Bengt Olov Emanuel "Julle" Gustavsson (13 January 1928 – 16 February 2017) was a Swedish professional footballer and manager. As player he participated in the final of the World Cup 1958 and won national championships with IFK Norrköping. As coach he led Åtvidabergs FF into its golden era at the beginning of the 1970s.Bengt Gustavsson
Swedish Olympic Committee

Career

Bengt started playing with the local team of Gusum and in 1947 joined the then nationally dominating club IFK Norrköping. At the end of the era of the great Hungarian coach

Lajos Czeizler Lajos Czeizler (5 October 1893 – 6 May 1969) was a Hungarian footballer and coach. With 11 major titles altogether, he remains one of the most successful football coaches of all time. Career Czeizler was born in a Jewish family in Heves, Au ...

he was supposed to replace Gunnar Nordahl in midfield after he moved to AC Milan in 1949. In his first match against AIK he scored three goals, but the Austrian coach

Karl Adamek Karl Adamek (23 July 1910 in Vienna – 8 January 2000) was an Austrian international footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are associ ...

, who was in charge from 1950 forward, moved him back into the defence where he should excel. In those years Norrköping won the Swedish championship of the years 1948, 1852 and 1956 and reached the

cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

of 1953. In October 1951, Gustavsson debuted in the national team at their defeat against Denmark in Copenhagen. This was the last match of the 1948-51 Nordic Football Championship, which Sweden nevertheless finished as winner. In the following year he participated with Sweden at the football tournament of the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. After losing in the semifinals to the ascending Golden Team of Hungary with 0–6 Sweden won the bronze medal, winning the third place match against Germany with 2–0.Bengt Gustavsson
sports-reference.com In 1953 Gustavsson was awarded the Guldbollen, the ''Golden Ball'' as Swedish footballer of the year. In 1956, Gustavsson joined the Italian first division side Atalanta Bergamo. There he was from the beginning as Libero a stalwart of the defence. In 1958 Atalanta was relegated to the second division, but returned to the Serie A the season after under coach Karl Adamek, who was in charge of the team for a year. Pelé vs swedish defenders 1958

In 1958 Gustavsson was nominated for the campaign of national team in the World Cup 1958 in Sweden, and was there part of the standard formation alongside Gunnar Nordahl, Nils Liedholm and Gunnar Gren, who then also plied their trade in Italy. Losing to Brazil in the final 2–5 nevertheless secured the Swedes the best result in any World Cup. After the season 1960–62, Gustavsson returned to Sweden and joined then second division side Åtvidabergs FF. In June 1963 her played his 57th and last match for Sweden in a qualifying match for the

1964 European Nations' Cup The 1964 European Nations' Cup was the second edition of the UEFA European Championship. The final tournament was held in Spain. It was won by the hosts 2–1 over the defending champions, the Soviet Union. The tournament was a knockout compet ...

in Belgrade against Yugoslavia, which ended in a 0–0 draw. On club level he was player-manager from 1964 on. He finished his career as a player in 1965, but remained at the helm of the south Swedish club. In 1967, he led the club for the only second time in its history – since a brief stint in 1951–52 – into the Swedish first division, the

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

, which was the beginning of the golden era of Åtvidabergs FF. He remained coach of the club until 1970, when the team defeated Sandvikens IF from Uppsala with 2–0 in the cup final and won its first national title. Until 1973 three more titles should follow. Players like Conny Torstensson and

Benno Magnusson Lars Benno Magnusson (born 4 February 1953) is a Swedish former footballer. He's a brother of fellow footballer Roger Magnusson. Magnusson was a very popular player who got his breakthrough in Åtvidabergs FF when he became a Swedish champion 19 ...

are amongst the better known ones which Gustavsson integrated into the time during his time in Åtvidaberg. From 1971 to 1972, Gustavsson had a brief spell as coach of the Swedish national youth team. In further years he was to coach Östers IF from 1973 to 1974, from 1975 to 1978 and in 1985 as assistant IFK Norrköping,Tränare
. gruvstugan.com from 1979 until 1981

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differe ...

and from 1982 to 1983 second division side IK Sleipner, which was relegated in 1983.

Honours

As player: * World Cup: Finalist 1958 * Swedish Championship: 1948, 1952, 1956 * Swedish Player of the Year: 1953 As manager: * Swedish Cup: 1970 * Promotion to first division: 1967

References

External links

*
1953: Bengt "Julle" Gustavsson
', Aftonbladet *
Player: Bengt Gustavsson
', European Football – national team matches database 1872–1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gustavsson, Bengt 1928 births 2017 deaths Swedish footballers Sweden international footballers Swedish expatriate footballers Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics 1958 FIFA World Cup players Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Olympic footballers of Sweden IFK Norrköping players Atalanta B.C. players Åtvidabergs FF players Allsvenskan players Serie A players Expatriate footballers in Italy Swedish football managers Åtvidabergs FF managers Östers IF managers IFK Norrköping managers Hammarby Fotboll managers Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Association football defenders Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy People from Valdemarsvik Municipality Sportspeople from Östergötland County