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Sven-Göran Eriksson, England’s first overseas manager, dies aged 76

26 August 2024 15:45 (UTC +04:00)

Sven-Göran Eriksson, England’s first overseas manager and winner of multiple honours at club level, has died at the age of 76, APA reports citing The Guardian.

Eriksson revealed in January 2024 that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and that he likely had “at best” about a year to live. He had stood down from his final job, as sporting director at Karlstad in his native Sweden, the previous February because of what he described at the time as “health issues which are under investigation”.

Eriksson’s death was confirmed by Bo Gustavsson, the former Lazio coach’s agent in Sweden, via his UK PR agent, Dean Eldredge of Oporto Sports. Gustavsson said Eriksson had died on Monday morning at home surrounded by family.

Eriksson’s managerial career spanned more than four decades, beginning in Sweden with Degerfors IF before he took charge of IFK Göteborg. Eriksson was 30 at the time and barely known to the players of one of the country’s leading clubs, but he was unfazed and proved a huge success, leading Göteborg to the Swedish title and the Uefa Cup in 1982.

That led to Eriksson being appointed manager of Benfica and, again, he proved a success, winning two league titles and reaching another Uefa Cup final in 1983. This time he was on the wrong side of the result after a 2-1 aggregate defeat by Anderlecht.

Eriksson’s star was on the rise, however. He moved on to Roma and then Fiorentina before returning to Benfica in 1989, leading the Portuguese club to another league title and, in 1990, a European Cup final, where they lost to Milan. That led to a return to Italy with Sampdoria, whom he led to a Coppa Italia triumph in 1994, before a move to Lazio where Eriksson was backed in the transfer market by the club’s wealthy president Sergio Cragnotti and repaid that faith with a Serie A title in 2000. It was only the second time the Rome club had won Italy’s biggest prize.

By that stage Eriksson was one of the most highly regarded managers in Europe and, as such, it was not a great surprise that the Football Association targeted him to be Kevin Keegan’s successor as England manager. His appointment in January 2001 still proved controversial within a section of the media, however, given his nationality.

Eriksson was accused of not getting the most out of England’s so-called golden generation but he led the county to three major tournaments and, in each one, reached the quarter-finals. He departed from his post at the end of the 2006 World Cup.

Eriksson went on to manage a host of clubs and countries, including Manchester City, Leicester, Mexico and, finally in 2019, the Philippines. In March 2024 he also realised a childhood dream by managing Liverpool at Anfield in a charity game. “It was a beautiful day,” Eriksson said afterwards.