Lennart Backman
Swedish sportsperson (1934–2026)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kurt Lennart Ingemar Backman (7 February 1934 – 24 January 2026) was a Swedish footballer who played as a winger. He made more than 200 Allsvenskan appearances for IFK Norrköping and AIK between 1957 and 1968. A full international between 1958 and 1966, he won 31 caps and scored three goals for the Sweden national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kurt Lennart Ingemar Backman | ||
| Date of birth | 7 February 1934 | ||
| Place of birth | Skellefteå, Sweden | ||
| Date of death | 24 January 2026 (aged 91) | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Skellefteå IF | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1950–1956 | Skellefteå IF | ||
| 1957–1958 | IFK Norrköping | 32 | (6) |
| 1959–1968 | AIK | 194 | (51) |
| International career | |||
| 1958–1965 | Sweden B | 2 | (0) |
| 1958–1966 | Sweden | 31 | (3) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
Born in Skellefteå, Backman started off his career with Skellefteå IF.[1] In 1957, he signed for the Allsvenskan team IFK Norrköping where he played for two seasons.[2] In 1959, he signed with AIK with which he spent ten seasons, appearing in a total of 194 league games.[1] Nine of these seasons were spent in Allsvenskan, while he spent the 1962 season with AIK in Division 2 Svealand.[1] In Division 2, Backman scored a total of 19 goals in 24 games, helping AIK win Division 2 Svealand and win promotion back to Allsvenskan by qualifying through the 1962 Allsvenskan promotion playoffs.[1] He retired from professional football in 1968.[3]
International career
Backman made his full international debut for the Sweden national team on 7 May 1958 in a friendly game against Switzerland ahead of the 1958 FIFA World Cup.[4] 65 minutes into his debut, Backman was replaced by Sylvie Bengtsson after picking up a knee injury.[4] The injury ended up keeping Backman out of Sweden's 1958 World Cup squad and sidelined him from all football for the next couple of months.[4][2]
Backman scored his first international goal for Sweden in a 6–0 friendly win against Denmark on 21 June 1959.[4] He made his competitive debut for Sweden on 19 October 1960 in a 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Belgium which Sweden won 2–0.[4] He also represented Sweden in the UEFA Euro 1964 and 1966 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaigns, but never appeared in a major international tournament.[4] He made his final international appearance on 4 June 1966 in a friendly against Finland.[4]
In total, Backman won 31 caps for Sweden and scored three goals.[4][3] He also appeared twice for the Sweden B team.[4]
Bandy and ice hockey career
A versatile athlete, Backman also represented AIK in bandy and ice hockey during his footballing career.[2] He appeared a total of 16 times for the Sweden national bandy team, and helped his country finish second at the 1961 Bandy World Championship and third at the 1963 Bandy World Championship.[2][5]
Death
Backman died on 24 January 2026, at the age of 91.[6]
Career statistics
- Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Backman goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 June 1959 | Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark |  Denmark |
4–0 | 6–0 | 1956–59 Nordic Football Championship | [7] |
| 2 | 28 June 1959 | Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary |
2–3 | 2–3 | Friendly | [8] |
| 3 | 9 August 1961 | Idrottsparken, Norrköping, Sweden |  Finland |
4–0 | 4–0 | 1960–63 Nordic Football Championship | [9] |