Rune Börjesson (5 April 1937 – 21 February 1996) was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a forward. He was the Allsvenskan top scorer in 1959 and 1960 while at Örgryte IS, and later played professionally in Serie A with Juventus and Palermo. A full international between 1958 and 1961, he won 20 caps and scored 17 goals for the Sweden national team.
 Harry Bild and Börjesson in 1959 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rune Börjesson | ||
| Date of birth | 5 April 1937 | ||
| Place of birth | Gothenburg, Sweden | ||
| Date of death | 21 February 1996 (aged 58) | ||
| Place of death | Gothenburg, Sweden | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1951 | Hovås IF | ||
| 1951–1954 | Örgryte IS | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1955–1961 | Örgryte IS | ||
| 1961–1963 | Juventus | 0 | (0) |
| 1961–1963 | → Palermo (loan) | 38 | (10) |
| 1963–1967 | Örgryte IS | ||
| 1968–? | Hovås IF | ||
| International career | |||
| 1955–1957 | Sweden U21 | 3 | (0) |
| 1955–1958 | Sweden B | 2 | (2) |
| 1958–1961 | Sweden | 20 | (17) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
Early career
Rune Börjesson started off his career with Hovås IF, before being signed by Örgryte IS at the age of 14.[1] While at Örgryte, Börjesson formed a successful striker partnership with the prolific striker Agne Simonsson.[1] In 1955, Börjesson was awarded GT's Kristallkulan as the best player in West Sweden.[2]
During the 1957–58 Division 2 Västra Götaland season, Börjesson helped Örgryte win promotion to Allsvenskan for the first time in 19 years by scoring a total of 40 goals.[1] In his first ever Allsvenskan season, Börjesson finished as the Allsvenskan top scorer with 21 goals, as Örgryte claimed a respectable fourth position in the 1959 table.[3] The following season Börjesson yet again finished as the league's top scorer with 24 goals, helping his team finish third.[4]
Serie A
Börjesson signed with the Italian Serie A team Juventus after the 1961 Allsvenskan season but was quickly loaned out to Palermo where he spent two seasons, playing in 38 games and scoring 10 goals.[1][5]
Return to Örgryte
Börjesson returned to Örgryte in 1963 after his stint in Italy and was reunited with his former striker partner Agne Simonsson, who had returned from a spell in La Liga with Real Madrid and Real Sociedad.[1] He left Örgryte at the end of the 1967 Allsvenskan season to round up his career with his boyhood club Hovås IF.[1]
Börjesson scored a total of 91 goals in 125 Allsvenskan games during his two stints at Örgryte IS.[1] In all divisions for Örgryte, he scored a total of 202 league goals, which puts him second behind Agne Simonsson for most league goals of all time for Örgryte.[6]
International career
Börjesson started his international career with the Sweden U21 team, representing them in three games.[7] Prior to making his senior debut, he also represented the Sweden B team twice, scoring two goals.[7]
Börjesson eventually made his international senior debut for Sweden in a home game against Norway on 14 September 1958, in which he also scored his first international goal.[1] He played for Sweden in their unsuccessful 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, but never appeared in a major tournament.[7] He won a total of 20 caps for Sweden, scoring 17 goals.[8]
Career statistics
International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[7]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 1958 | 2 | 2 |
| 1959 | 6 | 5 | |
| 1960 | 6 | 6 | |
| 1961 | 6 | 4 | |
| Total | 20 | 17 | |
- Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Börjesson goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 September 1958 | Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, Norway |  Norway | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1956–59 Nordic Football Championship | [9] |
| 2 | 26 October 1958 | Råsunda, Stockholm, Sweden |  Denmark | 2–1 | 4–4 | 1956–59 Nordic Football Championship | [10] |
| 3 | 2 August 1959 | Malmö Stadium, Malmö, Sweden |  Finland | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1956–59 Nordic Football Championship | [11] |
| 4 | 18 October 1959 | Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden | Norway | 3–0 | 6–2 | 1956–59 Nordic Football Championship | [12] |
| 5 | 4–0 | ||||||
| 6 | 5–1 | ||||||
| 7 | 11 November 1959 | Dalymount Park, Dublin, Ireland |  Republic of Ireland | 1–0 | 2–3 | Friendly | [13] |
| 8 | 18 May 1960 | Malmö Stadium, Malmö, Sweden | Republic of Ireland | 4–1 | 4–1 | Friendly | [14] |
| 9 | 22 June 1960 | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland | Finland | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1960–63 Nordic Football Championship | [15] |
| 10 | 2–0 | ||||||
| 11 | 18 September 1960 | Ullevaal, Oslo, Norway | Norway | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1960–63 Nordic Football Championship | [16] |
| 12 | 19 October 1960 | Råsunda, Stockholm, Sweden |  Belgium | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification | [17] |
| 13 | 23 October 1960 | Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden | Denmark | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1960–63 Nordic Football Championship | [18] |
| 14 | 28 May 1961 | Råsunda, Stockholm, Sweden |  Switzerland | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification | [19] |
| 15 | 4–0 | ||||||
| 16 | 18 June 1961 | Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark | Denmark | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1960–63 Nordic Football Championship | [20] |
| 17 | 2–0 |
Honours
Örgryte IS
Individual
- Allsvenskan top scorer: 1959, 1960
- Kristallkulan: 1955
- Stor Grabb: 1960[21]