Alex Nørlund Andersen (born 28 January 1975) is a Danish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player in the

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

position. He played 229 games for

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 ...

, and also represented

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 yea ...

clubs

Viborg FF Viborg Fodsports Forening ("Viborg Footsport Association"), or Viborg F.F. and VFF for short, is a Danish professional football club based in Viborg. The club was founded in 1896 and waited more than a century before winning its only national ...

and AGF, winning the 2000

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 ...

with Viborg. He played six games and scored two goals for the

Denmark national under-21 football team The Denmark national under-21 football team has played since 1976 and is controlled by the Danish Football Association. Before 1976, the age limit was 23 years. Tournament record UEFA European U-21 Championship *''*Draws include knockout match ...

Biography

Norlund started playing youth football for Jelling IF, before becoming a part of the youth team setup at Vejle Boldklub (VB). He made his debut for VB in a June 1993 game against the Zambian national team, and was called up for the Danish under-21 national team in March 1995. With VB, Norlund attempted to gain

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

for the top-flight Danish Superliga. This was accomplished when the club finished second in the 1995

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991 the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the forma ...

season, with Norlund and

Jesper Søgaard Jesper is a given name commonly believed to be of ancient Persian origin, meaning "Treasurer". Some notable people with the name Jesper include: Music * Jesper Koch (born 1967), Danish composer * Jesper Kyd (born 1972), Danish video game and fil ...

the brightest talents of the team. In VB's first season in the Superliga, Norlund suffered an

inflammation Inflammation (from la, wikt:en:inflammatio#Latin, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or Irritation, irritants, and is a protective response involving im ...

in his knee, and spent almost a year in recovery. He returned in January 1997, and scored a single goal as VB finished runners-up in the 1996-97 season. He was recalled for the Danish under-21 national team in May 1997, and scored two goals in four under-21 national team matches, before becoming too old to be eligible for the team. Norlund played a further two seasons at VB, before his contract ran out in the summer 1999. He underwent training sessions with foreign teams

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

(Greece),

Brescia Calcio Brescia Calcio, commonly referred to as Brescia (), is an Italian football club based in Brescia, Lombardy, that currently plays in . The club holds the record for total number of seasons (64) and consecutive seasons (18, from 1947–48 to 1 ...

(Italy) and

Grazer AK Grazer AK, founded 18 August 1902 as Grazer Athletiksport Klub (in Austria the abbreviation GAK is more common), is an Austrian sports club, from the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria (''Steiermark''). The football section used to be on ...

(Austria), but with no success. He stayed in Denmark, and moved to VB's league rivals

on a free transfer in September 1999. He was a part of the Viborg team that won the 2000

, before his Viborg contract ran out in the summer 2001. He trained with English club

Walsall F.C. Walsall Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Walsall, West Midlands, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club's nickname, "The Saddlers", reflects ...

without success in February 2001, before moving back to play for VB on a semi-professional contract in July 2001. As VB were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to the Danish 1st Division in the 2001-02 season, Norlund moved to Superliga club

Aarhus GF Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ), is a professional sports club based in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country and gymnastics and fencing are featured as its main sports. Howeve ...

(AGF). Following less and less playing time for AGF, his contract was mutually terminated in March 2004, and Norlund moved to his former club Viborg as an amateur player. After three months as an amateur player, Norlund penned a two-year professional contract with Viborg in June 2004. He soon found a place in Viborg's starting line-up, and became the natural playmaker of the team. When VB won promotion for the 2006-07 Superliga season, Norlund moved back to his childhood club. As his VB contract was not renewed in the summer 2009, he chose to end his footballing career.

Honours

: 2000

References

External links

Danish national team profile

Danish Superliga statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norlund, Alex Living people 1975 births Danish men's footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Vejle Boldklub players Viborg FF players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Association football midfielders Danish football managers Odder IGF managers