Jan Conny Torstensson (born 28 August 1949) is a Swedish former professional

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 ...

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 ...

or forward. He represented

Åtvidabergs FF Åtvidabergs Fotbollförening, also known simply as Åtvidabergs FF, Åtvidaberg, Åtvid or (especially locally) ÅFF, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Åtvidaberg. The club is affiliated with Östergötlands ...

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, and

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

during a career that spanned between 1967 and 1980. A full international between 1972 and 1979, he won 40

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and scored seven goals for the Sweden national team and represented his country at the

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 ...

editions of the

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

Åtvidabergs FF

Torstensson commenced his career with

in southern Sweden, then a club renowned for its successful youth development. From 1967 onward he featured regularly in the senior team with which he ascended to the first division after the first season. In the following years he was part of the team that defined the golden era of the club, winning the only titles in its history. 1970 and 1971 Åtvidabergs FF won the cup and was twice runner up in the championship, which the club won in 1972 and 1973. In 1973 the club also reached the cup final once more. In the first round of the 1973–74 European Champions Cup campaign Åtvidabergs FF encountered

, with stars like

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

and

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

one of the favourites of the competition. In Munich Åtvidaberg lost 1–3, With the aid of two goals by Torstensson, who already scored in Munich, the Swedes achieved the same result in the return leg, albeit losing in the ensuing penalty shoot-out. However, Torstensson impressed the coach and management of Bayern and was speedily transferred for a then impressive sum of 580,000 Marks.

Bayern Munich

Until 1977 he played in 81

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 ...

matches for Bayern scoring 11 goals. He impressed most in

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 ...

matches, where he scored a number of important goals, and won the competition three times consecutively between 1974 and 1976, featuring in the finals of 1974 and 1975. Altogether, he scored 10 goals in 21 European cup matches. A further highlight was the winning of the Intercontinental Cup in the two finals against

Cruzeiro EC Cruzeiro Esporte Clube () is a Brazilian professional football club, based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Cruzeiro is the greatest team of Minas Gerais. Although competing in a number of different sports, Cruzeiro is mostly known for its as ...

of Brazil.

Later career

On club level Torstensson moved 1977 to

in Switzerland, returning a year later to Åtvidabergs FF, where he ended his career in 1980.

International career

Torstensson himself debuted 1972 in the Sweden national team. 1974 he participated with Sweden in the World Cup in Germany, reaching the second phase of the tournament, where he scored the winner against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. Four years later he also participated in the World Cup in Argentina. Sweden exited there winless after round one.

Personal life

After his playing years he initially had a position in the packaging industry. Over the years he held various functions at Åtvidabergs FF. In 1986, he coached the club in the second division. Later he was manager with the

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

team – speedway is counted amongst the major sports in Sweden – of

Västervik Västervik is a city status in Sweden, city and the seat of Västervik Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden, with 36,747 inhabitants in 2021. Västervik is one of three coastal towns with a notable population size in the province of Småland. Cl ...

, which in those years became runner-up in the national championship. In 2015, he lived with his wife Annette, a teacher and local politician with the Centerpartiet at a lake in Borghult, a rural location ca. 25 km north-west of

. The couple has been married since 1971 and has two daughters.

Career statistics

International

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

: 1969–70, 1970–71 Bayern Munich * Intercontinental Cup:

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

: 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76 *

: 1973–74 Sweden *

Nordic Football Championship The Nordic Football Championship (, , , , commonly abbreviated NM or PM) was an international association football, football competition contested by the list of men's national football (soccer) teams, men's national football teams of the Nordic c ...

: 1972–77 Individual * Stor Grabb: 1973 * SvFF Hall of Fame: 2020 * Nordic Football Championship top scorer: 1972–77

References

External links

* * Gerhard Fischer:
Mr. Europacup aus Åtvidaberg: Mit Holzschuhen auf der Ersatzbank
',

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

, 11 September 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Torstensson, Conny Swedish men's footballers 1949 births Living people Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland FC Bayern Munich footballers Sweden men's international footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Åtvidabergs FF players FC Zürich players Bundesliga players Swedish football managers Åtvidabergs FF managers Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders UEFA Champions League–winning players People from Borgholm Municipality Footballers from Kalmar County 20th-century Swedish sportsmen Allsvenskan players