Jan Sjöström

A full international between 1972 and 1974, he won eight caps for Sweden.

Jan Sjöström

Sjöström in 1969
Personal information
Full name	Jan Enar Christer Sjöström
Date of birth	(1948-04-10)10 April 1948
Place of birth	Härnösand, Sweden
Date of death	12 September 2013(2013-09-12) (aged 65)
Place of death	Stockholm, Sweden
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1963–1965	Sandåkerns SK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1965–1968	IFK Göteborg	26	(11)
1969–1979	Hammarby IF	237	(81)
Total		263	(92)
International career
1965–1966	Sweden U19	9	(9)
1970–1975	Sweden U21	10	(2)
1974	Sweden B	1	(1)
1972–1974	Sweden	8	(0)
Managerial career
1979–1980	Nyköpings BIS
	Skellefteå FF
1984–1986	BK Häcken
1987	Kalmar FF
	Spårvägens FF
	Älta IF
	Vagnhärads SK
	Topkapi IF
	Enebybergs IF
	Bromstens IK
	Akropolis IF
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sjöström was born in Härnösand, but grew up in Umeå. He started playing football with the local club Sandåkerns SK as a youngster, and made his debut for their senior team at age 14 in the Swedish lower divisions.

IFK Göteborg

In 1965, at age 17, Sjöström joined IFK Göteborg in Allsvenskan, as his family had moved to the city, and got promoted to the senior squad a year later.

In 1968, Sjöström broke into the side as a regular and scored seven goals in 17 league fixtures as the club finished 9th in the table. At the end of the season, Sjöström decided to leave the club to pursue studies in Stockholm.

Hammarby IF

In 1969, Sjöström joined Hammarby IF in Division 2, and helped the club to win an immediate promotion back to the top tier.

Back in Allsvenskan, Hammarby was placed at the foot of the table after eight rounds in July 1970, but the club managed to go practically unbeaten through the rest of the campaign, eventually finishing 5th in the table. Sjöström established himself as one of Hammarby's key players together with Tom Turesson, Kenneth Ohlsson and Ronnie Hellström. He became known as physical forward with a powerful shot, being a prolific goalscorer, although prone to injuries.

Between 1971 and 1975, Hammarby consistently finished mid-table in Allsvenskan, being unable to produce any sort of challenge for the Swedish champion title. Ahead of the 1976 season, Sjöström was on the verge of joining AS Cannes in the French Ligue 2, but the deal fell through in the last minute. In 1977, Hammarby reached the final of Svenska Cupen, the main domestic cup, but lost 0–1 to Östers IF.

Sjöström decided to retire from football at the end of 1979, aged 31. In total, Sjöström made 237 league appearances and scored 81 goals for the club. He is Hammarby's second best ever goalscorer in the top division Allsvenskan, behind Billy Ohlsson, and was voted in 2004 as the club's 24th biggest profile throughout its history.

Sjöström featured regularly for the Swedish U19's and U21's, and took part in the 1972 UEFA European Under-23 Championship where Sweden was knocked out by Czechoslovakia in the quarter-finals.

He made his senior debut for Sweden on 26 April 1972, aged 24, in a 1–1 draw against Switzerland in an away friendly. In total, Sjöström won eight caps for his country the next two years, but did not feature in any competitive fixtures.

After his playing career had ended, Sjöström worked a football manager. He was most notably the head coach of BK Häcken between 1984–1986 and Kalmar FF during a brief period in 1987.

Until his death, Sjöström was in a long-term relationship with fellow former footballer Gunilla Paijkull. Sjöström died on 12 September 2013, at age 65, due to an undisclosed condition.

International