Odense Boldklub

OB
Full name Odense Boldklub
Nickname(s) De Stribede
(The Striped)
Short name OB
Founded 1887; 124 years ago (1887)
Ground TRE-FOR Park, Odense
(Capacity: 15,633[1])
Owner Odense Sport & Event A/S
Chairman Niels Thorborg
Manager Henrik Clausen
League Danish Superliga
2010–11 Danish Superliga, 2nd
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 town of Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga and their home field is TRE-FOR Park in Odense on Funen. OB's clubhouse is located in Ådalen near Odense River.

Contents

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 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.

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 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 wasn't 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, 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 performance has been the second place, and silver medals, in the 2008–2009 season. In 2006 OB ended third, and awarded bronze medals, the first medals in ten years. Furthermore the club had fourth place finishes in 2003, 2004 and 2007.

In the season 06/07 OB unlucky ended up on a fourth place in the league, after a close race in the last rounds. OB won the Danish Cup defeating F.C. Copenhagen 2–1, which gave OB the possibility to qualify for the UEFA Cup for the second season in a row.

In the season 07/08 OB once again ended on a fourth place, which gave a chance to qualify to the UEFA Cup through the Intertoto Cup. On the 19th and 26 July 2008 they played the English Premiership 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 the 19th but a 1–0 away defeat on the 26th, so missed out 2–3 on aggregate to Aston Villa.

OB finished second in the 08/09 season which led to a two games Genoa in the UEFA Europa League. First game at Stadio Luigi Ferraris resulted in a 3–1 defeat and the home game gave a 1–1 draw. The next season 09/10 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 have been drawn to take on Scottish Motherwell F.C. in the 4th 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 Spanish club Real Madrid to reach the quarterfinal of the tournament.

In the first round, OB won both the home and away game 3-0 against Estonian FC Flora Tallinn. 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 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 with a 0–0 draw at home, 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 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 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 August, 2011

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

No. Position Player
2 DF Espen Ruud
4 MF Hans Henrik Andreasen
5 DF Anders Møller Christensen
7 FW Peter Utaka
8 DF Tore Reginiussen
9 FW Rasmus Falk Jensen
10 MF Andreas Johansson
11 FW Morten Skoubo
15 DF Chris Sørensen
16 MF Jacob Schoop
17 GK Mads Toppel
18 MF Kalilou Traoré
No. Position Player
19 MF Eric Djemba-Djemba
20 DF Timmi Johansen
21 MF Rúrik Gíslason
22 DF Bernard Mendy
23 DF Oliver Larsen
24 MF Bashkim Kadrii
25 MF Christian Sørensen
26 DF Daniel Høegh
30 GK Daniel Krog
33 GK Stefan Wessels
99 FW Baye Djiby Fall

Noted players

OB in Europe

2004-05 Intertoto Cup

20 June 2004
15:00
Odense 0 – 0 Ballymena Odense Atletikstadion, Odense
Attendance: 1,197
Referee: Prades Mengual

26 June 2004
16:00
Ballymena 0 – 7 Odense Ballymena Showgrounds, Ballymena
Attendance: 2,107
Referee: Egill Mar Markusson
Miti  25'62'88'
Højer  33'55'
Møller Pedersen  80'
Borre  82'

Odense won 7–0 on aggregate.


03 July 2004
20:00
Odense 0 – 3 Villarreal Atletion, Aarhus
Attendance: 523
Referee: Mike Dean
Anderson  66'
Cazorla  70'
Guayre  88'

10 July 2004
22:00
Villarreal 2 – 0 Odense Estadio El Madrigal, Villarreal
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Wolfgang Sowa
Mari  23'
Font  39'

Villarreal won 5–0 on aggregate.

2006-07 Intertoto Cup And UEFA Cup

2 July 2006
15:00
Odense 3 – 0 Shelbourne F.C. Fionia Park, Odense
Attendance: 1,903
Referee: Tsvetan Georgiev
Fevang  28'42'58'

9 July 2006
16:00
Shelbourne F.C. 1 – 0 Odense Tolka Park, Dublin
Attendance: 800
Referee: Dietmar Drabek
Ndo  33'

Odense won 3–1 on aggregate.


15 July 2006
18:00
Odense 1 – 0 Hibernian F.C. Fionia Park, Odense
Attendance: 2,341
Referee: Phillipe Kalt
Chris Sørensen  33'

22 July 2006
16:00
Hibernian F.C. 2 – 1 Odense Easter Road, Edinburgh
Attendance: 10,640
Referee: Matteo Trefoloni
Jones  53'
Dalglish  79'
Grahn  50'

Odense won 2–2 on aggregate and away goal.


10 August 2006
19:00
Odense 1 – 0 Llanelli TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Attendance: 2,744
Referee: Eigil Magnus Kristinsson
Bechara  29'

24 August 2006
20:45
Llanelli 1 – 5 Odense Stebonheath Park, Llanelli
Attendance: 2,759
Referee: Dejan Delevic
Corbisiero  10' Timm  15'
Hansen  30'
Sørensen  59'
Ophaug  65'
Bechara  90'

Odense won 6–1 on aggregate.


