. 1950: Erik Nilsson, Malmö FF. aftonbladet.se

External links

• Erik Nilsson at National-Football-Teams.com