Leif Tommy Svensson (born 4 March 1945) is a Swedish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and player. He is best known for playing for

Östers IF Östers Idrottsförening, commonly known as Östers IF or simply Öster, is a Swedish sports club located in Växjö, specializing in Association football, football. For the 2025 Allsvenskan, 2025 season the club is back in the top tier, Allsve ...

and the

Sweden men's national football team The Sweden men's national football team () represents Sweden in men's international Association football, football and it is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body of football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Strawb ...

. He won 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 ...

in 1969. He managed Sweden between 1991 and 1997 and led them to a bronze medal at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

. He is the son of

Stig Svensson Stig Svensson (13 December 1914 – 21 February 2004) was a Swedish association football, football player and football chairman of Östers IF from 1946 to 1989. He took Östers IF from Division 5 (Swedish football), Division 5 to Swedish football ...

and the uncle of

Joachim Björklund Joachim Björklund (; born 15 March 1971) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre back. He is currently assistant coach for Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg. Beginning his playing career with Öste ...

Early years

Svensson was born 4 March 1945 to

. Stig was a footballer who played for

and dubbed Mr. Öster. Svensson, like his father, had a natural talent for football. At just eleven years-old, he debuted for Östers youth team, and allegedly scored eight goals in the match. However, newspaper headlines said he was too weak. Tommy bought a barbell and trained. Morning, noon and night, he lifted weights in order to bulk up.

Playing career

Svensson's playing career took him to

as well as Belgian

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

. Throughout his career, he suffered from knee injuries. His injuries almost stopped him from competing in 1968. However, Svensson persevered. He was awarded ''

'' in 1969 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 ...

.FIFA.com
/ref>

Managing career

After retiring, Svensson started working as the Östers IF team manager while Lars "Laban" Arnesson was the coach. He later had a successful period with

Tromsø IL Tromsø Idrettslag () is a Norwegian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Tromsø. They play their home games at the Romssa Arena which has a seating capacity of 6,801. Tromsø play in the Eliteserien. Despi ...

, and became

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

coach in 1991. He led the Sweden national team to the

1992 European Football Championship The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

semi final as well as a bronze medal at the

. He resigned in 1997 after failing to qualify for

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

and

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

, and later worked in television with match commentary as well as coaching Tromsø for a second period in 2001. Outside the

Azteca Stadium Estadio Azteca () (officially known as Estadio Banorte for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium located in Coyoacán, Mexico City. It is the official home of football team Club América, as well as the Mexico national team. The stadium ...

, there are statues representing the best is a statue of the best players of each nation. Sweden is represented by Tommy Svensson.

Honours

Player

Östers IF *

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 ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

Individual *

: 1969 *

Stor Grabb STOR may refer to: * ''Short Term Operating Reserve'', see National Grid Reserve Service * STØR, American furniture chain * STOR2RRD, an open-source software tool See also *JSTOR, digital library *Stor (born 1987), Swedish rapper *Stör, a rive ...

: 1969

Manager

;Öster *

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 ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

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 ...

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 ...

: 1976–77 ;Sweden *

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 ...

: Third Place

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

References

External links

Guldbollen 1969 (Aftonbladet.se)

Player profile at Standard de Liège
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svensson, Tommy 1945 births Living people Swedish men's footballers Swedish expatriate men's footballers Sweden men's international footballers Östers IF players Standard Liège players 1970 FIFA World Cup players Swedish football managers Östers IF managers Sweden men's national football team managers UEFA Euro 1992 managers 1994 FIFA World Cup managers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Tromsø IL managers Men's association football midfielders Belgian Pro League players Allsvenskan players Footballers from Växjö Swedish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Norway Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Norway 20th-century Swedish sportsmen Björklund–Svensson family Eliteserien managers