14 September 2006
17:00
Hertha Berlin 2 – 2 Odense Olympic Stadium, Berlin
Attendance: 12,814
Referee: Viktor Kassai
Giménez  38'
Boateng  50'
Simunic  7' (o.g.)
Bechara  52'

28 September 2006
15:30
Odense 1 – 0 Hertha Berlin Fionia Park, Odense
Attendance: 11,462
Referee: Iain Robertson
Timm  63'

Odense won 3–2 on aggregate.


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
19 October 2006
20:45
Odense 1 – 2 Parma TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Attendance: 12,559
Referee: Serge Gumienny
Hansen  7' Dessena  39'
Budan  51'

2 November 2006
18:45
Heerenveen 0 – 2 Odense Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Tony Asumaa
Lekic 45'59'

23 November 2006
20:45
Odense 1 – 1 Lens TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Attendance: 7,707
Referee: Alon Yefet
Grahn  58' Jemaa  87'

29 November 2006
20:45
Osasuna 3 – 1 Odense Estadio Reyno de Navarra, Pamplona
Attendance: 13,115
Referee: Peter Sippel
Punal  28'65'
Romeo  85'
Punal  73' (o.g.)

2007-08 UEFA Cup

19 July 2007
20:45
St Patrick's FC 0 – 0 Odense Richmond Park, Dublin
Attendance: 2,800
Referee: Fredy Fautrel (France)
Report
02 August 2007
20:05
Odense 5 – 0 St Patrick's FC Fionia Park, Odense
Attendance: 5,306
Referee: Bernie Raymond Blom(Nederland)
Andreasen  20'
Christensen  29'
Borring  45'
Christensen  73'
Nymann  88'
Report

Odense won 5–0 on aggregate.


19 July 2007
20:45
Dinamo Minsk 1 – 1 Odense Dinamo-Yuni Stadium, Minsk
Referee: Mark Courtney (Northern Ireland)
Report
30 August 2007
20:30
Odense 4 – 0 Dinamo Minsk Fionia Park, Odense
Attendance: 6,416
Referee: Michael Weiner(Germany)
Nielsen  37'
Nielsen  55'
Absalonsen  76'
Absalonsen  79'
Report

Odense won 5–1 on aggregate.


20 September 2007
20:15
Sparta Prague 0 – 0 Odense AXA Arena, Prague
Attendance: 7,247
Referee: Edo Trivkovic (Croatia)
Report
04 October 2007
19:00
Odense 0 – 0 Sparta Prague Fionia Park, Odense
Attendance: 10,565
Referee: Igor Egorov(Russia)
Report

Sparta Prague won 4–3 after penalty shootout.

2008–09 UEFA Intertoto Cup

6 July 2008
17:30
TPS Turku 1 – 2 Odense Veritas Stadion, Turku
Attendance: 2,400
Referee: Andrejs Sipailo (Latvia)
One  37' Fall  5'
Sørensen  84'

13 July 2008
18:00
Odense 2 – 0 TPS Turku Fionia Park, Odense
Attendance: 4,034
Referee: Igor Zakharov (Russia)
Fall  21'52'

Odense won 4–1 on aggregate.


19 July 2008
20:00
Odense 2 – 2 Aston Villa Fionia Park, Odense
Attendance: 11,393
Referee: Andrea De Marco
Sidwell  25' (o.g.)
Møller Christensen  90'
Carew  7'
Laursen  76'

26 July 2008
Aston Villa 1 – 0 Odense Villa Park, Birmingham
Attendance: 31,423
Referee: C. Cakir
A. Young  50'

Aston Villa won 3–2 on aggregate.

2009–10 UEFA Europa League

30 July 2009
17:00
Rabotnički 3 – 4 Odense Gradski Stadion, Skopje
Referee: Vladislav Bozborodov (Russia)
Savić  21'
Wandeir  24'
Zé Carlos  74'
Report  20' Cacá
 34' Cacá
 62' Sørensen (penalty)
 70' Cacá
06 August 2009
20:05
Odense 3 – 0 Rabotnički Fionia Park, Odense
Referee: Hannes Kaasik (Estonia)
Utaka  52'
Utaka  76'
Utaka  80'
Report

Odense won 7–3 on aggregate.


20 August 2009
20:45
Genoa 3 – 1 Odense Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)
Moretti  9'
Figueroa  48'56'
Report  58' Gíslason
27 August 2009
20:30
Odense 1 – 1 Genoa Fionia Park, Odense
Attendance: 10,001
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands)
Figueroa (o.g.)  45+2' Report  53' Criscito

Genoa won 4–2 on aggregate.

