DATE:
Wednesday 25th July 2012
FIXTURE: FC Copenhagen v West Bromwich Albion
COMPETITION:
Pre-season friendly
VENUE: Parken Stadium
KICK-OFF: 6:00pm (BST)
FIXTURE HISTORY
Wednesday's
game with FC Copenhagen will be the second meeting of the two clubs in friendly
action. The first game, back in July 2000, took place at Greve FC's ground as
part of a three game Danish tour for the Baggies. The game ended in a 1-0 defeat
for Gary Megson's men with Todi Jónsson
the Copenhagen goalscorer. The opponents' manager at the time was a certain Roy Hodgson.
The current England manager and
former Albion 'Head Coach' managed Copenhagen during the 2000/01 season
and led them to the Danish Superliga championship and the Danish Supercup.
Albion's first encounter with
Danish opposition came in May 1909 during a tour of Scandinavia - the club's
first ever trip overseas. The Baggies seventh and last opponents of the tour
were a Danish Select X1 who overcame Albion with a 3-1 victory in Copenhagen in
front of a crowd of around 12,000.
It would be 70 years before
Albion next played on Danish soil, playing three games during an end of
season tour to the country. Ron Atkinson's side opened the tour with a 1-0
defeat against
Fodbold-Alliancen Aalborg
but twenty four hours later Albion would
make amends with a 4-2 victory over a Fyns Boldspil-Union Select X1 at Odense
Stadium, Cyrille Regis and Tony Brown scoring two goals each. The Baggies ended the tour with an
emphatic 7-0 victory over IHF Hold, Regis (2), Laurie Cunningham (2), Ally
Brown (2) and Tony Brown the goalscorers.
The late 1990s and early 2000s
saw Albion become regular visitors to Denmark and part-timers Greve in
particular. In July 1999 a side led by Denis Smith, who would bizarrely lose his
job before the league season started, played two games, beating Greve, who at
the time were recognised as an Albion 'nursery club' 4-0, before losing 2-1
to OB Odense. The following pre-season saw another three games played
including the aforementioned friendly against Copenhagen. Albion's two other
opponents on the tour were Naestved (0-0) and once again Greve (4-0).
Pre-season 2001 saw Albion take on four Danish
sides. For the third successive year a game against Greve would take place and
for the third successive year Albion would hand the minnows a heavy beating,
this time 6-1, Scott Dobie notching one of the goals on his Albion debut. Victories against Slagelse (3-1) and Haderslev (1-0) followed
before Albion rounded off the tour with a 1-1 draw against Hvidovre. The
Slagelse and Hvidovre games were marred by red cards for Michael Appleton and
Jordao.
The
Baggies gave Denmark a miss in 2002 but returned a year later. Albion opened the
four game tour with a 2-1 victory over Odense B1909 at the club's
Gillested Park Stadium. Two days later, on the same ground, Gary Megson's men
would draw 1-1 against Kolding. A 2-1 defeat against OB Odense followed
before Albion ended the tour with a 2-0 victory over FC Midtjylland.
Albion's last venture onto
Danish soil before now was in 2004. The tourists opened the three game trip with
a goalless draw against OB Odense before recording back to back 2-0 victories,
against FC Fredericia and FC Midtjylland.
FC COPENHAGEN CONNECTIONS
Current England boss and former
Albion 'Head Coach' Roy Hodgson spent a solitary season as FC Copenhagen
manager, leading the club to the
Danish Superliga championship and the Danish Supercup.
Hodgson ended his brief but successful spell at the Parken Stadium by walking
out on Copenhagen to take over at Italian side Udinese.
Danish international Martin Albrechtsen
started his career in his homeland at AB before moving to defending Superliga
champions Copenhagen in January 2002. He spent just over two years with the club
before moving to The Hawthorns in June 2004 for a fee of £2.5million. The fee at
the time was the most Albion had ever spent on a defender. Albrechtsen spent
four years in the West Midlands before leaving in the summer of 2008, joining
Derby County on a 'Bosman free transfer'. He spent just one season at Pride Park
before a falling out with County manager Nigel Clough led to his contract being
cancelled by mutual consent. After leaving Derby, Albrechtsen returned to
Denmark where he is currently playing for FC Midtjylland.
