Odense BK
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| Odense BK | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Odense Boldklub | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | De Stribede (The Striped) |
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| Short name | OB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1887 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Fionia Park, Odense | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 15,761 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Niels Thorborg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  Bruce Rioch |
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| League | Danish Superliga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | Danish Superliga, 3rd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Odense Boldklub (also known as Odense BK or OB for short) are a Danish professional football club based in the town of Odense. The club have won three Danish championships and four Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga and their home field is Fionia Park in Odense on Funen. OB's clubhouse is located in Ådalen near Odense River.
OB's official fanclub, Tigers, was founded in 1995 as De Stribede (The Striped), which is also the nickname of the club.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early history
OB were founded on July 12, 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 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.
[edit] 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 didn't succeed to permanently stay in the top-flight until the promotion in 1975.
It didn't 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.
[edit] 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, 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 PFC Lokomotiv Sofia from Bulgaria.
In 1980, they 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 won their - so far - only The Double.
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 mio. £ in 1997.
[edit] 1991-2006: 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 rebuilding in 1991, the final was played home at Odense Stadion. The cup success wasn't matched in the league, now known as the Danish Superliga. After the main tournament of the 1991-92 season, OB were 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, OB ended last with six season victories and were relegated to the second best league, the Danish 1st Division.
The club were runaway winners of the 1999 1st Division, and returned to the Superliga for the 1999-00 season. OB won the 2002 Danish Cup with a 2-1 victory against F.C. Copenhagen at Parken Stadium. Since their promotion 1999, OB's best league performances were the fourth place finishes in 2003 and 2004 as well as the 2006 bronze medals, their first set of medals in 10 years.
[edit] 1994-95 UEFA Cup: The Miracle in Madrid
In the 1994-95 UEFA Cup, OB reached beyond the first round in an European tournament for the first time in club history. The team beat several opponents and most famously defeated Spanish club Real Madrid to reach the quarterfinal of the tournament.
In the first round, OB won both the home and away game against Estonian FC Flora Tallinn with 3-0. In the second round they drew 1-1 in the away game against Northern Irish club Linfield and won home 5-0, including two long shot goals by defender Steen Nedergaard. In the third round, the opponent was German team 1.FC Kaiserslautern, where OB managed a 0-0 draw at home, and with a 1-1 draw in Germany, OB advanced due to the away goals rule.
In the fourth round, the opponent was Spanish club 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 score at least 3 goals or 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 Italian team Parma FC. In the first game away in Parma, OB and Lars Høgh 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.
[edit] Current squad
- As of December 8, 2006
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[edit] Noted players
- Kasper Bøgelund
- Jesper Christiansen
- Lars Elstrup
- Thomas Helveg
- Lars Høgh
- Allan Nielsen
- Brian Steen Nielsen
- Thomas Sørensen
[edit] Achievements
- Danish championship titles (3): 1977, 1982, 1989
- Danish Cup (4): 1983, 1991, 1993, 2002
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2006
[edit] External links
- Official site (English page; rest of site in Danish)
