Helge Ekroth

Helge Ekroth was considered one of the most original and technically best players of his time, but his style of play was regarded as too individualistic and ineffective. After playing for the youth teams of Kronobergs IK and IK Sture, he had his début in Sweden’s top league for his club AIK Stockholm (now AIK Solna) in 1910. He scored five goals in a 9-1 win over IFK Göteborg. One year later, he helped the team win the first Swedish cup championship defeating IFK Uppsala 3-2 in the final.

Ekroth spent the years 1913 and 1914 in England and tried out for Leicester Fosse and later also Tottenham Hotspur. But as foreigners at the time had to live in Great Britain for two years to be able to become professional, he had to be content with playing for reserve teams.

After his return to AIK, the club won two more championships in 1914 and 1916 with Ekroth in the offense. In the following years, he shared left wing duties with 1924 Olympian Putte Kock to gain his fourth national title in 1923. After this success, he retired from active competition. He represented his club in more than 100 games and scored more than 60 goals.

In 1911, Ekroth débuted with the national team in a 4-1 win against Norway scoring two goals himself. In 1912, he was selected for Sweden’s team at the Olympic Games in Stockholm. The team was eliminated in a 4-3 loss against the Netherlands, and Ekroth was replaced for the match against Italy in the consolation tournament.

Between 1911 and 1922 Ekroth played no more than 18 games with the national team scoring 10 goals. In two matches he captained the national team. Without his inability to submit to a collective and his careless consumption of alcohol, he would have probably won more caps. Nevertheless, he was awarded the “Stor Grabb” badge in football in 1926, and was inducted into the Swedish Football Hall of Fame in 2007. He was also an avid bandy player. Ekroth married Nina Gabriella Elisabeth Berg with whom he had one daughter. He worked as a typographer for the Idrottsbladet sports magazine, where he worked with Wolf Lyberg.