Tom Turesson

Tom Olov Turesson (17 May 1942 – 13 December 2004) was a Swedish football player and manager, best known for representing Hammarby IF. A full international between 1962 and 1971, he won 22 caps for Sweden and scored 9 goals, taking part in the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

Early life Born in Östervåla, Turesson grew up in the village of Vendel in Uppland County. He started to play football with local club IK Rex as a youngster.

Turesson attracted interest from both Djurgårdens IF and their rivals Hammarby IF, and chose to join the latter after a successful trial where he impressed manager Folke Adamsson. He immediately broke into the squad as a regular, and formed an offensive partnership with players like Karl-Evert Skoglund, Lars Boman and Lars-Ove Johansson, playing all 22 fixtures as Hammarby finished 9th in the table in 1962.

In 1964, Karl-Evert's brother Lennart "Nacka" Skoglund had returned to Hammarby from a professional career in the Italian Serie A. Hammarby won Division 2 in a remarkable fashion, with Skoglund and Turesson playing on each flank of the pitch as wingers, as the side scored 80 goals in just 22 fixtures.

Back in the second tier in 1966, Turesson decided to stay with Hammarby and once again led the club to a straight promotion, before history repeated itself when Hammarby suffered a relegation from Allsvenskan in 1967. Tired of bouncing up and down the divisions, during a period when Hammarby was considered as a yo-yo club, Turesson sought a move abroad to play professionally. He was on the verge of joining Austria Wien before finally signing a two-year contract with Club Brugge in the summer of 1968.

In 1975, new manager Björn Bolling decided to re-position Turesson and play him as a libero, a move that proved to become highly successful. At age 33, Turesson revived his footballing career, dictating his teammates thanks to his excellent perception of the game. In 2004, Turesson was voted as the club's fifteenth biggest profile throughout its history.

International career Turesson made his senior debut for Sweden on 16 September 1962, aged 20, in a 2–1 loss against Norway in an away friendly.

In 1966, he broke into the Swedish squad as a regular, after scoring a hat-trick in a 4–2 win against Norway on 18 September. He featured in five of six qualifying games ahead of the UEFA Euro 1968, as Sweden failed to qualify for the main tournament.

Hammarby's squad consisted of established key players like Jan Sjöström, Kenneth Ohlsson, Mats Werner and Billy Ohlsson, together with younger talents such as Thomas Dennerby, Klas Johansson, Michael Andersson, Sten-Ove Ramberg, Mikael Rönnberg and Peter Gerhardsson. The club had a tough first half of the season, being involved in the relegation battle, before finally finishing 9th in the table. At the end of the year, Turesson was replaced by Bengt "Julle" Gustavsson.

Turesson died on 13 December 2004, aged 62, due to a chronic kidney disease. National team Year Apps Goals

1962 1 0 1963 1 0 1964 0 0 1965 0 0 1966 5 5 1967 7 2 1968 2 0 1969 1 0 1970 4 2 1971 1 0

22 9

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

Honours Individual

Nordic Football Championship top scorer: 1964–67 (shared with Erik Dyreborg and Ole Madsen)