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
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of
Kjøbenhavns Boldklub and
Boldklubben 1903.
F.C. Copenhagen has won 14
Danish Football Championships and 8
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 European football F.C. Copenhagen has reached the group stage of the
UEFA Champions League
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 ...
and the group stage of the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
more times than any other Danish club and are the only Danish club who has reached the knockout stage of the Champions League. As of December 2022, Copenhagen are the highest ranked Scandinavian club in the UEFA team rankings list.
Copenhagen plays its matches at the
Parken Stadium, which also serves as the venue for
Denmark national football team
The Denmark men's national football team ( da, Danmarks herre-fodboldlandshold or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark in men's international football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing bo ...
matches. Since their foundation, FCK have developed a fierce rivalry with
Brøndby IF. The
Copenhagen Derby games between the two sides have attracted some of the biggest crowds in Danish football history.
History
Early success
Football Club Copenhagen is, in many ways, both an old and a new club. Even though the club was established in 1992, it is rooted in more than 100 years of club tradition. The club's first team represents two separate clubs:
Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (continental Europe's oldest football club) founded in 1876 and
Boldklubben 1903 founded in 1903. Due to financial difficulties throughout the clubs in the Copenhagen area in the 1980s and
Kjøbenhavns Boldklub's on the verge of bankruptcy, the two old Copenhagen clubs got together and established the superstructure which is FC København. Copenhagen used Boldklubben's club license to play in the
Danish Superliga championship, while
Kjøbenhavns Boldklub became the official reserve team of the club. With the rebuilding of the
Parken Stadium, Denmark's national team stadium, the new club had a modern stadium to play at from the beginning. The initial ambition of the club was continually to qualify for one of the European competitions each season. To reach this goal, the club needed a solid economy, a relatively big fan base and an "attractive and positive style of football."
Benny Johansen
Benny Johansen (born 18 March 1949) is a Danish former football player and manager. He won the Danish championship twice as a player for B 1903 and once as a manager of FC Copenhagen. He played one game for the Denmark national under-21 footbal ...
managed the club and started its maiden season well. FCK made its first appearance in the European tournaments when it beat Swiss team
Grasshoppers 2–1 in the
1992 UEFA Intertoto Cup.
FCK won the Intertoto Cup that year and thereby qualified for the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...
, where it was eliminated in the second round by French team
Auxerre
Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are re ...
. The club won the
1992–93 Superliga season one point ahead of
Odense Boldklub and two points ahead of third-place
Brøndby IF.
For the
1993–94 Superliga season, expectations were high. The season opened with a 0–6 thrashing at the hands of Italian team
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4  ...
in the
1993–94 Champions League qualification. FCK went on winter break after the first half of the Superliga season in third place. In the spring of 1994, Copenhagen gained on leading team
Silkeborg IF. In the penultimate match of the season, the two teams met at the Parken Stadium. In front of a record-setting attendance of 26,679,
FCK won the match 4–1. The club was one point ahead of Silkeborg, but because FCK lost 3–2 to Odense in the final game of the season, it had to settle for second place.
Years of underachievement
For the next three seasons, Copenhagen had little success in the Superliga, despite winning two
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. The team won the 1995 Cup final against
Akademisk Boldklub with a 5–0 win, qualifying for European football once again, despite mediocre results in the league.
Kim Brink took over as manager in 1996, but despite winning the second Cup trophy for the club, the eighth-place finish in the
1996–97 Superliga season prompted another change in managers.
Flemming Østergaard joins the board
In February
1997,
Flemming Østergaard, later given the nickname "Don Ø," joined the board of the club as
vice chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...
and
CEO. After a successful
IPO, generating
DKK 75 million, FCK was introduced on the
Copenhagen Stock Exchange
The Nasdaq Copenhagen, formerly known as the Copenhagen Stock Exchange ( da, Københavns Fondsbørs), is an international marketplace for Danish securities, including shares, bonds, treasury bills and notes, and financial futures and options. ...
in November 1997. The 1997–98 season marked the first season that Copenhagen averaged more than 10,000 spectators at home, and the club bought their stadium Parken for DKK 138 million in June 1998.
