Odense Boldklub

OB

Full name	Odense Boldklub
Nickname(s)	De Stribede (The Striped)
Short name	OB
Founded	July 12, 1887 (1887-07-12)
Ground	EWII Park, Odense
Ground Capacity	15,790[1]
Owner	Odense Sport & Event A/S
Chairman	Niels Thorborg
Manager	Kent Nielsen
League	Danish Superliga
2015–16	Danish Superliga, 7th
Home colours Away colours

Odense Boldklub (also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga and their home field is EWII Park in Odense on Funen. OB's clubhouse is located in Ådalen near Odense River.

History

Early history

OB were founded on 12 July 1887 as Odense Cricketklub, with cricket the only sport. In 1889, football and tennis departments were included in the club, and it changed name to the present Odense Boldklub. The club were then located in Munke Mose (The Monks bog) in Odense. OB moved to Ådalen in 1968, where the club still trains today.

In 1916, OB won the province championship for the first time and qualified to the semi-final of the Danish championship. They lost this match 3–9 to later champions B.93 from Copenhagen.

1945–1975: Mixed results

When the Danish championship was reorganized after the Occupation of Denmark during World War II, OB were placed in the third best league, then named the Danish 3rd Division. After good help from the top goalscorers Svend Jørgen Hansen and Jørgen Leschly Sørensen, the club were quickly promoted to the best league. Svend Jørgen Hansen became OB's first Danish national team player in 1942, while Jørgen Leschly Sørensen was sold to the professional Italian team Atalanta in 1949.

In 1951, OB won their first medals, when the club won silver after runaway champions Akademisk Boldklub. Following the early success, it went down hill for the club. OB were relegated to the second-tier Danish 2nd Division in 1955, and the team had a hard time regaining its position in the top of Danish football. Despite promotions to the Danish 1st Division in 1957 and 1966, the club did not succeed to permanently stay in the top-flight until the promotion in 1975.

It did not help that the local rivals from B 1909 and B 1913 stayed in the top of the 1st Division in this period, where B 1909 won the 1959 and 1965 Danish championships. The intense local rivalry culminated in 1973, when 28,000 spectators watched the 2nd Division match between De Stribede and De røde (B 1909) on Odense Stadion. The match is still the spectator record for an OB home game.

In 1974, the club were in their first Danish Cup final, where the team lost 5–2 to Vanløse IF. Per Bartram from OB were awarded the title as Cup Fighter.

1975–1990: The golden years

In 1975, OB was once more promoted to the 1st Division. This time the club had the players to be a top team in the best league under the reign of coach Richard Møller Nielsen. Just two years later, OB won their first Danish championship in the 1977 season. OB's midfielder Allan Hansen was the top goalscorer in the 1st Division and he was awarded as 1977 Danish Player of the Year' award, a double triumph he repeated in 1981.

The championship win meant that OB played their first European matches in 1978. They competed in the 1978 European Cup, where they lost in the first round to Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Sofia.

In 1980, OB won bronze and the Danish championship was won for the second time in 1982. As Ricard Møller Nielsen's OB team were one of the dominating teams in Danish football in this period, B 1909 finished last in the 1982 1st Division, and were relegated to the 2nd Division. This made OB the best team of the Funen region. In 1983 OB took the cup to win their – so far – only The Double (with the 82' championship).

The team's success was built on many talented Danish players, counting 1982 Danish 1st Division Talent of the Year Keld Bordinggaard. The most prolific OB player of the era was goalkeeper Lars Høgh, who was a constant part of the team from 1977 to 1999 as he played a club record of 817 total matches for the first team.

In 1989, the club won the Danish championship again ahead of defending champions Brøndby IF under new manager Roald Poulsen. The profiles of Roald Poulsen's team included, apart from Lars Høgh, the midfielder Ulrik Moseby, the big defender Johnny Hansen, and the young forward Per Pedersen, who became the most expensive OB player sold, when he was bought by English team Blackburn Rovers for £2.3 million in 1997.

1991–: OB in the Superliga

1991 was a special year for OB. They won the Danish Cup final against AaB after two goalless matches, extra time and penalty shootout. As the national arena Idrætsparken were under reconstruction in 1991, the final was played home at Odense Stadion. The cup success was not matched in the league, now known as the Danish Superliga. After the main tournament of the 1991–92 season, OB was relegated to the Qualifying League.

