Ronnie Powell

Ronnie Powell is a retired English soccer player . In 1974 he was the first foreign player in the Allsvenskan , his son Magnus Powell was active as a football player in Sweden and Norway.

Career

Powell studied in Leeds and came to Sweden as an exchange student in 1969. There he earned his living as a holiday worker for eight weeks in a paper mill in Husum . There he met his future wife and returned to Sweden after completing his studies. Since he had already played amateur soccer in England, he joined the local club Husums IF in Husum . At the time of the third division he was convincing, so that the higher-class Brynäs IF brought him to Gävle in 1972 . For the second division he played in the following years and reached with him at the end of the 1973 season a promotion place to Allsvenskan . Up until now, to protect the Swedish national team, there was a ban on foreigners in the top division, but this was lifted in the late autumn of 1973 from the 1974 season onwards. After looking for a new club, Powell was able to remain loyal to the club. In the 1: 2 defeat on April 13, 1974, he made his debut as the first foreigner in the top division, in the 4-0 win over IFK Norrköping he scored the first goal of a foreign player. After only two wins of the season, the club rose again at the end of the season, Powell had scored four goals in 19 games of the season. He then moved with the family to Örnsköldsvik and returned to Husums IF , where he also worked as a coach after his career ended.

Web links

• aftonbladet.se: "Importsvenskan"