Ralf Edström

Ralf Edström
	Ralf Edström in 1973
Personal information
Full name	Ralf Sigvard Edström
Date of birth	7 October 1952 (age 72)
Place of birth	Degerfors, Sweden
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
0000–1971	Degerfors IF
Senior career*
Years	Team
1968–1970	Degerfors IF
1971–1973	Åtvidabergs FF
1973–1977	PSV Eindhoven
1977–1979	IFK Göteborg
1979–1981	Standard Liège
1981–1983	AS Monaco
1983–1985	Örgryte IS
Total
International career
1969–1971	Sweden U19
1971–1972	Sweden U21
1972–1980	Sweden
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ralf Sigvard Edström (born 7 October 1952) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as Sweden's best player in the 1970s, he started off his career with Degerfors IF in the late 1960s and went on to represent Åtvidabergs FF, PSV Eindhoven, IFK Göteborg, Standard Liege, and AS Monaco before retiring at Örgryte IS in 1985. A full international between 1972 and 1980, he won 40 caps for the Sweden national team and scored 15 goals. He represented his country at the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups and was awarded Guldbollen as Sweden's best player in 1972 and 1974.

Club career

Starting his career in Degerfors IF, a club known to produce many young talents, Edström moved to Åtvidabergs FF and became national champion in 1972.^[1] He moved to PSV Eindhoven in 1973 and was part of the team that became national champion in 1974/75 and 1975/76.^[1] On club level, he became not only Swedish Champion, but also Dutch (twice) and French Champion.^[2] He also won the Swedish, Dutch and Belgian Cups and was voted Swedish player of the year twice (1972 and 1974, winning Guldbollen). He injured his knee while at AS Monaco which prevented him from playing any games for Örgryte IS and ultimately led to his retirement from professional football in 1985.^[1]

International career

Edström made 40 appearances for the Sweden national team and scored 15 times.^[1] He is most noted for his performance in the 1974 FIFA World Cup where he had a big part in Sweden finishing fifth, and he made six appearances and scored four goals during this tournament.^[3]

While representing Sweden at the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, Edström was arrested for speaking to a person in Buenos Aires; however, the Argentine military released him upon recognising its error (that he was not one of its citizens but a professional footballer who was in the country for the tournament it was hosting).^[4]

Personal life

He has been an expert radio commentator since the 1980s.^[5]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[6]^[7]
Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Åtvidaberg	1971	Allsvenskan	22	6
	1972	Allsvenskan	19	16
	1973	Allsvenskan	11	6
	Total		52	28
PSV Eindhoven	1973–74	Eredivisie	33	19
	1974–75	Eredivisie	32	16
	1975–76	Eredivisie	29	15
	1976–77	Eredivisie	18	5
	Total		153	81
IFK Göteborg	1977	Allsvenskan	8	4	2	4	–		–		10	8
	1978	Allsvenskan	17	6	4	2	–		–		21	8
	1979	Allsvenskan	12	4	2	1	–		–		14	5
	Total		37	14	8	7	–		–		45	21
Standard Liège	1979–80	First Division	31	18
	1980–81	First Division	20	9
	Total		51	27
Monaco	1981–82	Division 1	35	15
	1982–83	Division 1	14	1
	Total		49	16
Örgryte	1983	Allsvenskan	0	0
	1984	Allsvenskan	0	0
	1985	Allsvenskan	0	0
	Total		0	0
Total			350	156

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[8]
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	1972	4	8
	1973	9	1
	1974	9	4
	1975	5	2
	1976	2	0
	1977	2	0
	1978	4	0
	1980	5	0
Total		40	15

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

List of international goals scored by Ralf Edström
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	6 August 1972	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Soviet Union	1–0	4–4	Friendly	^[9]
2				2–3
3				4–4
4	17 September 1972	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–0	3–1	1972–77 Nordic Football Championship	^[10]
5	17 September 1972	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	3–1	3–1	1972–77 Nordic Football Championship	^[10]
6	15 October 1972	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Malta	1–0	7–0	1974 FIFA World Cup qualifier	^[11]
7				3–0
8				7–0
9	13 June 1973	Nepstadion, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	3–3	3–3	1974 FIFA World Cup qualifier	^[12]
10	23 June 1974	Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany	Uruguay	1–0	3–0	1974 FIFA World Cup	^[13]
11	23 June 1974	Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany	Uruguay	3–0	3–0	1974 FIFA World Cup	^[13]
12	30 June 1974	Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany	West Germany	1–0	2–4	1974 FIFA World Cup	^[14]
13	3 July 1974	Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany	Yugoslavia	1–1	1–1	1974 FIFA World Cup	^[15]
14	19 May 1975	Örjans Vall, Halmstad, Sweden	Algeria	1–0	4–0	Friendly	^[16]
15	4 June 1975	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Yugoslavia	1–0	1–2	UEFA Euro 1976 qualifier	^[17]