Agne Simonsson Facts for Kids

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Agne Simonsson

Agne Simonsson with Team Sweden in 1960

Personal information

Full name

Tore Klas Agne Simonsson

Date of birth

19 October 1935

Place of birth

Göteborg, Sweden

Date of death

22 September 2020 (aged 84)

Place of death

Göteborg, Sweden

Playing position

Striker

Youth career

BK René

Senior career*

Years

Team

Apps^†

(Gls)^†

1953–1960

Örgryte IS

(25)

1960–1963

Real Madrid

(1)

1961–1962

→ Real Sociedad (loan)

(8)

1963–1970

Örgryte IS

120

(80)

Total

187

(114)

National team

1957

Sweden U21

(3)

1957–1967

Sweden

(27)

Teams managed

1971–1972

1977–1982

1983–1986

1988–1990

Honours

Men's Football

Representing Sweden
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up	1958 Sweden

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

† Appearances (Goals).

The Sweden national football team in 1961 with this players – from the left, standing: Bengt "Fölet" Berndtsson, Torbjörn Jonsson, Åke "Bajdoff" Johansson, Agne Simonsson, Rune Börjesson and Lennart Backman; crouched: Olle "Lappen" Hellström, Orvar Bergmark, Bengt "Zamora" Nyholm, Lennart Wing and Gösta "Knivsta" Sandberg.

Tore Klas Agne Simonsson (19 October 1935 – 22 September 2020) was a Swedish footballer who played as a striker. Beginning his career with Örgryte IS in 1953, he went on to represent Real Madrid and Real Sociedad in La Liga in the early 1960s before returning to Örgryte in 1963. Simonsson won 51 caps for the Sweden national team, and was a part of the Sweden team that finished second at the 1958 FIFA World Cup. He was also the recipient of the 1959 Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal after a spectacular performance for Sweden in an international game against England at Wembley Stadium.

Club career
International career
Managerial career
Career statistics
- International
Honours
- Player
  - Real Madrid
  - Sweden
- Manager
See also

Club career

Örgryte IS

Simonsson played youth football for BK René before signing for Örgryte IS in 1949. He made his senior debut for Örgryte in 1953, when the team played in Division 3. He helped the team win promotion to Division 2 in 1955, and later won promotion to Allsvenskan in 1958 with Gunnar Gren as a player-coach. While at Örgryte IS, he finished fifth in votes for the 1959 Ballon d'Or and was awarded the 1959 Guldbollen.

Real Madrid

Widely regarded as the best center forward in the world after a string of impressive performances for the Sweden national team, Simonsson was signed by the La Liga team Real Madrid in 1960. However, fierce competition from especially Alfredo Di Stéfano limited Simonsson's playing chances at the club and he ended up playing in only 3 league games during the 1960–61 La Liga season, scoring one goal as Real Madrid was crowned champions. He scored the third goal against Real Zaragoza in a 5–1 home win in 9th round. He was also a part of the Real Madrid teams that won the 1960 Intercontinental Cup and the 1962–63 La Liga, but did receive any playing time. As of 2022, Simonsson is still the only Swede ever to have represented Real Madrid.

Loan to Real Sociedad

For the 1961–62 La Liga season, Simonsson was loaned out to Real Sociedad for which he scored 8 goals in 22 league games. However, at the end of the season Simonsson was forced to see his team be relegated, as the team finished 15th out of 16 teams in the table.

Return to Örgryte IS

In 1963, Simonsson returned to Sweden and Örgryte IS to form a feared striker partnership together with Rune Börjesson. Simonsson is Örgryte IS' best ever goal scorer in league play with a total of 206 goals.

International career

Early career

Simonsson made his only appearance for the Sweden U21 team on 22 September 1957 in a friendly game against Finland, scoring a hat-trick in a 7–0 win. He made his full international debut for Sweden a month later on 13 October 1957 in a 1956–59 Nordic Football Championship game against Norway, scoring two goals as Sweden won 5–2.

1958 FIFA World Cup

Simonsson scored four goals as Sweden reached the final of the 1958 FIFA World Cup on home soil, including a goal in the final as Sweden lost 2–5 to Brazil.

Later career

He was awarded the 1959 Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal as well as the 1959 Guldbollen after his performance against England on 28 October 1959 when Sweden beat the English 3–2 at Wembley Stadium and Simonsson scored two goals and made one assist. This was only the second time in history that a team beat England at Wembley.

He won his 51st and final cap in a 2–0 win against Finland on 10 August 1967 in the 1964–67 Nordic Football Championship. He scored a total of 27 international goals.

Managerial career

In 1982, he managed BK Häcken to win promotion to their first ever season in Allsvenskan. As a manager for Örgryte IS, Simonsson led the team to the 1985 Swedish Championship title, winning them their first league title since 1913.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	1957	2	2
	1958	9	8
	1959	7	6
	1960	3	3
	1961	4	2
	1962	0	0
	1963	4	1
	1964	5	1
	1965	3	3
	1966	9	1
	1967	5	0
Total		51	27

Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Simonsson goal.

List of international goals scored by Agne Simonsson
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	13 October 1957	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Norway	1–0	5–2	1956–59 Nordic Football Championship
2	13 October 1957	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Norway	3–0	5–2	1956–59 Nordic Football Championship
3	7 May 1958	Olympia, Helsingborg, Sweden	Switzerland	2–1	3–2	Friendly
4	7 May 1958	Olympia, Helsingborg, Sweden	Switzerland	3–2	3–2	Friendly
5	8 June 1958	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Mexico	1–0	3–0	1958 FIFA World Cup
6	8 June 1958	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Mexico	3–0	3–0	1958 FIFA World Cup
7	19 June 1958	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Soviet Union	2–0	3–0	1958 FIFA World Cup
8	29 June 1958	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Brazil	2–4	2–5	1958 FIFA World Cup
9	20 August 1958	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	7–1	7–1	1956–59 Nordic Football Championship
10	14 September 1958	Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, Norway	Norway	2–0	2–0	1956–59 Nordic Football Championship
11	21 May 1958	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Portugal	1–0	2–0	Friendly
12	21 June 1959	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	2–0	6–0	1956–59 Nordic Football Championship
13	2 August 1959	Malmö Stadium, Malmö, Sweden	Finland	3–1	3–1	1956–59 Nordic Football Championship
14	18 August 1959	Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Norway	3–0	6–2	1956–59 Nordic Football Championship
15	28 October 1959	Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom	England	1–1	3–2	Friendly
16	28 October 1959	Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom	England	2–1	3–2	Friendly
17	18 May 1960	Malmö Stadium, Malmö, Sweden	Republic of Ireland	2–0	4–1	Friendly
18	18 May 1960	Malmö Stadium, Malmö, Sweden	Republic of Ireland	3–0	4–1	Friendly
19	22 June 1960	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	3–0	3–0	1960–63 Nordic Football Championship
20	28 May 1961	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Switzerland	3–0	4–0	1962 FIFA World Cup qualifier
21	29 October 1961	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–0	2–3	1962 FIFA World Cup qualifier
22	3 November 1963	Råsunda Stadium, Solna Sweden	Germany	1–0	2–1	Friendly
23	29 April 1964	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Netherlands	1–0	1–0	Friendly
24	5 May 1965	Nya Parken, Norrköping, Sweden	Cyprus	1–0	3–0	1966 FIFA World Cup qualifier
25	5 May 1965	Nya Parken, Norrköping, Sweden	Cyprus	3–0	3–0	1966 FIFA World Cup qualifier
26	22 August 1965	Skogsvallen, Luleå, Sweden	Finland	2–2	2–2	1964–67 Nordic Football Championship
27	6 November 1966	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Denmark	1–1	2–1	1964–67 Nordic Football Championship