Gunnar Andersson (footballer)

For the Swedish trade union organizer, see Gunnar Andersson (trade unionist).
Gunnar Andersson
Personal information
Full name Karl Gunnar Andersson
Date of birth (1928-08-14)14 August 1928
Place of birth Arvika, Sweden
Date of death 1 October 1969(1969-10-01) (aged 41)
Place of death Marseille, France
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
IFK Arvika
IFK Åmål
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1949–1950 IFK Göteborg
1950 Kjøbenhavns Boldklub
1950–1958 Marseille 220 (169)
1958 SO Montpellier
1958–1960 Bordeaux
1960–1961 AS Aix 28 (10)
1961–1962 CALO Oran
1962–1963 AS Gignac
1964 IFK Arvika[1]
National team
France (B team) 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Gunnar Andersson (14 August 1928 – 1 October 1969) was a football player from Sweden. He is widely considered as one of Olympique de Marseille's best strikers, along with Josip Skoblar and Jean-Pierre Papinby whom?.

He started his career in Sweden, where he was nicknamed Säffle, before playing for Danish side Kjøbenhavns Boldklub before being transferred to Olympique de Marseille, where he became a key player, scoring 169 goals in 220 matches in Division 1. With l'OM he was also Division 1 top goalscorer in 1951–1952 and 1952–1953 and runner-up in the Coupe de France 1953–1954. He also played for other French teams such as FC Girondins de Bordeaux and AS Aix.

Despite his success in France, he never played for the Sweden national football team because of a policy not to select players based outside Sweden, such as Andersson and Gunnar Nordahl. However, as he obtained French citizenship in 1954, he was capped once for the France B team, but was disappointing and was never called again.

He died in 1969, as he was heading to Stade Vélodrome, to see a match against Dukla Prague in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1969–70. He remains today one of the best players to wear l'OM uniform and one of the most appreciated by supporters.

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