Bergström rune

Karl Rune Valerius Bergström (born September 5, 1891 in Kungsholmen , † May 7, 1964 ) was a Swedish football player . The winger , who won the Von Rosens Cup for the Swedish champions three times with AIK , took part in the 1920 Olympic Games with the Swedish national team.

Career

Bergström started his career at Westermalms IF in Kungsholmen. There he was one of the pioneers who helped to build a powerful team and played his way into the national team. On June 8, 1913, he made his debut in the 9-0 victory over the Norwegian national team in the national jersey and joined players like Karl Gustafsson or Ivar Svensson in the scorers list.

In 1914 Bergström moved on to AIK. In his very first season, the Swedish championship title was won alongside Karl Ansén , Helge Ekroth and Theodor Malm with a 7-2 final win over Helsingborgs IF . In addition, local rivals Djurgårdens IF was defeated in the game for Wicanderska Välgörenhetsskölden . After the semifinals against DIF in the following year , both trophies were won again in 1916 through victories against their rivals.

In the same year Bergström made a name for himself as the best winger of his time. In the international match against the Danish national team , against which the Swedish team had not yet scored a goal, on October 8th of that year, he spun in front of his home crowd in Stockholm on the flank and prepared the first goal. A quarter of an hour before the end of the game he stood free in front of the goal and the audience called out to the ball-bearing teammate loudly "Spela på rune" - play him to rune . This hit the ball in the middle, where Bergström scored the 4-0 final score. As a result, this expression became the winged word at AIK, so that the ball is played in the middle.

In 1917 Bergström received a professional offer from the United States , which he turned down and stayed in Sweden. In the same year he reached the championship finals again with the club, but DIF took revenge for the previous year's defeat. Although his club was not successful in the following years, he was still able to establish himself in the national team. In 1920 he was nominated for the Olympic Games and was used alongside Albin Dahl , Herbert Karlsson and Albert Olsson in all three games of the national selection during the tournament.

In 1922, his national team career ended after 26 international appearances in which he scored five goals. The following year he won his third championship title with AIK when IFK Eskilstuna was defeated 5-1 in the final of the Von Rosens Cup . After successfully qualifying for the Allsvenskan , he ran there in two seasons for the club. After 31 games and two goals in the new elite series, he ended his career in 1926.

After his active time, Bergström continued to follow events at his club before the full-time electrical fitter working for ASEA died of lung cancer at the age of 72 .

Web links

• Page about Bergström at AIK