Erik Nilsson

Nilsson in 1952

Personal information

Date of birth

6 August 1916

Place of birth

Limhamn, Sweden

Date of death

9 September 1995 (aged 79)

Place of death

Höllviken, Sweden

Height

1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)

Playing position

Left back

Youth career

0000–1933

Limhamns IF

Senior career*

Years

Team

Apps

(Gls)

1934–1953

Malmö FF

326

(2)

National team

1938–1952

Sweden

(0)

Honours

Men's Football
Representing Sweden
	London 1948	Team Competition
	Helsinki 1952	Team Competition

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Erik Nilsson (6 August 1916 – 9 September 1995) was a Swedish football player. Nilsson played his youth days with Limhamns IF, before he moved in 1934 to Allsvenskan club Malmö FF, where he played until 1953. There he won five league titles and five Swedish Cups. During his playing days he rejected an offer from A.C. Milan.

Nilsson played 57 times for the Sweden national football team, and participated in several international tournaments. He played in the 1938 FIFA World Cup, where Sweden finished fourth. He took part in the 1948 London Olympics, where Sweden celebrated its best international result with a gold medal, defeating Yugoslavia 3:1 in the final. Two years later he competed in the 1950 FIFA World Cup where Sweden finished third, thus becoming one of only two players to play in World Cups before and after World War II (the other being Switzerland's Alfred Bickel). In the 1950 World Cup, Nilsson was also elected into the All-Star team of the tournament. He won another medal in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where Sweden won the bronze after defeating West Germany 2:0.

In 1950, Nilsson was awarded the Guldbollen as the year's best Swedish football player. In 2003, he was inducted into the SFS Hall Of Fame.

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Wikipedia