They finished in second place of the 1992 Qualifying League, and OB were back in the Superliga for the 1992–93 season. In that season, the club won silver medals after F.C. Copenhagen and they won their third Danish Cup trophy in 1993.

As the Danish Football Association (DBU) restructured the Superliga before the 1995–96 season, and introduced a league format of 33 games spanning a full year; OB won bronze once more. Even though the team had many profiles and good players, the team lacked stability and in the 1997–98 season, and OB ended last with six season victories to suffer relegation to the second tier league, the Danish 1st Division.

The club were runaway winners of the 1999 1st Division and subsequently returned to the Superliga for the 1999–2000 season. OB won the 2002 Danish Cup with a 2–1 victory against Copenhagen at Parken Stadium. Since their promotion 1999, OB's best league performance has been second place, occurring in the 2008–09 season. In 2006, OB ended third, its first top-three finish in ten years. Furthermore, the club had fourth-place finishes in 2003, 2004 and 2007.

In the 2006–07 season, OB finished fourth in the league after a close race in the last rounds. Nonetheless, OB won the Danish Cup after defeating Copenhagen 2–1, which gave OB the opportunity to qualify for the UEFA Cup for the second-straight year.

In the 2007–08 season, OB once again ended in fourth, which gave a chance to qualify to the UEFA Cup through the Intertoto Cup. On 19 and 26 July 2008, they played English side Aston Villa in the third round of the Intertoto Cup for the right to play in the second round of the UEFA Cup. OB managed a 2–2 home draw on 19 July, but a 1–0 away defeat on the 26 July resulted in a 2–3 aggregate loss to Villa.

OB finished second in the 2008–09 season, which led to a two-game playoff with Genoa for participation in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. The first leg away at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris resulted in a 3–1 defeat, and the home game a 1–1 draw. In 2009–10, OB once again finished second in the league. After a fantastic start of the season the club disappointingly did not take the first place, due to a string of lost and drawn games in the spring of 2010. OB were drawn to face Scottish club Motherwell in the fourth qualifying round of the 2010–11 Europa League.

1994–95 UEFA Cup: The Miracle in Madrid

In the 1994–95 UEFA Cup, OB reached beyond the first round in a European tournament for the first time in club history. The team beat several opponents and most famously defeated Real Madrid to reach the quarter-final of the tournament.

In the first round, OB won both the home and away game 3–0 against Estonian Flora Tallinn. In the second round, they drew 1–1 in the away game against Northern Irish club Linfield and won 5–0 at home, including two long-range goals by defender Steen Nedergaard. In the third round, the played German team 1. FC Kaiserslautern, where OB managed a 1–1 draw in Germany and a 0–0 draw at home; OB advanced on the away goals rule.

In the fourth round, the opponent was Real Madrid, which at that time had Danish national team captain Michael Laudrup on the team. The first match was played at a sold-out Odense Stadion, and OB surprisingly scored on a corner kick in the first half. In the second half, Real Madrid quickly scored two goals, but OB managed to come back into the game, when they equalized to 2–2. Shortly before full-time, Real Madrid scored to 2–3, which was the final result of the game.

Due to the away goals rule, OB needed to win with a margin of two goals to advance to the quarter-finals. Ulrik Pedersen scored for a 1–0 lead to OB, and with a good goalkeeping by Lars Høgh, OB kept Real Madrid from scoring. With a goal by Morten Bisgaard shortly before stoppage time, OB achieved the needed 2–0 victory, and advanced to the quarter-final. OB's victory attracted attention in great parts of Europe and in Denmark the event was named "The Miracle in Madrid."

In the quarter-final, OB met Parma. In the first game away in Parma, OB and Lars Høgh almost prevented the Italians from scoring, but Steen Nedergaard committed a penalty which Parma converted and thus won the game 1–0. The second leg in Odense ended a 0–0 draw, which meant the end of OB's European adventure.

Current squad

As of 24 June 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Michael Falkesgaard 2 DF Kenneth Emil Petersen (captain) 3 DF Frederik Tingager 5 DF João Pereira 6 DF Jeppe Tverskov 7 MF Jóan Símun Edmundsson 8 MF Mohamed El Makrini 9 FW Rasmus Jönsson 10 FW Rasmus Festersen 13 GK Sten Grytebust 14 MF Jens Jakob Thomasen

No. Position Player 15 MF Izunna Uzochukwu 17 DF Jacob Buus 18 MF Mathias Thrane 19 MF Mikkel Desler 20 DF Jacob Barrett Laursen 21 MF Mathias Greve 22 MF Nana Welbeck 23 FW Thomas Mikkelsen 24 DF Oliver Lund 26 MF Yao Dieudonne 28 FW Anders K. Jacobsen

Club officials

• Owner: Odense Sport & Event

Odense Boldklub Board^[2]

• Board chairman: Niels Thorborg
• Chief executive: Thomas Christensen
• Sports director: Jepser Hansen
• Communication chief: Peter Hørlüch
• Communication consultant: Asger Torning
• Scout: Steen Nedergaard
• Chief analyst: Henrik Clausen
• Kit manager: Steffen Nielsen
• Material manager: Thomas Johansson

Coaching and medical staff

• Manager: Kent Nielsen
• Assistant managers: John Bredal and Simon Hollyhead
• Talent manager: Uffe Pedersen
• Goalkeeping coach: Lars Høgh
• Goalkeeping trainer: Peter Rasmussen
• Physical coach: Mikkel Marker
• Presentation coach: Rasmus Bagger
• Physioterapisst: Martin Uhd & Jens Nielsen
• Doctor: Christen Vilberg
• Assistant doctor: Thomas Haller
• Masseurs: Bjarne Hansen & Mustapha Lamnaouar
• Reserve team manager: John Bredal

Managerial history

Dates	Name	Notes
1948–50	Denis Neville
1950–54	Géza Toldi
1955–58	Jørgen Leschly Sørensen
1961	Svend Hugger
1962–63	Dragisa Milic
1963	Jørgen Leschly Sørensen	Manager for the second time.
1964–68	Børge Jacobsen
1969–72	Jack Johnson
1972–74	Kaj Hansen
1975–85	Richard Møller Nielsen	Achieved the first league title for OB in 1977.
1986–87	Walther Richter
1988–91	Roald Poulsen
1991–95	Kim Brink	Became sportsdirector in 2000.
1995–97	Viggo Jensen
1997–98	Roald Poulsen	Manager for the second time.
1998	Jens Plambech
1999–00	Torben Storm
2000–02	Troels Bech
2002–04	Uffe Pedersen
1 Jan 2004 – 30 June 2005	Klavs Rasmussen & Troels Bech	Bech manager for the second time.
1 July 2005 – 12 March 2007	Bruce Rioch
2007	Michael Hemmingsen	Stepped in from the role as assistant manager.
25 Jan 2007 – Sept 14, 2010	Lars Olsen
Sept 14, 2010–7 Nov 2010	Uffe Pedersen	Temporary manager – manager for the second time,
7 Nov 2010 – 26 March 2012	Henrik Clausen
27 March 2012 – 30 June 2012	Poul Hansen	Temporary manager
1 July 2012 – Sept 30, 2014	Troels Bech	Manager for the third time.
Sept 30, 2014 – Jun 7, 2015	Ove Pedersen
Jun 8, 2015 – present	Kent Nielsen

Sponsorship

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
1972–1977	none	Texaco
1977–1978	Puma
1978–1980		unknown
1980–1985		Paaskebrød
1985–1986		Nykredit
1986–1987		Bendix Bank
1987–1991		Albani
1991–1997		Damixa
1997–2001	Adidas
2001–2008	Nike	Carlsberg
2008–0000	Puma

Carlsberg has been OB's main sponsorsince 2001, while Puma has been its kit sponsor since 2008. Puma was also kit sponsor from the end of the 1970s to the end of the 1990s, and has been kit sponsor for every three league titles OB has won. When OB signed with Puma in 2008, the board was hoping that the history with Puma could achieve their ambition with two league titles before 2015.^[3]

Player of the Year

• 2008: Baye Djiby Fall
• 2009: Peter Utaka
• 2010: Hans Henrik Andreasen^[4]
• 2011: Espen Ruud^[5]
• 2012: Rasmus Falk Jensen^[6]
• 2013: None
• 2014: Rasmus Falk Jensen^[7]

OB in Europe

2004–05 Intertoto Cup

• Intertoto Cup
• First Round

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Odense won 7–0 on aggregate.

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• Second Round

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Villarreal won 5–0 on aggregate.

2006–07 Intertoto Cup And UEFA Cup

• Intertoto Cup
• Second Round

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Odense won 3–1 on aggregate.

