Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ), is a professional

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

based in Aarhus,

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country and

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

and fencing are featured as its main sports. However, AGF is mostly known for its football department, which was established in 1902. Currently, the club's first team plays in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each ye ...

, the top flight of the Danish football league system. AGF has won five Danish Football Championships and a record nine

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

s. In 1961, AGF reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup where they were knocked out by later winners, Benfica. In 1989, AGF again reached a European quarter-final. This time in the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, where they lost 1–0 on aggregate to later winners

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

History

AGF played its first football match against Aarhus Idrætsklub Olympia in November 1902, a 5–2 loss. Six years later, the club won the Jutland Football Championship by winning 3–2 over

Ringkøbing IF Ringkøbing Idrætsforening () is an association football club based in the town of Ringkøbing, West Jutland, Denmark, that competes in the Denmark Series, the fifth tier of the Danish football league system. Founded in 1900, it is shortly known ...

in the final. AGF won the Jutland Football Championship seven times and was in three finals of the

Danish Football Championship The Danish football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in Denmark. The title has been contested since 1913, in a varying form of competitions. Since 1991, the winners have been found through the Danish Superliga champions ...

before AGF became a member of the newly founded Denmark Tournament in 1927. In 1911, AGF got its own clubhouse after which the club bought the pitches at Dalgas Avenue. In 1920, AGF began to play its home matches at the newly built

Aarhus Stadium Aarhus Stadium ( Danish: Aarhus Stadion) is an association football stadium in Aarhus, Denmark which has been the home ground of Aarhus Gymnastikforening since the 1920s. With a current capacity of 19,433, it is the third largest football stadi ...

, where the club has played ever since. In 1941, the club moved from the clubhouse at Dalgas Avenue to Fredensvang in the suburb of

Viby J Viby J (or just Viby) is a former town and now a district, in the southwestern part of Aarhus in Denmark. The district has almost 30,000 inhabitants. The "J" stands for Jutland, as there is another town called Viby on the island of Zealand, offici ...

. For three seasons in a row from 1949 to 1951 AGF finished in third place in the top division. After spending the 1952–53 season in the 2nd Division, AGF returned strongly to the 1st Division and in the next 12 seasons won four Danish Football Championships and five

s. AGF also participated in the first edition of the European Cup, where they lost 4–2 on aggregate to French club Reims with three goals scored by

Léon Glovacki Léon Glovacki (19 February 1928 – 9 September 2009) was a French football striker. Personal life Glovacki was born in France, and was of Polish descent. He was an international for the France national football team The France national ...

. In 1961, AGF reached the quarter-final in the same tournament where they lost to eventual tournament winners Benfica. AGF were relegated to the 2nd Division in 1968 and in 1973 but returned to the 1st Division in 1976. This was the start of 30 continuous years in the top division. The introduction of professional football in Denmark had a major influence on the success AGF experienced from the late 1970s and forward until 1998. With former Real Madrid star

Henning Jensen Henning Jensen (17 August 1949 – 4 December 2017) was a Danish football player who played professionally for German club Borussia Mönchengladbach, Spanish club Real Madrid and Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam where he won the domestic league champi ...

on the team, AGF were close at winning the Danish Football Championship in 1982. AGF drew 2–2 against B.93 in the last game of the season which sent the championship to OB. In 1984, AGF were again close to clinching the championship but lost by a single point to the rivals from

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six t ...

. Finally in 1986, AGF won their fifth

Flemming Povlsen Flemming Søgaard Povlsen (born 3 December 1966) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker for Borussia Dortmund in Germany, among other teams. He works as football expert on TV. Club career Povlsen started playing foot ...

Jan Bartram Jan Lewis Bartram (born 6 March 1962 as Jan Louis Bartram), known simply as Jan Bartram, is a Danish former professional association football player in the midfielder position. He played for Scottish team Rangers and Bayer 05 Uerdingen in Ger ...

and

John Stampe John Stampe Møller (16 February 1957 – 29 July 2012) was a Danish football player and coach. He played 444 games (and scored 12 goals) for AGF Aarhus Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ), is a professional sports club based ...

were the key players of the team these years. In 1987, 1988 and 1992 AGF also won the

. In 1996, with players such as

Stig Tøfting Stig Tøfting (born 14 August 1969), commonly known as Tøffe, is a former Danish professional footballer and assistant coach, who most recently was the assistant of Erik Rasmussen at AGF. Tøfting was a hard-hitting combative defensive midfi ...

and

Håvard Flo Håvard Flo (born 4 April 1970) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Stryn TIL and Sogndal Fotball, before he left Norway in 1994 and played for AGF, SV Werder Bremen, and Wolverhampton Wanderers ...

