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 Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwes ...

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 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 qu ...

s. In 1961, AGF reached the quarter-finals of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

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, 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 team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

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

, where they lost 4–2 on aggregate to French club

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded ...

with three goals scored by Léon Glovacki. 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 on the team, AGF were close at winning the Danish Football Championship in 1982. AGF drew 2–2 against

B.93 Boldklubben af 1893 is a Danish football club currently playing in the Danish 2nd Division. They play at the 7,000 seat Østerbro Stadion in Østerbro, Copenhagen. Achievements * Danish championship titles (9): ** 1916, 1927, 1929, 1930, ...

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. Finally in 1986, AGF won their fifth Danish Football Championship. Flemming Povlsen, Jan Bartram and John Stampe 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 and Håvard Flo, AGF were again close to winning the Danish Football Championship, 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 ...

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

that season by beating Brøndby. In 1998, AGF finished third in the Danish Superliga 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 where he had managed to secure good economic results. AGF also hired a new sporting director and

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 football ...

as manager. On 6 December 2015, however, Nielsen announced that Wieghorst was fired and that former Danish champion Glen Riddersholm 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 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 Aarhus Stadium, renamed Ceres Park for sponsorship reasons since 2015, which has a capacity of 19,433.

Honours

National honours

* Danish Football Championship ** Winners (5): 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1960, 1986 ** 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 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

, 1984, 1995–96 ** Bronze (12): 1932–33, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1962, 1978, 1983, 1985, 1987,

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 ...

, 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 * European Cup Winners' Cup **Quarter-finalists (1): 1988–89 * The Atlantic Cup **Winners (2): 2018,

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 ...

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 *

Tom Bonde Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

* Henning Enoksen 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 ...

* Håvard Flo *

Per Frimann Per Frimann Hansen (born 4 June 1962) is a Danish former football player. He played 158 matches as a midfielder for Belgian club RSC Anderlecht, with whom he won three Belgian championships, as well as the 1983 UEFA Cup. He played 17 matches ...

* Henry From silver at

Peter Graulund Peter Graulund (born 20 September 1976) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for Danish clubs Vejle Boldklub, Brøndby IF and AGF, German side VfL Bochum, and Swedish club Helsingborgs IF. He played six g ...

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, Kesäolympi ...

* Henning Jensen formerly Real Madrid * Mads Jørgensen * Martin Jørgensen * Bjørn Kristensen * Søren Larsen *

Aksel Nielsen Aksel Nielsen (January 11, 1901 – October 18, 1984) was a Danish-American philanthropist, founder of the Mortgage Banking Association’s School of Mortgage Banking, a member of the Civil and Defense Mobilization Board and close friend and ...

Hans Christian Nielsen Hans Christian Wedelsted Nielsen (10 May 1928 – 5 March 1990) was a Danish amateur association football defender. He played 25 matches for the Danish national team from May 1958 to June 1961, and won a silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics ...

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 *

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 Euro ...

* Jakob Poulsen * Flemming Povlsen *

Troels Rasmussen Troels Rasmussen (born 7 April 1961) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Danish clubs Vejle Boldklub and AGF. He played 391 games for AGF, and scored five goals from penalty kicks. From 1982 to 1991, he pla ...

Marc Rieper Marc Jensen Rieper (born 5 June 1968) is a Danish former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back for Aarhus Gymnastikforening, AGF and Brøndby IF, Brøndby in Denmark, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United in E ...

* Casper Sloth * Stig Tøfting *

John Sivebæk John Sivebæk (born 25 October 1961) is a Danish former football defender. He won the 1984 Danish championship with Vejle Boldklub and played for English club Manchester United. He scored one goal in 87 appearances for the Danish national tea ...

* Claus Thomsen *

Thomas Thorninger Thomas Thorninger (born 20 October 1972) is a Danish former football player. He played for PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, Italian clubs Perugia Calcio and Udinese Calcio, as well as Vejle Boldklub, AGF Aarhus and F.C. Copenhagen in Denmark. He ...

* Jack Wilshere

Coaches

* A. G. Pettersson (1919–22) * Mr. Brown (1922–24) * Harald Hansen (1925–27) *

Alfred Rasmussen Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

(1927–31) *

Fritz Molnar Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich (given name), Friedrich, or Frederick (given name), Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as ...

