Karl-Alfred Jacobsson Explained

Karl-Alfred Jacobsson
Fullname:Karl-Alfred Jacobsson
Birth Date:15 January 1926
Birth Place:Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Death Place:Gothenburg, Sweden
Height:1.86 m
Position:Forward
Years1:1943
Years2:1944–1945
Years4:1949–1959
Clubs1:Gårda BK
Clubs2:GAIS
Clubs3:Redbergslids IK
Clubs4:GAIS
Caps2:13
Caps4:184
Goals2:1
Goals4:144
Nationalyears1:1952–1954
Nationalteam1:Sweden
Nationalcaps1:6
Nationalgoals1:3
Pcupdate:31 March 2013
Ntupdate:31 March 2013

Karl-Alfred Jacobsson (15 January 1926 – 4 March 2015) was a Swedish footballer who is best known for the time he spent at GAIS in Allsvenskan.[1] [2]

Career

At age 16 Jacobsson signed for second-tier team Gårda BK who offered to buy him a trench coat to lure the young player to the club. After his season at Gårda he made an early Allsvenskan debut with GAIS the following year but then chose to play for Redbergslids IK while doing his military service.[3]

In 1949 he returned to GAIS where he was the club's top goalscorer in eight of the ten seasons he spent there.[3] When GAIS celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 1994 he was voted "Player of the Century"[4] and at the end of 1999 he was also voted "Player of the Millennium" by the GAIS supporters.[2] He died in 2015 at a nursing home in Gothenburg.[5]

International career

Jacobsson scored three goals in six games for the Sweden men's national football team. He was also selected in the preliminary squads for the 1950 and 1958 FIFA World Cup but was cut from the final squads both times.[3] During that time period players were selected to the national team by a committee instead of the manager and people in Gothenburg felt that the Stockholm-based committee were biased in only selecting players from the area around the Swedish capital.[2]

Personal life

Jacobsson was born in the United States to a Swedish father and Italian mother. He spent five years in the country before his family relocated to Sweden.[6] Jacobsson played professional football alongside his brother, Frank Jacobsson, with GAIS and the Sweden men's national football team. His nephew, Roberto Jacobsson, was also associated with GAIS as a manager and player.[7]

Honours

Club

Individual

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: GAIS - Spelarinformation för Karl-Alfred Jacobsson . . sv . 31 March 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121103183736/http://gais.se/Fotboll/gais.nsf/0/7657ACDD9EBF44CBC1256F16003A6384 . 3 November 2012 .
  2. Web site: Profiler vi minns . . sv . 31 March 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402122326/http://www.gais.se/Fotboll/gais.nsf/0/1CB43E285D40117AC1256F87007152E5 . 2 April 2015 .
  3. Web site: Århundradets Gaisare. Bengt Forsman. 13 January 2005. GAIS. sv. 31 March 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131002002540/http://www.gais.se/fotboll/gais.nsf/0/42933B18E0F4C031C1256F88007C8F7B. 2 October 2013.
  4. Web site: GAIS störste fyller 83 år . Tony Balogh . 15 January 2009 . . sv . 31 March 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131002015651/http://www.gais.se/Fotboll/gais.nsf/0/EA571E9371BDC274C125753E0073BEF1 . 2 October 2013 .
  5. Web site: Gais störste har gått ur tiden - Gais - Göteborgs-Posten . 2015-03-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150306060017/http://www.gp.se/sport/fotboll/gais/1.2648134-gais-storste-har-gatt-ur-tiden . 2015-03-06 . dead .
  6. Web site: För drygt 60 år sedan tog GAIS guld i Allsvenskan och Degerfors IF lilla silvret. - Degerfors IF. 17 May 2014.
  7. Web site: Gais störste har gått ur tiden. 5 March 2015 .