Carsten Fredgaard joined Albion on a month's
loan in February 2000 from Sunderland. The move was not a success, Fredgaard
made five appearances for Albion and failed to impress in any of them. The
left-sided midfielder started his career at Lyngby before moving to Sunderland
in a £1.5million deal. His time on Wearside was a huge failure, making just one
league appearance in two years. Fredgaard was sold to Copenhagen in July 2001,
spending five years with the club before moving onto Randers FC and then his
current club AB. The one cap Danish international also had a loan spell at
FC Nordsjælland whilst at Copenhagen.
DANISH CONNECTIONS
Jack Mahon, a goalscoring
winger for Albion during the 1930s, spent a number of years coaching in Danish
football. Born in Gillingham in 1911, Mahon played for Doncaster Rovers and
Leeds United before moving to The Hawthorns in September 1935. He made 123
appearances and scored 44 goals for the Baggies in three years before moving
onto Huddersfield Town.
Danish international striker Morten Skoubo
started his career at FC Midtjylland. His success there led to a big money
move to Borussia Moenchengladbach in August 2002. The tall and powerful
Skoubo struggled in Germany and moved to Albion, initially on trial and then
loan until the end of the season, in January 2004. Skoubo made just two substitute
appearances at The Hawthorns before returning to Germany.
After leaving Danish side Lyngby, Norwegian defender Vetle
Andersen made one substitute appearance for Albion in 1989 whilst on
non-contract terms with the club. On leaving The Hawthorns he linked up with
Swedish side Halmstads.
Copenhagen born goalkeeper Brian Jensen
moved to Albion in March 2000, joining from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar for a fee of
£80,000. Jensen soon became a popular figure amongst Baggies' fans and was
dubbed 'The Beast' due to his imposing size. Despite never letting the club down
Jensen found himself deposed as Albion's number one following the arrival
of Russell Hoult from Portsmouth in January 2001. After failing to regain his
first team spot Jensen moved onto Burnley where he remains to this day, having
now made over 300 appearances for the 'Clarets'. Jensen actually started his
career as a defender at Danish lower league side B.93 before switching to
goalkeeping. The player also had a short spell at Danish side Hvidovre in the
late 1990s.
Macedonian international
Artim Sakiri joined Albion from CSKA Sofia in 2003. The midfielder made
a great start to his Albion career
with a 30 yard goal on his full league debut for the club but soon fell out of
favour and ended up making just 11 starts for the Baggies before leaving to join
Danish side AaB Aalborg in 2005.
Randers born defender
Thomas Gaardsoe started his professional playing career at Danish
Superliga side AaB in 1997. He spent four years at the club before moving to
England, joining Ipswich Town in a £1.3million deal. In July 2003, after just
two years at Portman Road, he moved to Albion, joining for a fee of £520,000. He
quickly became a 'fans favourite' at The Hawthorns producing some splendid
defensive displays which led to him being named Albion's 'Player of the Year'
for the 2003/04 season. As a tribute to the Danish international, Albion fans
dressed up as Vikings in his honour for the club's away game at Reading on May
1st. Gaardsoe had a decent following season as Albion returned to the Premier
League but his 2005/06 season was ruined by injury, the big Dane making just
seven league appearances. After more than 12 months of injury problems Gaardsoe
announced his retirement from football on December 19 2006. It wasn't to be the
end of the player's career though, Gaardsoe returned to football in his homeland
with AaB in 2009 and is currently playing for fellow Superliga outfit Esbjerg fB.
Dennis Martin was a regular for Albion's
reserve team during the late 1960s but struggled to make a real impact for the
Baggies' first team, making just 20 starts. Martin would leave for Carlisle
United in August 1970 and would later have spells at Newcastle United and
Mansfield Town before joining Danish side Fremad Amager in 1979.