(1932–35) *

William von Würden William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

(1936–37) * Søren Jensen (1938–39) *

Knud Aage Andersen Knut ( Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used w ...

(1939–40) * Gerhard Müller (1941–51) *

Peter Vesterbak Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

(1952–54) * Géza Toldi (1954–56) *

(1956–58) *

Walther Pfeiffer Walter Pfeiffer (12 June 1927 – 10 May 2014) was an Austrian football manager and former player. He managed the Iceland national team in 1968. He also coached PAOK FC, AGF, B 1909 Boldklubben 1909, known as B1909, is a Danish associati ...

(1959–60) * Géza Toldi (1960–64) * Henry From (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 Kaj may refer to: Places in Iran * Kaj, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari * Kaj, Hamadan * Kaj, Isfahan * Kaj, Qom * Kaj, Razavi Khorasan * Kaj, Sistan and Baluchestan Other uses * Kaj River, a river of Afghanistan * Kaj (name) * A fictional frog on the D ...

(1969–73) * Jimmy Strain (Denmark) (1974) * Henry From (1974–75) *

Jørn Bjerregaard Johnny Bjerregaard (born 19 January 1943) is a Danish retired footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American footb ...

(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 (69th ...

(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 Jürgen Wähling (born 6 December 1940), is a German former footballer player and manager.
''Ha ...

(1984–86) *

Jens Harmsen Jens may refer to: * Jens (given name), a list of people with the name * Jens (surname), a list of people * Jens, Switzerland, a municipality * 1719 Jens, an asteroid See also * Jensen (disambiguation) * Jenssi Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) i ...

(1986) * Allan Hebo Larsen (1987–88) *

(1989) * Ole Brandenborg (1990) *

Lars Lundkvist Lars Lundkvist (born 14 June 1957) is a Danish footballer who played as a forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * ...

(1990–93) *

Peter Rudbæk Peter Rudbæk (born 5 February 1955) is a Danish football manager. Rudbæk managed Aalborg BK, AaB from 1983 to 1989, Viborg FF from 1990 to 1993, Aarhus GF, AGF from 1993 to 2000 and AaB again from 2000 to 2002. From 2005 to 2020 he worked as ...

(1993–00) *

& Kent Nielsen (2000) *

Ove Christensen Ove Christensen (born 26 March 1950) is a Danish football manager who is currently the director of football of Danish fourth tier club Silkeborg KFUM. He has managed a number of Danish Superliga clubs, and won the Danish women's championship wi ...

(2000–01) * John Stampe (2001–02) * Hans Petersen (2002) * Poul Hansen (2002–03) * Sören Åkeby (1 January 2004 – 31 December 2005) * Brian Steen Nielsen & Jesper Tollefsen (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 Svend is a Danish and Norwegian given name that may refer to: * King Sve ...

(1 January 2006 – 31 December 2008) * Erik Rasmussen (1 January 2009 – 20 May 2010) * Peter Sørensen (1 July 2010 – 26 February 2014) *

Jesper Fredberg Jesper Fredberg (born 11 May 1981) is a Danish football director who works as CEO Sports in R.S.C. Anderlecht who before that worked as Sport Director in Viborg FF. He was a coach in Panathinaikos F.C.'s youth academy, previously having worked wi ...

(27 February 2014 – 30 May 2014) *

(30 May 2014 – 5 December 2015) * Glen Riddersholm (6 December 2015 – 30 September 2017) * David Nielsen (2 October 2017 – 21 May 2022) * Uwe Rösler (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, 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 0–4, (23. October 1962) * Most matches: John Stampe 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 Navid Fløe Dayyani (born February 17, 1987) is a Danish businessman and former football player, who played for Aarhus Gymnastik Forening in the Danish 1st Division. He was born to an Iranian father and a Danish mother. Career Dayyani started ...

, 16 years 244 days, (19. October 2003) * Oldest player: Erik Boye, 39 years 59 days, (6. April 2003)

AGF in European Competition

AGF's first competitive European match was on September 21, 1955, in the

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. Th ...

, 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 Sta ...

& 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 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