The self-acclaimed "best manager in Denmark,"
Christian Andersen, began managing the club in January
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
. After 75 controversial days, however, he was fired in March 1999; Sports Director
Niels-Christian Holmstrøm explained Andersen had created frustration among the players.
In 1999, Copenhagen made its impact in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
when it faced English side
Chelsea in the second round
UEFA 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 tourn ...
. In the first leg away at
Stamford Bridge,
Bjarne Goldbæk gave Copenhagen the lead nine minutes before the end of the match, but Chelsea scored in the last minute of the game. Chelsea later won the second game at Parken with a goal by the Dane
Brian Laudrup, knocking out FCK. At the post-match press conference, it was announced that Chelsea's Brian Laudrup was signing with Copenhagen in January 1999, with Bjarne Goldbæk moving in the other direction for Chelsea. A four-time
Danish Player of the Year award winner, Laudrup, however, could not help Copenhagen improve their league position, and the club ended the year in seventh in the
1998–99 Superliga season. Laudrup only stayed for just six months at the club before signing for
Ajax at the end of the season.
In the
1999–2000 season, F.C. Copenhagen struggled to make any significant impact and finished eighth in the league.
Champions again
In the winter
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
transfer window
A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer ...
, South African striker
Sibusiso Zuma
Sibusiso Wiseman Zuma (born 23 June 1975) is a South African former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward or midfielder.
Club career
Early career
Born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Z ...
was signed from South African side
Orlando Pirates,
and in May 2000, English manager
Roy Hodgson became the new manager. From the
2000–01 season, the club started to improve. The club won its second Superliga championship, winning 3–1 in the last
Copenhagen Derby match of the season, at the Parken Stadium. The 2–0 goal was a
bicycle kick by Zuma, who received the ball at his chest, bounced it in the air and in the same motion executed the overhead kick, volleying the ball into the far corner out of Brøndby 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 ...
's reach. This was later voted the Danish goal of the year,
and was voted the best Superliga goal of the decade in December 2009 and was in 2013 voted as the greatest moment in the history of FCK. Roy Hodgson broke his contract with Copenhagen a few weeks after having won the championship, signing with Italian team
Udinese, and he was replaced by Swede
Kent Karlsson. The 2001 season is also remembered for a highly dramatic event. During training on 13 March 2001 charismatic midfielder
Ståle Solbakken suffered a heart attack. He was rapidly attended to by club doctor Frank Odgaard who found that his heart had stopped beating and started to administer cardiac massage. Upon the ambulance's arrival, Solbakken was pronounced clinically dead at the scene, but on the way to the hospital in the ambulance he was revived nearly seven minutes later. He survived the episode and had a pacemaker fitted. Shortly after, on medical advice, he announced his playing retirement, but would later return to the club and become its most successful manager.
Copenhagen faced Italian team
Lazio
it, Laziale
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
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, demographics1_title2 ...
for qualification to the
2001–02 Champions League qualification. A 2–1 win for FCK in the first game proved moot, as Lazio ultimately progressed with a 5–3 aggregate score. Copenhagen thus entered the
2001–02 UEFA Cup, where it defeated Dutch giants Ajax 1–0 on a goal from left back
Niclas Jensen. In the next round, however, German team
Borussia Dortmund eliminated Copenhagen. The
2001–02 Superliga season also ended in disappointment for København, as Brøndby won the championship on
goal difference
Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches a ...
after FCK had caught up with Brøndby's ten-point lead after the first half of the season.
In the second-last round of the
2002–03 Superliga season, FCK faced Brøndby at
Brøndby Stadium. In extra time,
Hjalte Nørregaard
Hjalte Bo Nørregaard (born 8 April 1981) is a Danish professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the caretaker manager of Danish Superliga club FC Copenhagen. As a player, he played as a midfielder and spent most of h ...
scored his first goal for Copenhagen and brought the championship back to Parken.
