André Riel (; born 21 October 1989) is a Danish professional

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 football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a striker for VB 1968.

Career

Early years

Riel began his senior career in HIK before moving the Faroese club

B36 Tórshavn B36 Tórshavn ( fo, Bóltfelagið 1936 Tórshavn) is a Faroe Islands, Faroese semi professional Association football, football club based in the capital of Tórshavn, playing in the Faroe Islands Premier League, the top tier of Faroese football. ...

in 2009, where he spent six months. He subsequently bounced around in the lower divisions of

Danish football Association football is the most popular sport in Denmark, with 331,693 players and 1,647 clubs registered () under the Danish FA. The game was introduced into Denmark by British sailors. Kjøbenhavns Boldklub is the oldest club outside of the U ...

, playing for BSV,

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 team ...

Vendsyssel FF Vendsyssel Forenede Fodboldklubber is a professional football club based in Hjørring, Denmark. The team competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of Danish football. The club plays home matches at Nord Energi Arena, which has a capaci ...

, and

FC Helsingør FC Helsingør is a Danish football club from Helsingør. The club plays in the Danish 1st Division, having been promoted after winning the Danish 2nd Division in the 2019-2020 season. The club has finished the last two seasons in the top 4 of th ...

. Riel experienced his breakthrough in Helsingør, and his 17 goals in 32 appearances in the 2016–17 season in the second tier helped the club secure promotion to 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 yea ...

after two decisive play-off matches against

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 ...

in June 2017. In the following season, Riel scored 4 goals in 7 appearances in the Superliga for Helsingør, before signing with AGF on deadline-day of the 2017 summer transfer window. He signed a three-year contract with the club from

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 northwest ...

AGF

Riel is known for his brash persona and outspoken comments, which led to some controversy in his first week in AGF. In an interview with tabloid ''BT'', Riel was cited for valuing his own success as more important than the club. The same day as the article was published, he apologised in a statement from the club, calling his comments "dumb and clumsy". His stay in AGF was not successful, making only 11 appearances and scoring no goals. On 27 May 2019, it was announced that AGF and Riel had parted ways, making him a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, which all the fans and players were happy about. The Kid did nothing good in his time at AGF.

Lyngby

On 28 June 2019, newly promoted

Lyngby BK Lyngby Boldklub () is a Danish professional football club founded in 1921. It is based at Lyngby Stadion in Kongens Lyngby, Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, a northern suburb of Copenhagen. From 1994 to 2001 the club was known as Lyngby FC. The club ...

announced that they had signed Riel on a two-year contract. On 3 September 2020, Riel was sent off in a match against

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Danish sport corporation. They have a football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female based in Aabenraa) and an ice hockey team (S ...

after being involved in an altercation with opposing player

Stefan Gartenmann Stefan Gartenmann (born 2 February 1997) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen, on loan from Danish Superliga club Midtjylland. Club career Heerenveen Gartenmann moved from the yout ...

, and having used a homophobic slur when saying "Rejs dig op, din fucking homo" ("get up, you fucking homo"). After having been shown the red card by the referee, Riel continued his homophobic rant, saying: "Jeg er ligeglad. Han ER fucking homo" ("I don't care. He IS a fucking homo"). Lyngby and Riel later apologised. He eventually received a five-match ban. In mid-December 2020, Riel was excluded from Lyngby's training by the club's sporting management. On 4 January 2021, Riel's contract was terminated.

BK Frem

One day after leaving Lyngby, it was confirmed that Riel had joined

Danish 2nd Division The 2nd Division ( da, Danmarksturneringens 2. division or Herre-DM 2. division) is a semi-professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Footb ...

club

Boldklubben Frem Boldklubben Frem (also known as Frem, BK Frem or BK Frem Copenhagen) is a Danish sports club based in the Valby- Sydhavnen area of Copenhagen. It is best known for its semi-professional football team. Since its foundation in 1886, Frem has won ...

VB 1968

In July 2021 it was confirmed, that Riel had moved to

Zealand Series Zealand Series ( da, Sjællandsserien, SS, Herre Sjællandsserien) is the highest division for men organized by the regional association DBU Sjælland and one of the sixth-highest divisions overall in the Danish football league system. The Zeala ...

club VB 1968.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riel, André Danish men's footballers Danish Superliga players Hellerup IK players B36 Tórshavn players BK Søllerød-Vedbæk players Fremad Amager players Vendsyssel FF players FC Helsingør players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Lyngby Boldklub players Boldklubben Frem players Danish 1st Division players Danish 2nd Division players 1989 births Living people Association football forwards