Danish defender Kasper Rasmussen spent a
short period on trial at Albion during the 2000/01 pre-season. The left-back,
who had been playing for Randers FC, appeared
in a number of the Baggies' friendly games but failed to win a contract.
Signed on a month's loan from Norwich City in
February 2001, Fernando Derveld made just two appearances for Albion
before returning to Carrow Road after failing to impress at The Hawthorns. On
leaving Norwich later that year Derveld joined Danish side Odense BK. The
left-back also spent two years with another Danish side - Esbjerg fB.
Albion Reserve team regulars of the late
1990s/early 2000s Mark Briggs and Matt Turner both had spells in
Danish football with Herfølge.
PREVIOUS MATCHES
AGAINST DANISH OPPOSITION
DATE |
OPPONENT |
H/A |
F-A |
SCORERS |
GATE |
Tue 27 Jul 2004 |
FC
Midtjylland (1) |
N |
2-0 |
Clement,
Dobie |
Est. 700 |
Sat 24 Jul 2004 |
FC
Fredericia |
A |
2-0 |
O'Connor,
Dobie |
915 |
Tue 20 Jul 2004 |
OB
Odense (2) |
N |
0-0 |
|
Est. 1,000 |
Mon 21 Jul 2003 |
FC
Midtjylland (3) |
N |
2-0 |
Hughes, Dichio |
1,500 |
Sat 19 Jul 2003 |
OB
Odense |
A |
1-2 |
Koumas (pen) - Miti, Stokholm (pen) |
2,223 |
Thu 17 Jul 2003 |
Kolding
(4) |
N |
1-1 |
Hulse - Olesen |
310 |
Tue 15 Jul 2003 |
Odense
B1909 |
A |
2-1 |
Hulse, Koumas - M Jensen (pen) |
340 |
Mon 23 Jul 2001 |
Hvidovre |
A |
1-1 |
Dobie - Nielsen |
300 |
Sat 21 Jul 2001 |
Haderslev |
A |
1-0 |
Roberts |
815 |
Thu 19 Jul 2001 |
Slagelse |
A |
3-1 |
Fox, Taylor, Roberts (pen) - A Augustsen |
607 |
Tue 17 Jul 2001 |
Greve |
A |
6-1 |
Clement, Hughes, Dobie, A Chambers, Quinn (pen), Taylor -
Frandsen |
350 |
Thu 20 Jul 2000 |
Greve |
A |
4-0 |
van Blerk, Taylor, Richards, Hughes |
324 |
Tue 18 Jul 2000 |
FC
Copenhagen (5) |
N |
0-1 |
Jonsson |
1,106 |
Sat 15 Jul 2000 |
Naestved |
A |
0-0 |
|
267 |
Sat 17 Jul 1999 |
OB
Odense (5) |
N |
1-2 |
Evans
- U Pedersen, Andrijevski |
Est. 600 |
Wed 14 Jul 1999 |
Greve |
A |
4-0 |
Kilbane
2, Evans, Oliver |
686 |
Thu 31 May 1979 |
IHF |
A |
7-0 |
Cunningham
2, Regis 2, A Brown 2, T Brown |
4,200 |
Tue 29 May 1979 |
FBU
Select X1 (6) (7) |
N |
4-1 |
Regis
2, T Brown 2 - * |
6,600 |
Mon 28 May 1979 |
FA Aalborg (8) |
A |
0-1 |
* |
8,300 |
Fri 28 May 1909 |
Danish
Select X1 (9) |
N |
1-3 |
Buck
- * |
12,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 - Played at Kerteminde. |
2 - Played at Svendborg. |
3 - Played at Egsfield Ground, Horne. |
4 - Played at Gillested Park, home of Odense B1909. |
5 - Played at Greve. |
6 - Fyns Boldspil-Union Select X1. |
7 - Played at Odense Stadium. |
8 - Fodbold-Alliancen Aalborg. |
9 - Played in Copenhagen. |
* - Scorers unknown. |
|
|
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