In the Champions League second qualifying round in
2004–05, FCK won the first match against Slovenian club
ND Gorica 2–1, but later lost at Parken 0–5. Under Backe, Copenhagen went on to win the 2004 and 2006 Danish championships and the 2004 Danish Cup. Copenhagen also won the inaugural
2004–05 edition of the
Royal League tournament, beating Swedish team
IFK Göteborg
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in ...
on
penalty shootout in the
2005 final.
Copenhagen repeated the achievement in the
2006 edition of the tournament, this time beating Norwegian team
Lillestrøm SK 1–0 in the
2006 final.
Backe became the longest-serving coach for FCK before leaving the club in December 2005. Former Copenhagen player
Ståle Solbakken took over as manager.
European ambitions
For the
2006–07 season,
Danish national team player
Jesper Grønkjær
Jesper Grønkjær (; born 12 August 1977) is a Danish former professional footballer.
A pacey winger, Grønkjær played primarily on the right or left wing, or as a second striker. He played a total 400 league games for a number of European cl ...
reinforced Copenhagen. FCK looked forward to the
2006–07 Champions League qualifiers, where it beat
Ajax. For the first time in the club's history, FCK entered the group stage of the Champions League, being grouped with
Celtic,
Benfica and
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, all former winners of the trophy. Despite not losing a game at Parken (Benfica 0–0, Manchester United 1–0 and Celtic 3–1), FCK failed to qualify from the Champions League group stage after losing all of its away games.
On 9 May, Copenhagen defeated Brøndby 1–0 and won its fifth Danish championship in seven years with four games to spare in the league.
In the
2007–08 season, Copenhagen lost the third qualification round of the Champions League with a 1–3 aggregate score to Benfica. After beating
Lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'' ...
3–2, FCK qualified for the group stages of the
2007–08 UEFA Cup, where it played
Panathinaikos (H),
Lokomotiv Moscow (A),
Atlético Madrid (H) and
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...
.
Copenhagen fell to Panathinaikos and Atlético, but a win against Lokomotiv meant that the club needed only a draw against Aberdeen to qualify for the next round. However, a 0–4 defeat to Aberdeen put them out of the tournament. In the
2007–08 Superliga season, Copenhagen finished third, with
AaB taking the title.
In the
2008–09 season, Copenhagen began strong. The team qualified for the
2008–09 UEFA Cup group stage
The group stage of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup is the second stage of the competition proper. The draw took place on 7 October 2008 at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Group stage matches began on 23 October 2008 and concluded on 18 December 200 ...
by eliminating Northern Ireland club
Cliftonville, Lillestrøm and
FC Moscow. In the group, FCK lost at home to
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Saint-Étienne is the ...
and drew 1–1 against
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
. With a 1–1 draw against
Rosenborg and a win over
Club Brugge, Copenhagen qualified for the knockout phase of the competition, where it drew 2–2 in the first leg of the round of 32 against
Manchester City on 19 February 2009. The club lost 1–2 in the second leg, a loss that ended its European season. In the domestic league, FCK battled for first place with Brøndby and Odense. Eventually, Copenhagen won the Cup final against AaB and claimed the league title with one game to spare in the tournament, thus securing the
Double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* Th ...
for the second time in the club's history. 2010 proved to be yet another European success. Even though the team lost the
2009–10 Champions League playoff match to
APOEL with a 2–3 aggregate loss, the team had already qualified to the
2009–10 Europa League group stage by eliminating
FK Mogren and
Stabæk. Copenhagen lost away to
CFR Cluj, won 1–0 at home against
Sparta Prague, 0–1 away loss against
PSV PSV may refer to:
* Partial specific volume
* PlayStation Vita, a handheld game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment
* Petit Saint Vincent, an island south of St. Vincent in the Grenadine islands
* Platform supply vessel, a specific typ ...
and by beating Cluj at home 2–0 and 3–0 away over Sparta, Copenhagen qualified for the
round of 32 to face
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...
