Jan Helstrup Budtz (born 20 April 1979) is a Danish

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He works as the head of operations for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

, as well as playing semi-professionally for Rossington Main. He has previously played for

B 1909 Boldklubben 1909, known as B1909, is a Danish association football club currently playing in the Denmark Series. They play at Gillested Park in Odense on Funen, which has a capacity of 6,000. Founded in 1909, the club spent a total 38 seasons i ...

and

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the town's two football club ...

before moving to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

with

. He also played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

, before moving into Non-league football with

Eastwood Town Eastwood Town Football Club was an English football club based in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. The club last participated in the Northern Premier League Division One South, the eighth tier of English football. A new club, Eastwood C.F.C., was f ...

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

, and Grantham Town.

Playing career

Born in

Hillerød Hillerød () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 35,357 (1 January 2022)Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

when he replaced the injured

Andy Warrington Andrew Clifford Warrington (born 10 June 1976) is an English former professional footballer and the current first team goalkeeping coach at Derby County. He played as a goalkeeper for York City, Doncaster Rovers, Bury, Rotherham United, Buxton ...

during a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

tie against

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

in September 2005. He saved two of the three penalties taken by the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side during the shootout to send Doncaster into the next round (the first penalty, by

Darius Vassell Darius Martin Clarke Vassell (born 13 June 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Ankaragücü and Leicester City. Vassell began his career at his home town club Aston Villa ...

, hit the crossbar). His name was subsequently plastered all over local and national newspapers the following day and he also made several appearances on local TV news channels. Following his initial day of glory, he largely failed to progress though. Although he enjoyed a good run in the first team in the 2005–06 season, he was increasingly sidelined in Spring 2006. Budtz fractured a bone in his hand in January 2006, and Doncaster Rovers quickly signed replacement

Alan Blayney Alan Blayney (born 9 October 1981) is a professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was recognised at the IFA Premiership and Irish Cup several times. He is now the first team goalkeeper coach at NIFL Premiership side Larne. Club c ...

. By the beginning of the 2006–07 season, he was relegated to third choice behind Benjamin Smith and Blayney. Budtz signed an emergency loan deal with

of the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. He eventually signed a six-week extension with Wolves, and made his debut on 17 March as a half-time substitute in a 2–2 draw at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. He was eventually recalled by his parent club on 24 April, following their own on-loan goalkeeper,

Neil Sullivan Neil Sullivan (born 24 February 1970) is a professional football player and coach. He played as a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2013, playing in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and represented Scotland internationa ...

, returning to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

. Budtz was signed by fellow

side

on 29 June 2007. He was their first-choice goalkeeper throughout the first half of the season, but lost his place for the final months after some poor performances. On 14 February 2009, he was loaned out to

on a month's loan, making his debut on the same day in a 2–1 victory over

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

. He returned to Hartlepool but was released from his contract on 6 May after being deemed surplus to requirements. He signed for

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

on 16 September 2010, but left with mutual consent in March 2010 after a 'financial disagreement.' In summer 2010 he signed for

side

. In the summer of 2012, Budtz signed a contract with

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

, however he joined

side

on 26 July 2012. After one season with Trinity, which included reaching the semi-finals of the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

, Budtz was released by the club on 24 May 2013 and joined Northern Premier League side

, however, in June 2014, Budtz returned to Gainsborough. After 2 years with Gainsborough, Budtz rejoined Buxton on 27 May 2016. Budtz had a spell with Rossington Main and later joined Grantham Town at the end of June 2020. On 25 August 2021, Budtz returned to

having been released by Grantham, but ON 28 September 2021 he made his second debut back with Rossington Main.

Coaching career

On 16 January 2013, as well as playing for

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

, Budtz re-joined former club

media team. He is now the head of operations at Doncaster's training centre.https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jan-budtz-749663106

Personal life

He is the twin brother of fellow footballer

Ole Budtz Ole Budtz (born 20 April 1979, in Hillerød) is a Danish former professional association football, footballer who played as a central defender. He played for Belgian club Cercle Brugge K.S.V., Cercle Brugge and for German side Kickers Offenbach ...

. He also has three sons, 21, 14 and 1 as of 2021.

References

External links

In The Mad Crowd
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Budtz, Jan 1979 births Living people People from Hillerød Municipality Men's association football goalkeepers Danish men's footballers Danish expatriate men's footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England FC Nordsjælland players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Eastwood Town F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Buxton F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players Rossington Main F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players English Football League players Danish twins Doncaster Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from the Capital Region of Denmark