Kris Stadsgaard (born 1 August 1985) is 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 a ...

former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

central 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 ...

. Most recently, he played for

F.C. Copenhagen 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, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

. He has previously played for Danish club

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 ...

, Italian club

Reggina Calcio Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are ni ...

, and

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles, a shared record 12 Norwegian Football Cup ti ...

in Norway, winning two

Norwegian Premier League Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

championships with Rosenborg. He has played two games for the

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 is the son of former Danish football referee Knud Stadsgaard.

Club career

Farum/Nordsjælland

Born 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, Stadsgaard began his career at

Farum Farum is a town on the northeast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, 20 km northwest of Copenhagen. The town has a population of 20,312 (1 January 2022).

, where he started his career since joining them in 2001 and progressed through the ranks. Stadsgaard made his

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 ...

debut for Farum BK in the 2002-03 Danish Superliga season, playing alongside Rasmus Marvits in central–defence position, in a 5–1 loss against

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022). He even stayed with the team when Farum BK changed its name to

Nordsjælland North Zealand, also North Sealand ( da, Nordsjælland), refers to the northern part of the Danish island of Zealand which is not clearly defined but generally covers the area north of Copenhagen. The Danish tourist authorities have recently in ...

in the Summer 2003. After making five appearances in the 2003–04 season, Stadsgaard had a first team chance following the injury of the club's captain Jacob Rasmussen and from that moment on, Stadsgaard managed to play his way into the Nordsjælland team in the 2004–05 season. As the 2004–05 season progressed, he went on to make twenty–one appearances in all competitions. As a result of his performance, Stadsgaard was rewarded with a contract extension, signing a four–year contract. However, Stadgaard's first team opportunities was limited for the next two seasons, as he suffered injuries and made eight appearances as a result. In the 2007–08 season, Stadsgaard was given a handful of first appearances and since the start of the season, he went on to make six appearances.

Reggina

It was therefore surprising when Italian

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 ...

team

bought him for 10 million DKK (€1.5 million), including him in their squad for the 2007–08 season. After the move, Stadsgaard was joining by compatriot Mike Tullberg. On 15 September 2007, Stadsgaard made his debut for the club in a 2–1 defeat to

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. However, Stadsgaard soon struggled in the first team, as he appeared mostly on the substitute and was told by the club's sporting director, Riccardo Bigon, to open up his personality, to integrate better into the squad. By January, both Stadsgaard and Tullberg were dropped from the squad and never played for the club again. He rejected an opportunity to leave the club in January when he refused to be loaned out, leading both the club and him fell out. Following his move to Rosenberg, Stadsgaard expressed regret moving to Reggina and admitted money was a factor as the reason he joined them.

Rosenborg

After staying at Reggina for eight months, Stadsgaard ended his nightmare stay there when he signed for Norwegian club

on 29 March 2008 for approximately 4 million

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...

, signing a four–year contract. It came after when his father, Knud, confirmed that Rosenborg expressed interest signing him. On 7 April 2008, Stadsgaard made his Rosenborg debut, where he came on as a second half substitute, in a 3–2 kiss against Strømsgodset. From that moment, Stadsgaard became a first team regular since his debut until he suffered an injury in early–June. Unfortunately, while rehabilitating his injury, it was delayed for another month. After returning to the first team in late–August, Stadsgaard then suffered another injury that kept him out for the rest of the season during a UEFA match against

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

. At the end of the 2008 season, Stadsgaard finished his first season, making sixteen appearances in all competitions. In the 2009 season, Stadsgaard missed the start of the season, due to rehabilitating his knee injury and it wasn't until on 3 May 2009 when he made his return to the first team from injury, in a 1–0 win against

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

. From that moment on, Stadsgaard regained his first team place since returning from injury and his performance earned him a national called up. Throughout the 2009 season, Stadsgaard was featured for the most of the season, although he appeared on the substitute bench on three occasion and sidelined with suspension. Despite this, Stadsgaard helped Rosenberg win the league and went on to make twenty–five appearances in all competitions. In 2010 season, Stadsgaard started the season well when he scored his first Rosenborg goal, in a 3–1 win over Aalesunds to win the Superfinalen trophy, which turned out to be the last edition. Since the start of the 2010 season, Stadsgaard established himself in the first team and went on to make twenty–one appearances in all competitions. His performance in the summer attracted interests, including Copenhagen. Amid the transfer speculation, he made his last appearance for Rosenborg on 29 August 2010, in a 3–2 win over

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

. Despite his departure, the club went on to win the league for the second time this season. During his time with the club, Rosenborg won the 2009 and 2010

championships, as well as the 2010 Superfinalen trophy.

