Nils-Åke Sandell

Nils-Åke Sandell
Personal information
Full name	Nils-Åke Sandell
Date of birth	5 February 1927
Place of birth	Lund, Sweden
Date of death	29 May 1992 (aged 65)
Position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team
1943–1949	Lunds BK
1949–1951	IFK Malmö
1951–1952	Lunds BK
1952–1956	Malmö FF
1956–1958	SPAL 1907
1958–1959	Malmö FF
International career
1952–1956	Sweden
Managerial career
1959–1963	Malmö FF
	Skurups AIF
	Lunds BK
	Lunds BoIS
	Tomelilla IF
	Ystads IF
	IFK Trelleborg
1980–1982	IFK Malmö
	* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nils-Åke Sandell (5 February 1927 – 29 May 1992) was a Swedish footballer and manager.

Club career

Sandell grew up in the working class area of Väster in Lund, and started his playing career with his local club Lunds BK, where two of his uncles worked. He made his debut at the age of 16, and was a prolific goalscorer in the third tier. After a brief period at IFK Malmö, he returned to Lunds BK, before moving to Malmö FF for the 1952 season.^[1] On 9 October 1955, he scored Malmö FF's 1000th Allsvenskan goal in a 5–1 win against Norrby IF.^[2] After spending 4 years with Malmö FF, Sandell had garnered a reputation for being a goalscorer and tried his luck in Italy and SPAL 1907. After his period in Italy, Sandell returned to Malmö FF and played one last season in 1958.

Malmö FF players in 1955: from left Charles Gustafsson, Henry Thillberg, Nils-Åke Sandell, Bengt Lindskog and Bertil Nilsson.

International career

He played a crucial role in Sweden's triumph at the 1952–55 Nordic Football Championship, being the top goal scorer of the tournament with 10 goals in 8 caps,^[3] and he was also part of Sweden's squad for the football tournament at the 1952 Summer Olympics, but he did not play in any matches.^[4]

Managerial career

After returning from Italy and playing in the final of games of the 1958 season, Sandell was asked by chairman Eric Persson to become manager of Malmö FF. He managed the club from 1959 to 1963 winning no titles. Sandell's managerial career continued at regional clubs in Skåne, and he finished his career at IFK Malmö, nearly managing to promote them to Allsvenskan in 1980.

Honours

Sweden

Summer Olympics bronze medal: 1952
Nordic Football Championship: 1952–1955

Individual

Nordic Football Championship top scorer: 1952–1955

References

^ Åkesson, Richard (20 October 2012). "Talangerna föds i Krubban" [Talents are born at Krubban]. Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 May 2026.
^ Törner, Ole (26 May 2020). "Tre historiska MFF-mål – ett av dem firar jubileum idag" [Three historic MFF goals – one of them celebrates its anniversary today]. Gasetten (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 May 2026.
^ "Sweden men's national football team results". football.eu. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
^ "Nils-Åke Sandell". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 November 2021.

Sources

Malmström, Håkan (2010). 100 MFF:ARE. Sydsvenska Dagbladets AB. pp. 100–101. ISBN 978-91-85319-71-8.

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[1] Åkesson, Richard (20 October 2012). "Talangerna föds i Krubban" [Talents are born at Krubban]. Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 May 2026.

[2] Törner, Ole (26 May 2020). "Tre historiska MFF-mål – ett av dem firar jubileum idag" [Three historic MFF goals – one of them celebrates its anniversary today]. Gasetten (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 May 2026.

[3] "Sweden men's national football team results". football.eu. Retrieved 20 May 2022.

[4] "Nils-Åke Sandell". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 November 2021.

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