Esbjerg fB
Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (Danish pronunciation: [ˈesˌpjɛɐ̯ˀ fʌˈe̝ˀnð̩ ˈpʌltkʰlupɐ]; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a professional football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Denmark, that plays in the 1st, the second-tier of the Danish football league system. Founded in 1924 as a merger between Esbjerg Boldklub af 1898 and Esbjerg Amatørklub af 1911, the first team play their home games at Blue Water Arena which has been the club's home ground since its opening in 1955.
Full name | Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Short name | EfB | |||
Founded | 23 July 1924[1] | |||
Ground | Blue Water Arena, Esbjerg | |||
Capacity | 18,000 | |||
Head coach | Ólafur Kristjánsson | |||
League | 1st Division | |||
2019–20 | Superliga, 13th | |||
Website | Club website | |||
|
History
Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber was officially established in 1924 as a merger between Esbjerg Boldklub af 1898 (E.B. 98) and Esbjerg Amatørklub af 1911 (EAK) after 12 years of competition between the two clubs.[1] The new club was driven by ambition for something bigger, which already produced results the day after when the club's best start-up team defeated Kolding IF with 7–0.[2]
The club's golden years were in the first half of the 1960s with the Austrian coach Rudi Strittich throughout most of the decade.[3][4] The club won the Danish Championship in 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1965 and won the DBU Cup in 1964.[5] In the 2010–11 Danish Superliga season EfB finished 12th and was relegated to the Danish 1st Division for the first time since the 1999-00 season.[6]
Stadium
Esbjerg fB plays at Blue Water Arena, which is the name of Esbjerg Stadion at Gl. Vardevej and part of Esbjerg Sports Park. In 2004, a new stand was built on the eastern side of a stadium. A new stadium with seating for 16,942 spectators was completed in August 2009. It is currently the second biggest stadium in Jutland, and the fourth biggest in Denmark.
- Location: Gl. Vardevej 62, 6700 Esbjerg
- Year built: 1955
- Extended / renovated: 1999, 2004, 2008–09
- Capacity: 16,942 (11,451 seats)
- Pitch Size: 105 x 68 meters
- Lighting: 1200 lux.
- Record attendance: 22,000 (Esbjerg fB – KB, 1961)
- Address: Gl Vardevej 82, 6700 Esbjerg
Honours
- Champions (5): 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1979
- Silver (3): 1955–56, 1968, 1978
- Bronze (2): 1977, 2003–04, 2018–19
- Winners (3): 1963–64, 1975–76, 2012–13
- Runners-up (6): 1956–57, 1961–62, 1977–78, 1984–85, 2005–06, 2007–08
- Champions: 2011–12
Achievements
- 45 seasons in the Highest Danish League
- 24 seasons in the Second Highest Danish League
- 5 seasons in the Third Highest Danish League
Players
Current squad
- As of 1 February 2021[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Youth players in use
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Staff
- Head Coach: Ólafur Kristjánsson
- Assistant Coach: Claus Nørgaard
- A + Coach: Lars Vind
- Goalkeeper Coach: Lars Winde
- Physical Coach: Torben Nielsen
- Assistant Physical Coach: Søren Nielsen
- Physio: Christian Søborg
- Masseur: Lars Kikkenborg
- Scout: Jimmi Nagel Jacobsen
- Kit Manager: Kaj Schmidt
Former coaches
|
|
|
Denmark national football team players
The following 32 Esbjerg football players has been picked and had their debut on the Danish national football team (debut/matches/goals):
|
|
|
Former notable foreign players
Esbjerg has a list of former notable foreign players of which some have represented their national team. Some of the most memorable are listed here:
Player of the year
Player of the year Esbjerg fB
- 1999–00: Henrik Ibsen
- 2000–01: Joakim Persson
- 2001–02: Christian Karlsson
- 2002–03: Jan Kristiansen
- 2003–04: Tommy Bechmann
- 2004–05: Fredrik Berglund
- 2005–06: Jerry Lucena
- 2006–07: Niki Zimling
- 2007–08: Martin Vingaard
- 2008–09: Søren Rieks
- 2009–10: Nicolai Høgh
- 2010–11: Jesper Lange
- 2011–12: Søren Rieks
- 2012–13: Lukáš Hrádecký
- 2013–14: Kian Hansen[8]
- 2014–15: Jonas Knudsen[9]
- 2015–16: Jeppe Højbjerg
- 2016–17: Victor Pálsson
- 2017–18: Anders Dreyer[10]
- 2018–19: Joni Kauko[11]
Player of the year Denmark
- 1963: Jens Petersen
- 1978: Ole Kjær
- 1979: Jens Jørn Bertelsen
Recent history
Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes 1999–2000 SL 12 33 8 4 21 40 70 28 Quarter-final relegated 2000–01 1D 1 30 19 8 3 79 29 65 5th round promoted 2001–02 SL 7 33 13 6 14 42 44 45 Semi-final 2002–03 SL 5 33 12 11 10 65 57 47 Quarter-final 2003–04 SL 3 33 18 8 7 71 44 62 5th round 2004–05 SL 5 33 13 10 10 61 47 49 5th round 2005–06 SL 6 33 12 6 15 43 45 42 Runner-up 2006–07 SL 7 33 10 10 13 46 51 40 4th round 2007–08 SL 7 33 13 6 14 59 54 45 Runner-up 2008–09 SL 9 33 7 11 15 32 41 32 3rd round 2009–10 SL 4 33 13 11 9 48 43 50 4th round 2010–11 SL 12 33 7 12 14 36 49 33 Semi-final relegated 2011–12 1D 1 26 21 3 2 60 19 66 3rd round promoted 2012–13 SL 4 33 13 8 12 38 32 47 Winner 2013–14 SL 5 33 13 9 11 47 38 48 4th round 2014–15 SL 8 33 10 10 13 47 45 40 Semi-final 2015–16 SL 11 33 7 9 17 38 64 30 3rd round 2016–17 SL 14 32 6 12 14 32 54 30 3rd round relegated 2017–18 1D 2 33 18 6 9 61 36 60 1st round promoted 2018–19 SL 3 36 16 8 12 45 47 56 Quarter-final
References
- Ahlstrøm, Frits (2013). Fodbold i sjov og alvor (1. E-bogsudgave ed.). Politiken. ISBN 9788740013207.
- "Esbjerg fB - 3F Superliga". superliga.dk. Superliga. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- Kjærbøl, Michael (24 August 2018). "Diametrale trænermodsætninger – DBUs slingrekurs". ekstrabladet.dk. Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- "Trænerlegenden Rudi Strittich er død". ekstrabladet.dk. Ekstra Bladet. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- "Det gyldne efterår 1961 - et tronskifte i dansk fodbold". jv.dk. JydskeVestkysten. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- Fodbold, danske kampe 2011 (1st ed.). Carlsens Årbøger. 2011. p. 16.
- "Superligatrup | Esbjerg fB". efb.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2019-06-29.
- "Esbjerg fB's officielle hjemmeside | Regionens Hold" (in Danish). EfB.dk. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
- "Esbjerg fB's officielle hjemmeside | Regionens Hold" (in Danish). EfB.dk. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2018-07-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Sæsonens Spiller 2018/2019: Joni Kauko - EfB" (in Danish). Efb.dk. Retrieved 2019-11-26.