Gunnar Gren
- Dag Jenkins
- Jun 1
- 3 min read
Johan Gunnar Gren was born in Gothenburg, on October 31, 1920.
His first professional club was Gårda Bollklub from Gothenburg. He made his debut for the Maroons in 1936-1937 and stayed four seasons in the Swedish top flight. The highest finish was 5th twice, in 1938 and 1939. Gren played 54 league games and scored 16 goals.
In 1940 he moved to the bigger club in his hometown as he joined IFK Göteborg. He stayed eight seasons, making 164 appearances with 79 goals. The Blåvitt won the league in 1942. In 1946 he was voted Swedish Player of the Year.
In 1949 he moved to Italy and signed for Milan. Here he joined fellow Swedes Nils Liedholm and Gunnar Nordahl and made up the formidable Gre-No Li trio. In his first three seasons the manager was Lajos Czeizler and the Rossoneri finished 2nd, then won the Scudetto after 44 years and then 2nd again. In his fourth and last season the manager was former and future Lazio manager, Mario Sperone and Milan finished 3rd. Gren even took over as manager himself for the end of season Latin Cup (lost 0-3 to Reims in final). In his four seasons Gren played 137 games and scored 38 goals. His teammates included Lazio connections; Renzo Burini (1953-58) and Angelo Longoni (1961-63).
In 1953 he signed for Fiorentina and stayed two seasons. The Viola finished 3rd and 5th, both under Lazio connection Fulvio Bernardini.
Gren played 55 league games with 5 goals (Inter, Triestina, Roma, SPAL, Genoa). His teammates included other Lazio connections: Maurilio Prini (1958-62), Claudio Bizzarri (1958-63), Amos Mariani (1959-63) while the assistant manager was Virgilio Levratto (1934-36).
In 1955 Gren moved to Genoa for one season. The manager was Renzo Magli and the Rossoblu finished 9th. Gren played 29 league games and scored 2 goals (Napoli, Fiorentina). The highlights were defeating Milan 3-1, Inter 4-3 and Sampdoria 2-1 in the derby. The squad included former Lazio midfielder Ragnar Larsen (1951-53).
In 1956 Gren returned to Sweden. He spent three seasons with Örgyte from Gothenburg as player-manager (two in 2nd tier and one in top). In 1960 he had a spell as manager at IFK Göteborg and in 1961 returned to Italy and was technical director for Juventus who won the Scudetto.
In 1963 he was back in Sweden as player-manager with GAIS from Gothenburg for two seasons (one in 2nd tier and one in Allesvenskan)
In 1965 and 1966 he was player manager of IFK Värnamo in the 4th tier.
In 1967 he turned out as a player for amateurs Redbergslid.
In 1968 and 1969 he was back at GAIS as manager in the Allesvenskan.
In 1970 he was player-manager for Skogen, in 1973 for Fässbergs IF and in 1976 for Oddevold (all in 4th tier).
He then retired both as a player and manager.
For Sweden he won 57 caps with 32 goals (all time 5th). He played in the 1958 World Cup reaching the final but losing 2-5 to Brazil. He also played in the 1948 Olympics in London winning a gold medal (Yugoslavia 3-1) with George Raynor as manager.
Gren was an attacking midfielder. He is considered one of the best Swedish players of all time. He had a brilliant footballing mind and was famous for his tactical acumen. He had great feet, sense of position, dribbling and passing skills. He was also known for trying the most difficult option and often succeeding.
In Italy he was a great success and formed one of the best ever attacking line-ups, the formidable Gre-No-Li. Gren was called the "Professor" of the trio, for his tactical mind. They helped bring back the Scudetto to the Rossonero side of Milan after a 44 year-long wait.
Gren died on November 10, 1991, in Gothenburg.
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