Helge Christian Bronée (28 March 1922 in Nybølle – 3 June 1999 in

Dronningmølle Dronningmølle () is a seaside resort town in Esbønderup parish, Gribskov Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark, of eastern Denmark. Dronningmølle is located four kilometers west of Hornbæk, six kilometers east of Gilleleje and 22 kil ...

) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

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 played four games for the amateur

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 ...

. He moved abroad in 1948 to play professionally for French club

FC Nancy Football club de Nancy was a French association football team playing in the city of Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle. The team was founded in 1901 and dissolved in 1968. Honours * Coupe de France finalist in 1953, 1962 * Division 2 in 1946 (North ...

, as well as Italian clubs

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

AS Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, and

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

. Adverse to any form of discipline, he was known as the

playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

of European football.

Biography

Amateur years

Bronée started playing football with

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 ...

clubs

Boldklubben 1893 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, 19 ...

(B 93) and Handelsstandens Boldklub (HB). He moved to Østerbro Boldklub (ØB) in 1939, where he formed a fearsome attacking partnership as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

alongside inside forward

Karl Aage Præst Karl Aage Præst, also spelled Carl Aage Præst, (26 February 1922 – 19 November 2011) was a Danish football player. Playing in the left winger position, Præst won two Serie A championships with Italian club Juventus FC. He played 24 games a ...

. Though rarely in top shape, Bronée was the born athlete and a great gymnast. With 26 goals in the 1945–46

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 ...

season, Bronée helped ØB win

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 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 ...

. Bronée got his debut for the Danish national team in September 1945, where he scored the first goal in a 5–1 victory against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. In all, he played four games and scored one goal for Denmark. He was the topscorer of the 1946–47 Danish championship with 21 goals in 18 games, as ØB finished in fourth place in their 1st Division debut season. He moved abroad to play professionally in 1948. Due to the

Danish Football Association The Danish Football Union ( da, Dansk Boldspil-Union; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national t ...

's strict rules of amateurism, this spelled the end of his international career after four games and one goal for the national team.

Professional career

Bronée signed a contract with French team

, and played in the club for two seasons. The life of a professional footballer improved his physical condition, as he had been slightly chubby when playing in Denmark. In 1950, he moved on to

Italian football Football ( it, calcio ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team is considered to be one of the best national teams in the world. They have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only Bra ...

. He played two years at

, in the midtable of the top-flight

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

championship. In 1952, he moved on to

, with whom he finished in sixth place of the Serie A for two seasons in a row. Bronée was reunited with Karl Aage Præst, when he played a single season for

, with another sixth place the result. He moved to

relegation 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. ...

battlers

in 1955. Despite 10 goals from Bronée, Novara's 1955–56 season resulted in relegation. During his professional career, Helge Bronée never stayed long at the same club. He was a single-minded player, adverse to tactical discipline. Off the field, he liked the high life, and was known as the

of European football. However, his many transfer moves always included large fees, as he had the capability to turn any game in his favor, provided he was in the right mood. Bronée moved back to Denmark in 1956, but the

(DBU) barred him and other ex-professionals from playing in the amateur-only Danish leagues. The ex-professionals began playing a series of unofficial, but popular, exhibition matches, centered around Karl Aage Præst's vacation home in

Liseleje Liseleje is a former fishing village and popular tourist resort in Halsnæs Municipality, North Zealand, some 60 kilometres northwest of Copenhagen, Denmark. The original village is surrounded by extensive areas of summerhouses. It has merged wi ...

. In 1958, DBU decided to allow ex-professionals into Danish football following a two-year quarantine. Bronée played for

Rødovre BK Rødovre is a town in eastern Denmark, seat of the Rødovre Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. The town's population 1 January 2019 was 39,907, and in addition 145 persons had no fixed address, which made up a total of 40,052 in the municip ...

, before ending his career with his first senior club, B 93.

References

External links

Danish national team profile
*
Haslund.info profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronee, Helge 1922 births 1999 deaths Danish footballers Denmark international footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Boldklubben af 1893 players FC Nancy players Palermo F.C. players A.S. Roma players Juventus F.C. players Novara F.C. players Ligue 1 players Serie A players Danish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Italy Danish expatriate sportspeople in France Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy