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      MATCH PREVIEW

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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