. The match-up, however, resulted in two 1–3 losses for Copenhagen, thus eliminating them from the competition.
The team's qualification to the
2010–11 Champions League was secured after it beating
BATE Borisov
FC BATE Borisov (russian: link=no, ФК БАТЭ Борисов, ''FK BATE Borisov'' ; be, ФК БАТЭ Барысаў, ''BATE Barysaw,'' ) is a professional Belarusian football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarusi ...
(0–0 / 3–2) and Rosenborg (1–2 / 1–0). The team thus entered the
group stage
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...
in Group D and met
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...
, Panathinaikos and
Rubin Kazan. After a 3–1 win against Panathinaikos in their last group stage match, they qualified for the
round of 16—thereby becoming the first-ever Danish club to reach the stage in the Champions League—where
Chelsea defeated them.
Solbakken returns
Copenhagen won the
2012–13 Danish Superliga to secure a direct place in the
group stage
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...
of the
2013–14 Champions League. However, after a horrific start to the
2013–14 Danish Superliga season, FCK fired manager
Ariël Jacobs, rehiring
Ståle Solbakken as his replacement. Solbakken was given a two-year contract with the option for a further two-year extension. In the Champions League, the club was placed into Group B alongside
Real Madrid,
Juventus and
Galatasaray
Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other dep ...
. FCK secured four points by drawing 1–1 against Juventus at home and winning 1–0 at home over Galatasaray after a great goal by
Daniel Braaten. The club, however, conceded its first-ever Champions League group stage home defeat after falling 0–2 to Real Madrid in the last round of the group stage.
Copenhagen finished the 2013–14 league in second place, despite having been situated third for numerous weeks. A 3–2 away win against
FC Midtjylland saw them closing in on the second place. In the last round of the league, FCK beat
Odense Boldklub 3–2 at home whilst Midtjylland lost their game 3–1, ensuring Copenhagen's seizure of second place and its subsequent spot in the qualifying round of the
2014–15 Champions League.
After a busy summer transfer window with numerous new players arriving at the club, Copenhagen was drawn against Ukrainian outfit
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the third qualifying round of the 2014–15 Champions League. After an aggregate victory of 2–0 over Dnipro, Copenhagen was drawn against German club
Bayer Leverkusen in the play-off round. The Germans, however, defeated Copenhagen 7–2 aggregate, dropping Copenhagen to contention in the
2014–15 Europa League.
FCK drew Italian club
Torino, Club Brugge and Finnish side
HJK Helsinki. Its campaign started well, securing a deserved 2–0 victory over HJK at home from two goals by
Nicolai Jørgensen. Copenhagen's next two games were against Torino and Club Brugge respectively; it lost 1–0 against Torino and played to a 1–1 draw against Brugge after conceding a late goal in injury time in both matches. Copenhagen then failed to secure an important win against Brugge at home, a match they lost 0–4, setting up a must-win situation for FCK against HJK to progress to the round of 32. Copenhagen, however, failed—
Macoumba Kandji managed to secure a 2–1 victory for HJK, their second win in the group, with another late goal. The result eliminated Copenhagen. The
2014–15 season ended with Copenhagen winning the
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 ...
and finishing second in the
Superliga.
The
2015–16 season began with FCK bringing in six new players, most notably Danish international and former
AaB player
Kasper Kusk
Kasper Kusk Vangsgaard (; born 10 November 1991) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Danish Superliga club Silkeborg IF.
He is the son of former AaB manager and player Søren Kusk.
Career AaB
Having spent the ea ...
. By placing second in 2014–15, Copenhagen began in the second qualifying round of the
2015–16 UEFA Europa League, where they were drawn against Welsh club
Newtown, defeating them 5–1 on aggregate to qualify them for the next round against Czech outfit
Baumit Jablonec. The opening game of the
2015–16 Danish Superliga ended in a 2–1 away win for FCK against
Esbjerg fB through goals from
Marvin Pourié and
Nicolai Jørgensen. Despite a 0–1 away win over Baumit Jablonec, Copenhagen lost its home game 2–3, resulting in a 3–3 aggregate loss on the
away goals rule
The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
. This marked the first time in ten years that Copenhagen failed to qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League. On 5 May, the
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 ...
was won, after a 2–1 win Over AGF, with goals from
Nicolai Jørgensen and
William Kvist
William Vitved Kvist (né Kvist Jørgensen; born 24 February 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Danish club Copenhagen as well as for the Denmark national team.
