Bo-Göran "Bosse" Larsson (5 May 1944 – 18 December 2023) was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and striker. Best remembered for his time with

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

, he also represented

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

and Trelleborgs FF during his career. A full international between 1964 and 1978, he won 70

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 17 goals. He also represented Sweden at the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

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 ...

Club career

Most of his club career he played for

where he won the league championship several times. Between 1966 and 1969 he was an appreciated professional for

scoring 21 times in 88 games. As the best player in the team and loved by the supporters he was also awarded "Athlete of the Year" in 1969 by the city of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. According to many he had a by far too short career as a professional player, but his wife Anita never settled to life in Germany, which made him move back home to Malmö that same summer. Larsson was awarded the

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 golden ball'') in 1965 and 1973, and was the first to be awarded twice. In Malmö FF and among its supporters Bosse holds an iconic status and is regarded as the club's greatest player ever.

International career

Bosse Larsson was one of the Sweden national team profiles during the 1970s. In total he got 70 caps, scoring 17 times, and played at the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the 9th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The Sweden men's national team manager Georg "Åby" Ericson used to say that; "When picking a Swedish national squad you start by picking Bosse Larsson, then you start thinking about which other players to pick". Beside

Nils Liedholm Nils Erik Liedholm (; 8 October 1922 – 5 November 2007) was a Swedish association football, football midfielder and coach. ''Il Barone'' (the Baron), as he is affectionately known in Italy, was renowned for being part of the Swedish "Gre-No-Li ...

, Bosse Larsson is regarded as Sweden's most complete player ever, being able to actually play at almost any position on the pitch.

Personal life

Larsson later lived in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. In September 2007 a book titled "Bosse Larsson" was released. The book, written by Jonny Ambrius together with Bosse, and contains stories from his life, but with a focus on his footballer years. Shortly after the book release he also gave his permission for a possible statue to be made in his honour and placed outside Malmö FF's new

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

. Larsson died on 18 December 2023, at the age of 79.

Career statistics

International

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

Honours

Malmö 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 ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

* Svenska Cupen:

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 ...

Trelleborgs FF * Division 3 Skåne: 1980 Individual * Allsvenskan top scorer:

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

(17 goals),

(28 goals),

(16 goals) *

(Swedish Footballer of the Year): 1965, 1973 (the first to be awarded twice) * Stor Grabb: 1968 * Best footballer of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

: 1968–69 * Athlete of the Year by the city of

: 1969 * 2005

Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association (, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and for women – and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in Solna and is a ...

Hall of Fame inductee * Honorary member of

Records * Most goal scorer of Malmö FF: 119 goals (307 games)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larsson, Bo 1944 births 2023 deaths Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Swedish men's footballers Footballers from Skåne County Sweden men's international footballers VfB Stuttgart players Malmö FF players 1970 FIFA World Cup players 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Trelleborgs FF players Allsvenskan players Bundesliga players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards 20th-century Swedish sportsmen