Bjarne Goldbæk

Bjarne Goldbæk
Personal information
Full nameBjarne Goldbæk
Date of birth6 October 1968
Place of birthCopenhagen, Denmark
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionAttacking midfielder
Youth career
–1987B 1901
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1987Næstved IF17(4)
1987–1989FC Schalke 0474(8)
1989–19931. FC Kaiserslautern80(11)
1993–1994Tennis Borussia Berlin24(5)
1994–19961. FC Köln30(2)
1996–1998F.C. Copenhagen74(16)
1998–2000Chelsea29(5)
2000–2003Fulham85(6)
2003–2005Rot-Weiss Essen61(9)
Total474(56)
National team
1987–1988Denmark U-215(0)
1987–2001Denmark28(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Bjarne Goldbæk (born 6 October 1968) is a Danish former professional footballer and current sports pundit for Eurosport. He played for a number of foreign clubs, including Chelsea and Fulham in England and several clubs in Germany. He most prominently won the 1990 German Cup tournament and 1990–91 Bundesliga championship with 1. FC Kaiserslautern. For the Denmark national football team, Goldbæk was capped 28 times, and he was a part of the Danish squads for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 tournaments.

He is currently working as football agent.

Club career

Born in Copenhagen, Goldbæk started his career with Danish club B 1901, before he was snapped up by the top-flight Danish 1st Division club Næstved IF in 1987.[1] He quickly moved abroad to play for Schalke 04 of the Bundesliga in September that year. In December 1989, Goldbæk changed clubs to Bundesliga rivals 1. FC Kaiserslautern, where he won the German Bundesliga championship in the 1990–91 season. He further played for Tennis Borussia Berlin and 1. FC Köln in Germany, before returning to Denmark to play for F.C. Copenhagen in 1996.

At F.C. Copenhagen, he quickly became a mainstay in the team, and he was awarded the 1998 F.C. Copenhagen Player of the Year award. Following good displays and a goal scored in two UEFA Cup Winners' Cup matches against Chelsea,[2][3] he joined them in November 1998 for a fee of £330,000, in a deal that sent fellow Dane Brian Laudrup from Chelsea to Copenhagen.[3][4] Goldbæk originally made a big impression when he moved to Stamford Bridge, but was not in favour with Chelsea's manager Gianluca Vialli, who tried to off-load him to Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest. He struggled to hold down a regular rotation place at Chelsea, before Fulham snatched him from Chelsea in January 2000, at the cost of £650,000.[5] He made his Fulham debut in January 2000, a 1–0 home defeat at the hands of Grimsby Town.[6] However, he soon became an important player, as Fulham won the English First Division crown in the 2000–01 season. As Fulham manager Jean Tigana's team strengthened, it appeared Goldbæk's future was becoming bleak at the club.[7] He made just 17 appearances in the 2001–02 season.[8] However, he started the next campaign in the picture, as he came on as a substitute in the Intertoto Cup game against FC Haka from Finland in early July 2002.[9] As a result, Goldbæk would sign a one-year contract extension.[10]

He left Fulham to play for Regionalliga club Rot-Weiss Essen in 2003.[11] Goldbæk justified his move by eating well with the house that is located in the nearby town of Gladbeck, and with the audience interest.[12] He was the team captain when the club earned promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in 2004, but as Rot-Weiss Essen were relegated to the Regionalliga again the following year, Goldbæk retired his active career in summer 2005.

International career

Goldbæk made his debut for Denmark on 18 November 1987, in a 1988 Olympic Games qualifier against the West Germany Olympic national team, which ended in a 1–0 defeat.[13]

Honours

1. FC Kaiserslautern
F.C. Copenhagen
Chelsea
Fulham

Individual

Career statistics

[14][15][16]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Denmark League Danish Cup League Cup Europe Total
1987Næstved IFDanish 1st Division174000000174
Germany League DFB-Pokal Other Europe Total
1987–88Schalke 04Bundesliga253420000295
1988–892. Bundesliga332000000332
1989–90193110000204
1989–90KaiserslauternBundesliga3010000040
1990–91224100010244
1991–92242200031293
1992–93285100050345
1993–943000000030
1993–94Tennis Borussia Berlin2. Bundesliga245300000275
1994–951. FC KölnBundesliga140200000160
1995–96162000000162
Denmark League Danish Cup League Cup Europe Total
1996–97CopenhagenDanish Superliga327000000327
1997–98306000040346
1998–99123000042165
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
1998–99ChelseaFA Premier League235600000295
1999–20006000000060
1999–2000FulhamFirst Division183100000193
2000–01432100000442
2001–02FA Premier League131202000171
2002–03110311030181
Germany League DFB-Pokal Other Europe Total
2003–04Rot-Weiss EssenRegionalliga307000000307
2004–052. Bundesliga312100000322
Total Denmark 9120829120
Germany 269351639129739
England 11411131303013312
Career total 474662943020352171

International

[13]

Denmark national team
YearAppsGoals
198710
198800
198900
199000
199130
199210
199330
199400
199500
199620
199700
199820
199990
200050
200120
Total280

After a career

Goldbæk is now licensed consultant for players and coaches.

References

  1. ↑ "Dagens portræt – Farligt og flittigt talent". Politiken. 18 November 1992.
  2. ↑ Tongue, Steve (23 October 1998). "Desailly saves hapless Chelsea". The Independent (Independent News and Media). Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Season 1998/99". F.C. Copenhagen. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  4. ↑ "Casiraghi injury may put young Finn in firing line". The Guardian (Guardian News and Media). 10 November 1998. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  5. ↑ Thomas, Russell; Foot, David (15 January 2000). "Goldbaek grabs Fulham chance". The Guardian (Guardian News and Media). Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Bjarne Goldbæk's playing career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  7. ↑ "Goldbaek faces soccer wilderness". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 14 May 2002. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  8. ↑ "Bjarne Goldbæk's playing career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  9. ↑ "Fulham in Intertoto stalemate". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 6 July 2002. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "Bjarne signs new deal". Fulham Official Website. 17 May 2002. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Bjarne Goldbaek wechselt zu RWE". kicker (Olympia-Verlag GmbH). 10 June 2003. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  12. ↑ "Wir müssen den Aufstieg nachholen" (in German). kicker.de. 10 June 2003. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Bjarne Goldbæk profile". Danish Football Association. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  14. ↑ "Bjarne Goldbæk". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  15. ↑ "Bjarne Goldbæk". ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Bjarne Goldbæk profile". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 24 February 2012.

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Antti Niemi		 F.C. Copenhagen Player of the Year
1998 		Succeeded by
David Nielsen