He is one of Swedish bandy’s greatest of all time.
But the debut was perhaps not what Bernt “Bempa” Ericsson had hoped for.
Here is his almost improbable first match in the Allsvenskan.
When Bernt Bempa Ericsson played his first match in bandy’s fine room, few could have imagined what an incredible career he would have. 26 seasons later, he ended his career as one of the sport’s greatest ever.
One of the sport’s greatest
Bempa made his national team debut in 1963 and in total there would be over 100 games, and almost as many goals, during his career. There were a total of eight WC tournaments for the icon, and to summarize his greatness: In six of the eight tournaments, he was selected for the world team. At home, there were three SM golds, and five shooting league wins.
Bempa was known for knowing everything on the pitch, and as a right winger he was as good at dominating himself as he was at making his teammates better. For that, he was named Man of the Year, the player of the year award, a total of five times. But, as I said, it was not entirely obvious when he made his debut match in the Allsvenskan in 1958.
Worst debut ever?
He was then only 15 years old in a Falun that was in crisis. Falun went out that year, and Bempa’s debut was not exactly the turning point. According to Swedish Bandy, it was a funny sight even before the match. The 15-year-old had received a match shirt that was far too big, and once on the ice the bad luck continued. It took 45 seconds before Bempa’s match was over.
The reason? He got a ball in the eye, and could not continue the match, but had to be carried out on a stretcher. Not exactly the best debut… But revenge would come, and Bempa is today remembered as one of our most popular athletes for a few years.
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