Farewell Sven, thanks for the memories and I hope we all learn from the dignity you have shown

13 September 2024, 11:19

It was truly heartwarming to see David Beckham and Nancy Dell'Olio embrace as they said a final goodbye to former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

For those of us who lived and worked in the media and witnessed first-hand the circus that surrounded Sven and the England team during the heady days of the naughties, the emotion they showed perfectly encapsulated how much he will be missed.

It is difficult to explain to today's generation how revolutionary Sven was when he arrived on these shores all those years ago.

A foreigner! Managing the England football team! Never.

But here he was on our shores. A bespectacled Swede with a love of classical music, a resemblance to a Simpson's character and a fiery Italian partner with a little known love of the limelight.

We really didn't know what we were in for. It was far from boring. English football would never be the same again.

Since his death, thousands and thousands of words have been written about Sven.

There were the wags, Ulrika Jonsson, the Golden Generation and the famous 5-1 win in Munich when 'even Heskey scored'.

But what I wanted to focus on is his final words so beautifully encapsulated in the excellent Amazon documentary and final column in the Telegraph that sadly remained unfinished due to his declining health.

Sven wrote: "Life is to be celebrated. I always had that attitude. How do I best illustrate that? Well, you may have heard the story one of my old players, Didier Hamann, tells about me when I was sacked by Manchester City in 2008."

Sven went on to tell the story about Hamann, which involved the former midfielder being unaware of his boss' sacking and asking what the duo, alongside Eriksson's former assistant Tord Grip, were celebrating when champagne was brought to the meeting.

"Celebrate life. That has always been my mindset – whatever is thrown at you.

"Since I was given the news that I had terminal cancer, it has been difficult. I had days when I felt very bad, and other days when I felt OK. Through it all though, I always tried to live every day with a smile on my face. You have to stay positive."

The dignity and behaviour Sven showed in those final few months should be his true defining legacy.

There can't have been a football fan unmoved by Sven's reaction as he fulfilled a lifelong dream of leading Liverpool out onto the pitch at Anfield just a few months ago.

But this was more than football and Sven was more than a football manager.

Never far from the front AND back pages, it is fair to say he loved, lived and endured his time in England.

But I hope we all learn from Sven.

In particular the dignity he showed during his final few months and his poignant final words.

"My message to everyone would be: don't give up. Never give up. Do not give up, is my message for life. And please don't forget this: life is always, always to be celebrated."

Very few get the chance to travel the world and live the life that Sven had.

But he is right: "Don't give up. Life is always, always to be celebrated."

Thanks Sven, we would do well to remember that.

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