, AGF were again close to winning the

, but lost the title to Brøndby IF in dramatic fashion on the second to last matchday when opposing goalkeeper

Mogens Krogh Mogens Krogh (; born 31 October 1963) is a Danish former professional football player who was most recently manager of Næstved BK. In his playing career, Krogh was the first choice goalkeeper of Ikast fS between 1981 and 1991 and of Brøndby f ...

headed in the 3–3 equaliser. AGF would, however, win the

that season by beating Brøndby. In 1998, AGF finished third in the

but financial problems resulted in poor results the following years. In 2000, Peter Rudbæk was fired after seven years as manager. From 2000 onwards, the club experienced some of its worst ever results, which led to relegations in the 2005–06, 2009–10 and 2013–14 seasons. Each time, however, the club secured a quick return to the top-flight. In the summer of 2014, AGF appointed Jacob Nielsen as their new director. Nielsen had been successful as director of

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Morten Wieghorst Morten Wieghorst (born 25 February 1971) is a Danish association football manager and former player. He is currently the assistant coach for the Denmark national football team. He is the former head coach of the Denmark national under-21 footba ...

as manager. On 6 December 2015, however, Nielsen announced that Wieghorst was fired and that former Danish champion

Glen Riddersholm Glen Riddersholm (born 24 April 1972) is a Danish football manager. He is the current manager of Allsvenskan club IFK Norrköping. Coaching career He started as youth coach at Ikast fS and continued in this job, when the club merged with Hernin ...

was hired as his replacement. With Riddersholm as manager AGF finished the 2015–16 season in tenth place having won three games, drawn seven, and lost five in the remainder of the season. AGF qualified for 2016 cup final, in which they lost 2–1 to FC Copenhagen. In the 2016–17 season, AGF finished 11th after having played relegation play-off matches in the new league structure introduced that season. On 30 September 2017, Riddersholm was fired due to inconsistent results. At that point AGF was seventh in the league having started the 2017–18 season with four wins, five defeats, and two draws. Riddersholm's last match was a 5–1 win against FC Helsingør. New manager was David Nielsen who started with four consecutive league defeats but finished the season in seventh place after losing a European play-off final against

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

4–1. After reaching eighth place in 2018–19 season, the club managed to win the bronze medal in the 2019–20 season.

Stadium

Their home ground is

, renamed Ceres Park for sponsorship reasons since 2015, which has a capacity of 19,433.

Honours

National honours

** Winners (5): 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

** Runners-up (8): 1920–21, 1922–23, 1924–25, 1944–45,

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

, 1982,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, 1995–96 ** Bronze (12): 1932–33, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51,

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, 1978,

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, 1996–97, 2019–20 *

** Winners (9) (record): 1954–55, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1995–96 ** Runners-up (3): 1958–59, 1989–90, 2015–16 Sources:

International honours

* European Cup/UEFA Champions League **Quarter-finalists (1): 1960–61 *

**Quarter-finalists (1): 1988–89 * The Atlantic Cup **Winners (2):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Players

Current squad

''As of 6 September 2022''

Youth players in use 2022-23

Out on loan

Retired numbers

12 – AGF Fanclub Aarhus

Former players

Leon Andreasen Leon Hougaard Andreasen (born 23 April 1983) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. He won 20 caps and scored three goals for the Denmark national team. Biography Born in Aidt, Jutland, Andreasen st ...

* Tom Bonde *

Henning Enoksen Henning Enoksen (26 September 1935 – 25 September 2016) was a Danish footballer, who most prominently won a silver medal with the Denmark national team at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He played a total of 54 national team games and scored 29 goa ...

silver at

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

* Per Frimann *

Henry From Henry Petersen From (1 June 1926 – 31 August 1990) was a Danish association football goalkeeper. He played 31 games for the Denmark national football team, and won a silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He spent his entire club career at ...

silver at

* Peter Graulund *

Aage Rou Jensen Aage Rou Jensen (24 September 1924 – 8 June 2009) was a Danish international footballer who played over 400 times for AGF. He was a reserve member of the Danish squad at the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympia ...

formerly Real Madrid *

Mads Jørgensen Lars Mads Jørgensen (born 10 February 1979) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and won two Danish Superliga championships and two Danish Cup trophies with Brøndby IF. He started his career with A ...

