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Thom Åhlund

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Thom Åhlund
Personal information
Full name Thom Alvar Ålund
Date of birth (1953-02-17) 17 February 1953 (age 71)
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Djurgårdens IF
IF Brommapojkarna
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1971–1972 IF Brommapojkarna 40 (4)
1973–1983 Hammarby IF 228 (9)
1984–1986 Skövde AIK 19 (0)
Total 287 (13)
International career
1970–1971 Sweden U19 8 (3)
1973–1979 Sweden U21 12 (0)
1979 Sweden 4 (0)
Managerial career
1984-1986 Skövde AIK (player-coach)
1987–1988 Friska Viljor
1989–1990 Umeå FC
1996–1998 Syrianska FC
1999 FOC Farsta
2000–2001 Syrianska FC
2002–2006 Hammarby IF (assistant manager)
2007 Syrianska FC (assistant manager)
2008 IK Frej
2009 Hammarby IF (interim manager)
2011 Akropolis IF
2012–2013 Nacka FF
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Thom Alvar Ålund (born 17 February 1953) is a Swedish former football player and manager, best known for representing Hammarby IF. In 1979, he won four caps for the Sweden men's national football team.

Club career

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Early career

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Born in Stockholm, Åhlund started his career with Djurgårdens IF as a youngster.[1] He soon moved to IF Brommapojkarna, in the Swedish lower divisions, where he made his senior debut in 1971.[2]

Hammarby IF

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In 1973, at age 19, Åhlund joined Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan, Sweden's first tier. He immediately broke into the squad and played 25 league games in his debut season, as Hammarby finished 8th in the table, scoring his first goal for the club in a 1–0 home win against IF Saab on 26 August.[3]

Manager Olle Nyström re-positioned Åhlund from a central midfielder to a libero in 1974. Known as an elegant player, he was soon compared with Franz Beckenbauer by supporters of the club.[1][4]

In 1977, Hammarby reached the final of Svenska Cupen, the main domestic cup, but lost 0–1 to Östers IF.[5]

Åhlund was on the verge of becoming a professional abroad, attracting interest from clubs in both Belgium and Germany throughout his career. In 1980, he almost transferred to the competing Swedish club Mjällby AIF together with Sten-Ove Ramberg, a fellow teammate at Hammarby. Both players eventually decided to turn down the offer following outrage from the club's supporters.[1]

The highlight of Åhlund's career came in 1982 when Hammarby finished second in the table, going unbeaten the whole season. In the following playoff to decide the Swedish champion, the club went on to beat Örgryte in the quarter-finals and Elfsborg in the semi-finals. In the finals against IFK Göteborg, Hammarby won 2–1 in the first leg away, but lost 1–3 in the home game at Söderstadion to a record crowd, missing out on the gold medal. Åhlund was sidelined due to a groin injury throughout most of the season, but took part in the finals.[6][7][8][1][9]

After the domestic success, Hammarby competed in the European Cup Winners' Cup the following year, ultimately getting knocked out by FC Haka in the second round (2–3 on aggregate). Åhlund decided to leave Hammarby after the loss on 2 November 1983, which coincidentally also was Kenneth Ohlsson's last game for the club.[1] In total, Åhlund made 228 league appearances for Hammarby and scored 9 goals.[4][1]

Skövde AIK and retirement

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In 1984, Åhlund joined Skövde AIK as a player-coach. He stayed with the club for three seasons, competing in Division 3, before definitely retiring from playing.[10][9]

International career

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After competing with the Swedish U19's and U21's, Åhlund debuted for the Swedish senior national team in 1979 in a friendly 0–2 loss to Norway. In total, he won four caps the same year, competing in one competitive fixture (a 1–1 away draw against Luxembourg on 23 October 1979 in the UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying campaign).[11]

Managerial career

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After his player-coach stint at Skövde AIK, Åhlund spent the later stages of the 1980s and the 1990s coaching Friska Viljor, Umeå FC, Syrianska FC and FOC Farsta in the domestic lower divisions.[12][9]

In 2002, Åhlund returned to Hammarby IF to work as the assistant coach of Anders Linderoth. The club went on to have several fruitful years in the Allsvenskan, being a consistent challenger for the Swedish league title. The duo left the club at the end of 2006.[13][4]

On 31 August 2009, midway through the Allsvenskan season, he was appointed as the interim manager of Hammarby IF after the sacking of Tony Gustavsson. Åhlund was unable to save the club from a relegation to Superettan, the second tier, and left the position at the end of the year.[13][14]

Honours

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Player-coach

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Skövde AIK

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Söderstadions Beckenbauer" (PDF) (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  2. ^ "IF Brommapojkarna – Klubbens samtliga landslagsspelare" (PDF) (in Swedish). IF Brommapojkarna. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  3. ^ "1973" (in Swedish). HIF Historia. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Thom 20 år senare" (PDF) (in Swedish). Hammarbyiten. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Historik" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Archived from the original on 26 March 2011.
  6. ^ "1982" (in Swedish). HIF Historia. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  7. ^ "SM-finalen 1982" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Laget som fick Söder att skratta" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 20 October 2001. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "Thom Åhlund" (PDF) (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Seniorlagshistorik" (in Swedish). Skövde AIK. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Landslagsdatabasen: Thom Åhlund". Swedish Football Association.
  12. ^ "Thom Åhlund" (in Swedish). Fotbolltransfers. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Åhlund om raset: Fördes bakom ljuset" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 28 October 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Hammarby sparkar Tony Gustavsson" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  15. ^ "1985 - Clas Glenning Football". sites.google.com. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  16. ^ "1986 - Clas Glenning Football". sites.google.com. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
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