Michael Madsen (footballer)

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Personal information
Michael Madsen
Full name	Michael Madsen
Date of birth	January 24, 1974
Place of birth	?, Denmark
Playing position	Left wingback
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
19??-1996 1996-1998 1998-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2005 2005-2007	BK Avarta Akademisk Boldklub AS Bari VfL Wolfsburg Farum BK HIK Lyngby BK	51 (?) 3 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Michael Madsen (born January 24, 1974) is a Danish retired football player, who most prominently played professionally for Italian club AS Bari and VfL Wolfsburg in Germany.

[edit] Biography

Madsen started his career at BK Avarta in the secondary Danish 1st Division league, where he won the 1994 Danish 1st Division Revelation of the Year award. He was introduced to the top-flight Danish Superliga championship, when he was brought to newly promoted club Akademisk Boldklub (AB) in June 1996. Under manager Christian Andersen, AB finished fifth in the 1997-98 Superliga season, with Madsen on the left flank, combining well with teammate Peter Knudsen in central midfield.

In June 1998, Madsen and Peter Knudsen were both brought to Italian club AS Bari in a combined transfer deal worth DKK 15 million. When they were forced to compete for the same spot in the Bari starting line-up, Peter Knudsen quickly returned to AB, while Madsen stayed three years at Bari. He started out well for the club, but was eventually benched by manager Eugenio Fascetti. Bari was relegated after the 2001 season, and as his Bari contract ran out in June 2001, Madsen left the club.

He moved to German club VfL Wolfsburg on a free transfer. In the opening weeks of the German Bundesliga championship season, Madsen suffered a back injury, and struggled the remaining season to re-enter the starting line-up under manager Wolfgang Wolf without success. Following three league games for Wolfsburg, Madsen moved back to Denmark to play for Superliga club Farum BK under his former AB manager Christian Andersen in September 2002. Following one season at Farum, Madsen did not get his contract prolonged, and decided to take a job in the sales department of SAV Danmark in July 2003.

After a month away from football, he started playing for amateur club HIK in the Danish 2nd Division in August 2003. He helped the club win promotion for the 1st Division, which saw the club turn professional, before he moved to league rivals Lyngby BK in November 2005. Due to an injured knee, he was forced to end his career in February 2007. Shortly after the news of his career stop, it was announced that he is to be associated with the newly founded Birkerød Sports College as a football coach, beginning in the summer of 2007.