Martin Jørgensen Lars Martin Jørgensen (; born 6 October 1975) is a Danish former professional footballer played as a midfielder or defender. He works as talent manager for AGF. Jørgensen amassed 102 caps and scored 12 goals for the Denmark national team. ...

* Bjørn Kristensen *

Søren Larsen Søren Larsen (; born 6 September 1981) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was a strong player with a decent header and good sense of positioning. He played in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, France, and the Nethe ...

* Aksel Nielsen * Hans Christian Nielsen silver at

* Kent Nielsen winner

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...

Brian Steen Nielsen Brian Steen Nielsen (born 28 December 1968) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Most notably, he made 66 appearances for the Denmark national team between 1990 and 2002, scoring three goals. After h ...

Torben Piechnik Torben Piechnik (born 21 May 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He made a total of 15 appearances for the Denmark national team, which he represented in the 1992 European Championship and 1996 Europe ...

Jakob Poulsen Jakob Bendix Uhd Poulsen (born 7 July 1983) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and current assistant coach of Viborg FF. Poulsen started his senior career with Esbjerg fB, before moving to Dutch side SC Heeren ...

* Troels Rasmussen * Marc Rieper * Casper Sloth *

* John Sivebæk *

Claus Thomsen Claus Thomsen (born 31 May 1970) is a Danish former professional footballer. He won the Danish Cup with AGF Aarhus and played in England for top level teams Ipswich Town and Everton, as well as Wolfsburg in Germany. He played 20 matches for ...

* Thomas Thorninger *

Jack Wilshere Jack Andrew Garry Wilshere (born 1 January 1992) is an English football coach and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He is the current head coach of the Arsenal U18s. Wilshere came up through Arsenal's youth academy and i ...

Coaches

* A. G. Pettersson (1919–22) * Mr. Brown (1922–24) * Harald Hansen (1925–27) * Alfred Rasmussen (1927–31) * Fritz Molnar (1932–35) * William von Würden (1936–37) * Søren Jensen (1938–39) * Knud Aage Andersen (1939–40) * Gerhard Müller (1941–51) * Peter Vesterbak (1952–54) *

Géza Toldi Géza Toldi (11 February 1909 – 16 August 1985) was a Hungarian footballer. He played for Ferencvárosi TC, and from 1934 to 1938 for the Hungarian national team, serving as captain in 1936. He scored a goal in the 1938 FIFA World Cup. Club ...

(1954–56) * Peter Vesterbak (1956–58) * Walther Pfeiffer (1959–60) *

(1960–64) *

(1965–66) *

Erik Kuld Jensen Erik Kuld Jensen (10 June 1925 – 14 April 2004) was a Danish footballer. He was also part of Denmark's squad for the football tournament at the 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and ...

(1967–68) * Kaj Christensen (1969–73) *

Jimmy Strain (Denmark) Jimmy Strain (August 28, 1926 – December 30, 1973) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. Life and career Strain attended LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport and Johns Hop ...

(1974) *

(1974–75) * Jørn Bjerregaard (1976) *

Erik Christensen Erik Christensen (born December 17, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who last played for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Playing career Christensen was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round (69t ...

(1977–79) *

Poul Erik Bech Poul Erik Bech (15 March 1938 – 5 April 2014) was a Danish football manager. He won the 1984 Danish Championship with Vejle Boldklub and was awarded Manager of the Year the same year. References External linksDBU Profile
1938 birth ...

(1980–83) * Jürgen Wähling (1984–86) * Jens Harmsen (1986) * Allan Hebo Larsen (1987–88) * Jens Harmsen (1989) * Ole Brandenborg (1990) * Lars Lundkvist (1990–93) * Peter Rudbæk (1993–00) * Lars Lundkvist & Kent Nielsen (2000) * Ove Christensen (2000–01) *

(2001–02) * Hans Petersen (2002) *

Poul Hansen Hans Christian Poul Hansen (27 February 1913 – 13 August 1966), simply known as Poul Hansen, was a Danish politician, who served as Defence Minister of Denmark from 1956 to 1962 and Danish Minister of Finance from 1962 to 1965. He represented ...