He played 43 matches and scored fou ...
.
After winning the title the previous season, Copenhagen would compete in the
2016-17 Champions League qualifiers. In the playoff round they met
APOEL FC, and was faced with the challenge on getting revenge after their tie against them in 2009. The first leg at Parken stadium ended 1–0 to the home team, and in the second leg, Copenhagen equalised in the 86th minute via
Federico Santander
Federico Javier Santander Mereles (born 4 June 1991) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Reggina and the Paraguay national team.
Club career Early career
Santander started in the youth divisions ...
's shot from a wide angle, qualifying for the group stage, with an aggregate score of 2–1. Copenhagen were subsequently placed in a group with
Leicester City,
FC Porto
Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Por ...
and
Club Brügge. They would after 2 wins, 1 loss and 3 draws, finish 3rd in their group and move on to the
2016–17 Europa League Round of 32 where they met
Ludogorats, whom they beat 2–1 on aggregate. In the round of 16, they met
Ajax Amsterdam. In the first leg at home, Copenhagen won 2-1 after a first-minute goal from
Rasmus Falk and a goal in the 59th minute by
Andreas Cornelius
Andreas Evald Cornelius (born 16 March 1993) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Copenhagen and the Denmark national team.
Club career
F.C. Copenhagen
Cornelius had joined the FC Copenhagen first team squad for its ...
. The away leg finished 2–0 to Ajax, and Copenhagen were knocked out of the tournament, with that seasons achievements in the Europa League being their best finish in the competition at the time. Domestically, the season was another season to enjoy for fans of the club. Copenhagen won the league with the closest competition, Brøndby, finishing 24 points behind them. At the time they were crowned champions, following a draw against
FC Nordsjælland they were unbeaten in the league, with their first loss of the season coming against
FC Midtjylland 2 rounds later, and subsequently another loss against
Lyngby BK the round right after. Copenhagen also reached the cup final, where they met arch-rivals Brøndby. Copenhagen opened the scoring via
Andreas Cornelius
Andreas Evald Cornelius (born 16 March 1993) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Copenhagen and the Denmark national team.
Club career
F.C. Copenhagen
Cornelius had joined the FC Copenhagen first team squad for its ...
's first ever goal against the club, with Brøndby responding just 10 minutes later with an equaliser. Copenhagen secured the win with two goals in rapid succession, in the 83rd and 85th minutes, both long balls from defence to attack, scored by Santander and Cornelius respectively, thus resulting in the club from the capital winning their third consecutive cup final, along with their second consecutive domestic double.
In September 2019, the club announced that it would change its name in European competitions and would subsequently be known as F.C. Copenhagen with UEFA changing their abbreviation 'KOB' to 'CPH'.
Winning the
2018–19 Danish Superliga
The 2018–19 Danish Superliga season was the 29th season of the Danish Superliga. Midtjylland were the defending champions. The season started on 13 July 2018 and ended on 26 May 2019.
Teams
FC Helsingør finished as loser in the relegation pl ...
placed Copenhagen in the second qualifying round of the
2019–20 UEFA Champions League
The 2019–20 UEFA Champions League was the 65th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 28th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
Bayern Munich ...
, beating Welsh outfit
The New Saints. The following round against
Red Star Belgrade
Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in ...
ended 2–2 on aggregate, with Copenhagen pulling the shortest straw and going out in penalties, thus sending Copenhagen to the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
instead. Here Latvian team
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...
were beaten 3–2 on aggregate thus securing qualification for the Group Stage. Copenhagen finishing second in Group B contested with
FC Lugano,
Dynamo Kyiv and Scandinavian rivals
Malmö FF
Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Associatio ...
