Jonas Thern (born March 20, 1967 in Värnamo) is a former Swedish soccer player.
Born and raised in the small rural town of Värnamo in southern Sweden, where he early in his life started practicing with great determination towards what would make him one of the best strategic midfielders in Swedish soccer history. His professional career started in 1985 when he joined the classic Swedish club of Malmö FF, where he stayed for four years, earning him one gold in the 1988 Allsvenskan. In 1989, he won the Guldbollen as Sweden's Footballer of the Year.
From there he went on to have a brilliant career on the continent, playing for Benfica (1989-92), Napoli (1992-94), and Roma (1994-97), and Rangers (1997-99), but his career was cut short by injuries. For Sweden, he played in the 1990 World Cup and Euro 92, and then won the bronze medal in the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. Lately he has been keeping busy as head coach for Halmstads BK (in Sweden's first league) as well as running a hostel in his native Värnamo.
