John Sivebæk (born 25 October 1961) is a Danish former

football defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He won the 1984 Danish championship with

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 played for English club

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 ...

. He scored one goal in 87 appearances for the Danish national team, and represented his country at the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

as well as three

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, including the triumphant 1992 European Championship tournament. Sivebæk has two sons,

Christian Sivebæk Christian Sivebæk (born 19 February 1988) is a retired Danish professional footballer. He is son of the former Denmark international, John Sivebæk. Career Club Sivebæk began his youth career with Vejle Boldklub . In 2005, he signed his fir ...

the eldest of the sons, is also a professional football player.

Biography

Sivebæk was born in

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...

, and started his career with hometown club Vejle Boldklub in 1980. He was a part of the Vejle team that won the 1981

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 ...

. He made his debut for the Danish national team in a May 1982

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He was a part of the Danish squad at the 1984 European Championship, where he played in three of Denmark's four games. He and Vejle won the 1984 Danish championship trophy, and he scored his only international goal, in a 1986 World Cup qualification game against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

in November 1985. In the winter 1985, Sivebæk moved to England to play for Manchester United, joining fellow Dane

Jesper Olsen Jesper Olsen (born 20 March 1961) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He is best remembered for representing Ajax of the Netherlands and Manchester United of England. He was a regular player for the Danish n ...

. On 22 November 1986, he scored his first and only goal for Manchester United, a direct free-kick in a 1–0 home win against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

, which was also the first Manchester United goal under newly hired manager

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

.Paul Fletcher
The man who set Fergie on his way
''

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

'', 4 November 2006 In his time at Manchester United, he was selected to represent Denmark at the

, where he played two of Denmark's four games before elimination. In 1987, Sivebæk was told he would not be a first team regular at Manchester United, and he moved to French club

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...

. While at Saint-Étienne, he was selected for the 1988 European Championship, where he played two of Denmark's three games. In 1991, he changed from Saint-Étienne to league rivals

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fre ...

. While at Monaco, he was called up to the Danish squad for the 1992 European Championship. He played full-time in Denmark's first four games and helped the team reach the final against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He took part in the final, but suffered an injury and was substituted in favour of Claus Christiansen, and watched from the bench as Denmark won 2–0. He ended his national team career later that year, following the

1994 World Cup qualification File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

game against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in November 1992. He went to Italy to play for

Pescara Calcio Delfino Pescara 1936, commonly referred to as Pescara, is a professional Italian football club based in Pescara, Abruzzo. The club was formed in 1936 and currently plays in Serie C. Pescara has competed in seven seasons in Serie A, 1977–78, ...

in 1992. He moved back to Denmark in 1994, to play for childhood club Vejle BK. He played a single season for Vejle, for a total 226 games and 23 goals for the club. He ended his career with Danish club

AGF Aarhus 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. Howev ...

in 1997. After retiring, he became a football agent with ''Proactive Scandinavia''.

Honours

*1981

*1984 Danish championship * 1992 European Championship

References

External links

Danish national team profile

Vejle Boldklub profile
*
A.S. Monaco Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sivebaek, John 1961 births Living people AS Monaco FC players AS Saint-Étienne players Expatriate footballers in Monaco Expatriate footballers in France Ligue 1 players Danish expatriate men's footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Danish expatriate sportspeople in France Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Danish men's footballers Denmark international footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Association football defenders Vejle Boldklub players Manchester United F.C. players Expatriate footballers in England People from Vejle Municipality Delfino Pescara 1936 players Serie A players Serie B players English Football League players Expatriate footballers in Italy Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Danish Superliga players UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players UEFA Euro 1992 players UEFA European Championship-winning players Sportspeople from the Region of Southern Denmark