Gunnar Wilhelmsson

Gunnar Wilhelmsson
Personal information
Full name Karl Gunnar Martin Wilhelmsson
Date of birth (1954-10-04) 4 October 1954 (age 70)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1972–1974 Norrstrands IF
1975–1980 Hammarby IF 137 (0)
International career‡
1975 Sweden U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 December 2020
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 3 July 2020

Gunnar Wilhelmsson (born 4 October 1954) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, best known for representing Hammarby IF.

Career

As a youngster, Wilhelmsson started to play football with local club Norrstrands IF. In 1972, aged 17, he made his debut for their senior team in Division 4, Sweden's fourth tier.[1]

In 1975, Wilhelmsson transferred to Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan, the domestic top division. He was sought out as a replacement for club legend Ronnie Hellström by chairman Lennart Nyman.[2] He established himself as a starter in his debut season, as his side finished 10th in the table, where Wilhelmsson most notably saved a penalty in a 1–0 home win against fierce rivals AIK.[3] On 2 September the same year, Wilhelmsson won his first and only cap for the Sweden U21's, in 2–0 friendly win against Finland.[4]

A key player under manager Björn Bolling, Wilhelmsson kept a clean sheet in five of the first six league games of 1976, but the club eventually dropped of in the table and finished 8th in the league.[3] In 1977, Hammarby reached the final of Svenska Cupen, the main domestic cup, but lost 0–1 to Östers IF.[5] After putting on impressive performances with Hammarby IF for several season, leading the club to mid-table positions, Wilhelmsson was listed as a reserve player for Sweden in the 1978 World Cup.[3]

In 1980, manager Bengt Gustavsson decided to drop Wilhelmsson in favour of Anders Markström, and he left the club at the end of the year.[2][6] Wilhelmsson is the goalkeeper that holds the club record of most Allsvenskan appearances for Hammarby IF with 137 league games, in which he kept 38 clean sheets.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Klubbinfo" (in Swedish). Norrstrands IF. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Bengt "Julle" Gustavsson har lämnat oss" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Archived from the original on 22 May 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Gunnar Wilhelmsson – Vår Meste Allsvenska Målvakt" (in Swedish). Supportrarnas Matchprogram. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Landslagsdatabasen: Gunnar Wilhelmsson" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Historik" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Archived from the original on 26 March 2011.
  6. ^ "Anders Markström har lämnat oss" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Retrieved 24 March 2021.