| Gunnar Wilhelmsson | |
| Fullname: | Karl Gunnar Martin Wilhelmsson |
| Birth Date: | 4 October 1954 |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Years1: | 1972–1974 |
| Clubs1: | Norrstrands IF |
| Years2: | 1975–1980 |
| Clubs2: | Hammarby IF |
| Caps2: | 137 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 1975 |
| Nationalteam1: | Sweden U21 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Pcupdate: | 23 December 2020 |
| Ntupdate: | 3 July 2020 |
Gunnar Wilhelmsson (born 4 October 1954) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, best known for representing Hammarby IF.
As a youngster, Wilhelmsson started to play football with local club Norrstrands IF. In 1972, aged 17, he made his debut for their senior team in Division 4, Sweden's fourth tier.[1]
In 1975, Wilhelmsson transferred to Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan, the domestic top division. He was sought out as a replacement for club legend Ronnie Hellström by chairman Lennart Nyman.[2] He established himself as a starter in his debut season, as his side finished 10th in the table, where Wilhelmsson most notably saved a penalty in a 1–0 home win against fierce rivals AIK.[3] On 2 September the same year, Wilhelmsson won his first and only cap for the Sweden U21's, in 2–0 friendly win against Finland.[4]
A key player under manager Björn Bolling, Wilhelmsson kept a clean sheet in five of the first six league games of 1976, but the club eventually dropped of in the table and finished 8th in the league.[3] In 1977, Hammarby reached the final of Svenska Cupen, the main domestic cup, but lost 0–1 to Östers IF.[5] After putting on impressive performances with Hammarby IF for several season, leading the club to mid-table positions, Wilhelmsson was listed as a reserve player for Sweden in the 1978 World Cup.[3]
In 1980, manager Bengt Gustavsson decided to drop Wilhelmsson in favour of Anders Markström, and he left the club at the end of the year.[2] [6] Wilhelmsson is the goalkeeper that holds the club record of most Allsvenskan appearances for Hammarby IF with 137 league games, in which he kept 38 clean sheets.[3]
