 Kalle Björklund in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Karl-Gunnar Björklund | ||
| Date of birth | (1953-12-02)2 December 1953 (age 71) | ||
| Place of birth | Växjö, Sweden | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Östers IF (assistant) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Växjö Norra IF | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973–1983 | Östers IF | 215 | (24) |
| 1984–1986 | IFK Värnamo | 20 | (2) |
| Total | 235 | (26) | |
| International career | |||
| 1981–1982 | Sweden | 14 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1991–1992 | SK Brann | ||
| 1993 | Kalmar FF | ||
| 1994–1997 | Örgryte IS | ||
| 1998–1999 | IF Elfsborg | ||
| 2001–2003 | Molde FK (assistant) | ||
| 2004 | Larvik Fotball | ||
| 2004–2005 | Landskrona BoIS (assistant) | ||
| 2008–2009 | Östersunds FK | ||
| 2010 | IFK Östersund | ||
| 2011–2012 | Östers IF (assistant) | ||
| 2013–2014 | Helsingborgs IF (assistant) | ||
| 2015–2016 | Östers IF (assistant) | ||
| 2017 | Laholms FK (U16) | ||
| 2017 | Ängelholms FF (assistant) | ||
| 2018 | Örgryte IS (assistant) | ||
| 2019 | Laholms FK | ||
| 2019– | Östers IF (assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Karl-Gunnar "Kalle" Björklund (born 2 December 1953) is a Swedish formerfootball player and coach. He has served as coach in several clubs inScandinavia. As a player, Björklund earned 14 caps forSweden, and themidfielder wonAllsvenskan withÖsters IF three times. He is the father ofJoachim Björklund.
Born inVäxjö,[1] Björklund started playingfootball in the local club Växjö Norra IF, before he moved toÖsters IF as a youth-player. He wonAllsvenskan with the club in1978,1980 and1981.[2] In total he played 215 matches and scored 24 goal for Östers IF.[1] He later played forIFK Värnamo, where he played 20 matches and scored two goals. Björklund was capped 14 times and scored one goal while playing forSweden.[1]
He started his coaching career at the youth department of Östers IF in 1987,[2] before he moved on toNorwegian clubBrann, where he was head coach in 1991 and 1992.[3] After spells inKalmar FF,Örgryte IS andIF Elfsborg,[4] he started to in theSwedish Football Association as a youth developer.[4][5]
He moved toMolde FK ahead of the 2001-season, where he becameGunder Bengtsson assistant coach.[5] Molde FK finished second inTippeligaen in2002, but Bengtsson and Björklund got fired in May thenext season, with the team positioned in 10th place with five points after six matches.[6][7] Björklund then became head coach ofLarvik Fotball ahead of the 2004-season,[8] but he left Larvik after a half season with theNorwegian Second Division side. In November 2004 he was hired asMats Jingblad's assistant coach ofLandskrona BoIS,[9] before both Jingblad and Björklund quit their job at Landskrona BoIS one year later,[10] and Björklund returned to his old club IFK Värnamo as sports director.[11]
Björklund later worked full-time as a sport teacher at the John Bauer school inÖstersund and in the spring of 2008 he took over the coaching job at thethird tier sideÖstersunds FK. After a losing streak at the start of the 2009 season he resigned from his post.[12] For the 2010 season he was signed by local rivalsIFK Östersund.[13] In December 2010 he returned to his old clubÖsters IF asRoar Hansen's assistant coach.[2] They left the position at the end of 2012[14] and Björklund followed Hansen toHelsingborgs IF in the following season.[15] He then returned toÖsters IF as assistant coach toThomas Askebrand for the 2015 season.[16] The duo left the club at the end of 2016.
On 1 February 2017, he took charge ofÄngelholms FF.[17] He left the position at the end of 2017. He was then working as an instructor at Osbecksgymnasiet inLaholm, a sports highs school (which he had worked for in 2006-2007 and then hired again since 2010[18]) and as head coach ofLaholms FK's U16 team.[19] In September 2018, Kalle was reunited withThomas Askebrand when he was hired as his assistant atÖrgryte IS.[20]
He left the club at the end of 2018 to become head coach ofLaholms FK[21] He left the position in July 2019 and returned toÖsters IF once again as assistant coach to newly appointed head coachDenis Velić.[22]
Kalle Björklund is the father of the former Swedish international playerJoachim Björklund.[2]