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Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson reveals terminal cancer diagnosis with only ‘a year to live’
"I don't think the doctors I have can be totally sure, they can't put a day on it."
Emily Sergeant -
11th January 2024 
Former England football manager Sven-Göran Eriksson has revealed he has terminal cancer, and only has “at best a year to live”.
The 75-year-old confirmed his devastating diagnosis during an interview on Swedish radio.
The Swede is, of course, most famous to football fans in England and around the world for being the manager of the England men’s national team between the years of 2001 and 2006, where he was known for coaching the so-called “golden generation” of footballers at the time – including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and many more.
Eriksson was also at the helm, and led the star-studded national team to two World Cup tournaments during his reign, as well as EURO 2004.
Aside from his England duties, Eriksson has also managed a number of other notable clubs throughout his career – including Manchester City after leaving the England national team from 2007-2008, and Leicester City from 2010-2011.
Outside of England, he has managed teams in Italy, Portugal, China, the Phillippines, and more.
Many fans grew concerned after Eriksson resigned as the Sporting Director at Swedish club, Karlstad Football, 11 months ago now, which was said at the time to be due to ‘health issues’ – and now, it appears the nature of those ‘health issues’ have been confirmed to be a terminal cancer diagnosis, as revealed by the Swede himself this week.
“Everyone understands that I have an illness that is not good,” Eriksson told Swedish radio station, Sveriges Radio P1, during a candid interview.
“Everyone guesses it’s cancer and it is – but I have to fight as long as I can.”
When asked more about the condition, Eriksson did not disclose which type of cancer he has been diagnosed with, but he did unfortunately reveal he only has “at best a year” to live, and “at worst, even less”.
“Or in the best case I suppose even longer. I don’t think the doctors I have can be totally sure, they can’t put a day on it,… [so] it’s better not to think about it.
“You have to trick your brain.
Read more:
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“I could go around thinking about that all the time and sit at home and be miserable and think I’m unlucky and so on. It’s easy to end up in that position. But no, see the positive sides of things and don’t bury yourself in setbacks, because this is the biggest setback of them all of course.”
Featured Image – Manchester City