. Copenhagen were then drawn against Scottish outfit
Celtic in the first knockout round of the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
. The first match in
Telia Parken finished 1–1, whilst Copenhagen won the return leg 3–1 at
Celtic Park. The opponent for the next round were the Turkish club
Istanbul Başakşehir
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_in ...
. The game ended 1–0 with Copenhagen falling to a late penalty converted by
Edin Višća. The subsequent return match in Copenahagen was temporarily put on hold due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
. On 5 August 2020, Copenhagen won 3–0 over Istanbul Başakşehir to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in their history. In the quarter-finals, Copenhagen lost 0–1 to
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
with a penalty from
Bruno Fernandes coming in after extra time.
After poor results in the beginning of the
2020-21 Danish Superliga
The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as s ...
, and failure to qualify for the
2020-21 Europa League
The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...
, Ståle Solbakken was sacked by the club, and
Hjalte Bo Nørregaard took over as caretaker manager, until
Jess Thorup was appointed in November 2020.
Stadium

FCK owns its stadium, the national arena
Parken Stadium. It was built in 1992, the same year the club was founded. Until the stadium opened (as Parken) in September 1992, the club played its first home matches at the smaller
Østerbro Stadion
Østerbro () (literally, "Eastern Bridge") is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located clo ...
, which is located adjacent to Parken. Parken has 38,065 seats, 4,000 fewer seats than the original capacity of 42,305.
Supporters
After 2000, the club has regularly attracted one of the highest attendances in Scandinavia. The official fan club, F.C. København Fan Club has more than 20,000 members.
"FCKFC" was founded on 24 October 1991, approximately half a year before FCK played its first match.
Furthermore, there are many unofficial "factions" connected to Copenhagen, the biggest being ''Urban Crew'', ''Copenhagen Cooligans'' and ''Copenhagen Casuals''. These are also reported to have friendships with factions from
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of thr ...
,
Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
,
IFK Helsinki and
Helsingborgs IF
Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superett ...
. For the 2006–07 season, there were 23,795 spectators on average.
For many years, the lower part of the "C-stand" at Parken, ''Nedre C'', has been the main stand for the supporters of FCK. In 2006, a part of the lower "B-stand" was made a separate fan section for the fans who wanted to create more of an atmosphere and named ''Sektion 12''. In general, most of FCK's supporters are from, and live, in the Copenhagen area, unlike their rivals, Brøndby IF, who have a reported 57% of their fanbase coming from
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 ...
. The area Sektion 12 on the lower "B-stand" grew so popular that the fans in a dialogue with the club made it bigger. That meant that the former family-area in the stadium in the other part of the "B-stand" got the whole new area called the "D-stand". The Sektion 12 area on the whole lower "B-stand" grew more and more popular which meant that the fans had a new dialogue with the club. That dialogue went well for the supporters and the club supported the suggestion of making the upper "B-stand" the second part of Sektion 12. Sektion 12 on the whole "B-stand" is now Northern Europe's biggest active stand.
Honours
National
*
Danish Superliga
**Winners (14):
1992–93
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...
,
2000–01,
2002–03,
2003–04,
2005–06,
2006–07,
2008–09,
2009–10,
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
,
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
,
2015–16,
2016–17,
2018–19,
2021–22
**Runners-up (7):
1993–94,
2001–02,
2004–05,
2011–12,
2013–14,
2014–15,
2019–20
*
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 ...
**Winners (8):
1994–95,
1996–97,
2003–04,
2008–09,
2011–12,
2014–15,
2015–16,
2016–17
**Runners-up (4):
1997–98,
2001–02,
2006–07,
2013–14
*
Danish League Cup
**Winners: 1996
**Runners-up (2): 2005, 2006
*
Danish Super Cup The Danish Super Cup was played for by the Danish League champions and the Danish Cup Winners.