Málaga CF

On 31 August 2010, Stadsgaard left Rosenborg to sign a three-year contract with

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

of the Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

for an undisclosed fee, although the move was reported to be 11 million

. Upon joining the club, Stadsgaard revealed that there were interests from other club but insisted Málaga was his first choice. Stadsgaard made his La Liga debut for Málaga, playing the whole game on 12 September 2010 against

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

, which saw them win 5–3. In the next game against

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

on 19 September 2010, Stadsgaard set up a goal for

José Salomón Rondón José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, which saw Malaga lose 2–1. He scored his first goal for Málaga on 16 October 2010, in a 1–4 home loss against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. However, as the 2010–11 season progressed, Stadsgaard spent the rest of the season on the substitute bench and his own injury concerns following the arrival of

Martín Demichelis Martín Gastón Demichelis (; born 20 December 1980) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played usually as a centre-back, although he could also operate as a defensive midfielder. He is the current head coach of River Plate. Dem ...

, as well as, his own injury concern. Despite this, Stadsgaard finished the season, making twenty–five appearances and scoring once in all competitions. Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Stadsgaard was linked a return move to his homeland, with Copenhagen keen on signing him, which was denied Stadsgaard, himself. In the 2011–12 season, Stadsgaard suffered a setback when he had a venous occlusion on his left leg and was sidelined for two months. Although he appeared on as an unused substitute, Stadsgaard was expected to leave the club in the January transfer window, with Copenhagen confirmed their interests once again. In January 2012, they made an approach from Malaga of signing him, leading to negotiations soon after.

Copenhagen

On 23 January 2012

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

broke the news that they were parting with Stadsgaard in their website. After his release from Spain, Stadsgaard signed for Danish side

, returning to his homeland and played his first Danish club for the first time since 2007. Upon arriving at Copenhagen, Stadsgaard was given the captaincy. Stadsgaard made his Copenhagen debut on 4 March 2012, where he made his first start, in a 1–1 draw against AaB. Since making his debut, Stadsgaard managed to dispatch a first team place from

Ragnar Sigurðsson Ragnar Sigurðsson (born 19 June 1986) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as centre-back. Beginning his career with Fylkir, he went on to represent IFK Göteborg, Copenhagen, Krasnodar, Fulham, Rubin Kazan, Rostov, and Ru ...

. However, Stadsgaard suffered an injury that kept him out for two weeks. Following his return, he managed to regain his first team place, but was involved in an incident with Manager

Carsten V. Jensen Carsten Vagn Jensen (; born 28 February 1963), colloquially known as Carsten V. Jensen or simply CV, is a Danish former footballer and coach, who is currently director of football of Brøndby IF. Career He started his career with Næstved IF in ...

after Stadsgaard reportedly told him to shut up following a 2–2 draw 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 ...

. Although the club was unsuccessful to win the league later in the season, Stadsgaard finished the half season at Copenhagen, making fourteen appearances in all competitions. Despite this, Stadsgaard helped the side win 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 quali ...

nevertheless. In the 2012–13 season, Stadsgaard appeared on the substitute bench for the first two league matches, due to new Manager Ariël Jacobs preferring Sigurðsson and

Sölvi Ottesen Sölvi Geir Ottesen Jónsson (born 18 February 1984) is an Icelandic former footballer, who played as a centre back for Sölvi; he earned 28 caps for the Iceland national football team. Sölvi is among the most decorated Icelandic professional ...

. After appearing on the substitute bench for the next two matches once more between 25 August 2012 and 2 September 2012, Stadsgaard returned to the first team on 15 September 2012, where he set up a goal for Igor Vetokele to score an equaliser, in a 2–1 win over Nordsjælland. It wasn't until on 21 October 2012 when he scored his first Copenhagen goal, in a 1–0 win over Brøndby and then scored again two weeks later, on 3 November 2012, in a 2–0 win over

Aarhus GF 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. Howeve ...

. As the 2012–13 season progressed, Stadsgaard helped the club win the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

this season and went on to make thirty–eight appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. In the 2013–14 season, Stadsgaard found his first team place at the club under threat following the arrival of

Olof Mellberg Erik Olof Mellberg (; born 3 September 1977) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. During his career, Mellberg played as a defender, and is best known for his time at Aston Villa, as well as spells with Juventus and Gr ...

. However, he soon lost his first team place, resulting him on the substitute bench, as well as, his own injury concern. Following his recovery from injury, Stadsgaard was given a handful of first team appearances for the rest of the season following the sale of Sigurðsson and Ottesen. Despite suffering from injury later on, he went on to make twenty–two appearances in all competitions in the 2013–14 season. The 2014–15 season saw Stadsgaard switched shirt from four to thirteen instead following the arrival of Per Nilsson. However, at the start of the 2014–15 season, Stadsgaard suffered a knee injury and required surgery as a result. Because of this, Stadsgaard never made an appearance in the 2014–15 season, as his recovery was delayed on numerous occasion. In the 2015–16 season, Stadsgaard continued to recover his knee injury since the start of the last season. By mid–August, he returned from injury and appeared as an unused substitute on three occasion throughout August. However, once again, Stadsgaard suffered another injury again, as well as, competitions and never appeared in the first team for the rest of the season. While recovering from injury, Stadsgaard's future at Copenhagen was in doubt after he was left out of the training camp in Dubai. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Stadsgaard's release by the club was confirmed. Because of his ongoing battle with injury, Stadsgaard announced his retirement from football. While spending two seasons on the sidelines with injuries, the club won both the league and the cup consecutively.

International career

In 2005, he played two matches for the Denmark under 20 team. Four years on, Stadsgaard was called up by the senior national team for the first time. On 12 August 2009 he debuted for the

against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Playing out of position as a left back, he was directly involved in Chile's second goal, only a minute after his entrance. Despite the error, Rosenberg then Manager

Erik Hamrén Erik Anders Hamrén (born 27 June 1957) is a Swedish manager and former football player, who is the manager of Danish Superliga club AaB. He also previously coached the Sweden national football team between 2009 and 2016 and the Iceland natio ...

hoped that Stadsgaaard could be in the squad for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. However, Stadsgaard didn't make the cut. Stadsgaard was not recalled for the national team until November 2010, deputizing for the injured

Bo Svensson Bo Svensson (born 4 August 1979) is a Danish professional football coach and a former defender. He is currently managing Mainz 05. He has played three games for the Denmark national football team. Playing career Svensson was born in Skørp ...

and

Simon Kjær Simon Thorup Kjær (born 26 March 1989) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club AC Milan and captains the Denmark national team. He was named 2007 Danish under-19 talent of the year and 2009 Danish Talent of t ...

in a friendly game against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He replaced

Mathias Jørgensen Mathias Jattah-Njie Jørgensen (; born 23 April 1990), also known by his mononymous nickname Zanka, is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Brentford and the Denmark national team. Jørgensen began his career ...

in the central defence at half-time, in a game that ultimately ended a 0–0 draw.

Career statistics

Personal life

Stadsgaard is engaged to his long-term girlfriend, Michella Moengaard. Stadsgaard said his girlfriend speaks Spanish and helped him to speak the language following his move to Málaga.

Honours

;Rosenborg BK * Norwegian Premier League Championship:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

* Norwegian Superfinal: 2010 ;F.C. Copenhagen * Danish Superliga Championship: 2012–13, 2015–16 *

: 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16

References

External links

*
Kris Stadsgaard
official

statistics at danskfodbold.com *
Italian Serie A stats
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stadsgaard, Kris 1985 births Living people Footballers from Copenhagen Danish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Danish Superliga players FC Nordsjælland players Serie A players LFA Reggio Calabria players Eliteserien players Rosenborg BK players La Liga players Málaga CF players F.C. Copenhagen players Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's international footballers Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Danish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Danish expatriate sportspeople in Spain