Bo Larsson

Bosse Larsson
Larsson in 1965
Personal information
Full name Bo-Göran Larsson
Date of birth (1944-05-05)5 May 1944
Place of birth Malmö, Sweden
Date of death 18 December 2023(2023-12-18) (aged 79)
Place of death Malmö, Sweden
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder, striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1962–1966 Malmö FF 86 (67)
1966–1969 VfB Stuttgart 88 (21)
1969–1979 Malmö FF 222 (52)
1980 Trelleborgs FF
International career
1961–1962 Sweden U19 6 (0)
1963–1964 Sweden U21 3 (1)
1963–1965 Sweden B 3 (6)
1964–1978 Sweden 70 (17)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bo-Göran "Bosse" Larsson (5 May 1944 – 18 December 2023) was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Best remembered for his time with Malmö FF, he also represented VfB Stuttgart and Trelleborgs FF during his career. A full international between 1964 and 1978, he won 70 caps for the Sweden national team and scored 17 goals. He also represented Sweden at the 1970, 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups.

Club career

Most of his club career he played for Malmö FF where he won the league championship several times. Between 1966 and 1969 he was an appreciated professional for VfB Stuttgart 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. 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 (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, 1974 FIFA World Cup and 1978 FIFA World Cup. The Sweden 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, 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. 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.

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

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 1964 2 2
1965 5 3
1966 3 1
1967 0 0
1968 3 2
1969 6 0
1970 11 0
1971 9 2
1972 8 4
1973 9 2
1974 10 1
1975 0 0
1976 0 0
1977 0 0
1978 4 0
Total 70 17
Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Larsson goal.
List of international goals scored by Bosse Larsson
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 20 September 1964 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway  Norway 1–0 1–1 1964–67 Nordic Football Championship
2 7 October 1964 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden  Poland 3–3 3–3 Friendly
3 16 June 1965 Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden  Italy 1–2 2–2 Friendly
4 7 November 1965 Dr. Fazil Kucuk Stadium, Famagusta, Cyprus  Cyprus 4–0 5–0 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 5–0
6 18 May 1966 Swierczewski, Wrocław, Poland  Poland 1–0 1–1 Friendly
7 9 October 1968 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden  Norway 2–0 5–0 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 5–0
9 20 May 1971 Ryavallen, Örebro, Sweden  Finland 1–1 4–1 1968–71 Nordic Football Championship
10 8 August 1971 Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden  Norway 3–0 3–0 1968–71 Nordic Football Championship
11 29 June 1972 Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden  Denmark 1–0 2–0 1972–77 Nordic Football Championship
12 17 September 1972 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway  Norway 3–1 3–1 1972–77 Nordic Football Championship
13 15 October 1972 Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  Malta 2–0 7–0 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification
14 3–0
15 11 November 1973 Gzira Stadium, Gżira, Malta  Malta 2–1 2–1 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification
16 27 November 1973 Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen, West Germany  Austria 2–0 2–1 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification
17 4 September 1974 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden  Netherlands 1–1 1–5 Friendly

Honours

Malmö FF

Trelleborgs FF

Individual

Records

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

This page was last updated at 2024-01-10 05:04 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari