 Andersson in 1968 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Karl Gunnar Andersson | ||
| Date of birth | 14 August 1928 | ||
| Place of birth | Arvika, Sweden | ||
| Date of death | 1 October 1969 (aged 41) | ||
| Place of death | Marseille, France | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| IFK Arvika | |||
| 1943–49 | IFK Åmål | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1949–1950 | IFK Göteborg | 2 | (0) |
| 1950 | Kjøbenhavns Boldklub | ||
| 1950–1958 | Marseille | 220 | (169) |
| 1958 | SO Montpellier | ||
| 1958–1960 | Bordeaux | ||
| 1960–1961 | AS Aix | 28 | (10) |
| 1961–1962 | CAL Oran | ||
| 1962–1963 | AS Gignac | ||
| 1964 | IFK Arvika[1] | ||
| International career | |||
| 1956 | France B | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gunnar Andersson (14 August 1928 – 1 October 1969) was a Swedish footballer who played as a striker. He is widely considered one of Olympique de Marseille's best strikers,[2] and is the highest scorer of the club. Born in Sweden, he played for the France national football B team once.
Andersson started his career in Sweden, where he was nicknamed Säffle, before playing for Danish side Kjøbenhavns BK before being transferred to Olympique de Marseille, where he became a key player.[3] Having scored 194 goals in 220 matches,[2] he is the highest scorer of the club ahead of Jean-Pierre Papin (182) and Josip Skoblar (176).[4] With l'OM he was also Division 1 top goalscorer in 1951–1952 and 1952–1953 and runner-up in the 1953–54 Coupe de France. 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 nationality in 1954, he was capped once for the France B team in 1956, but was disappointing and was never called again.[5]
He died in 1969, as he was heading to Stade Vélodrome, to see a match against Dukla Prague in the 1969–70 European Cup Winners' Cup. He remains today one of the best players to wear l'OM uniform and one of the most appreciated by supporters.[according to whom?]
Marseille
Individual
