Ex England manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson has died at the age of 76.
Eriksson was the first non-English manager to manage England between 2001-06 and went on to enjoy spells at Manchester City and Leicester City, amongst 12 clubs that he managed in his career.
During his managerial career, Eriksson also managed Mexico, Ivory Coast and Philippines, with the latter having been his final job as manager from 2018-19.
He also won 18 trophies as a manager of which six came at Lazio including 1999 UEFA Super Cup title, which saw Lazio stun treble-winners, Manchester United, by a 1-0 result.
Eriksson in the past year was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which he publicly announced in January 2024, and went on to manage Liverpool Legends against Ajax in March to fulfil a life-long dream.
His family released a short statement on his passing: “Sven-Goran Eriksson has passed away. After a long illness, SGE died during the morning at home surrounded by family.”
As a player, Eriksson represented Torsby, SK Sifhalla and KB Karlskoga before he retired at the age of 27 and went into management.
FA CEO, Mark Bullingham described Eriksson’s death as “a very sad day” for football, as he praised him for providing England fans with many memories.
“He gave all England fans such special memories. No one can ever forget the 5-1 victory in Munich against Germany under Sven’s guidance.
“Sven will be rightly recognised and forever remembered for his significant work with the England team, and for his wider contribution to the game.
“On behalf of my colleagues at The FA, past and present, our thoughts are with his friends and family today. He will be much missed, and we will pay tribute to him when we play Finland at Wembley next month.”
Man City meanwhile flew their flags at half-mast and issued the following statement about his time in charge: “The Swedish coach was in charge of City for the 2007/08 season, which is a campaign fondly remembered by many supporters.
“After taking over from Stuart Pearce, Eriksson oversaw the arrival of an influx of continental talent as City made a flying start to the campaign.
“He led the Blues to their first league double over Manchester United in 38 years as we finished ninth in the Premier League.”
Tributes soon flooded in across social media, with the EFL expressing sympathy to his family.
The EFL is saddened to hear of the passing of former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. All our thoughts are with his family at this sad time. pic.twitter.com/lOulhgbTGW
— EFL (@EFL) August 26, 2024
Fotbollen har sorg. Sven-Göran ”Svennis” Eriksson, en av svensk fotbolls mest inflytelserika tränare har lämnat oss efter en tids sjukdom. 🌹
Svennis har med sina enastående tränarframgångar i flera decennier inspirerat ledare inom svensk fotboll, och hans inflytande sträcker… pic.twitter.com/JCGl3mBXCO
— Svensk Fotboll (@svenskfotboll) August 26, 2024
HRH Prince of Wales paid tribute to Eriksson for his “charisma and passion” for the sport.
Sad to hear about the passing of Sven-Göran Eriksson. I met him several times as England manager and was always struck by his charisma and passion for the game. My thoughts are with his family and friends. A true gentleman of the game. W
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) August 26, 2024
UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer spoke of his sadness at Eriksson’s death and acknowledged his “tremendous contribution” to football in England.
Deeply saddened to hear that Sven-Goran Eriksson has passed away.
He will be remembered for his tremendous contribution to English football which brought joy to so many over the years.
Our thoughts are with his family.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) August 26, 2024
UEFA reflected upon Eriksson’s title success as a manager in a tribute post on X.
On behalf of the European football community, everybody at UEFA is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Sven Göran Eriksson.
A beloved figure in the game, Sven was a UEFA Cup winner as coach of IFK Göteborg in 1982 before leading Lazio to the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1999.… pic.twitter.com/ZlNSFftl97
— UEFA (@UEFA) August 26, 2024
Ex Norwegian footballer, Jan Agage Fjortoft hailed Eriksson as a “world class” manager.
Sven Göran Eriksson has passed away.
What a career!
What a man!One of the most polite persons I have met.
So generous with his time.His presence was “world class”.
That’s also the message from some of the players he has coached over the years
One of the greatest has left…
— Jan Aage Fjørtoft 🇳🇴 (@JanAageFjortoft) August 26, 2024
Former England goalkeeper, David James played under Eriksson led the tributes from ex Three Lions players, as he described his former manager as “a gentleman,” of the game.
I’m saddened by the passing of Sven-Göran Eriksson. He was a Gentleman, a great human being and a great manager. 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/yUllUmJY0R
— David James (@jamosfoundation) August 26, 2024
Rest In Peace Sven-Göran Eriksson.
One of the very best and a man who will be sadly missed by everyone in the world of football. pic.twitter.com/G4qq4VQ5PM
— Michael Owen (@themichaelowen) August 26, 2024
RIP SVEN what a man 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
— Aaron Lennon (@AaronLennon12) August 26, 2024
RIP Boss 🙏🏽❤️ pic.twitter.com/0NRtayulfE
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) August 26, 2024
Rest in peace, Sven. A special man. Thanks for the memories and all your help and advice. Thoughts and prayers with all his family and friends ❤️ pic.twitter.com/HHegq1Rsp9
— Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) August 26, 2024
Really sad news.
What a great person he wasSven gave me my england debut when plenty doubted it. I will forever be grateful to him.
He will be missed https://t.co/mxXhXoLdNk
— Peter Crouch (@petercrouch) August 26, 2024
Gutted & eternally grateful 💔 RIP Sven pic.twitter.com/k0ZV1Vn8e6
— Trevor Sinclair (@trevor8sinclair) August 26, 2024
Such sad news I met Sven several times he was such a gentleman and gave so much to football RIP pic.twitter.com/A095fLI5rn
— Peter Shilton (@Peter_Shilton) August 26, 2024
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