(2002–03) *

Sören Åkeby Sören Åkeby (born 23 February 1952) is a Swedish association football, football manager and former player. Career Along with Zoran Lukić, Åkeby managed Djurgårdens IF Fotboll, Djurgårdens IF from 1999 to 2003. The two were very successful ...

(1 January 2004 – 31 December 2005) *

Jesper Tollefsen Jesper Klaus Tollefsen (born 27 January 1971) is a Danish football manager most recently in charge of Aarhus Fremad. Coaching career Jesper Tollefsen started his managerial career as Ove Christensen's assistant af Aarhus GF. His first job as head ...

(2005) *

Ove Pedersen Ove Pedersen (born 30 August 1954) is a Danish football manager and a former player. He works as an assistant to the sporting director in FC Midtjylland, Svend Graversen.Erik Rasmussen (1 January 2009 – 20 May 2010) * Peter Sørensen (1 July 2010 – 26 February 2014) * Jesper Fredberg (27 February 2014 – 30 May 2014) *

Morten Wieghorst Morten Wieghorst (born 25 February 1971) is a Danish association football manager and former player. He is currently the assistant coach for the Denmark national football team. He is the former head coach of the Denmark national under-21 footba ...

(30 May 2014 – 5 December 2015) *

(6 December 2015 – 30 September 2017) * David Nielsen (2 October 2017 – 21 May 2022) *

Uwe Rösler Uwe Rösler (; born 15 November 1968) is a German football manager and former professional footballer. As a player he was a centre forward, notably playing in the Premier League for Manchester City, where he was the leading goalscorer for thr ...

(14 June 2022 - Present)

Seasons

Records

Since 1927, AGF has played 68 seasons at the highest level in Danish football, which is a record.

Other records

* Biggest victory: 13–1 against

Fremad Amager Boldklubben Fremad Amager (meaning in English: The Ball Club Forward Amager ; abbreviated Fremad A) is a Danish professional football club based in the district of Amager Vest, Copenhagen. As of the 2020–21 season, the club's senior men's tea ...

, 28. October 1934 * Biggest defeat: 0–9 against B 93, 7. April 1946, 0–9 against

B 1913 Boldklubben 1913 is a Danish football club which plays in Albani Series. They play at Campus Road, in Odense on Funen. B1913 spent one season in the ''1961–62 European Cup'', which is the club's most notable international appearance. From ...

20. October 1940 and 0–9 against KB, 15. September 1968. * Most undefeated games in a row: 26 (4. November 1985 – 9. November 1986) * Most undefeated home games in a row: 26 (19. March 1995 – 16. August 1996) * Most home victories in a row: 15 (7. September 1952 – 10. May 1953) * Most games in a row without a victory: 16 (9. June 1968 – 7. April 1969) * Most lost games in a row: 11 (22. August 1968 – 3. November 1968) * Attendance record: 23.990. AGF –

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, that plays in the 2nd division, the third-tier of the Danish football league system. Found ...

0–4, (23. October 1962) * Most matches:

444 matches (1977–1991) * Most seasons:

19 seasons (1943–1961) * Most titles: John Amdisen, 4 Danish Football Championships and 5 Danish Cups (1955–1965) * Youngest player: Navid Dayyani, 16 years 244 days, (19. October 2003) * Oldest player:

Erik Boye Erik Boye (born 7 February 1964) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.1955–56 European Cup The 1955–56 European Cup was the first season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The tournament was won by Real Madrid, who defeated Stade de Reims 4–3 in the final at Parc des Princes, Paris, on 13 June 1956. The ...

, losing 0–2 at home to France's

Stade Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2018. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Aug ...

& eventually losing on aggregate 2–4 in the first round. Since then, the club has participated in numerous UEFA competitions, advancing as far as the quarter-finals of the

1960–61 European Cup The 1960–61 European Cup was the sixth season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Benfica, who won 3–2 in the final against Barcelona, who had knocked out Spanish rivals Real Madrid, winne ...

and 1988–89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

References

External links

Official website in EnglishOfficial website for the football department
{{Authority control Football clubs in Denmark Athletics clubs in Denmark Association football clubs established in 1902 Sports clubs established in 1880 Multi-sport clubs in Denmark 1880 establishments in Denmark Sport in Aarhus