I STILL MISS MY SVEN EVERY DAY

Football legend's death still raw for dad, 96, a year later

- BY MARK JEFFERIES

IN the tiny Swedish town of Torsby sits a bronze statue of a giant of England football.

One frequent visitor to the bench where the figure of Sven-Göran Eriksson rests is his beloved 96-year-old father, Sven Snr.

In life, Sven-Göran chatted to his dad every day on the phone.

Now Sven Snr, using a walker, paces a few hundred metres to a place nicknamed Svennis Torg to sit with the statue and reminisce.

Tuesday will be especially hard for Sven Snr as it is the first anniversary of the former England boss's death from pancreatic cancer, aged 76.

In the past 12 months, Sven's family have been trying to cope with the huge gap he has left behind, none more so than his dad.

The frail former bus conductor, who suffered the nightmare of burying his own son, said: "It's been almost a year and I feel it every day. I'll never forget him.

"I even dream about him at night. It's very difficult for me but there is nothing I can do about it."

Sven, who took England to two World Cups and a Euros, considered his dad a mentor and hugely influential. He said he instilled the values of hard work, integrity and respect in him.

His father says: "What do I miss most? Everything. We used to talk every day on the phone."