Ronnie Hellström

Ronnie Carl Hellström (born 21 February 1949 in Malmö) is a former Swedish football goalkeeper.

Ronnie Hellström
Hellström in 2013.
Personal information
Full name Ronnie Carl Hellström
Date of birth (1949-02-21) 21 February 1949
Place of birth Malmö, Sweden
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1960–1962 Strandbadens IF
1962–1966 Hammarby IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1966–1974 Hammarby IF 169 (0)
1974–1984 1. FC Kaiserslautern 266 (0)
1988 GIF Sundsvall 1 (0)
Total 436 (0)
National team
1968–1980 Sweden[1] 77 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He played most of his career at Hammarby and Kaiserslautern; being considered one of the world's top goalkeepers in the 1970s. He won the prize as Sweden's best footballer, the Golden ball (Guldbollen), twice, in 1971 and 1978.

Early life

Ronnie Hellström was born in Malmö,[2] to father Rolf, who also played football as a goalkeeper, and mother Ingegerd.[3] He started playing football at the local club Strandbadens IF, based in Falsterbo, in 1960.[4] During a brief period, Hellström trained with local giants Malmö FF[5] after getting invited by former national team player and then youth coach, Karl-Erik Palmér. Hellström did, however, not join the club on permanent basis since Malmö FF cited "he was to small".[4]

In 1962, when Hellström was 13 years old, his family moved to Stockholm after his father's job got relocated to the capital. On his own initiative, Hellström sought to continue playing football at Hammarby IF since he had read about the club's youth academy in a magazine.[4] He immediately joined up with his new side and soon established himself as a frequent starter in Hammarby's different youth teams.[2]

Club career

Hammarby

Ronnie Hellström debuted for Hammarby IF's senior squad on 11 May 1966, aged seventeen, in an away win (3–1) against Avesta AIK in Division 2 Svealand.[6][7][8][9]

Kaiserslautern

Hellström started his career in Hammarby IF, and in 1974 became a professional with 1. FC Kaiserslautern, where he played 266 Bundesliga matches before retiring, in 1984. From 1978–82, although always coming up empty in the end, he helped the club to consecutive top three (or four) finishes.

In 1988, Hellström played one match in the Allsvenskan, for GIF Sundsvall. He was 39 years, 7 months and 18 days at the time. He later went on to work as a goalkeeping coach for Hammarby and Malmö FF.

International career

Hellström helped Sweden to a fifth place in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, and also played at the 1970 and the 1978 editions. In total, he received 77 caps.

While in Argentina during the 1978 World Cup, Hellström took part in the demonstrations of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo in front of Casa Rosada together with teammates Roy Andersson and Roland Andersson.

Ronnie Hellström is unsuccessful in trying to stop Grzegorz Lato's header in the game against Poland in the 1974 World Cup. Kent Karlsson is visible on the left.

Honours

Team

Individual

References
  1. "Sweden national football team stats". passagen.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 9 June 2001.
  2. TT (20 February 2004). "Födelsedag". Kristianstadsbladet. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  3. "Målvaktskarriären har öppnat många dörrar". Sydsvenskan. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  4. "Hellström: Tragisk att Jasjin fick amputera". Expressen. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  5. "Hellström, Ronnie". SvFF. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  6. "1966". Hifhistoria.se. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  7. ""Tack vare fotbollen har jag mitt yrke"". Sundsvalls Tidning. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  8. "Landslagsmålvakt – en kul hobby". Timbro. 21 June 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  9. "35 000 tar farväl av sin hjälte". Expressen. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
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