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Photo: DANIEL STILLER / IMAGE AGENCY
Gunnar Larsson.
Father Gunnar is in heaven.
He created a blue and white kingdom on earth.
A loving father, a committed citizen of Gothenburg, and a stubborn football leader who had the solution for everything.
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A little over two weeks ago I called Gunnar Larsson, 80.
Given that the world of sports is still stagnant due to the crown crisis, we at Sportbladet have to fill the columns with nostalgia.
A photograph of a nude Torbjörn Nilsson with then Prime Minister Olof Palme in IFK’s dressing room Gothenburg since the fall of 1985 sparked my interest, and I decided to go to the background with the story behind the picture.
When Gunnar Larsson answered the cell phone, his voice sounded weaker than normal. He told me that he was admitted to the Mölndal hospital.
Oh I did not know. Is it the crown crust or? I was wondering
“No, that’s not lucky,” said Gunnar.
Gunnar’s problems there and then were of a different kind. A swollen hip joint, as stubborn as old Larsson.
– It has been terribly difficult and has been going on for several years. The swelling returns, so I have to go in and treat it, Gunnar sighed.
When I explained my case to him, he appeared. He well remembered the photograph of Torbjörn and Palme.
“There are two good guys you can say,” Gunnar chuckled from the bed.
The most successful of all time
In terms of titles, Gunnar Larsson is the most successful Swedish football club leader of all time. During his reign from 1982 to 2001, IFK Gothenburg won the Swedish Cup three times, the Allsvenskan ten times, and the Uefacup twice.
No one has won as much as Father Gunnar, and in sports it is the titles that count.
He assumed the presidency at Blåvitt in the spring of 1982, between the Uefacup quarterfinals against Valencia and the semifinal against Kaiserslautern. Blue White’s economy was at the bottom and the old board resigned.
The victory against Kasierslautern not only gave Gunnar Larsson a flying sporty start, but a deficit of SEK 650,000 that threatened the club turned into 1.6 million profit in one match. Something President Larsson welcomed especially well, a former accountant who was for the profession.
“He is in the maze of decision-making,” journalist Helge Samuelsson wrote in the Gothenburg Post the day after Gunnar was elected IFK president in March 1982.
The ability to find solutions was highlighted
In the years that followed as a blue and white base, that was exactly what stood out: Gunnar Larsson’s ability to solve all unexpected difficulties and new obstacles that always appear on the crooked path that forms the most intimate essence of football leadership. .
“Father Gunnar” used to be called from time to time. Sometimes it was said with the sparkle in his eyes, sometimes in pure frustration. Gunnar Larsson belonged to the generation of sports leaders who were more or less omnipotent in their association. Today, the areas of responsibility are more widely distributed across different competencies.
Although friends were much more numerous than enemies, he made some enemies along the way. The 1998 Teddy Lucic fight is one of the most notable. Basically it was less about Larsson vs. Lucic, more than a past season of soccer vs. Jean-Marc Bosman.
IFK Gothenburg’s last golden age ended on that crank and Gunnar Larsson basically accompanied the boat to the bottom before leaving in 2001 (to become president of the Swedish Sports Federation). But before leaving Blåvitt, he made an important and correct decision for the future: to invest SEK 20 million in youth development in Änglagården.
“Palme liked Gunnar at seventeen”
It was at the invitation of Gunnar Larsson that Olof Palme visited Ullevi and surprised Torbjörn Nilsson in Blåvitt’s dressing room in 1985. Later that night, Palme entered as an honorary member of IFK Gothenburg and Gunnar Larsson himself distributed the membership card in Kamratgården . Gunnar was also a prominent politician and social democrat, city council, and president of Gothenburg City Council in the 1970s and 1980s.
– Dad liked Gunnar Larsson at seventeen, recalls Olof’s son, Mårten Palme.
In the same line that I contacted Palme’s children, they were cleaning among the old belongings of their parents. Some day before, they had accidentally found Olof’s membership card at IFK Gothenburg, but they threw it away. When I called and told them about the report, they tipped over the garbage bag.
“And there it was, on top of all the trash,” says Mårten with a smile.
Mårten sent the membership card in the mail and when I spoke to Gunnar Larsson the next time I told him with great joy that it had been preserved for all the years. He was guessing what to do with that, but Gunnar soon had a ready solution.
– It’s great that Palme has saved the membership card and too large to be in Larsson’s IFK file. I would be happy if you wanted to contact Åke Josephson instead. I have spoken to him. You may want to end the Palme / Torbjörn article with the delivery of the Palme membership card to the IFK archive, Gunnar said.
“Then you are in good hands”
With that said, I contacted Åke Josephson (who has worked with Blåvit’s anniversary books, for example) and we agreed to meet for delivery the next time I’m in Gothenburg.
“It will be nice if Åke takes over the Palme membership card.
Then you are in good hands.
MVH Gunnar“
The April 23 SMS is the last time I heard from Gunnar Larsson. On May 4, I learned that the coronary had also taken him away. No one has managed to find the solution to stop this devilish virus. Not even Gunnar’s father.
At the GP I read about how his wife and life partner, Maria, wants to remember him:
– As a loving father with his four children. As a committed Gothic citizen who wanted well in everything he did.
Tomorrow is exactly 38 years since IFK Gothenburg played the first UEFA Cup final against Hamburg in Ullevi. Blåvitt won 1-0, Tord Holmgren scored the goal and Gunnar Larsson can watch the game from the sky.
Along with all the other angels.
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