Gunnar Gren

1937/41 Gårda BK (SUE) 54 matches, 16 goals

1941/49 IFK Gothenburg (SUE) 168 matches, 79 goals

1949/53 AC Milan (ITA) 137 matches, 38 goals

(Italian Championship: 133 matches, 38 goals)

(Latin Cup: 4 matches)

1953/55 Fiorentina (ITA) 55 matches, 5 goals

1955/56 Genoa (ITA) 29 matches, 2 goals

1956/59 Orgryte IS (SUE) 4 matches

1961/64 GAIS (SUE) 22 matches, 2 goals

With the National Team :

57 caps, 32 goals

(Friendly matches: 40 caps, 23 goals)

(World Cup Qualification: 1 selection)

(World Cup: 5 caps, 1 goal)

(Nordic Championship: 11 caps, 8 goals)

1st selection: August 29, 1940 against Finland (3-2)

Last selection: October 26, 1958 against Denmark (4-4)

B: 2 selections

Europe: 1 selection

Johan Gunnar Gren

Born October 31, 1920 in Gothenburg (SUE)

Died on November 10, 1991 in Gothenburg (SUE)

Swedish, Attacking Midfielder, Second Striker, 1m75

Nickname: “Il Professore”

Johan Gunnar Gren was born on October 31, 1920 in Gothenburg, Sweden and died on November 10, 1991 in the same city. He was a Swedish international football player who played as a playmaker, either as an attacking midfielder or as a second striker, before later becoming a coach.

Nicknamed Il Professore, he is considered one of the best Swedish footballers in history, and mainly played for Lombard club AC Milan (being famous for being part of the club's Swedish attacking trio called "Gre-No-Li") ).

Gunnar Gren is a very talented young boy when it comes to sport, he decides to participate on October 7, 1934 in a juggling competition organized by the president of the Göteborgs Fotbollförbund, Carl "Ceve" Linde. Gunnar Gren was only 13 years old and had already won the tournament; for the occasion, he was given a bronze plaque. The local newspaper Göteborgs Sport Bladet then wrote an article about the young prodigy who was playing at the time with the Bollklubben Strix club. During his youth, he then played with the clubs Lindholmens BK and GAIK before signing with Gårda BK.

It was in 1937 that Gunnar Gren made his debut in the world of first team football with Gårda BK, who made his Allsvenskan debut on September 1, 1938 in a 0–0 draw against Malmö FF. He scored a total of 16 goals in 54 matches for the club.

In 1941, he was finally recruited by the city's biggest club, IFK Göteborg, playing his first match in August 1941 in a 6–1 success against Gårda BK, his former club (a match in which he scored a goal). During his time at the club, Gren won the Swedish championship in his first season at the club in 1941-42, before being crowned collectively (winner of the Guldbollen in 1946 and top scorer in the championship in 1946-47 with 18 goals). He played his last meeting with the club on June 6, 1949 in a 1–0 defeat against IFK Norrköping at Gamla Ullevi. In total, he played 164 matches for 78 goals with the "Blue".

In 1949, after winning the 1948 Olympic Games with Sweden, he decided to try his luck in Italy where he joined AC Milan. There, he joined Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm, and made his debut with the Milan club on September 11, 1949 during a Serie A match against Sampdora, the Milan club won 3-1 away .

Endowed with great technical quality and great vision, he quickly established himself within the Rossonero squad, creating the legendary Swedish trio "Gre-No-Li" for the Milan club. During the first full season of the 3 Swedish players, they allowed the Lombard club to score 118 goals in 38 matches.

In total, Gunnar Gren played 137 matches and scored 38 goals with AC Milan, before leaving the club in 1953 for Fiorentina (he was also a player-coach briefly during 1953). He played his last match with the Lombardy club on June 7, 1953 during a 3-0 Latin Cup defeat against Stade de Reims.

In Tuscany, he played a total of 55 matches and scored 5 goals, before changing teams in 1955 for Genoa CFC, where he played a total of 29 matches and scored 2 goals.

Gunnar then decided to return to his native country in 1956, he returned to his hometown to play in the Örgryte IS club as a player-coach. After hanging up his boots for the first time in 1959, Gren tried one last experience before the end of his playing career and signed with GAIS for three seasons in 1961. He then played for a while with various local fourth division clubs until at an advanced age just for a few matches (with the clubs IFK Värnamo, Skogens IF, Fässbergs IF and IK Oddevold between 1965 and 1976), most often as player-coach.

- Swedish Golden Ball in 1946

- Top scorer in the Swedish championship in 1947 (18 goals) (IFK Göteborg)

- Named to the 1958 World Cup All-Star Team

- Inducted into the AC Milan Hall of Fame

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