Rolf Björklund

Rolf Björklund (born October 2, 1938 ) is a Swedish former football player . The defender with the nickname "Tejpen" won several national titles with Malmö FF and joined the Swedish national team .

Career

Björklund first played in Gyllebo and Österlen before he came to Malmö FF in 1953 through a friend with whom he worked as an errand boy at Skånska Dagbladet . There he went through the junior division and was promoted to the first team in 1959. On May 11, 1960 he finally made his debut for the club in the Allsvenskan and subsequently established himself under coach Nils-Åke Sandell in the club's main lineup. If the club had established itself under his leadership in the front division, one of the most successful periods in the club's history was under his successor Antonio Durán . In the 1965 season Björklund won the Von Rosens Cup for the Swedish championship on the side of Bo Larsson , Ingvar Svahn and Prawitz Öberg with two points ahead of IF Elfsborg . Thanks to his good performances over the course of the season, he also played for the national team and made his debut on October 31 of that year in a 0-0 draw against Norway in a blue and gold dress. As a result, he stayed in the national team and was a regular player under national coach Orvar Bergmark in qualifying for the 1968 European Championship . Although the team had surprised with a 2-1 away win against reigning World Cup third party Portugal with a brace from Inge Danielsson , as third in the table they were ultimately far from participating in the finals.

Björklund also repeated the championship win in the 1967 season in the club Stammkraft , which was crowned by winning the double after a 2-0 final win in the Svenska Cup against IFK Norrköping . In the same year he played in the national jersey for the last time in the 3-0 defeat against Bulgaria , after missing the qualification for the European Championship he was no longer considered in the national team after 13 international matches . At his club, however, they continued to rely on him, so that he was able to celebrate his third championship title in the 1970 season. After the end of the season he left the club after 192 top division games and worked for several years as a player- coach at Trelleborgs FF . Later he looked after various clubs in the lower class league area.

Web links

• sydsvenskan.se: "Det räcker med Tejpen"