Obituaries: Sven-Goran Eriksson, first foreign manager of England national team

Working with a so-called “golden generation” of players, he led England to the quarter-finals of three major tournaments in succession, including the World Cups of 2002 and 2006, in a five-year spell.

But media storms were generated by lurid details of his affairs with TV personality Ulrika Jonsson and a Football Association secretary hitting the press.

Eriksson was born on February 5, 1948, in the home of his mother, Ulla, in the town of Sunne, Varmland, Sweden.

His father, also named Sven, was just 18 at the time and, having kept his girlfriend’s pregnancy secret from his parents, sneaked out of the house to attend the birth. There were also complications, with a doctor called after the umbilical cord wrapped the baby’s neck, but the child survived.

Eriksson, who was eight years older than his brother Lars-Erik, was conscientious at school but initially cast aside further education to pursue a job in insurance.

When weather permitted, football was his main sporting love. He played regularly as a full-back and broke into the first team at nearby amateur side Torsby at the age of just 16.

Still playing as an amateur, he joined third division Sifhalla five years later. After a year he moved on to play for Karlskoga when he became a PE teacher in Orebro and he later joined Vastra Frolunda, but his modest playing career was cut short through injury at the age of 27.

He moved into coaching at Degerfors in 1976 as assistant to his own future long-term number two Tord Grip, who had been his player-coach at Karlskoga. He took over as manager a year later after Grip left to become Sweden national team assistant boss and made an immediate impression, twice leading the team to the play-offs before promotion to the second division.

That brought him greater recognition, although his appointment by IFK Gothenburg in 1979 still came as a surprise.

Gothenburg lost their first three matches under Eriksson and he offered to quit but the players encouraged him to stay. His preference for 4-4-2 and zonal marking made the team hard to beat and they improved to finish second in the league and win the cup.

They finished runners-up again in 1981 and then really made a mark the following year as they won the domestic double and, against the odds, the UEFA Cup. Eriksson was snapped up by Benfica. He won two Portuguese league titles and finished runners-up in the UEFA Cup before moving to Roma in 1984. After winning the Coppa Italia in 1986 he had a spell with Fiorentina before returning to Benfica, where he reached the European Cup final in 1990 and won another league title in 1991.

He won the Coppa Italia again with Sampdoria in 1994 and then, in 1996, he agreed to take over at Blackburn but soon changed his mind and instead went to Lazio. It was there he really made his name, winning the Coppa Italia twice, the European Cup Winners’ Cup and Serie A.

It was this success that brought him to the attention of the English FA after the sudden resignation of Kevin Keegan in 2000. Hailing from overseas, his appointment was controversial but early impressions were hugely positive. He instantly turned around a stuttering World Cup qualifying campaign, the highlight of which was a remarkable 5-1 win over Germany in Munich.

England claimed a famous win in the tournament itself, beating Argentina 1-0 in Japan, but their run ended in a 2-1 defeat to Brazil at the last-eight stage.

Eriksson’s honeymoon was over and he learned how fierce English media critics could be. He was lambasted after losing a friendly 3-1 to Australia in February 2003, a game in which he changed his entire XI at half-time.

It was a precursor for the opprobrium which accompanied many bad results or performances.

“Whichever country you are, if you lose games you are criticised,” he reflected. “It’s only when it’s England it’s like a new world war.”

One good thing came from that Australia loss, however, was that a teenage Wayne Rooney, who would go on to become the country’s record goalscorer, was handed his debut by Eriksson.

With Rooney making waves, England looked a serious contender at Euro 2004. They conceded twice late on to lose the opener to France but Rooney shone as they beat Switzerland and Croatia to set up a quarter-final with Portugal that was lost 6-5 on penaties after a 2-2 draw.

There was a shock loss to Northern Ireland in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup but Eriksson led the team to the tournament in Germany, where history to some extent repeated itself. Portugal were again the quarter-final opponents. And again England were beaten on penalties, this time after Rooney was sent off.

Eriksson stepped down after the tournament, two years before the end of his contract. In all, he managed England in 67 matches, winning 40.

Yet games alone do not tell the full story of Eriksson’s time in England. His private life proved a source of endless fascination to the media.

At the time he was involved in a relationship with Italian-British lawyer Nancy Dell’Olio. While this itself attracted plenty of publicity, it was little compared to that generated by Eriksson’s affair with fellow Swede Jonsson.

After that storm died down, it later emerged Eriksson had also been involved with FA secretary Faria Alam. Then in his autobiography in 2013, Eriksson admitted there were other lovers including a singer and former gymnast from Romania, and a Swede who worked for Scandinavian Airlines.

“To be the England manager you must win every game, not do anything in your private life and hopefully not earn too much money,” he later said of his time in the England hotseat and accompanying pressures.

After a year away, Eriksson returned to the game with Manchester City as part of a bold-looking new era following the takeover of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Hopes were high after a host of big-money signings and a bright start to the campaign but Thaksin grew impatient after a disappointing end to the season that culminated in an 8-1 loss to Middlesbrough. Eriksson was sacked, against the wishes of fans, in the summer of 2008.

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Eriksson revealed in January this year that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. An outpouring of affection followed and, after revealing a hitherto unknown love of Liverpool, he was invited by the Merseyside club to manage a past players XI in a charity friendly at Anfield.

Eriksson spoke openly about his diagnosis and effectively said goodbye to the public in an emotional documentary about his life that was released in August 2024.

“I hope you will remember me as a positive guy trying to do everything he could do,” he said.

Eriksson leaves two children, Johan and Lina, from an earlier marriage to Anki Eriksson.

Obituaries

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