PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Bo “Bosse” Larsson has passed away.
Now the Malmö legend is being honored by the club’s chairman Anders Pålsson.
– He was the greatest who has played in Malmö FF.
There were two successful stays in the Skåne team. The first between 1957-1966 and the second between 1969-1979.
There he was Bo “Boss” Larsson by winning six SM golds and becoming the first player to be awarded the Guldbollen, the prize for Sweden’s best soccer player, twice.
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Chairman of Malmö FF Anders Pålsson mourning the passing of the icon.
– It is a very sad day for Malmö FF. We mourn Bosse – not only as a footballer but also as a person. He was a very remarkable person. Sad news for us to receive, but our thoughts are of course with his loved ones at this moment, says Pålsson.
“Be the greatest”
Pålsson has no doubt where Larsson stands in terms of status.
– He was the greatest who has played in Malmö FF.
– For MFF he was a very great player, he could play in all positions. He became the shooting league winner a number of times and was the engine of the team. He had an international style and could have gone much further than playing in Stuttgart and Malmö FF – if he had wanted to. He wanted to be in Malmö, close to his city and his family. That was what was important to him, says the MFF chairman.
Between stays in Malmö, Larsson also managed a turn in Stuttgart, Germany (1966-1969). According to Pålsson, Larsson was one of the league’s very best players, together with the back icon Franz Beckenbauer.
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The current MFF chairman was himself a junior at the club during the 1970s.
– People looked up to these stars who had incredible success in the 1970s when MFF were big in Europe. It was crowned with the corresponding Champions League final in Munich in 1979.
Sent Sweden to the WC
However, “Bosse” Larsson missed the final match (0–1 loss against Nottingham Forest) due to injury. With the national team there were three WC tournaments (1970, 1974 and 1978).
– He was one of the national team captain (Georg) “Åby” Ericson’s mainstays at the time. We probably remember him most from the snow match in Gelsenkirchen (1973, WC qualifier) where he decided on a penalty, says Pålsson.
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A penalty that sent Sweden to the WC in West Germany a year later. After his football career, Larsson worked at Skanska and the public sector attracted him less and less.
He did few interviews, but kept in touch with his former teammates. At Malmö FF’s home arena, there is a memorial site for the late icon where you can write in a memorial book.
– Then we get back to how we honor him. Now, above all, we must respect the family, so that they can be undisturbed during the Christmas holiday here, says Anders Pålsson.
Born: 5 May 1944, Malmö
Club career: Malmö (1957-1966), Stuttgart (1966-1969), Malmö (1969-1979)
National team career: 17 goals in 70 international matches for Sweden. Three World Cup finals (1970, 1974, 1978).
Main merits: Six SM golds (1965, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975 and 1977), Guldbollen (1965 and 1973), Swedish cup champion (1973, 1974, 1975 and 1978), All-Sweden top scorer (1963, 1965 and 1970), Bragdguldet (1979, as part of the Malmö FF team that reached the European Cup final), inducted into Swedish football’s “Hall of Fame”.
READ MORE: Swedish football in mourning: The former national team player in Blågult and Allsvenska gold hero has passed away
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