Winners
*1994 : Brøndby IF 4-0 Silkeborg IF
*1995 : F.C. Copenhagen 2-1 Aalborg BK
*1996 : Brøndby IF 4-0 AGF
*1997 : Brøndby ...
**Winners (3): 1995, 2001, 2004
*Ørestad Cup
**Winners (2): 2000, 2002
*
The Atlantic Cup
**Winners (1):
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
**''Runners-up'' (2):
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 ...
, The Atlantic Cup (football)#2022 edition, 2022
Regional
*
Royal League
**Winners (2): 2004–05 Royal League, 2004–05, 2005–06 Royal League, 2005–06
**Runner-up: 2006–07 Royal League, 2006–07
Copenhagen in European competitions
Copenhagen's first competitive European match was on 16 September 1992, in the 1992–93 UEFA Cup, beating Mikkelin Palloilijat, MP 10–1 before losing to AJ Auxerre in the second round. In their first ever
UEFA Champions League
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 ...
group stage match, they beat
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
1–0 at home, via a goal in the 73rd minute by Marcus Allbäck.
Since then, the club has quickly become the most successful Danish team in European competition, reaching the group stage of the
UEFA Champions League
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 ...
five times and advancing to the Round of 16 in 2010–11 UEFA Champions League, 2010–11. They also reached the quarter-finals of the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
in 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, 2019–20 which they lost to Manchester United 1–0 in extra time.
UEFA club coefficient ranking
''As of 31 December 2022, Source
UEFA club coefficients'
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Reserves and youth teams
:''See F.C. Copenhagen Reserves and Youth Team''
Captains
FC Copenhagen All Stars
In 2014, 32,000 fans participated in a fan vote selecting their 11 all-time favourite Copenhagen players.
Staff
Current technical staff
Coaching history
There have been fifteen different coaches (permanent coaches and caretakers) of FC Copenhagen since 1992. One of the caretakers,
Kim Brink, has coached the club during three separate tenures. The only non-Scandinavians to coach FCK are
Roy Hodgson and
Ariël Jacobs. The longest-running coach is
Ståle Solbakken who has been in charge of FCK from 2006 to 2011 and from 2013 until 2020. Ståle Solbakken is also the most successful coach, in terms of winning percentage, with a winning percentage at 58.5%.
Christian Andersen is FCK's least successful coach with a winning percentage at 0%. Andersen is also the shortest-running permanent coach of FCK as he only was in charge of FCK for just a single match before he was fired.
Records
All-time goal scorers in all official tournaments
*1 Dame N'Doye 118 Goals (217 Games)
*2 César Santin 84 Goals (220 Games)
*3 Todi Jónsson 68 Goals (207 Games)
*4 Lars Højer 66 Goals (214 Games)
*5
Andreas Cornelius
Andreas Evald Cornelius (born 16 March 1993) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Copenhagen and the Denmark national team.
Club career
F.C. Copenhagen
Cornelius had joined the FC Copenhagen first team squad for its ...
63 Goals (184 Games)
*6 Peter Møller 55 Goals (203 Games)
*7
Sibusiso Zuma
Sibusiso Wiseman Zuma (born 23 June 1975) is a South African former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward or midfielder.
Club career
Early career
Born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Z ...
53 Goals (188 Games)
*8
Nicolai Jørgensen 52 Goals (146 Games)
*9 Álvaro Santos 50 Goals (120 Games)
*10
Federico Santander
Federico Javier Santander Mereles (born 4 June 1991) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Reggina and the Paraguay national team.
Club career Early career
Santander started in the youth divisions ...
48 Goals (112 Games)
*11 Jonas Wind 46 Goals (114 Games)
*12 Marcus Allbäck 45 Goals (120 Games)
*13 David Nielsen 43 Goals (133 Games)
*14 Morten Nordstrand 41 Goals (130 Games)
*15 Martin Johansen 41 Goals (146 Games)
*16 Ailton Almeida 37 Goals (139 Games)
*17 Pieros Sotiriou 35 Goals (110 Games)
*18 Hjalte Bo Nørregaard 34 Goals (320 Games)
*19 Robert Skov 33 Goals (72 Games)
Most matches
*Superliga:
William Kvist
William Vitved Kvist (né Kvist Jørgensen; born 24 February 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Danish club Copenhagen as well as for the Denmark national team.
