Jonas Thern

{{Infobox football biography

| image =

| fullname = Jonas Magnus Thern

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1967|3|20}}

| birth_place = Falköping, Sweden

| height = 1.78 m

| position = Midfielder

| currentclub =

| youthyears1 = 1982–1985

| youthclubs1 = IFK Värnamo

| years1 = 1985–1987

| clubs1 = Malmö FF

| caps1 = 41

| goals1 = 6

| years2 = 1987

| clubs2 = FC Zürich

| caps2 = 5

| goals2 = 0

| years3 = 1988–1989

| clubs3 = Malmö FF

| caps3 = 35

| goals3 = 5

| years4 = 1989–1992

| clubs4 = Benfica

| caps4 = 100

| goals4 = 10

| years5 = 1992–1994

| clubs5 = Napoli

| caps5 = 48

| goals5 = 1

| years6 = 1994–1997

| clubs6 = Roma

| caps6 = 59

| goals6 = 3

| years7 = 1997–1999

| clubs7 = Rangers

| caps7 = 23

| goals7 = 5

| totalcaps = 308

| totalgoals = 31

| nationalyears1 = 1984–1985

| nationalteam1 = Sweden U19

| nationalcaps1 = 10

| nationalgoals1 = 2

| nationalyears2 = 1986–1988

| nationalteam2 = Sweden U21/O

| nationalcaps2 = 15

| nationalgoals2 = 3

| nationalyears3 = 1987–1997

| nationalteam3 = Sweden

| nationalcaps3 = 75

| nationalgoals3 = 6

| manageryears1 = 2000–2001

| managerclubs1 = IFK Värnamo

| manageryears2 = 2002–2003

| managerclubs2 = Halmstads BK

| manageryears3 = 2010

| managerclubs3 = IFK Värnamo

| manageryears4 = 2017

| managerclubs4 = Landskrona BoIS (assistant)

| club-update =

| nationalteam-update =

| medaltemplates = {{MedalTeam|{{fb|SWE}}}}

| managerclubs5 = IFK Värnamo

| manageryears5 = 2019–2024

}}

Jonas Magnus Thern (born 20 March 1967) is a Swedish football manager who manages Allsvenskan club IFK Värnamo.

As a player, Thern was a midfielder. Starting his career with Malmö FF in 1985, he went on to represent FC Zürich, Benfica, Napoli, Roma, and Rangers before retiring in 1999.

A full international between 1987 and 1997, Thern won 75 caps for Sweden and captained the side that finished third at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He also represented his country at the 1988 Summer Olympics, 1990 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1992 on home soil.

Club career

Born in Falköping and raised in Värnamo, Thern started his professional career in 1985 at Malmö FF, where he stayed for four years and won two Allsvenskan titles in 1986 and 1988.

In 1989, Thern received the Guldbollen as Sweden's Footballer of the Year. That same year, he left for Benfica as part of a successful group of Scandinavian players that played there at the same time, such as Danish international Michael Manniche (1983–1987) and the Swedish "armada" of Mats Magnusson (1987–1992), Thern (1989–1992), Glenn Strömberg (1982–84) and Stefan Schwarz (1990–94). Benfica were also coached by a Swede, Sven-Göran Eriksson (1982–1984 and 1989–1992).

Thern then played in Italy for Napoli and Roma. In 1997, he joined Rangers in Scotland, a move that lasted merely two years but nonetheless accompanied by silverware, a league title in 1999 – his final year in professional football – as frequent injuries forced him to retire early.

International career

For Sweden, he played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and Euro 1992,{{cite news |first=Rob |last=Hughes |title=Confidence and flair: Dutch favored in Euro 92 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/10/sports/10iht-rob__0.html |work=The New York Times |date=10 June 1992 |access-date=23 October 2014}} and then won the bronze medal in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States.{{cite news |first=Ian |last=Ridley |title=Sweden are the third men |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football--world-cup-usa-94-sweden-are-the-third-men-1414320.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football--world-cup-usa-94-sweden-are-the-third-men-1414320.html |archive-date=14 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Independent |date=17 July 1994 |access-date=23 October 2014}} Thern also competed for Sweden at the 1988 Summer Olympics.{{cite web|publisher=Sports Reference|title=Jonas Thern Biography and Statistics|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/th/jonas-thern-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417205708/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/th/jonas-thern-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|access-date=28 October 2009}} Thern was the Sweden captain for seven years, between 1990 and 1997.

Coaching career

After he retired as a player he became head coach for IFK Värnamo between 2000 and 2001 and Halmstads BK 2001–2003.

In 2021, he led IFK Värnamo to promotion to Allsvenskan for the first time ever in the club's history.{{Cite web|title=Thern firade – med champagne och cigarr: "Inte hänt sedan 1996"|url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/a/a7Ke9O|access-date=2021-11-10|website=www.aftonbladet.se|date=November 2021 |language=sv}}

Personal life

Jonas has a son, Simon, who is also a footballer. His daughter, Alicia, is an equestrian.

Career statistics

=International=

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Season	Apps
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
rowspan="12"\|Sweden
1987	2	0
1988	10	3
1989	8	1
1990	4	1
1991	6	1
1992	9	0
1993	4	0
1994	11	0
1995	6	0
1996	8	0
1997	7	0
colspan="2"\|Total	75	6

International goals

:Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first.

class="wikitable" ! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
1.	rowspan="2" \| 12 January 1988	rowspan="2" \| Estadio Municipal de Maspalomas, Maspalomas, Spain	rowspan="2" \| {{fb\|DDR}}	2–1	rowspan="2" \| 4–1	rowspan="2" \| Friendly
2.	4–1
3.	15 January 1988	Estadio Municipal de Maspalomas, Maspalomas, Spain	{{fb\|FIN}}	1–0	1–0	Friendly
4.	16 August 1989	Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden	{{fb\|FRA}}	1–0	2–4	Friendly
5.	27 May 1990	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	{{fb\|FIN}}	6–0	6–0	Friendly
6.	4 September 1991	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	{{fb\|YUG}}	4–2	4–3	Friendly