2010–11 UEFA Europa League

29 July 2010
19:10
Odense 5 – 3 Zrinjski TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Attendance: 7,500
Referee: Euan Norris (Scotland)
Gíslason  16'
Absalonsen  23'
Utaka  31'
Andreasen  37'
Utaka  60'
Report  15' Zadro
 65' Žižović (penalty)
 70' Zadro
5 August 2010
21:00
Zrinjski 0 – 0 Odense Bijeli Brijeg Stadium, Mostar
Attendance: 6,332
Referee: Jiří Jech (Czech Republic)
Report

Odense won 5–3 on aggregate.


19 August 2010
19:05
Odense 2 – 1 Motherwell TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Attendance: 14,911
Referee: Zsolt Szabo (Hungary)
Sørensen  31'
Utaka  78'
Report  90+4' Hateley
26 August 2010
20:45
Motherwell 0 – 1 Odense Fir Park, Motherwell
Attendance: 9,105
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (Greece)
Report  28' Utaka

Odense won 3–1 on aggregate.


Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
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
Stuttgart 1–0 5–1 3–0
Young Boys 2–0 4–2 4–2
16 September 2010
21:05
Getafe 2 – 1 Odense Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, Getafe
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Mark Courtney (Northern Ireland)
Arizmendi  51'
Ríos  81'
Report  44' Andreasen
30 September 2010
19:00
Odense 1 – 2 Stuttgart TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Attendance: 14,761
Referee: Alexandru Deaconu (Romania)
Johansson  78' Report  72' Kuzmanović
 86' Harnik
21 October 2010
19:00
Young Boys 4 – 2 Odense Stade de Suisse, Bern
Attendance: 12,511
Referee: Kevin Blom (Netherlands)
Bienvenu  25'
Sutter  34'
Degen  61'
Lulić  74'
Report  48'Utaka
 84' Sørensen (penalty)
4 November 2010
21:05
Odense 2 – 0 Young Boys TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Attendance: 5,600
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (Macedonia)
Andreasen  12'
Andreasen  60'
Report
1 December 2010
19:00
Odense 1 – 1 Getafe TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Attendance: 5,599
Referee: Hannes Kaasik (Estonia)
Andreasen  90+2' Report  17' Ríos
16 December 2010
21:05
Stuttgart 5 – 1 Odense Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart
Attendance: 14,000
Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)
Gebhart  20'
Høegh (o.g.)  47'
Gentner  65'
Pogrebnyak  70'
Marica  90+3'
Report  72' Utaka

2011–12 UEFA Champions League

27 July 2011
20:00
Odense 1 – 1 Panathinaikos TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Attendance: 10,055
Referee: Carlos Clos Gómez (Spain)
Reginiussen  90' Report  47' Leto
2 August 2011
21:45
Panathinaikos 3 – 4 Odense Olympic Stadium (Athens), Athens
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Andre Marriner (England)
Boumsong  37'
Toché  50'
Petropoulos  90+5'
Report  12' Johansson
 58' Ruud
 80' Kadrii
 87' Andreasen

Odense won 5–4 on aggregate.


17 August 2011
20:45
Odense 1 – 0 Villarreal TRE-FOR Park, Odense

Attendance: 13.002
Referee: Damir Skomina
Hans Henrik Andreasen  84' Report
23 August 2011
20:45
Villarreal 3 – 0 Odense El Madrigal, Villarreal
Attendance: 18.000
Referee: Craig Thomson
Giuseppe Rossi  50'  66'
Carlos Marchena  82'
Report

Villareal won 3–1 on aggregate.


2011–12 UEFA Europa League

Group K

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Odense 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 3
Twente 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
Fulham 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
Wisła Kraków 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0
  FUL OB TWE WK
Fulham 14 Dec 1–1 3 Nov
Odense 29 Sep 20 Oct 1 Dec
Twente 1 Dec 3 Nov 29 Sep
Wisła Kraków 20 Oct 1–3 14 Dec
15 September 2011
21:05
Wisła Kraków 1 – 3 Odense Stadion im. Henryka Reymana, Kraków
Attendance: 12,950
Referee: Sascha Kever (Switzerland)
Kirm  54' Report Johansson  35'
Utaka  80'
Falk  90+2'

29 September 2011
19:00
Odense v Fulham TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Report

20 October 2011
19:00
Odense v Twente TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Report

3 November 2011
21:05
Twente v Odense De Grolsch Veste, Enschede
Report

1 December 2011
19:00
Odense v Wisła Kraków TRE-FOR Park, Odense
Report

14 December 2011
21:05
Fulham 2-2 Odense Craven Cottage, London
Report

Rankings

UEFA club coefficient ranking

(As of 18 July 2011), Source: Bert Kassies website

Rank Team Points
0101 Rosenborg BK 19.375
0102 Slavia Praha 19.170
0103 FC Zürich 18.980
104 Odense BK 18.610
105 Real Zaragoza 18.465
106 Lokomotiv Moscow 18.441
107 Unirea Urziceni 17.664

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
1999–00 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 32 16 7 9 55 39 55 last 16

Honours

Achievements

References

External links