It was the autumn of 1980 and IFK Gothenburg had just been eliminated by Twente in the first round of the Uefa Cup when the board asked their young manager what was required to make progress in Europe. “I need three new players,” said a 32-year-old Sven-Göran Eriksson. “A goalkeeper, a left-back and a forward.”
The club could not afford the signings but such was the belief in Eriksson that several board members remortgaged their houses to free up the money. It was a huge gamble.