He played 43 matches and scored fou ...
(2005) – 285
*UEFA tournaments:
William Kvist
William Vitved Kvist (né Kvist Jørgensen; born 24 February 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Danish club Copenhagen as well as for the Denmark national team.
He played 43 matches and scored fou ...
(2005) – 90
*Overall:
William Kvist
William Vitved Kvist (né Kvist Jørgensen; born 24 February 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Danish club Copenhagen as well as for the Denmark national team.
He played 43 matches and scored fou ...
(2005) – 425
Most goals
*Superliga: Dame N'Doye (2009) – 90
*UEFA tournaments: Dame N'Doye (2009) – 21
*Overall: Dame N'Doye (2009) – 118
Biggest victory in the Superliga
*6–0 home against Esbjerg fB, Esbjerg on 17 March 2002
*7–1 home against HB Køge, Køge on 25 July 2009
Biggest defeat in the Superliga
*0–5 away against Silkeborg IF, Silkeborg on 17 April 1994
*0–5 away against Brøndby IF, Brøndby on 16 May 2005
Biggest victory in European cups
*7–0 home against
Cliftonville on 31 July 2008 (
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...
)
Biggest defeat in European cups
*0–6 home against
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4  ...
on 20 October 1993 (UEFA Champions League, Champions League)
Attendance record
*41,201 spectators against Brøndby IF, Brøndby on 30 April 2006
Youngest and oldest player playing in the Superliga
*Youngest player playing for Copenhagen: Roony Bardghji – 16 years and 6 days against Aarhus Gymnastikforening, AGF on 21 November 2021
*Oldest player playing for FC Copenhagen: Per Poulsen – 42 years and 125 days against Brøndby IF, Brøndby on 18 June 1995
Most Danish national championships won as player and manager
*Player:
William Kvist
William Vitved Kvist (né Kvist Jørgensen; born 24 February 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Danish club Copenhagen as well as for the Denmark national team.
He played 43 matches and scored fou ...
– 8
*Manager:
Ståle Solbakken – 8
''(In brackets debut year)''
Season results
Esports
F.C. Copenhagen launched an esports division called North in 2017, with a Danish team in ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive''. The team had some success, making the playoffs of two Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championships, ''Global Offensive'' Majors and winning DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018. The team ceased operations in February 2021, citing financial difficulties brought on in part by the COVID-19 pandemic.
See also
*
Copenhagen Derby
Footnotes and references
Further reading
* Kurt Thyboe, "''FCK – På evig jagt efter den umulige drøm''" (FCK – On eternal hunt for the impossible dream), Denmark, 1999,
* Kaare Johnsen and Jan Erik Hansen, "''FC Krøniken''" (The FC Chronicle), Denmark, 2001,
* Flemming Østergaard and Lars Werge, "''Don Ø''", Denmark, 2002,
* Christian Thye-Petersen and Kasper Steenbach, "''Spillet om FCK''" (The game for FCK), Denmark, 2002,
* Jens Jam Rasmussen and Michael Rachlin, "''Slaget om København''" (Battle of Copenhagen), Denmark, 2005,
* Flemming Østergaard, "''Varmt hjerte, koldt blod''" (Warm heart, cold blood), Denmark, 2005,
* Magazine: "''FCK Balls''", Denmark, 2005–, ISSN 1901-1555
External links
Official websiteFCKFC(official fanclub)
Nipserstat(Web site containing statistical information about games played by FCK)
FC Copenhagen: From pipe dream to European success
{{Authority control
F.C. Copenhagen,
Association football clubs established in 1992, Copenhagen, F.C.
Football clubs in Denmark, Copenhagen, F.C.
Publicly traded sports companies
1992 establishments in Denmark
Football clubs in Copenhagen