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• Third Round

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Odense won 2–2 on aggregate and away goal.

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• UEFA Cup
• Second qualification round

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Odense won 6–1 on aggregate.

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• First round

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Odense won 3–2 on aggregate.

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• Group Stage

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Parma	4	3	0	1	6	6	0	9
Osasuna	4	2	1	1	7	4	3	7
Lens	4	1	1	2	5	5	0	4
Odense	4	1	1	2	5	6	−1	4
Heerenveen	4	1	1	2	2	4	−2	4

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2007–08 UEFA Cup

• First qualification round

Odense won 5–0 on aggregate.

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• Second qualification round

Odense won 5–1 on aggregate.

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• First round

Sparta Prague won 4–3 after penalty shootout.

2008–09 UEFA Intertoto Cup

• Second Round

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Odense won 4–1 on aggregate.

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• Third Round

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Aston Villa won 3–2 on aggregate.

2009–10 UEFA Europa League

• Third qualification round

Odense won 7–3 on aggregate.

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Genoa won 4–2 on aggregate.

2010–11 UEFA Europa League

• Third qualification round

Odense won 5–3 on aggregate.

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• Play-off

Odense won 3–1 on aggregate.

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• Group stage

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts VfB Stuttgart 6 5 0 1 16 6 +10 15 Young Boys 6 3 0 3 10 10 0 9 Getafe 6 2 1 3 4 8 −4 7 Odense 6 1 1 4 8 14 −6 4

GET OB STU YB Getafe – 2–1 0–3 1–0 Odense 1–1 – 1–2 2–0 VfB Stuttgart 1–0 5–1 – 3–0 Young Boys 2–0 4–2 4–2 –

2011–12 UEFA Champions League

• Third qualification round

Odense won 5–4 on aggregate.

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• Play-off round

Villarreal won 3–1 on aggregate.

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2011–12 UEFA Europa League

• Group stage

Group K

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Twente 6 4 1 1 14 7 7 13 Wisła Kraków 6 3 0 3 8 13 −5 9 Fulham 6 2 2 2 9 6 3 8 Odense 6 1 1 4 9 14 −5 4

FUL OB TWE WK Fulham – 2–2 1–1 4–1 Odense 0–2 – 1–4 1–2 Twente 1–0 3–2 – 4–1 Wisła Kraków 1–0 1–3 2–1 –

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Rankings

UEFA club coefficient ranking

(As of 4 Oct 2014), Source: Bert Kassies website

Team	Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
OB Odense	Team Rank Points	113   14.970	104   18.610	112   15.005	136   12.640	145   11.760

Recent history

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Notes
1996–97	SL	7	33	11	8	14	59	61	41
1997–98	SL	12	33	6	7	20	40	57	25		relegated
1998–99	1D	1	30	24	2	4	81	24	74		promoted
1999–2000	SL	9	33	11	10	12	42	44	43
2000–01	SL	7	33	13	7	13	49	45	46	last 16
2001–02	SL	6	33	13	10	10	56	51	49	winner
2002–03	SL	4	33	12	12	9	55	50	48	last 16
2003–04	SL	4	33	16	9	8	66	46	57	semi-final
2004–05	SL	6	33	13	9	11	61	41	48	5th round
2005–06	SL	3	33	17	7	9	49	28	58	quarter-final
2006–07	SL	4	33	17	7	9	46	36	58	winner
2007–08	SL	4	33	12	16	5	46	27	52	last 16
2008–09	SL	2	33	21	6	6	65	31	69	5th round
2009–10	SL	2	33	17	8	8	46	34	59	semi-final
2010–11	SL	2	33	16	7	9	55	39	55	last 16
2011–12	SL	10	33	8	10	15	46	50	34	3rd round
2012–13	SL	10	33	10	8	15	52	59	38	quarter-final
2013–14	SL	8	33	10	10	13	47	46	40	last 16

Honours

• Danish Football Championship
  • Winners (3):: 1977, 1982, 1989
  • Runners-up (6): 1951, 1983, 1993, 2009, 2010, 2011
• Danish Cup
  • Winners (5):: 1983, 1991, 1993, 2002, 2007
  • Runners-up (1): 1974
• Danish Super Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2002

Achievements

• 50 seasons in the Highest Danish League
• 16 seasons in the Second Highest Danish League
• 1 season in Third Highest Danish League

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Odense Boldklub.

• Official site (English page; rest of site in Danish)