Søren Andersen

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For the Danish footballer born in 1937, see Søren Andersen (1937 footballer).

Personal information
Søren Andersen
Full name	Søren Andersen
Date of birth	January 31, 1970
Place of birth	Aarhus, Denmark
Height	5' 11" / 1.81 m
Playing position	Forward
Youth clubs
1984-1988	Silkeborg IF
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1989-1993 1993-1994 1994-1995 1995 1995-1998 1998-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003	Aarhus GF UE Lleida Rayo Vallecano IFK Norrkoping Aalborg BK Bristol City Odense BK Aarhus GF	71 (33) 22 (2) 12 (1) 10 (4) 67 (30) 38 (10)
National team
1990-1992 1993-2000	Denmark U-21 Denmark	7 (0) 12 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Søren Andersen (born January 31, 1970) is a Danish former professional footballer. He played as a striker, and most prominently represented English club Bristol City, Spanish club Rayo Vallecano, as well as several Danish clubs. He played 12 games for the Denmark national team, though he did not score, and represented Denmark at the 1996 European Championship.

[edit] Biography

Andersen began his career as a junior with Silkeborg IF, joining Aarhus GF in August 1989. He made his debut for the Danish under-21 national team in April 1990. He won the 1992 Danish Cup with Aarhus GF, and was included in the Danish under-21 squad for the 1992 Summer Olympics by coach Viggo Jensen. He played a single match at the tournament; his seventh and last games for the under-21 national team. He made his debut for the senior Danish national team in January 1993, under national coach Richard Møller Nielsen.

Having scored 33 goals in 71 league games for Aarhus, Andersen moved abroad in October 1993. He went on to play for Spanish club UE Lleida in the La Liga championship. He played a single season at Lleida, where he scored the winning goal in a 2-1 win against multiple Spanish champions Real Madrid. When Lleida were relegated to the Segunda División at the end of the season, Andersen moved to league rivals Rayo Vallecano. He played 12 games for Rayo, scoring a single goal.

In January 1995, Andersen moved to Swedish club IFK Norrkoping, before going back to Denmark. He went on to play for defending Danish champions Aalborg Boldspilklub (AaB) in August 1995. At Aalborg, he was poised to replace striker Erik Bo Andersen who had been sold to Rangers FC. Søren Andersen became an instant success, and was called up for the Danish squad at the 1996 European Championship, where he played a single match. He was AaB's lead goalscorer in the 1996-97 season with 14 goals, the fifth highest tally of the league. He scored a total of 36 goals in 77 games for AaB, including five goals in a single game against Viborg FF.

In July 1998, he moved to England, joining Bristol City in the First Division for a fee of £425,000. He scored both City goals on his debut, a 2-2 draw at home to Oxford United. In the 1998-99 season, in which City were relegated, he scored 10 goals out of 29 in a forward partnership with Ade Akinbiyi. He left City in September 1999, returning to Denmark to join Odense BK, costing the Danish side £200,000. He left Odense to rejoin his former club Aarhus in November 2001. He was injured in early March 2002, badly breaking his arm in a collision with Sweden international goalkeeper Magnus Kihlstedt, in a game against Kihlstedt's club FC København. He ended his career in March 2003, due to chronically aching achilles tendons.