Gustafsson began his football career in the small club, Åstorps IF, which he represented from age ten in 1958 until 1969.
[2] He scored the opening goal in the first qualifying match (of three), against Sandvikens IF in front of 15 685 attenders at Landskrona IP.
[4] In the beginning of his time in BoIS, he played forward together with Sonny Johansson and Dan Brzokoupil.
[5] After the 1978 season he stepped down and played for the small club Kågeröds BIF[6] He is the father of the current coach at IFK Norrköping, Jens Gustafsson.
In the autumn of 2013 he was one of the most well-known people who signed a successful protest against introducing artificial turf at his former home ground as footballer.